King (Endgame Book 1)

by Riley Ashby

  I took the binoculars from him and forced Sophie from my mind. At least two guards at every door, plus others walking the perimeter and on the roof. I didn't see weapons but knew with certainty that they had high-powered handguns and body armor. My eyes finally landed on the man I was looking for, and I cursed.

  “There he is,” I growled, and Castel snatched the binoculars back from me.

  “Fucker,” he nearly shouted. I shushed him. We had worked hard to get here. Our emotions were running too high.

  Chase had emerged from a black SUV, buttoning his jacket as a girl clambered out behind him: thin, unsteady, and exactly like the rest of the girls we'd see tonight.

  “He probably picked the best for himself already,” I muttered. Castel shot me a scathing look.

  “Don't talk about them like that,” he snapped, “like they're merchandise. Don't fall into that thinking.”

  I nodded, hating myself. You spend some time around the wrong people and their vocabulary seeps into your pores like smog. I couldn’t wait to get out of this world for good. To get back what—who— I had come for and forget everything I had ever learned about this dark underworld. I would lock all of us in my house for a year to reconnect with Vail, spend time with Sophie, and let them get to know each other. I could make Castel stay longer, bring him on as personal security or find another position for him.

  We would all be together, and nothing else would matter.

  “Let's go.” Castel rose with me, and we hopped into the car. He had been speaking for some time without my noticing. I had to get my head out of the clouds, shake away the memories of who I had left behind and thoughts of my future with who I was trying to save. I would be no good to either of them if I couldn’t focus enough to pull this off.

  I had wanted to take a more modest sedan to try and camouflage our movements, but Castel insisted on a BMW. He said if we pulled up to an event like this in a Honda Civic we'd never be taken seriously, and I begrudgingly agreed. Every step I took felt like a lightning strike, illuminating me for the world to see as I went about what was supposed to be a covert operation. I wanted to remain under the radar, and I didn’t want anyone to come looking for us when all was said and done.

  We made it down to the receiving area before Chase went in. His hair blew in his eyes as he turned to watch us pull up, and he broke into a shit-eating grin when Castel opened the door for me.

  “King! I thought this wasn't your scene. Decided to slum it up with us after all?”

  I choked back my revulsion as he reached to shake my hand and clap me on my shoulder. “I can always do with some change of scenery,” I said noncommittally. He laughed.

  “And bedmates too. Let me introduce you to my most recent acquisition. I plucked her myself from the various jewels available tonight.”

  It took me a moment to realize he hadn’t even bothered to give this person a name, but I didn't have time to internalize my rage. The girl at his side turned the rest of the way toward us, brushing black hair back from her face. I froze in place, feeling like my heart simply stopped beating. I looked this girl in the eyes. The diamond, the pinnacle, the one he'd chosen.

  It was her.

  Vail's eyes widened imperceptibly, her nostrils flaring in vague recognition. Slowly, she turned her eyes to Castel. I could feel him tense behind me, the heat he was generating to hold himself still. Her wide eyes settled on the horizon, a far-off, stoned look, judging by the track marks adorning her arms. Chase was drugging her.

  I swallowed the rock in my throat. Shook myself loose before I let the silence stretch too long.

  “I didn't know you liked your women unresponsive, Chase.”

  He yanked her against him and kissed her rudely, all tongue and saliva. I choked back the bile rising in my throat. Castel’s hand tugged on my jacket, pulling me back. I hadn’t realized I had taken a step forward.

  “Just to keep her a little calmer until she learns her place. We've had trouble with this one. They always make the best slaves, though, once they're broken.”

  I had to get out of there or I was going to kill him.

  “Will the two of you be present tonight?” I asked, trying to stay on task. I focused diligently on not letting my eyes rest on her for more than half a second.

  “Of course, I’ll be in attendance. I need to show confidence in my merchandise.”

  I can’t leave her here. If I left, was it possible he wouldn’t bring her back tonight? Maybe he had never planned on having her present. I could show up and have no idea where to find her, and we’d have to start again.

