by Vivi Anna
Then there was Kat. She’d been hung in the middle of the room like the trophy kill. She had been unconscious, until now, the bullet hole in her leg, thankfully, no longer bleeding.
As Baruch neared her hanging form, her eyes snapped open, and she seemed very alert, keenly aware of the Dark Dweller’s presence.
The implications of that made Hades’ stomach clench unpleasantly.
“You can’t escape me, Katarina. When will you learn, my darling?” He ran his hand over her form, starting at her breasts and down to the wound in her leg.
“Get your fucking hand off her.” Hades’ jaw throbbed with the effort to keep his words even, even though he wanted to scream.
Chuckling, Baruch turned and looked at Hades, amusement crinkling his eyes. “Oh, I’m sorry, Hades. Does it bother you when I touch her like this?” Baruch cupped her breast and ran this thumb over her nipple. “She seems to like it very much. In fact, I can already smell her arousal as it drips between her legs.”
Hades ground his teeth as he watched Baruch fondle Kat. He wondered what she was thinking.
He could see her face clench, imagined that she was gritting her teeth by the flinch in her jaw.
But she had yet to pull away, yet to say anything to her tormentor. Was she so injured she couldn’t move? Or was it something else? Something Hades didn’t even want to consider.
Satarah cleared her throat and moved farther into the room, her chin raised high. “Could I have my payment before you entertain yourself?”
Stepping to the side of Kat’s body, Baruch reached out and slapped Kat across the ass like a side of beef. “Don’t you want to watch?”
“Not particularly.” Satarah motioned toward Onyx and Leucothea. “I’d rather participate in my own entertainment.”
Lifting his legs, Hades tried to strike Satarah. “You rotten bitch!”
The action didn’t have the desired effect and only caused him to start swinging. His arms ached from the movement.
She avoided his gaze and took a step farther from him. “Yes, well, we all have our lots in life.”
She glanced at Baruch again. “May I have my toys and go?”
Moving away from Kat, Baruch waved his hand at one of his guards at the door. “Very well.”
The guard rushed over to where Onyx and Leucothea hung, a stepladder in his hands.
Hades took the moment to lock eyes with Kat. He wanted to know what was going on in her head. Did she have a plan to get them out of here? Was she playing opossum?
However, all he saw in the deep green depths was ambivalence.
Once Onyx and Leucothea were brought down from their chains, Satarah instructed her guard to herd them to her bedchamber. Hades watched them being led out of the room, although he imagined they would fare better with Satarah than with Baruch. The Inferno mistress was by far the lesser evil.
As Leucothea passed, she glanced up at him, tears streaming down her sallow cheeks. He saw the fear and sorrow in her face.
“You’ll be OK, kid.” He couldn’t stop his voice from cracking with emotion. He didn’t know if she could endure much more.
Leucothea turned away from him and sobbed into her hands. Onyx came up behind her and put his arm around her.
Hades was surprised Satarah allowed the contact. Where was the ruthless, sadistic woman he’d heard about? Maybe she had finally found more than her match in Baruch. It looked like he might have tamed her.
After Onyx and Leucothea were led out of the cell, Satarah was the last to go. When she was at the door, she glanced back at Kat and then at Hades. She held his gaze. After a few moments, she inclined her head and stepped over the threshold, shutting the metal door behind her.
Hades swore he witnessed remorse in her eyes.
“Finally. We’re alone. Just the three of us.” Baruch wandered back to Kat, moving behind her swinging body. He trailed his hand over her skin as he circled.
Kat tried to remain motionless. The virus bubbled inside her veins. It recognized its original source. It recognized its master. By not reacting, she kept it in check. But it wouldn’t remain dormant for long. It longed to be free.
She reasoned that if she didn’t react, maybe Baruch would give up trying to get her to respond.
With Hades so near, it was becoming increasingly difficult. The pain and anguish on his face was almost too much to bear. She wished she could communicate to him her thoughts. Then maybe he would understand why she allowed the Dark Dweller to touch her, and maybe Hades wouldn’t look at her like he’d been betrayed.
