“You will.” Val stopped. “Look at me.” He gave the order, and I obeyed. My eyes seeking his like an anchor I so desperately needed. His cock buried so deep the only thing I knew was him.
My eyes focused, and I saw pure need etched on his brutal features. Val caught within the same live wire, sizzling between us, connecting us, stripping us open from the inside out.
The pain fled as the feel of his cock buried deep sent the current spiking, demanding that he move.
"Fuck me." The words came out so rough I barely recognized my voice.
Val rode me like he wished to punish me, his cock taking everything it wanted and more. I threw my head back, driven so high I was afraid I would never be able to come down, my pussy clenching tighter with need.
"Please, Val I have to. Let me. Please." Fragments of words I wasn't even sure I was saying. So lost until he said the thing I had been longing for.
“Come for me Miranda.” I obeyed, shattering into pieces as stars burned a fiery path behind my eyes. I fell, crashing down as my scream echoed off the walls, drenching his cock with my release.
*
I had never felt more alive, Miranda falling apart was the thing that shredded my control. Ripping pleasure from her sent me over the edge, my cock gave one final brutal thrust as I came, joining her descent into beautiful madness. Collapsing against her my head landed on top of her shoulder. My breath was matching the fast beat of my heart. I had fucked her like a man possessed. I offered no escape as she became mine. Within the sound of flesh meeting flesh, the cries and moans bound us together as we fell apart.
*
I settled back into myself. I could feel Val’s weight against me. His heart pounding, matching the beat dancing inside my chest. Every part of me felt used, thoroughly rung dry. My arms sagged within the ropes; the throbbing ache hit home as the high faded.
“Val?” I called his name softly.
Lifting his head off my shoulder, he found my face. The wall slipped back up, and every trace of what had happened between us vanished. He had given me what I wanted. Nothing more, nothing less. He had inspired lust instead of repulsion, bright lights and blazing stars in a world where I had only known darkness. I waited for him to say something, but he stayed silent. He undid the ropes around my wrists and ankles and instead of freedom I felt nothing but a sense of loss. The twisted threads had been my last link as I found beauty within the binds and hope beneath a madman.
I sat up, drawing the sheet up and around me, rejection welling up making me numb. I wavered, nothing more than a dying light, I flickered longing for him to save this precious thing between us. He walked back and handed me a white dress shirt. I pulled it free from his fingers and tossed it over my head. The scent of him filled my nose and heat gathered behind my eyelids.
"I will leave so you can take care of yourself." He walked out without saying another word.
I had one last flicker and then I burned out, fading to black as my heartbeat became nothing but a dull thud inside my chest. My arms felt too heavy to lift, my legs blocks of concrete making impossible for me to move, but I knew I couldn’t stay here. I dragged my body from the bed and forced my feet move, stepping out into the soft light of the hallway, the crowns sparing me no mercy as ruthless sets of gold eyes mocked me when I walked by. I kept walking, keeping my head forward as I made my way refusing to look back.
Chapter Ten
I was in limbo, the tiny room becoming my haven waiting for Val to come back for me. Two days of nothing but silence had reminded me of my place here. Why had I tried to belong here, when all I could ever be was a piece of property? Nothing more than a pet on loan for a month. I couldn’t afford to care about people who would only forget me after I was gone. Val had only fucked me once, and he had already tossed me aside. I hadn’t even needed a month for him to grow tired of me. Selena had come by a few times to invite me out, but I refused. Since then food had magically appeared outside my door with a small knock. A knock startled me out of my dark thoughts.
"You can't sit in there all day. Open up; Val wants to put you to work.”
The voice seemed familiar and then I remembered...Eddie. The one who couldn’t stop staring at me, like a new piece of meat. I had tried not to pay attention while I had been checking out the club with Selena, but I hadn’t been able to ignore him. One brief moment of eye contact had caused my stomach to twist into knots.