  “What if I want to bid on the best of the best?” I looked at her pointedly. I was being bold, reckless. It felt completely wrong. I was not at all in control of this situation. I was grasping at the frayed end of a dangling rope, hoping it would hold and not drop us all.

  But Chase was intrigued, not offended. He considered my words. “I'm not likely to let go of a product I've put so much work into already.” He put an arm around her. The move was possession, not comfort. No protection. No thoughts for her well-being. Only trying to display his power. “But I think we could come to an arrangement.”

  My heart leaped. Maybe this could be painless. We could be on a plane back home before the main auction even began. She could get medical care, reassurance. Love.

  “Did you bring that little piece with you? The McDermott girl?” He snarled a bit as he carried on, oblivious to the way my heartbeat was sending my blood to my head far too quickly. “The one that was supposed to belong to me?”

  My face must have given me away. He laughed. “Of course you did. She cost you too much to leave behind. You'd want to show her off. Bring her tonight, let her see the world she narrowly escaped by falling into your hands instead of mine.” He leaned forward, leering. I had the vision of a sickly enticing Venus flytrap turning my insides to a slurry for consumption. “Bring her tonight, and I think we can make a deal.”

  The man with the clothes had been gone for an hour, and my purchase tucked safely at the back of the closet, when there was a pounding on the door. Tori and I both jumped. She ushered me into the bedroom. I could hear her exchange some sort of code with the two men at the door. A few snaps and the doors were unlocked. Ellery and Castel looked about to come to blows as they fell in to the room.

  “She has to do it,” Castel was saying, refusing to look at me. He was laser focused on Ellery, his shoulders rounded forward like he was trying to appear larger.

  “I said no, Castel. It's not happening.” Ellery was livid. His face burned red, and he pulled at the collar of his shirt.

  They took a terrifying step toward each other, and Castel’s hand went to his hip. “You cannot let this jeopardize us. We’ve been working too hard for too long for this to get in the way.”

  “I won’t allow it!” His hands were fists. I could see the way things would go in my head, these two friends swinging at each other in a hotel room while I looked on helplessly. They had been circling for weeks, calling a truce when Ellery got hurt, but never fully reconciling. All I could feel was animosity toward them both, for not working this out, for bringing it back here when I needed to talk to Ellery about my own doubts.

  When Castel pushed back his jacket to reveal his gun, I lost my mind. I jumped in between the two of them before I could think through what I was doing. Ellery wrapped his arm around my torso and pulled me back, turning us so his body was between me and the weapon.

  “Jesus Christ, Castel, put that away!” Tori’s voice, finally, was the one who brought order to the room.

  There was silence for a few moments. Ellery breathed hard against my hair, not turning around. I wrapped my hands around his arm and gripped him as hard as he held me. “I’m okay, I’m okay,” I whispered over and over, but he didn’t let go.

  “It was just my Taser,” Castel muttered. He sounded sheepish.

  “Castel, get out.” I tried to turn around, but Ellery held me in place.

  “Do
n’t worry, we’re fucking going.” I could hear Tori literally pushing him through the door, her exclamations of “What the fuck is wrong with you?” slipping into the room from the hallway.

  Ellery held me for a minute longer, only releasing me once they were gone. He reapplied every lock on the door.

  “Is that how a fucking FBI agent is supposed to act?” I screamed, but I received no reply. Ellery’s hands on my shoulders pulled me toward him; he crushed me against his lips, bruising me with his passion. I had no choice to be swept up in it despite my anger.

  “I won't let anyone take you,” he said, his voice husky. He held my face tight between his hands. My fingers grabbed his shirt in response.

  Now that the anger was gone, our immediate threat removed, it was obvious how afraid he was. He had that same look he had given me when I walked away from him. The same tremor in his voice from the first night we made love after the assault.

  “I belong to you,” I whispered, and he kissed me again.

  “You do.” He was pulling at the straps of my camisole, pulling the shirt down around my waist so he could push his face into my breasts while he lifted my legs around his hips. “I could never let you go.”