“Why don’t you come over here, motherfucker, so I can rip off your other hand?”
“So much rage, Hades.” Baruch stopped on Kat’s left side, his hand still on her ass, kneading and pinching. “You should save that. You’ll need it later, I suspect.”
“There’s nothing you can do to me that’s going to matter, bloodsucker.”
Chuckling, Baruch ran his hand up and down Kat’s leg. She shivered in response. His touch was becoming more and more desirable. Her flesh was responding to him on its own as if it no longer belonged to her.
“Maybe not. But it’s not me you need to be worried about.” With that, he called to his guard.
“Get her down.”
Kat tried to keep still while the guard unshackled her wrists. What she wanted to do was push the guard aside, rip out Baruch’s throat, and throw her arms around Hades.
She saw the questions in Hades’ eyes. She witnessed the agony. But she was powerless to comfort him. Nothing she could do or say would bring him solace now. It was too damn late for them both.
She suspected what Baruch was planning. He finally had Kat and Hades together. And he was going to use their feelings against each other.
In the worst possible way.
The guard brought her down. She could barely stand on her injured leg, so he had to drag her out.
As she neared Hades, she kept his gaze. She wanted to tell him she loved him. That she’d always love him. However, the words wouldn’t come. They couldn’t help him now. Only one thing could.
As she was dragged past him, she mouthed two words she hoped he understood. Hoped he would know how difficult it was for her to ask. Because she knew it would be the last thing he could ever do.
Kill me.
Hades’ stomach lurched as the door to the cell closed behind Baruch. The Dark Dweller had been the last to leave, with a condescending smirk just for Hades.
He couldn’t have possibly seen Kat’s lips move, forming those words. She must’ve mouthed something else. He didn’t even want to consider the implications of what Kat had said as she was dragged out of the cell.
Once before, she’d asked him for the same thing. After Damian had bitten her, she made Hades promise not to allow her to turn into one of them, a Dark Dweller. He couldn’t do it then, and there was no way he could do it now. He wondered how she even thought he could get to her now. He was never one for giving up, but as far as he could tell, there was no escaping this time.
They were definitely up shit creek without even a spoon to paddle.
The door to the cell opened again, and three guards marched in. Three of Baruch’s guards. Dark Dwellers, every one of them. Hades doubted they had come to talk.
“Hey, big boy,” the tall, skinny one said, his elongated fangs peeking out from between his thin lips. “Baruch wants us to get you ready for tonight’s festivities.”
“Yeah? Which one of you is doing my hair?”
That earned him a punch to the midsection. The skinny one was so quick he didn’t even see him move. Damn. Maybe Hades should rethink his strategy. Bad-mouthing his tormentors may not be the wisest course of action.
Ah, hell! It wasn’t as if he had any other good ideas.
“Okay, so you’re not the hairdresser. That must make you the…cocksucker then.”
When the blow came, Hades managed to kick out a leg, this time catching the Dweller in the head. Still, Hades managed to ge
t scratched. The skinny man’s nails were long and sharp. Four long, deep furrows marred his right thigh. Blood dribbled onto the cement floor.
Hades watched in revulsion as the Dweller slid his fingers into his mouth and licked them clean.
“Mmm, you taste good.”
“Fuck you.”
That was the last thing Hades was able to get out before the three guards advanced on him with their claws and teeth.
26
Kat didn’t struggle as they dragged her down the hall and into another room. However, when she saw the apparatus they were going to strap her onto, she put up a little bit of a fight.
She supposed the guard holding her didn’t expect it when she crushed his head in a headlock and smashed his nose with her fist. The other guard definitely didn’t think she had the strength in her leg to kick him in the groin and push him to the ground.
Unfortunately she didn’t make it to the door.
Baruch wrapped his arm around her waist, picked her up, and tossed her into the corner as if she were a pillow. When she hit the wall and fell, her wounded leg twisted up under her. Pain slashed through her like a knife.