Dread struck, quickening in my veins like settling concrete. I knew what type of work Val conducted after hours. Would he share me? Rent me out like a new toy so others could play with me for the right price. I got sick at the thought; fear crashed into me in waves as I fought the urge to throw up. The next knock came even harder causing me to jump.
"Hey, I said open up! The boss doesn't like it when you disobey so I suggest you listen, or you're not going to like what happens." Eddie's voice held something inky and black.
The tone made my skin crawl. I wanted to cry, but tears wouldn't help me. Still, I couldn't make myself open the door. Whatever punishment I would face, I would take. I had no plans to open the fucking door. Let Val come and get me himself.
Eddie pounded harder as I backed away.
“You stupid bitch, open up the fucking door!”
A hard thud hit against the wood. I heard the wood crack realizing that Eddie must be trying to force himself inside. Frantically I searched for something to use to protect myself, but the closest thing I could find was a pair of five-inch heels. If I aimed right and hit hard enough, they might work. Could high heels be deadly? Grabbing one, I backed myself into the wall behind me. Come on fucker, I thought to myself. I bet he doesn’t expect death by a shoe.
Luckily, I didn't have to find out if a shoe would work in self-defense as a new voice echoed through the door.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Selena yelled. “Have you lost your mind? You are lucky I found you instead of Val. He would have had your fucking head on a platter.”
Her voice sounded like music, hard hitting heavy metal, furious and in your face.
“V wants her out to work. She wouldn’t open the fucking door.”
“So you thought you could tear the fucking door down?”
"If that's what was needed. I get the job done Selena, besides she doesn’t even matter. She’s a whore, an expensive one, but a whore none the less.”
Those words did what the fear hadn’t, tears fell as the things Eddie said sent shame burning through me. The truth sharp tipped and ugly, and Val's rejection had only driven the shame and pain in deeper. I longed to close my ears, not caring to hear anything else, my wish granted as I realized deathly silence had descended outside my door.
“What the fuck did you say?” Selena’s voice shattered the dead silence, her tone dark and deadly. “Have your forgotten who you are talking to?”
The shoe fell from my fingers as I gathered the courage to open the door. The sight before me stopped me dead. Selena stood an inch away from Eddie’s face. Her features dark with rage that glittered off her like brilliant razor-sharp diamonds. I made a silent note never to piss her off.
Selena continued, not distracted by the fact I had entered the hallway.
"I think you need me to teach you a lesson. Val has let you believe you have the right to decide what goes on around here. He has let think you have the right to call people names and treat them with disrespect. You are wrong. Say one more thing and I will show you how wrong you are."
I found my voice from under the hurt and fear, and I moved closer.
“Selena everything is okay.” Part of me wanted to encourage Selena’s dark side, to keep the terror alive on Eddie’s face as she taught him the lesson she promised. I had no doubt she would win, and I longed to see the damage she could do. Selena had claws, I wanted to see them in action, but I thought Val might not like two of his employees fighting because of me.
Selena turned her attention towards me, and I no longer recognized the woman that had broug
ht me clothes a day earlier.
“I think he gets the message.” Reaching out my hand, I touched Selena’s shoulder. She flinched at the contact but then relaxed. I let out the breath I didn’t know I had been holding. I had defused the nuclear bomb that had been ready to detonate.
Selena found my eyes as she shook her head, trying to remove the demons breaking free from beneath the surface. I knew the action all too well; but I also knew no matter how fast you ran, you never could outrun the things hiding inside your nightmares.
“Apologize. Now Eddie.” Selena gave the command and Eddie looked at me.
I’m sorry.” The words dripped from his mouth, bitter and hollow. The aftertaste left me with the desire to stay as far away from him as possible.
“Get the fuck out of here, before I change my mind," Selena growled, and Eddie needed no further encouragement as he fled down the hallway.
Selena reached down, picking up a package from the floor. Ripping it open she pulled out what was inside. In her hands rested a pair of black jeans, black biker boots, and a black V-neck tee-shirt.
“Val’s putting you to work?” Selena asked as she handed the items out to me.
