by Chloe Saint
“We missed you!” Bridgette mumbled into my sweater, thick with tears.
“I missed you too,” I said, and felt my eyes prickling again. “Didn’t either of you remember to eat while I was gone?” I scolded gently, as they led me to the kitchen carefully by the hand like they thought I was made of glass.
We settled down in the long window seat that overlooked the front yard. It wasn’t picturesque, but it was quiet and sunny so it was our favorite place to sit and talk.
“We were too worried about you,” Lenny admitted. “Daddy wouldn’t tell us anything about what happened to you,” she said in a whisper. Her eyes went to the kitchen door nervously, like she thought we could be overheard.
“And then he started tell everyone those lies about you, and we didn’t know what to do!” Bridgette added.
“I understand,” I said soothingly. “Did you try to tell anyone that Daddy was lying?”
“He said if we did then the men who kidnapped you would kill you,” Lenny explained. “We didn’t know whether to believe him or not. But even if there was a chance they might…we didn’t want to risk it.”
“You did the right thing,” I said, stroking her hair like I used to when she was a toddler. She relaxed into the touch and leaned on my shoulder.
“Would they really have killed you?” Bridgette asked from my other side.
“No,” I said, my breath slowing as I remembered my time with them. My cheeks grew hot as I realized I would never, ever be able to tell my little sisters the majority of what happened in that log cabin. “They didn’t…they didn’t hurt me. In fact, they’re my friends.”
“But they took you away when you didn’t want to go!” Lenny said indignantly. She didn’t sound like she was ready to welcome them with open arms.
“You’ll understand one day. And I’m going to tell you both something that you have to promise me you won’t tell anyone else.”
They both promised with wide eyes, just as I hoped.
“Those men who kidnapped me? Well, I was their friend a long time ago, when we were just kids. Daddy killed their parents. That was why they took me, because they knew I would help them get revenge on Daddy.”
That wasn’t the whole truth. In fact, I was packaging the reality into something more palatable for my little sisters, but I wasn’t sorry. I would tell them the full thing one day.
Slowly, with many interruptions, I told them the whole story. At first, I could see that they didn’t completely believe me. But when the horror of what Daddy did finally dawned on them, they were silent.
“What do we do now?” Bridgette said finally.
“I can’t believe it,” Lenny said dully. “Do you think Mom knew?”
“No,” I said firmly. “Mom would never—that’s why he killed her. Listen, I have a plan, but I need you to keep Daddy distracted at the press conference tonight.”
“I’ll do it!” Bridgette declared. “I’ll do anything to stop him. I know I wasn’t able to help you, Belle, but this time I actually can.”
“You’re both going to come and stay with me and the Emery brothers once all this blows over,” I said, kissing them both on the cheeks.
“Belle!” Daddy yelled from somewhere on the other side of the house. “Where the hell are you? You need to learn your goddamn speech, stupid girl!”
His voice was slurring, like he was feeling the effects of the scotch he dipped into. I made a face at the girls, who looked frightened.
“Don’t worry,” I assured them. “It’ll be all right.”
But I wasn’t so sure of that myself.
Chapter 14
“You’re on in three minutes, right after the mayor,” a friendly girl in glasses told me. She held a clipboard in her hand, and seemed to be running things behind the scenes very efficiently.
“Thank you,” I said gratefully.
“Is this your bag?” she asked, spotting it on the floor and picking it up. She brushed some dirt off it and handed it back to me when I nodded. “You shouldn’t leave it lying around, somebody might take it.”
I nodded, but privately wondered what there was in it to steal. My tubes of chapstick? My emergency scrunchies? I didn’t even own a phone. I was a bad target for a potential thief.
I heard clapping from the other room, and knew the mayor must have gone onstage. It was a big deal for this little town, my kidnapping and return. They only got excitement like this once a decade. I was the closest thing they had to a celebrity.
And I was nervous. No, I was terrified.
I knew all too well the number of things that could go wrong with this plan. In hindsight, it seemed crazy and reckless. But this was the only way.
I was waiting in the room behind the podium, sitting in the rickety little chair someone kindly offered me and holding a scalding cup of a grey liquid that the friendly girl assured me was coffee.
Bridgette did as she promised, and managed to distract Daddy and keep him away from me. I knew that if I spent any time around him, my resolve and confidence in the plan would fade. I might not be able to go through with it. So he needed to be kept far, far away from me.
I clenched my fists and pressed them into my thighs. I was sitting as still as a porcelain doll, since the makeup artist who gave me the ‘no makeup’ makeup look backstage told me wrinkles on the suit would look terrible on camera.
I was wearing the only nice-ish clothes I owned. Looking at the pencil skirt and blouse, neatly ironed by Lenny and laid out on my tiny twin bed, immediately brought back memories of the giant wardrobe I had in the log cabin. During my captivity, as people called it.
I was careful not to tell anyone that for five days I had eaten better than I did at home, dressed in designer clothing and had the best sex of my life. It wasn’t what they wanted to hear.
Worse, they might think that I had actual brain damage beyond even the supposed memory loss.
Just then, something pinged in my bag, and I frowned.