She guessed she wasn’t going anywhere for the time being. She was at Baruch’s mercy.
“Why do you continually fight me, Kat?” Baruch leaned down and clucked his tongue like a parent scolding a child. “You can’t win.”
“A girl can try,” she murmured.
“Yes, she certainly can.” Chuckling, Baruch motioned his guards forward. “I suppose that’s one of the reasons I want you so badly. Because you’ll fight me to the end. And I do love a good fight.”
The two injured guards grabbed her by the arms and lifted her, dragging her toward the wooden apparatus in the middle of the room. Pushing her over the padded middle, one guard pulled her hands down and restrained them with leather straps, while the other guard strapped down her ankles to either leg of the contraption.
The result was her bent over at the waist, her legs spread wide and her sex splayed open and exposed to anyone with eyes and fingers. She didn’t need to be a genius to know what was on Baruch’s agenda.
Already the virus was swirling to the surface, anticipating her sexual torture. An ache had already started deep inside her belly. It wouldn’t be long before it radiated a little lower and a little harder. Kat had a feeling that the alien force inside her body would not be denied any longer. It wanted its release, no matter what it had to do to get it.
As Baruch walked around her, she could feel his scrutiny on her flesh. It was as if his eyes had appendages of their own. Pushing and prodding their way into her body.
“I was almost worried in the other room when you weren’t reacting to my touch. But then I realized you were restraining yourself for Hades’ sake.” He trailed a finger over her left ass cheek. “Quite admirable. But wasted.” Sliding his digit over, he dipped it down into her ass crease, stopping at her anal opening. “The time for tormenting Hades will come, and there will be nothing you can do to stop it.” He circled her anus slowly. “If fact, I suspect you’ll delight in it.”
She quivered from the gentle touch of his finger. Biting down on her lip, she stifled the moan threatening to seep out. She could feel the virus rushing through her veins like adrenaline. Her heartbeat raced. Sweat popped out on her skin. And a deep, intense craving started to pulse between her legs like a ticking time bomb.
Baruch continued to trace a circle around her anus and then very slowly he slid his finger down into her aching cleft. “I can feel you sliding deeper into surrender. The virus rushing through your body feels me. Desires me. Wants me. You can’t deny it any longer, Katarina.”
He slid his finger into her wet channel. Swirling it around, feeling every inch of her inside, he slid it out and came back up to her anus. Slowly he pushed his digit into her opening.
Swells of rapture rippled over her as he thrust his finger in and out. She didn’t want to feel desire, but she couldn’t deny the pleasure he was giving her. Her body betrayed her heart and mind and delighted in the sensations rolling in and over her flesh.
“It could be like this forever, Kat. Pure, guilt-free ecstasy.” Picking up the pace, he gently inserted another finger into her ass. “Free your inhibitions, and take your pleasure for yourself.”
As he thrust, a hot ball of fire was building in her sex. It wouldn’t take much more for her to climax. She felt ashamed for that. This was her enemy, her nemesis. She should be ranting, fighting back, but instead she couldn’t stop the little gasps emanating from between her lips every time he drove into her. It felt incredibly decadent and dirty. Those thoughts just increased her level of pleasure.
“Mmm, I can feel your muscles contracting around me, Kat. You must be close to coming.”
Baruch withdrew his fingers. Kat nearly whimpered from the loss of contact.
Kat couldn’t see him behind her, but she could feel him take a step back from her. Again she could sense him staring at her gaping sex. His eyes seemed to bore into her.
“Mmm, so beautiful.”
The slap across her ass came as a shock, and she cried out from the contact. The flesh on her cheeks tingled. Again he spanked her. Harder. Sharper. Now her skin burned. And the ache between her legs intensified.
“Submit! Submit to the virus! Become one of us.”
He slapped her repeatedly until her ass was on fire. Burning need clawed at her insides. Wisps of pleasure flicked at the folds of her sex, causing jolts to zing up her body. The pain and the pleasure were blurring into a hot, molten ball of lust bubbling to the surface. Very near to exploding.