Once I had them, I took a closer look at the tee-shirt. The clubs name printed across the shirt in dark red letters. Bound and Bared stared back at me, mocking me with murky intentions and more questions than answers.
I wished I knew what to say. I wasn’t ready to voice the things I had thought of when Eddie had told me Val wanted to put me to work.
Selena narrowed her eyes as she waited for me to answer. Suddenly awareness flashed through her hazel eyes. “You thought he was going to put you to work downstairs.”
All I could do was nod, my knuckles turning white as I held the clothes in a death grip.
“Val is an asshole, but he's not evil Miranda. I know you might not see it, but he made a deal with your father so you would be safe. There is no way he would expect you to do what I do."
Curiosity got the better of me. I wanted to understand the lifestyle Selena was part of.
Selena didn’t miss a beat. “You are wondering why I do it aren’t you?”
“Before I ended up here I knew men just like your father. The kind who believe they have the right to do whatever they want because no one will ever try to stop them. Men who hide behind money and power, who love inflicting as much pain as possible because they get off on it. Bound and Bared is not for men like that. The club exists to give those like me a place where we can feel like we belong. A place that gives us freedom to explore our desires, the dark or different things the world outside might not understand. The mixing of pain and pleasure is not for everyone, but for those like me, it lets me purge my past and own my future. The most important thing you need to know Miranda is here everyone has secrets and Bound and Bared doesn’t require us to explain. It doesn’t ask us to be anything but who we are and the truth is, secrets always keep better in the dark.”
Selena's words struck deep; my whole life had been nothing but a series of secrets and lies. I had been kept in the shadows, dying in the dark. I began to wonder if maybe the shadows lingering inside Bound and Bared could bring me back to life. I had a choice. I could keep decaying, let my heart take its last breath inside a new twilight or I could embrace the black, plunge into the abyss not knowing what I would find. Did I dare try and discover what Val kept buried under Bound and Bared's watchful eyes? Despite what may come I knew my answer. I would risk everything for the chance actually to live.
Chapter Eleven
I stood outside the door of Val’s office, the name of his club now drawn tight across my chest.
I knocked. The sound is filling the small hallway. Not getting a response, I tried again, this time, hitting harder. For a brief moment, I thought Val wasn't going to answer. I knew he was there, and my hand prepared for an all-out assault against the door when suddenly it flew open.
The force that I had intended to put into the first-degree assault on Val's door propelled my body forward, and I landed hard against the wall of his chest. Strong arms wrapped around me and kept me from tipping backward. Held against his chest any thoughts I had disappeared. The feeling of being pressed up against him became the only thing I could focus on. I inhaled, the scent making me dizzy. God, had he always smelled like this? I tried to remember, but my brain flooded with memories of him driving his cock inside me. The only thought I could manage involved ripping his fucking clothes off and finding out where that delicious smell was coming from.
"Are you sniffing me?"
I jerked back. Oh god, had he caught me? Had I been that obvious? Tilting my head up I saw the tiniest hint of amusement lighting Val's eyes, fuck he missed nothing. It didn't matter. I would never admit to it. I would take the sniff to my grave.
"Why the hell would I sniff you?"
"I’m not sure princess. I thought I heard a sniff. I could be wrong." Val's eyes told me he knew he wasn’t wrong.
He could think what he wanted. I pushed myself off of him and tried to clear my head.
"Well since we have gotten the matter of you not sniffing me out of the way, care to tell me why you were attacking my door like a mad woman?"
"I wouldn't have gone postal on your door if you would have opened it the first time I knocked."
Val glared at me. “Did you ever think I could have been busy? I do have a club to run Miranda.”
"Busy doing what? Avoiding me? Sending your fucking lackey to break down my door as he called me a whore!”
I slammed my mouth closed. This conversation seemed to be going to hell faster than I could have imagined.
"Eddie did what?" Val's voice dipped low. His expression faded into one of sheer rage. Selena's face had morphed into the same look. Maybe after hours they sat around and practiced it together. Selena and Val's guide to looking scary as fuck.
