“I knew it,” he snarled, and I watched as anger ripped through his body, hardening his features.
“You didn’t.” I gave him a sly smile and shook my head. “When that cane was in your hands, you had no idea what to believe.”
Adie ran a hand through his wet hair, scraping it back out of his face. “Why didn’t you fucking tell me? Jesus, Lo.” His eyes softened then, diffusing his anger, and I knew our relationship would be a little less strained from now on.
“You were in no mood to listen back then, and besides, as both you and I know, there are mic’s everywhere. I want Alain to think I’m on his payroll.” Adie’s fingers slowed, and I mewled, because the bastard was delaying my orgasm.
“You need to tell James.” I could tell by the sound of his voice that it was an order, but it wasn’t one I would obey.
“No. He needs to hate me. We can’t be anywhere near each other. You know that. The rules of your brother’s game are still intact. If James thinks I’m working for the other side, he won’t touch me. This is the only way I can play it.”
Adie thumped his head into the wall, closing his eyes. “What a fucking mess.”
We stopped talking. He was right, it was a clusterfuck, but there was nothing we could do about it right now. All we could do was drown in each other and block out the noise, so we did.
Positioning me higher on the wall, Adie then gave me a series of long, hard, powerful thrusts. Each one was so deep it hurt, but my whole body was a bruised, aching mess, so it hardly made any difference. Besides, the pain was no longer a problem because my body was gearing up for a massive explosion.
“Faster, harder,” I pleaded. “Let me come.”
Adie smiled, shook his head, and bit down on my clavicle. “Patience, little one. These things take time to build.” He gave me another three brutal thrusts, which had my clit firing to blow, before he stopped abruptly.
“Hmm, where are your manners, Lo? If you’re off to Il Piacere, you will have to remember them. You won’t be allowed to come without permission, and when you do, you’ll have to beg for it.”
“Oh, you can’t be serious,” I whined, while trying to grind my hips into his to fuel my own desperation. He left me to own devices for a moment, amused, as he waited for me to come to my senses. I did eventually, but only when I realised that my orgasm was not happening without his participation.
“Fine. Please may I come?” I said breathlessly.
Adie raised an eyebrow.
“What now?” I howled.
“Please may I come, Sir,” he growled.
“Please may I come, Sir,” I repeated, banging my fists onto his chest in frustration. “Please, please, please, let me come. I’m dying here.” I was. My body was torqued up tighter than a formula one race car, and it was desperate to be let loose.
“You know that when you’ve climaxed, I’m going to fuck your mouth and your ass?” he murmured.
“Promises, promises,” I panted.
Adie gave me a shit-eating grin before he pulled back and hammered into me, over and over again. My body was repeatedly thrown against the wall, as his cock speared me from base to tip. It felt like he was trying to split my cervix wide, while the pressure on my clit was building to epic proportions. When he thrust two fingers inside my ass without warning, I climaxed on a Tsunami of a wave, and screamed into his mouth, which was now attacking my tongue like an invading army. Seconds later, he released the remaining clamps on both nipples with a fierce jerk, and my orgasm continued for what felt like a lifetime.
It was at that point that I knew my monster was secretly an angel, he just didn’t realise it yet.
Chapter Twenty-Four - James
The outside of our prison has been off limits so far. I get a glimpse of verdant green grass and a whiff of lavender occasionally, but the closest I’ve been to nature this week is staring through a windowpane. It’s what I’m doing now, as it happens. Today, the sky is a deep cobalt blue, peppered with cotton candy clouds, and I can feel the heat of the day by putting my fingertips up to the glass. It will be a hot and sweaty fight, and I’m not looking forward to it.