“Fuck you,” she managed to say. It came out as a groan and didn’t have the effect she was hoping for.
Baruch laughed, and the husky sound of his voice rippled over her like liquid fire, igniting her flesh. When she felt him kneel down behind her, she squeezed her eyes shut. The moment the tip of his tongue touched her inflamed clit, Kat thought she’d died. Jolting from the bombardment of sensations, she cried out.
She couldn’t hold the virus in for much longer. It was there, lingering at the channel of her sex, waiting for Kat to orgasm. Waiting for its release.
Wanting to be born.
Starting from her clit, Baruch laved the length of her cleft to her opening. Once there, he dipped in his tongue, pushing it in as far as it could go.
Her legs trembled violently. If she hadn’t been strapped down, she would’ve fallen, the pain from her wound all but forgotten as a hot flow of overwhelming pleasure washed over her.
The sensations were too intense. Too much. Kat found it difficult to form a coherent thought. All she was aware of, all she could think of was her delicious torment. It was irrelevant now who gave it to her. The pleasure was all that mattered. Finding release insurmountable.
Baruch continued to lap at her sex, suckling her clit into his mouth. Every time, she could feel the scrape of his fangs on her intimate flesh. She wondered how it would feel if he bit her there.
Violent shivers of anticipation rushed up her spine. A little more pressure on her aching nub, and she’d explode. Already the hot liquid silk of her desire dribbled out and ran down the insides of her thighs.
One more stroke, and she’d…
Baruch pulled back, her orgasm hovering dangerously near the edge. Clamping her eyes shut, Kat bit down on her lip, breaking the skin. She pulled on her restraints. The leather on her right wrist was already coming apart.
“Ah!” she screamed. She was so close to release. Her body trembled so violently her teeth chattered.
Baruch’s laugh made her scream again.
“Oh, so close, my love.” He walked around until he was standing in front of her. Crouching, he looked her in the face. “Are you aching for release, Kat? Can’t you just taste it?”
Kat fisted her hands and yanked on her restraints. She wanted loose so she could kill him. How dare he bring her so close and not give her release? Fury mixed with her lust. All she c
ould see now was red, literally. Everything around her had a crimson tinge. Like blood.
“Boys, why don’t you take a whack at her.” Baruch nodded to the two guards.
Kat could barely contain herself as she felt the two other Dwellers move behind her. She sucked in a breath when the first blow landed on her ass cheek. Another came, and another. Again her flesh ached and throbbed like it was aflame. Again her sex pulsed with ravenous longing, with uncontrollable lust.
“Hmmm, maybe I should summon Sar. I’m sure he would love a chance to spank you.” He chuckled. “Then to fuck you.”
Kat ground her teeth until she could taste blood in her mouth. She was vibrating with a strange mix of rage and desire.
When she thought of sex, she thought of blood. When she envisioned ripping out Sar’s throat, she imagined Baruch behind her fucking her hard in the ass. The two visions intertwined.
However much she wanted not to see them in her mind, she couldn’t separate them.
She pulled hard on her bindings. She could hear the pop of the seams on her wrist restraints.
Yanking with all her strength, she ripped her right hand free. Reaching out, she tried to grab Baruch. Her nails brushed across his cheek.
When he stood, she could plainly see three red scratches across his skin. He touched them with the tips of his fingers and smiled.
“Finally you’ve embraced it.” He nodded to the guards. “Looks like she’s ready to go.”
27
When the cell door opened again, Hades was not expecting to see Kat being dragged back in by two guards. Especially not kicking and screaming.
They dropped her just inside the door and then quickly rushed back out and slammed the door shut.
Growling like an animal, Kat launched at the door. She slammed into it repeatedly before giving up and slumping against it.
Hades rolled over onto his side from his spot in the corner. He hadn’t moved since being tossed into it after his brutal beating. One eye was swollen shut, his lips were broken and bleeding, and there wasn’t one spot of flesh on his body that wasn’t aching and bruised.
