Cutting Cords

by Mickie B. Ashling

  Again? “Err, sure, but I need a few minutes. Will you give me that much?”

  “How long?”

  “Maybe ten?”

  He rolled off and scrambled clumsily to his knees. “You have five minutes while I go and get us some water. If you try anything stupid, just remember that your life is in my hands.” He pulled a stiletto knife from his boot, which he’d never bothered to remove, and waved it under my face. “I can fuck up your other eye, and you’ll end up as blind as your boyfriend.”

  I shrank back as far away as possible. “Do I look like I’m going anywhere?”

  He cut through the rope and freed my hands before he heaved himself off the floor and walked out of the room with his monstrous cock swaying between his legs. I had this horrible urge to puke, but I took several deep breaths to try to push the thought aside. I crab-crawled toward my jeans and reached into one of the back pockets. My phone was still there, thank God, and I switched it on, quickly turning the ring tone to silent. Scurrying back to my former spot, I lay on my side and contemplated my next move.

  Was the gorilla serious about the money? How could I pull this off and get him to betray Noriko? Could I keep using sex to distract him? Was he really that stupid or was he humoring me to make sure I’d cooperate and give him the time of his life?

  I was filled with self-loathing as the gorilla’s spunk continued to trickle out of me, and hot tears filled my eyes and overflowed down my cheeks. The salt probably aggravated my injury, and it felt like there was a colony of hungry ants burrowing into my flesh. Briefly, I wondered what my life would be like without an eye. In the big scheme of things, it didn’t really matter now that I had HIV to contend with if I survived this. Was the guy clean? He looked healthy, but that didn’t mean much these days. With the advent of the miracle cocktail, it was possible to be positive and still look good.

  I heard babies crying in the background, and the realization that the twins were alive and close made this all worthwhile. If Cole could find us, his family would be restored and he’d be rid of this ongoing threat. I just needed to hang on for a little bit longer.

  Noriko’s strident voice cut through the silence. She’d spied the gorilla on his way back and wanted to know if he was done with me.

  “Is he dead yet?”

  Fucking bitch. I knew she was poison from the word go, but never in my wildest dreams had I thought she was psychotic. Her question about my demise was so matter-of-fact it was as if she was asking if it was going to rain tomorrow.

  “Not yet,” the pig rumbled. “What’s the rush?”

  “You’ve had your fun; get rid of him.”

  “You said I could have him all night.”

  “Don’t tell me you’re actually enjoying that bony mess.”

  “He’s entertaining.”

  “Don’t you dare get distracted, Kouki. We have work to do, and I want him out of my life for good. Take care of it now!”

  Her tone brooked no argument, but the guy volleyed with a loud growl and more indecipherable Japanese and she stopped yelling at him.

  When he stepped back into the dim room, I could see he had two bottles of water, and he handed one over. “Why does my sister hate you so much?”

  “Your sister?” I squeaked in surprise. As far as Cole and I knew, Noriko had been an only child.

  “Not my blood sister, but I grew up with her here in the okiya, so we call each other brother and sister.”

  “You know she’s going to throw you under the bus if you get caught.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “If the cops figure this out, she’ll tell everyone you’re the bad guy.”

  “We won’t get caught.”

  “I hope not, for your sake,” I said, trying to put some sympathy into my words. Planting a few seeds of doubt into his lame brain might buy me some extra time. It was worth a try at least.

  “Noriko will take good care of us. She always has.”

  “I can do better. Are you ready to listen to my offer?”

  “Not yet,” he said, zeroing in on my cock. “You promised to ride me.”

  Christ, he had a one-track mind.

  He sank down on his knees, drew out his blade, and before I had time to register his next move, he cut my chest in a shallow line from nipple to nipple.

  I cried out in shock and grabbed his wrist to try to stop him. “What the hell, man?”

  “Noriko says you like to be cut.”

  That goddamn bitch had used my own personal demons against me. “Not like this.”

  “How, then?”