"You could have come yourself, but you didn't. I'm sure he believed I had become a new meal on the menu. After all, he knew you paid for me. Did you tell him you fucked me too? After the way you left me, I am starting to think I'm available for anyone that wants a taste." The words fly out of my mouth faster than I could catch them. I had started tossing grenades in the air, with only their fragile pins keeping them from exploding.
The energy in the room hitched up a notch. I felt the subtle shift rolling through me, drawing me deeper into this war. Val’s office had become a battlefield. I stepped forward closing the distance between us.
"I've been a whore my whole life, Mr. Knight. What did you think my father used me for? I wasn't pretty enough to sell, but he found a way to make sure he got his money's worth out of me. I was the company toy, passed out to his men over and over again. If I refused, my sisters would have paid the price. I love my sisters more than myself. I have done everything in my power to protect them until I couldn't any longer. You became my last hope. I risked everything to come here. What do you want from me? Do you want me to admit you are the first man I have ever wanted between my thighs? That I enjoyed the feeling of you inside me? I didn't want this; I didn't want to feel anything, but you changed things. I don't understand, and I know in the end we are nothing more than a deal written across a page. Still, I can't stop this. I can't stop how you make me feel, and if you want the truth, I don't want too."
The confession spilled out, pulling the fragile pins out one after another. The air shifted as I waited for the fallout.
*
I absorbed Miranda’s words like slugs to the chest, every one of them a direct hit, causing me to bleed out. I only saw the color red, and it drenched my past, and I learned long ago that nightmares only came in one color. I clenched my teeth as my fists automatically curled into themselves.
When I raised my arm, Miranda flinched, her breaths coming out in gasps as she squeezed her eyes shut. Her back pressed into the door frame as she braced herself for a blow she now believed I would deliver. The reaction a hardwired act of self-protection as she no longer saw me
, but the monsters refusing to let her go. They hunted her as they haunted her, nightmares with teeth, driving her back into the dark.
My arm dropped, the sight of her reaction chilling me to the bone. I had never hit a woman out of anger. Her fear crawled through me, and I didn't know how to stop the bleeding, to repair the damage the simple act of her cowering before me had inflicted.
Reaching out, I did the only thing I could think of. I pulled Miranda close, and she tumbled into my body like a rag doll. Scooping her up I carried her to the couch allowing her face to press against my chest. She remained deathly still, her body completely rigid in my arms.
Sitting down, I took her with me. Setting her across my lap I tried to hid the fact I felt lost. I didn't know how to do this. Comfort wasn't in my nature; a strange language I had never learned. Here I was trying to give something I didn't understand, wrapping my arms around her in a dance of awkward motions and terrifying implications.
*
My fear slowly eased as I realized Val only meant to hold me. His hold was unsure like he didn't have any idea of what to do. I tried to relax as I let my head settle against his chest. His heartbeat pounded beneath my ear, and my heart reached out to match his beat. Is this what if felt like to be wanted? The thought struck like lightning, and I reminded myself not to be a fool. This thing between us wasn't real, and even though I knew the truth, it didn't stop me from wishing it could be. Houses made of sand would always wash away. Lies would fall apart, corroding the illusion you tried to believe in. Still, I tried to hold on, everything inside of me holding tight to those fragile grains of sand, buying into the lie so I could forget the truth for a second longer. My only hope came with the thought Val might be lying to himself as well.
Chapter Twelve
I tried not to move. I had felt the moment Miranda had relaxed. The moment she settled into me, it seemed familiar. I flinched when her hands found my face, the touch completely without thought, a simple action of skin meeting skin, minuscule points of contact that seared me to the bone. Miranda craved touch the way I sought to avoid it. I couldn't understand. I knew what the years of her living with her father had done. I had heard the awful truth spill from her lips. Despite everything she still sought contact, she turned toward the source like a flower seeking the sun.
Unbound (Bound and Bared Book 1) Page 5