  “Then make me yours,” I commanded, pulling his face level with mine again. “Show me how you want to take me. Mark me as yours so no one can come between us even if they tried.” I heard these words tumbling from my mouth, apprehensive with promise and future, and I found I wasn't frightened. Sometime in the past twenty-four hours I had stopped thinking that a future without this man could even exist.

  I wanted to let him know.

  There was a gleam in his eyes. His breathing changed. He bared his teeth at me like a dog, and I knew we were playing again.

  “I'm not gentle, Sophie.” His voice was low and gravelly, so unlike his normal tone he used with me, but I pushed my hips against his. “Is that what you want?” He kissed me roughly with no trace of emotion.

  “Yes,” I gasped as I came up for air. “Show yourself to me. I'm not afraid.”

  The last words flew from my lungs as he slammed me into the wall. When he kissed me as this animal, I understood why he had been so reluctant to let it out. If he had been like this with me the first time, we never would have survived. I wouldn’t have thought him possible of the kind of tenderness he had shown me.

  He pinched my nipples, but not for my pleasure. The fact that I trembled around him and moaned with desire was an added benefit for him. The real joy came from this pain he inflicted on me. He zeroed in on my red flesh, licking his lips at the small dots of blood that appeared where he had twisted my skin too hard.

  If I had seen this part of him first, I would have run screaming. Now, I screamed into his touch.

  He set me on my feet and pushed me backward into the bedroom. I crossed my arms over my breasts as he stalked toward me until my knees hit the bed. He yanked me toward him and kissed me again. Hard. His tongue invaded me, heedless of whether or not I even responded to him.

  He pulled down my arms. “Never fucking cover yourself in front of me. Do you understand?” I tried to nod but couldn’t. His mouth was against mine, our teeth clacking, as he threw my arms aside and grasped my breasts once more. “These tits belong to me. Your entire body belongs to me. And I will look at you whenever I want.”

  I fought him, but it was part of the game. He sought his pleasure from the way I resisted and pulled away. My hands slapped against his chest even as I opened my mouth to receive his probing tongue. He gripped my chin roughly to hold me in place. I struggled against him and felt myself grow wetter as he hardened against my leg. When he threw me on the bed and reached for my shorts, I raised my hips the smallest bit to aid him in wrangling them.

  “I hope to God you're playing, Sophie,” he said, removing his pants. “Because if you're not, you need to run. Now.”

  I lifted my chin defiantly and snapped my knees together. He growled like a wolf, a low, feral sound that sent a chill running through my spine, and forced my legs apart. I twisted, trying to move my body out from under him, but he slammed my shoulders back against the bed and ripped my shirt in two rather than slide it off my body. The fabric sounded like a wound ripping open, not to injure but to mend, to let loose an infection so that healing could take place.

  He flipped me over and pulled the ruined shirt from my back, using a frayed strip to tie my hands behind me. My body rose toward him as he grabbed a fistful of my hair and dragged me off the bed again. I arched too far back to be comfortable, and I cried out. My hands tingled from blood loss.

  “I'm going to remind you of your role,” he snarled.

  He pushed me facedown into the bed so I was bending at the waist and slapped my ass hard. The sound echoed across the room. His fingers ran endlessly between my clit and my entrance, tracing my wetness across every surface and coaxing more every time he pressed against that tiny nub. I was shaking beneath him, crying out with pleasure, even as he brought his hand against the flesh of my buttocks over and over again until I couldn’t even feel that.

  The bed was wet from my tears, and still I didn’t tell him to stop. This was what he needed from me. He had to be strong, and I was the only one who could give him the courage. He was confessing that he needed me. I was the only one who could give him what he craved right now, and I wasn’t going to hold back.

  I struggled to free my hands, finally managing to slip free. I reached down and grabbed his balls harshly, twisting and squeezing. He yelled and flipped me to my back, holding my hands above my head and slapping me across the face. Before I could recover, he reached down and bit my neck hard. I knew I'd have a bruise. It was my turn to yelp.