  “Can’t we just get on with the fucking?”

  “Show me how you like to be cut.”

  “I don’t.”

  He pointed to my thighs, and I knew he was seeing the silvery lines of old scars that had faded through the years. There were ugly remnants of my tortured past. “You prefer to do it yourself?”

  “No!” Jesus….

  He made another gash, a little lower this time, and smeared blood all over my chest with his free hand. It was excruciating, but I bit my lip to keep from crying out again. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction, or it might turn him on even more. His club was primed, and drops of precum oozed out of him like a leaky faucet. He was most definitely a sadist, and when he sliced me again, I opened my good eye and saw that I was covered in blood. The wounds looked fatal, but I knew better. I happened to be an expert at slicing and dicing, and this guy was just having a good time at my expense. It hurt like hell, but I would survive if he stopped at this point.

  “Weren’t we going to fuck, or would you rather keep on with the knife play?” I asked, hoping to break his trance. He was in another zone, and I had to get his mind off torture and back to sex, or this could turn really nasty.

  He grinned. “Sit on me,” he said, wrapping bloody hands around my waist and effortlessly picking me up and positioning me over his cock.

  “What about the lube?”

  “No need,” he said and impaled me with his upright cock. “You’ve still got cum leaking out of you.”

  Oh God.

  “Start moving or I’ll cut you where it really hurts,” he ordered, pointing the tip of the blade at my balls.

  I shut my eye and began to ride the fucktard. It would have been so easy to wrap my fingers around his neck and squeeze the life out of him, but I knew I wasn’t strong enough to hold him down. I couldn’t pretend I was enjoying this anymore, but he didn’t give a shit—too caught up in his own pleasure to notice I was limp and tears were pouring down my face. He cut me a few more times for the hell of it, and when I reacted, he backhanded me and demanded that I keep on moving. I switched off my brain and did as I was told, ignoring the wrenching pain that tore through my battered ass. He was tearing me, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it other than pray this would be over soon.

  Chapter 18

  THE BASTARD threw me off the minute he climaxed, and I lay on my side covered in his filth and my own blood. Noriko stuck her head into the room and screeched at him to get on with the business of killing me instead of lying around in a sexual stupor.

  “We’re running out of time,” she reminded him. “The exchange will take place in eight hours, and you’re still messing around with him. Strangle the queer and get this over with. We still have to figure out what to do with the body, and did you have to be such a goddamn pig! This room is covered in his DNA.”

  “I’ll clean it up,” he murmured. My fierce captor had turned into a trained monkey the minute Noriko walked through the door.

  “You’re all the same,” she remarked with contempt. “Stupid fags who think nothing is more important than their cocks.”

  I cracked open my good eye as soon as I heard the word fag and saw that a portion of her left hand was wrapped up in gauze. She’d obviously done the deed, lopping off her pinkie to make sure she fit the role of hapless victim. What a calculating bitch.

  Gorilla stood up, grabbed his jean
s, and lumbered toward her. “You said I could do anything I want with him.”

  “That didn’t include this blood bath.”

  “What I do on my own time is none of your business,” he growled.

  She slapped him viciously. “You’re on my time.”

  “No, I’m not,” he volleyed. “I don’t report for duty until eight, and that’s two hours away.”

  Holy crap! Is he planning on torturing me for two more hours? Where in the hell is Adachi?

  “Let’s get one thing straight,” Noriko continued, moving closer to him. She had to look up since he loomed over her, but she didn’t seem in the least bit intimidated. “You’re mine 24/7. There’s no such thing as on and off duty where I’m concerned. Without my support, you and the others would be living on the streets. Even the Yakuza didn’t want you, Kouki. Don’t act like a tough guy when I know you’re nothing but a big pussy who likes to play with boys. You’ve messed this up from the beginning, letting Sloan spot you in several places when you should have been invisible.”

  “It was that damn dog.”

  “The dog is a part of Cole, and there was no getting around that.”

  “Sorry,” he said, sounding like a child.