I didn’t even own a phone, what could it possibly be coming from?
I rummaged through the bag, and found a plain back phone. I rocked back, stunned.
This wasn’t there when I brought it from home this morning, I knew with certainty.
With shaking hands, I unlocked the screen to see that there was a new message.
Break a leg, was all it said.
Who is this? I answered.
It’s us, little rabbit, came the response.
I couldn’t prevent myself from beaming at the little screen like an idiot. It was them. They must be nearby, maybe watching the press conference in a bar. Or maybe they dared to come to this building. That would be terribly risky, but I couldn’t help wishing they were close.
You put the phone in my bag?
The clipboard girl did.
I thought she worked here!
She does.
Someone else was motioning urgently to me, and I realized it was time for me to go on stage.
It’s time, I texted back, feeling a little hysterical.
We’ll be waiting on the other side, came the reply. It seemed like something Gunner would say. I wondered if that was confirmation that they were really here.
I put the phone away and stood up. My legs threatened to buckle underneath me, but I clutched the back of the chair to steady myself. I could hear the mayor’s voice booming through the microphone as I got closer to the stage entrance.
“The brave girl who’s been through horrors and survived—our very own little town hero, please welcome Ms. Belle Hanaway!”
Chapter 15
“Go,” hissed a man with a mic in his ear, and almost pushed me onto the stage.
The clapping and cheers intensified as the crowd caught sight of me. I was blinded by the dazzling flashbulbs, but I was almost used to that now. Some people were shouting, waving placards, and some even seemed to be proposing marriage. That was flattering.
I could only see the first two rows of people. The rest of the cro
wd was just a black mass, and I couldn’t make out if any of the brothers were really here.
I shook the mayor’s hand—clammy—and he reluctantly let me have the podium. I cleared my throat twice to make the noise stop. I could feel myself sweating, partly because of the bright lights, mostly because I was so nervous I couldn’t breathe.
“Most of you,” I began, trying to sound clear and confident, “Came here expecting me to release a statement about my captivity. You thought I would tell you that I can’t remember anything, that I trust the police to find the men who took me. But that isn’t why I’m here today.”
Murmurs of confusion. I could feel the crowd’s uncertainty.
“I’m actually here today to talk about something called New Oil. Ever heard of that? I didn’t think so. Not many people know about it.”
There was a scuffle on the right. Someone was trying to climb onto the stage. I caught a glimpse of his dark blue suit from the corner of my eye, and knew it was Daddy. Finally, he caught on to what I was doing. But it was too late.
“You might be wondering what that has to do with my abduction. I’m getting to it, trust me. But New Oil happens to be the answer to all our energy problems—it’s so pure that it can be poured almost directly into the tanks of our cars, there’s enough to last us a century or more. Best of all, the largest source of it is only a hundred miles away.”
“What are you talking about?” a man yelled from the back.
“It’s all true,” I said calmly. Lenny moved through the crowd, distributing sheaves of copies of all the documentation proof we could get our hands on. “You’ll be receiving an information packet from my sister that explains everything. There are satellite maps, internal drilling records—“ courtesy the Emerys, of course, “—and records that show the site was bought by a shell corporation that can be traced to none other than my father. Please don’t allow him to leave the building,” I added, as I saw him trying to shove past the security guards at the door.
It looked like he knew he couldn’t stop me from revealing his secrets, and the only thing he could do now was escape with his skin. A shot rang out and people screamed. Daddy had shot the guard in the arm, and ran past as the man fell down in a daze.
But just then he came limping back, in front of a large man in a hoodie who had him in a headlock that looked painful. He was followed by three others, similarly dressed. Their height, their bulk, and the way they walked…I would have known them anywhere.
“Is this true?” a woman yelled at Daddy, as he was marched to the front of the room. “How can you explain this?”
He wasn’t brimming with the usual confidence, and the tussle with the brothers left his suit wrinkled, with buttons ripped. He was sweating profusely as well.
He didn’t look at her, or acknowledge her question. Instead, he looked directly at me.
“You stupid cunt,” he said with murderous rage in his eyes. “I should have put a pillow on your face when you stopped being useful.”
Some people gasped, and the room fell silent. Nobody could believe what he’d just let slip. Nobody except me.
I knew that all it took for Daddy to come apart at the seams was to make him believe he’d lost control of the situation. It undermined his confidence, and made a huge crack in everything he believed about his world.
And the only thing that I could possibly attack was his illegal business activity.
I couldn’t prove any of the things he’d done to me. I knew very well how it would go if I announced that my own father allowed his business associates to molest me. There would be an uproar at the press conference, they might take me seriously enough to arrest him at first, but without any evidence, he would go free a few weeks later.
And I would be labeled the delusional liar who tried to smear a good man’s reputation. Nobody would believe me after that. Worst of all, Daddy would get off without punishment. And that was unacceptable.
I watched numbly as he was finally led away in handcuffs. He was spitting, and swearing at everyone in sight. They could all see his true ugliness now.
The lightbulbs were directed at him, breathlessly waiting for anything they could use on the nightly news.