Part of me says that I should just cede the upcoming fight in Lois’s favour. That’s the chivalrous part - the one that’s already in love with her. The other part says that if there’s any chance of keeping her safe whilst on assignment, I can’t be the one that loses. I can’t go through what Adie’s gone through and still function. At the very least, I’ll need to be able to run, and that won’t be possible if Alain’s had his whip all over me. Putting my head against the glass, I exhale heavily. Usually, I can make hard choices in an instant, but today I’m finding it impossible. It doesn’t help that I can still picture the expression on Lois’s face as I shoved my cock down her throat. When Alain and I had finished with her, she looked awful - defeated and crushed. I never want to see that look on her face again. I want my feisty wench back, but I can’t ask her for that. In fact, I’ll be doing the exact opposite. If we stand a chance at surviving through Il Piacere, I will have to break her into a million tiny pieces which have no way of being put back together. I am the bastard who can do all that to her and more. If things go how they should in a few minutes time, I’ll be buckling her into the restraints of the tank shortly. There aren’t many people who can cope with that and come out unscathed.
My iPhone bleeps an annoying alarm at me. Fuck. Slamming my fists against the window, I bang my head on the glass and then spin around, facing the door of my room. It’s time. Might as well get this over and done with.
The courtyard is a square, patio'd area of space backed by three solid brick walls. Hanging baskets filled to bursting with coloured flora adorned them, and various potted palms decorated the floor. A single, circular, cast iron table hogged the centre of the space, along with eight matching chairs. They were now being moved, so I guess Alain didn’t want his precious furniture and plants ruined.
Glancing around, I can’t see Lois anywhere. Perhaps she’d slept through her bleeping. If that was the case, I envied her. The bloody phone I’d been given drove me nuts.
Seeing the silhouette of a figure move through the glass frames towards the door, I expect to see Lois step out, but I’m greeted by Adie instead.
He put his hand up, acknowledging me. “She’s not in a good way. Be gentle.”
My head snaps up. Adie moves towards me in that easy, relaxed gait that tells me he has just fucked, and brutally so. I know him too well.
“What did you do to her?” I ask, my fingers already curling into fists.
“Nothing she can’t handle.” Lois then walks through the same door, her eyes shiny and red-rimmed from crying. She’s wearing a pair of loose, black running shorts and a short-sleeved T-shirt, underneath which I can see a sports bra. Normally, she just wears the bra, so something is up.
My eyes focus on Adie, and I wait, knowing my gaze will make him uncomfortable.
“She asked for it,” he says eventually, shrugging his shoulders and shoving his hands in his pockets. He desperately wants to get rid of my eyes upon him, but he knows that means losing, and Adie doesn’t like to lose.
“Asked for what?” My voice has the kind of clinical precision a surgeon has when asking for a scalpel. This is what happens when rage runs riot inside my body. It feels like my blood has cooled ten degrees, and all I want to do is figure out a way to kill the guy.
Before he can answer, Alain strides out, looking as fresh as a fucking daisy, in his trademark black suit. There isn’t a single hair out of place on his head, and he wears an easy mask of good humour. A couple of guards trail behind him, but they wait inside.
“Everyone present and correct?” he asks, rubbing his hands together. When he realises we aren’t going to answer, he nods his head. “Good. The rules are simple. The first person to knock the other out wins. Are there any questions?”
“Yes.” All of our heads spin around to Lois, who is now looking Alain straight in the eye. “
What will happen to James if he loses?”
Fuck. That really isn’t a question I want to know the answer to. Unfortunately, my feelings aren’t being taken into account here.
“He’ll be strung up and whipped, and then I might let Adie fuck him once or twice for fun.” Alain smiles coldly as the effect of his words sink in. “Any other questions?”
Lois didn’t bat an eyelid. She simply shook her head.
“Everyone ready, then?” Alain is impatient to begin. He’s obviously been looking forward to this for some time. It took some special kind of asshole to want to watch a woman being beaten up, but Alain was that all right.
“Lois, ask me.” I figure I’ll give her one last chance to avoid being fish food. Whether or not she’s working for Alain, she’s earned it. Back at the safe house, she saved my life, and I don’t forget things like that in a hurry. Although I wouldn’t relish the whipping, or getting fucked over by Adie, I’ll do it for her if she asks me. I can’t bear to think of her getting hurt, and she will if we put her in the tank. Lois doesn’t think much of my generosity, however.
“Fuck you, Leveritt. Let’s get this over with.” Her arms then come up in front of her, in a fighting stance, and we’re on.