  Maybe the guy really was mentally challenged and Noriko the only one who could tolerate his stupidity. I could try to turn him against her, hoping it would buy a little more time. There was no way I could pretend to enjoy the sex when I was torn up and bleeding from several places. My imagination wasn’t that good.

  Noriko shifted to her simpering geisha voice I’d heard her use on Cole several times. “Come on, Kouki. Do your job, and everything will be fine. In a week, you’ll have the Harley I promised, and this will just be a bad dream.”

  Harley? Shit! Who knew I came so cheap?

  She left the room, leaving a scent of jasmine in her wake. The pig shuffled over to my corner and kicked me in the ribs. I flinched but didn’t make a sound.

  “Open your fucking eyes,” he demanded.

  I cracked one open, because the bad eye was still glued shut. “She hates you because you’re a queer.”

  “No, she doesn’t,” he protested. “My onēsan loves me.”

  Amusement bubbled up from somewhere, and I laughed out loud. “Are you fucking kidding me? Your big sister treats you like shit.”

  “Only because I’ve disappointed her.”

  “She’s a homophobic bitch and sees you as nothing more than an animal. Look around, cookie. There’s no electricity in this dump, and we’re only warm because it’s the height of summer. I don’t see any radiators or heating vents anywhere. What’s it like in the winter?”

  “This okiya is divided into two sections. We’re in the original part that was built before World War II.”

  “I’m surprised it survived the bombings.”

  “We were luckier than most.”

  “If you say so. Still, it’s a dump and should be razed to the ground.”

  “Onēsan didn’t pour any money into this section. The newer construction has all the modern stuff.”

  “Which side do you live in?”

  “This is my room.”

  “I rest my case,” I said. “You’re nothing but her flunky.”

  “She paid for an American tutor so I can speak good English.”

  “Because it suited her.”

  “You’re a troublemaker,” he said, kicking me harder this time. Pain radiated around my lower back, and I wondered if he’d damaged a kidney or something. “She’s right about you.”

  “Do you really believe that?”

  “You broke up her marriage.”

  I groaned. “Give me a fucking break, cookie. Cole is gay, and Noriko’s geisha wiles didn’t work on him. I had nothing to do with that train wreck.”

  He looked down at me, and I wondered if I’d made any kind of dent in his tiny brain. Couldn’t he see that Noriko hated him as much as she hated me? His gaze swept over my body and zeroed in on my cock, which lay limp against my thigh. Despite the blood and dried up spunk, he was getting turned on again. I could see the obscene evidence growing larger by the minute, and although a part of me screamed in protest, the survivor kicked in and sighed in relief. He wasn’t quite done with me, and I’d have a little more time. I grabbed my cock and began stroking. The heat flared in his eyes, and I knew I had him.

  “Get on your hands and knees,” he said gruffly. “I’m not done with you.”

  “How about cleaning me up before you get started?”

  An openhanded slap landed viciously against my ear, and the blow had an immediate effect on my balance and hearing. I toppled over and lay still for a minute as I tried to regain my equilibrium. He was still talking, but the words sounded muffled.

  “Do as you’re told, you stupid fag. Get up!”

  The adrenaline shot through every corner of my body as I realized he was about to kill me. He would wrap his hands around my throat while he was fucking me from behind. My plan of being rescued hadn’t paid off, and if I was about to die, there was no way I was going down willingly. I kicked him in the nuts with every bit of strength I had left. The move took him by surprise, and he fell against the kerosene lamp and knocked it over. The blue flame flickered but then roared to life as the tatami mat caught a spark. Within seconds, the blaze was out of control. Kouki looked horrified and searched for something to put it out. All he had were the two bottles of water that were half-empty.