The bright lights on the stage flickered off, and everything around me grew dark. I realized that my fifteen minutes of speaking time were up, though nobody could have predicted it going this way.
The mayor was still there in the wings, surrounded by a group of his assistants. They looked like they were frantically trying to think up strategies for how to deal with the questions that would be leveled at the mayor’s office.
I didn’t care. That was his problem.
And once the furor died down, when they remembered to ask questions again about who kidnapped me—well, we would all be far away by then, and safe.
I found Bridgette and Lenny, following Daddy’s exit with stony eyes. I knew now that they would agree to stay with me—with us—in the cabin in the mountains. We had to figure something out so they could finish school, but I was confident that it could be done.
My eyes wandered to the darkest corner of the room. The one where four men stood, arms crossed, not speaking. They took care to hide their faces, but I knew their features by heart. I could have drawn them all in my sleep.
As on, they turned towards me, and I felt the delicious shiver of mingled fear and pleasure under the weight of their gaze.
The corners of my mouth turned up.
“I’m coming,” I murmured.
Chapter 16
“Hush,” Derrick said softly, and slipped something around my eyes. It was made of silk, dark as night and blinded me instantly.
I was obediently quiet. That was something I learned well after my time with them. When to be obedient, and when to rebel. It didn’t hurt that rebellion brought with it the most delicious punishments.
Hands roamed my body greedily. It was our first time together after everything, and I felt like a dying plant, withering away without their touch. For the first time since I left them, weeks ago, I felt like myself.
I arched into their touch, shivered at the calluses that rubbed my skin harshly, and moaned when one of them flicked my nipple or thrust a hand between my thighs.
I was the one who insisted that I wanted all of them this time. Together. The thought frightened me and excited me in equal measure. It was daring, maybe even stupid.
But they agreed, just as I knew they would. All of them were hungry to sink their cocks into my sweet heat, and I knew none of them wanted to wait. And I didn’t want to choose either.
Two hands massaged my breasts, sending licks of pleasure into my clit. A mouth enveloped my nipple and began to suck—hard.
“Ah!” I cried out, shuddering, but the chains didn’t allow much movement.
I was entirely at their mercy, and they loved it.
I didn’t know whose hands and mouths were where, and it didn’t really matter. I became lost in the ocean of feeling, of skin on skin, and the stimulation that was driving me mad.
Every inch of me was being explored. I didn’t try to resist when a hand reached between my ass cheeks, or between my legs.
“Tight,” I heard someone grunt disapprovingly, as he pressed a finger into my hole. Yes, I was tight. I hadn’t touched myself or used any toys in all this time. I wanted to be so perfect for them.
“Didn’t you take care of yourself, little rabbit?” Rohan breathed in my ear, before sucking it into his mouth lewdly.
“N-no,” I stammered. I was barely holding it together, as two fingers entered me mercilessly and pounded in and out. I was soaking wet, but my hole might as well be virginal.
“Good rabbit,” he said, sounding satisfied. My heart soared. I’d done something right.
The two hands massaging my breasts and rubbing my nipples now brought them together, rubbing them and playing with them. I moaned as something big and thick slid through the tight passage in between.
“You’re going to like me
coming on your tits aren’t you, pretty girl?” a voice said, pumping in and out, long and slow. I felt the skin of his cock drag against the softness of my breasts and nodded. I had to admit, I wanted it, wanted to feel his come splatter on me, ribbons of white against my pale skin, maybe lick it off my chin later like a satisfied cat.
Killian was playing with my ass. He was always obsessed with it. That first time in the shower was only the beginning. Somehow, my hole didn’t get any looser even with him pounding into it. This time, he was taking his time stretching me, and I clenched around his finger which was cold with lube.
“Ah!” I cried out as I felt a wet intrusion into my puckered hole. There was something slick and wet, sloppily sucking at the rim of my hole. It was his mouth, hungrily licking and sucking at me.
“St-stop,” I said, trying to move my hips away, but he had his hands on me and held on with an iron grip.
“You’ll learn to like this,” he growled, and I forced myself not to resist as he went back to loosening me up for his cock, a fraction of an inch at a time. It wasn’t easy, but he seemed to relish the challenge, licking his way into me until I was a sobbing mess. He started fucking me with his tongue, thrusting in and out until my passage was slick with his spit.
For a moment it all stopped, and I could feel the cool air of the room lapping at my hole, but then I felt something huge and thick pressing against the entrance. I gasped as Killian entered me, all in one deep, impatient thrust like he did last time. I fit around him like I was made to be a glove for his cock, hot and tight.
“You feel so good,” he rumbled into my ear, and I bared my neck for him to nibble and bite into as he moved in and out of me.
“Gunner never had his turn,” Derrick’s voice came, sounding short of breath. I realized that he must be the one riding my breasts.
“That’s right,” Gunner said thoughtfully. I guessed that he was the one stroking the inside of my thigh, sending feather-light tingles through me, and fucking me slowly on two fingers. Somehow without speaking, he and Killian reached a rhythm with their thrusts, and each one was sending me to dizzying new heights. “I suppose we had to find out eventually if she could take me.”