We don’t keep our audience waiting. I figure it will be a kindness to get this over with quickly, so I don’t wait for her to attack. I come at her with a cartwheel kick, but this time she’s ready for me and dives out of the way just in time. When I hit the ground, she then tries to stomp her leg down on my thigh, but I move out of the way just in time and spring back to my feet. She knows that if she is to have any chance at all of winning this fight, she needs to injure me. If my legs are flying around, she’s already lost.
Before I have a chance to get my balance, Lois is all over me. She’s in Ju-Jitsu mode, and doing her best to get her legs around my chest, but she isn’t quick enough. Slamming an arm into her, I put enough distance between us, so I can come at her with my feet.
Charging forward, I take her down with a roundhouse kick, and lay her into the ground. The bloody woman is as slippery as an eel, though. Just when I think I’ve got my hands around her, all I’m left with is a fistful of her orange shirt. When she pulls away from me, it tears apart in my hands.
“Holy fuck.” The tear in the back of her shirt reveals a series of angry, red welts. Adie has gone at her with a whip. A fucking whip, for Christ sakes. I stare in shock, as if I can’t believe my eyes. The next thing I see is stars, though, as Lois thrusts the edge of her foot into my face. Fucking hell. Pay attention, idiot.
Grabbing the foot as it leaves my head, I spin it around so she lands on the floor, and I don’t let it go.
“Adie whipped you?” I ask incredulously. It isn’t something Adie would normally do. He has a bad relationship with the whip, for obvious reasons, and he can have plenty of fun without it. This doesn’t make sense.
“Adie whipped me,” she confirms, striking out with her foot so I lose my grip on it. “He then fucked me every which way into next year, while he pulled off all the rather unpleasant clamps he’d left all over my body. Get up, James.”
Jumping back up to my feet, I stare at Adie again. When this is over I’m going to lay into that bastard so bad, his face will look like I’ve come at him with a meat tenderiser. What the fuck is wrong with him?
Lois gets another kick in, straight to my solar plexus, which has me gasping for breath while I’m preoccupied with destroying him. Get a grip and concentrate. She’s playing you.
The next time she comes at me, I’m ready for her, and I take her out with a Butterfly twist. Landing on top of her, I grab a hold of her wrists, and say, “You asked him to, didn’t you?” Adie’s earlier words begin to make sense now.
“Took you long enough,” she grunts, twisting her face away from me.
“Why the fuck would you ask him to whip you?” Picking her wrists up, I then slam them back down into the concrete, making her gasp. “Answer me, or I’ll do it again,” I threaten.
“To see what he’d gone through. I also knew it would put you off balance if you saw it.” So, I’d been right, she was playing me. That was also why she’d told me he’d fucked her. She was trying to get a reaction, and she nearly had. It would do me well to remember she was in love with him. They were perfectly suited.
“You bitch. You fucking bitch,” I snarl.
“Just knock me out, James. You won fair and square, even after my best efforts. You the man. Congratulations. One decent slam to the back of my head on the concrete should do it.” Her eyes are glassy. Tears threaten to come at me from all angles, and I know she is trying desperately hard to keep them all in. She doesn’t want to break down in front of Alain. My anger turns to sympathy. In her position, I would have done exactly the same, so I’ll make this quick.
Closing my hand around her windpipe, I watch as all the fight leaves her body, and she goes limp in my arms. Then I release my grip. Her throat will be scratchy and sore when she wakes up, but it will be better than a day or two’s worth of concussion. If we’re playing in the tank later, she’ll already have enough to contend with.
Picking her limp body up in my arms, I turn to Alain, who looks decidedly unimpressed at the fight’s outcome. Too bad. What had he expected?
“Where do you want her?” My voice is cold once more and devoid of inflection. It will stay that way for a while.
Alain sighs. “You might as well fasten her in and get her set up. Adie will show you where it is. It’ll be a lot easier doing it now than if she’s kicking and screaming later. We’ll reconvene when she wakes up.” I nod and stride past everyone, gently manoeuvring Lois’s body through the open doorway. Then I wait for Adie to catch up. It doesn’t take him long.