  In frustration, he turned toward me and lost it. Grabbing my throat, he began shaking me like I was made of cloth. Somewhere, I found the strength to fight back, and I raked his face with my nails and kept on kicking him, hoping it would loosen his grip on my neck. Meanwhile, the conflagration was devouring the dry straw mat like a starving beast. Thick black smoke curled around us, filling the room, and as I coughed to try to catch a breath, I realized my lungs would burn up long before my skin turned to toast. Godzilla must have realized the same thing, and he screamed some obscenity, pulled back his fist, and clocked me before running out of the room. I dropped like a stone and prayed that I’d suffocate before the flames consumed me.

  In the distance, I heard someone issuing commands in Japanese through a bullhorn. At first I thought I was dreaming. Who in hell uses a bullhorn to fight a fire? Then I heard sirens and realized I was about to be rescued, but I had to stay conscious long enough to crawl out of the room. I grabbed the bottle of water that had landed close by and splashed the remaining contents over my face. It revived me enough so I could see what I was dealing with. The fire was everywhere, and I didn’t really have too many options. I began crawling toward the open door, ignoring the flames that licked at my naked skin. Fear must have been driving me, because I was able to withstand the searing pain. I held my breath as long as possible, but eventually I had to inhale or die. The smoke burned through my lungs, and I began coughing. I fell facedown just outside the room. Something wet was nudging my face, and I heard a soft woofing noise, followed by loud barking. More dreams, I thought wearily. Freddie wanted to play.

  “Go away, big guy. Daddy needs to sleep.”

  He persisted, the hairy brat, barking loudly and pushing his wet nose against my cheeks. I felt something sharp prick my skin, but I was in so much pain everywhere else that it was easy to ignore. It was all a dream anyhow. Freddie grabbed my arm in between his jaws and managed to move me a few feet before I heard the muffled sounds of boots stomping around me and more commands in Japanese. Was I dead? If I died in Japan, did that mean I’d end up in Japanese heaven or hell? That would suck without an interpreter. On the other hand, the food would be really good. That was the last dumb thought I had before I passed out.

  THE SCREAMING woke me up. I could hear the pitiful yowling from a distance, and when I fought my way back to consciousness, I realized the noises were coming out of my parched throat. Patches of my skin felt like they were on fire, the worst sunburn of my life. Agonizing pain was crushing me, and I begged for drugs, hoping to lap
se back into the nebulous world I’d been free floating in. A body moved closer, and then I felt a quick prick as I was injected with something. It soothed me the minute it hit my bloodstream, and I passed out again.

  My next resurrection wasn’t quite so bad. I still hurt, but my curiosity trumped the need for oblivion. I had to know what happened. I opened my eyes, or rather, opened the one that worked. Cole was slumped in a chair beside the bed with Freddie hovering close by. Perhaps I hadn’t dreamed my escape after all. Did my intrepid hound rescue me?

  “Come here, boy,” I rasped. My voice sounded very strange, but it worked.

  He woofed as soon as he realized I was talking, and he nudged Cole, who sat up the instant he felt movement. They were at my side in seconds.

  “Sloan, are you awake?”

  “Where am I?”

  “Thank God,” Cole said softly. He held my hand and bent to kiss my forehead. “You’re in a hospital.”

  “What happened?”

  “There was a fire.”

  “I know, Cole. How did I get out?”

  “Freddie found you.”

  “I wasn’t dreaming?”

  “No, he tracked you to the back of the house. You would have died if he hadn’t found you in time.” Cole’s voice broke, and he laid his head on the pillow beside me and began to cry softly. “I was so fucking scared,” he said as he struggled for control.

  “That makes two of us.”

  “Are you in a lot of pain?”

  “Yes, but I want to know. Where’s that fucking bitch? Did we get her? What about the twins?”

  “You need to rest.”

  I clutched at Cole and pulled him closer. “Tell me.”

  “Was Noriko really behind this scheme?”

  “I’m afraid so. Do you have the twins?”

  “They’re safe.”

  “And Noriko?”

  “Gone.”

  “No! How did she pull it off?”

  “We’re not sure.”

  I let out a long, frustrated sigh. “We’ve got to get her before she gets us; she’s insane.”