  “You need to always remember who owns you.” He released my hands, and I squirmed beneath his hips as he finally removed his own shirt. A darkness slid over his eyes, and I could see his intent. He was ready. I moaned low in my throat as I observed him, his erection hard and long against my belly. Precum had trickled out and ran down his entire length.

  Every inch of him was glorious. He was red and purple and throbbing with need. Every atom of my body gravitated toward him, compelling me to ease his suffering, to give any part of me he wanted to take. To collapse in submission and pain and ecstasy until he was satisfied and calm, because he was hurting, and only I could make that go away.

  “I'm going to fuck you endlessly,” he said, returning to hold my hands still and licking my cheek. His tongue lingered against my flesh. I trembled. “So that my cum coats the inside of you. So that you'll never forget your place.”

  With no warning, no foreplay or other preparation, he slammed inside me. I screamed from a curious mixture of surprise, pain, and ecstasy.

  “Fuck, you're so wet.” He withdrew and thrust again, just as hard. Again. Tears pricked my eyes. “This cunt doesn't belong to you anymore. It's mine.” He put me on my stomach and spread my ass with his hand, never ceasing to thrust. “Do you understand? You don't touch yourself anymore unless you have my permission.” He licked my ear. “And right now, you'd better touch.” There was a rumble growing in my core. I rubbed my clit and gasped as his fingers circled my asshole, and my breath caught in my throat. He prodded the tight ring of muscle, and I moaned loudly.

  “And soon, I'm going to claim this too. I'll have all your holes, and then you'll be ruined for every other man.”

  I moaned as I felt my orgasm building, spurred on by his words. When he finally forced a finger inside me from behind, I wailed and released. The pleasure rippled through my lower body as he continued to pound into me mercilessly even as he roared himself. He came so hard I swore I could feel his cum hit my womb, coating my inner walls and marking me permanently. Making it clear to everyone who would enter me that the territory had been claimed and intruders would not be tolerated. I screamed into the pillow, tears streaming down my cheeks from the unbearable combination of pleasure and pain. It went on forever.

  We rocked together into oblivion.

&
nbsp; When he finally pulled out of me, I felt his cum spill from me and clamped my legs together, wanting to make sure it stayed where it was.

  I forgot what time it was. My whole body vibrated from the abuse I had endured. My throat felt raw. I could hear nothing and everything.

  “I'm going to move you now.” The voice must have come from someone else because I couldn't imagine the tenderness I heard ever spilling from his lips. But when I opened my eyes, it was his face before me. He gathered me against his chest and carried me to the bathroom. We sank together into the water of the bath. I hissed when it stung against the raw skin of my labia, worked roughly by his cock.

  He shushed me, gently tucking my hair behind my ears and resting his cheek against mine.

  “We'll get that taken care of soon.” His breath tickled my cheek. He wiped at the salt left on my cheeks from my tears. “Did I hurt you too much?”

  I shook my head and let myself relax against him. “You went easy on me.”

  He chuckled and pushed his thumb into the bruise on my neck, causing me to shy away from him. “I don't think you could have handled any more, pet.”

  I couldn't argue. He was right.

  He moved his hands slowly over my body, taking stock of bruises and abraded skin while he rubbed me with mild soap. He massaged shampoo against my scalp until every muscle relaxed.

  After he washed me, I climbed out of the tub and dried off with a fluffy towel. He handed me the shirt he had been wearing and buttoned it up himself, looking at me afterward like he was appraising me.

  “Time for you to rest,” he said. He applied some soothing cream to my tender spots as I lay on my stomach on the bed. His hands kneaded into my sore muscles, doing so much more than just tending my back.

  He was leaning too close to me. His breath caressed my neck.

  “Does that feel good?” he asked. His cock probed into the back of my thighs. He was hard again already. And though it seemed impossible, my arousal stirred anew. His hands rubbed my skin, falling lower and lower until they were on my buttocks. I rolled over underneath him and grabbed his cock in my hand.