“Is she okay?” His voice sounded odd, but so did mine, so I didn’t comment on it.
“Why do you care? You just beat the shit out of her.” Admittedly, Lois had asked for it, but that didn’t make it any easier to swallow.
“Look, I’m sorry. Alain had me training three girls this morning, and it fucked with my head. When I got out of there, I saw Lois trailing the halls, looking like a lost, broken thing and…”
I spin around, nearly taking him out with Lois’s feet. “She didn’t come to you, did she? You found the woman with her eyes swimming, on her last legs, looking for help, didn’t you?”
“Now, James…” I don’t let him finish.
“And then you swooped in like a vulture seeing roadkill. Is that about what happened?” My voice, if possible, is even colder than before.
“Well, yes, but she asked me to hurt her,” he says, indignantly.
“Because she wanted to forget, asshole.” I shake my head. If I’d had the use of my hands, I’d have used them to tear my hair out. What was wrong with him? Mind you, I wasn’t completely blameless, either. I’d done a number on her, and just left her to pick up the pieces. What did that make me?
“You should have been there for her,” Adie hissed back, telling me exactly what I’d just told myself.
“I can’t be there for her - not when she’s dressed in wispy bits of black lace and satin. It’s too fucking dangerous. I only have so much self-control, and when my cock’s just been fucking her face, it’s even less than normal - so I can’t be there for her. She should have thought about that before she decided to fuck me.” My voice is getting louder. The ice in my veins is melting, and before long it will be replaced with red-hot lava.
“You will have to be there for her in a moment, and in a couple of days’ time, so you’ll need to up your game, Leveritt. I can’t watch Lois die.” For the first time in ages, I hear true fear in Adie’s voice. It echoes what I’m feeling to a ‘T.’
Letting out a frustrated gasp of air, I say, “I know. Don’t worry, nothing is happening to her on my watch if I can help it.”
Adie sees something in my look, probably something that he recognises in his own, because he slowly nods.
“I trust you,” h
e says.
I return his nod. He has more faith in my abilities than I do, but I’ll try my best to live up to them.
Chapter Twenty-Five - Lois
I am not a good person. Good people don’t sign up to be assassins. More often than not, I am a calculating bitch who is plotting how to end someone’s life while saving my own. Just because my country says this behaviour is acceptable and tells me I am doing a great service for mankind, doesn’t make me any less of a monster. Everyone has a little demon inside of themselves, and we all choose whether to stifle them or let them grow. Mine seemed to be growing exponentially as of late.
When I’d spotted Adie out in that corridor, I knew what he wanted. I could see it in his eyes. I also knew that if I let him take me, he would mark me, and there was a chance that would anger James. I stood more chance in a fight with an angry, distracted James, than I would have with his normal cold-blooded self, so I’d taken a calculated risk. There was also the chance that he still had feelings for me, even after all that had happened, and if that was the case, he wouldn’t like the fact that Adie had slept with me - or at least, I hoped he wouldn’t.
On a good day, I wouldn’t have done any of those things. When I saw Adie my first thought had been to run, and if I’d been in my right mind, I would have made it safely to my room before barricading the door. Unfortunately, today had not been a good day. I felt as if someone was slowly and systematically fracturing my body from the inside out, and I knew I was coming apart. I also knew that if they put me in the tank, there was a chance I wouldn’t come out of it the same person who went in. The fact that neither James nor Adie would talk about it, wasn’t lost on me. That meant it was bad.
I’d been prepared to do battle and win whatever the cost, until Alain had revealed what he intended to do to James. A whipping, I could almost cope with, though it would have torn at the frayed edges of my conscience. Five strokes from the whip had been excruciating in the extreme, and with James, Alain would not have stopped at such a paltry sum. As soon as I’d heard that he intended to make Adie fuck him, though, the fight had drained from me. Winning had never really been an option, but that had confirmed it. I knew I would have to take one for the team, whether James liked it or not. He hadn’t, but he’d done what he had to do, and he’d been a lot kinder than I deserved.
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