The hunters had some old-fashion fucking ideas. Understanding Daederich’s stance made this performance trivial. The man was no less in Elah’s eyes for having been raped by Cyrus. Elah wasn’t even that sore. He’d hurt worse taking a shit centuries ago when he’d been mortal.
“I’m a little hurt that you didn’t offer dinner first. Perhaps a kiss?” Elah chuckled and braced himself on his elbows when Daederich frowned at him. So much for giving the man a hint of willingness.
Then again, Daederich understood the way performances were supposed to play out. Perhaps Elah was ruining the act.
“Fuck him, Joe!” Rosali’s delighted voice rang out over the din of the crowd. All went silent as she clapped her hands. “You’re both so fucking hot. I can’t wait to share you with my men.”
Daederich went still with his hand on Elah’s hip. He cursed quietly, his fingers digging into Elah’s flesh.
Elah drew in as much air as his lung would hold and spoke softly. “Fuck me, Daederich. If we’ll be passed around, I’d rather take you first.”
Bending over him again, Daederich took hold of Elah’s jaw and drew him up as much as the chains would allow. He claimed Elah’s lips in a desperate, bruising kiss that told Elah all he couldn’t say.
They’d become friends searching for Lydia. Almost brothers. Daederich had lost an innocent girl he’d hoped to spare the pain of rape when he’d gotten her pregnant. That clearly wasn’t a risk now, yet Daederich had a history of losing lovers to untimely deaths.
You’re not his fucking lover.
Better his lover than his bitch, Elah cut off his inner, tight-assed hunter irritably. This mission would take more than his training and experience. He panted into Daederich’s mouth as the other man pressed firmly against him.
The man would be hung like a fucking horse. Elah struggled not to groan. Or laugh. The sense of humor that had pissed off his masters when he was young might come in handy, but not if their captors caught on. And while Daederich had no choice but to fuck him, others would take great pleasure in mounting one of the mercenaries who so often spoiled their fun. Not to mention those who had a taste for other men.
Which Elah couldn’t grasp, but he’d never gotten the point of sodomy either. He’d done many things with women, but why fuck a dry ass when there was a nice wet pussy available? Not that sex had ever been a priority. As a hunter, most could count lovers on two hands. After almost three centuries, Lydia had been Elah’s sixth.
Daederich would be his seventh.
None of them had kissed like this man. The pressure of his lips held more emotion than he’d ever displayed. There were several feminine sighs from the crowd, enjoying the tenderness. Elah wasn’t sure if letting Daederich kiss him made this better or worse. The affection couldn’t continue if they were to keep up the act. Only Daederich had to understand that Elah was willing. Knowing the man’s reasoning, Elah wouldn’t force Daederich to rape him.
Their friendship would survive if they did, Elah would make sure of that. And he would do whatever necessary to make sure Lydia didn’t see Daederich as the enemy. No matter how long it took.
But until they were free, he had to perform. Had to let the crowd see what they wanted to see.
And a hunter didn’t go down without a fight.
He bit Daederich’s bottom lip. Licked the flow of blood with a shaky laugh. “Just let it happen? Rip me open, you sick fuck. Enjoy what you can take. Because I will break free. And you will be the first man I kill.”
Daederich pressed his eyes shut, licking his lips as he regained his bearings and gave Elah a cold smile. “You may hate me now, but you’ll hate yourself more. Because you’ll enjoy everything I do to you.”
“No.”
“Yes.” Daederich pushed into him, groaning as his dick filled Elah’s ass. “Scream for them. They fucking love it.”
My nails dug into the wood of the railing as I watched Daederich pound into Elah. Cyrus stroked my arm, as though to comfort me, but Rosali was enjoying the show. She managed to cut the rest of my dress without cutting me and her fingers slid over my cunt. I tried to twist away the first time her fingers dipped into me, but Cyrus held my arm and brought his lips close to mine.
“Let her play with you.” He cupped my bare breast in his hand. “You’ll live much longer if you amuse her.”
Her fangs sank into my throat even as her fingers pushed into my pussy. Her hand in my hair made sure I never looked away from the stage. A man came to me, one with long blond hair bound at his nape, and Rosali growled at him to kneel, my blood spilling past her lips to drip onto my breasts.
His fingers joined hers, stretching me. He bit through the fabric still covering my stomach, thrusting his fingers up hard as he undid his pants and began stroking his own dick.
“Cyrus, have you brought her simply to play with?” Rosali brought the knife in her free hand up to my breast, slitting the sensitive flesh. The cut was ragged with her and her man finger fucking me. She brought the blade to my throat. “You’ve starved our pet. I could kill her so easily. Do I have to? Do you care for her?”
Cyrus met my eyes as he shifted behind the man crouching before me. He looked troubled, but then he smiled.
“She’s one of my favorite toys, but I brought her to share with you. Do you like her, my dear?” He moved out of sight and Rosali let out a happy sigh. “She’s warm and wet, just how you like them.”
“Yes, but I want you. My man will use her, but I want you to make love to me like you used to.” The knife pressed against my throat, slick and warm with the spill of my blood. “Watching them makes me want you. We make such beautiful pets together.”
Cyrus ran his hand down my side in a strangely comforting gesture even as he moved closer to Rosali. “We do. But have you learned not to break them so quickly? With this setup, I assume you’ve come to appreciate their value?”
Rosali nodded against my shoulder as she pulled her fingers free. “I have. But you don’t have her in a cage like the rest. Why? Is she special?”
Cyrus laughed. “Of course not. After you, who could mean anything to me?”
“Will you put her with the others? She does well with Joe.”
“Joe is a special pet. He needs to be alone. I’ll teach you how to toy with him.” Cyrus lifted Rosali’s skirts, pressing her against my back. “The hunter cares for Lydia more than he cares for himself. Cage them together and it will be amusing in the long run.”
Rosali cried out, barring her arm under my breasts as her man stood against me. His fingers left my cunt and he undid his pants, grinning at me at he used his knees to part my thighs. He guided his dick to my slit and pressed in, groaning as he rested his head on my shoulder.
Fingers slid over my pussy. Not the man’s, he was holding my hips as he fucked me. Rosali was feeling him slamming into me, even as Cyrus thrust into her. “She’s so wet. I want to see her opened wide, taking as many dicks as she can, bleeding as they’re shoved into her.”
“But not me. I’d rather enjoy you, my love.” Cyrus’s voice sounded strained, almost as though he was forcing himself to enjoy her.
She didn’t seem to notice. “Give me a moment. My men know how it’s done.”
Rosali drew away, Cyrus with her. The dick in my cunt disappeared. Chairs were removed by men in robes and a table was brought in.
Cyrus frowned. “Now?”
“You know I have no patience!” Rosali laughed. “Watch her with me, then make love to me. She’s the perfect toy. I’m so happy you brought her.”
For what seemed like forever, Cyrus glared at her. He clearly wasn’t used to giving up control. But when she arched a brow and met his gaze, he smiled.
“Nothing is more important than making you happy. I haven’t heard you laugh in far too long.” He stood by her side as the man who’d already touched me reclined on the table. Another man joined us, lifting me by the hips to help me straddle the other man.
His dick slid into me so easi
ly, tears of shame spilled down my cheeks. I was wet from seeing Daederich with Elah, no matter how disgusted I told myself I should be. As angry as I was, I still loved both men. I tried to push Daederich out of my heart, but his presence was as familiar as every single rhythmic beat. Elah was like a hand reaching out, steadying me as I tipped off balance. Seeing him under Daederich didn’t lessen his strength.
Instead, it made me feel like survival, despite the costs, was worth anything we had to go through. I held the expression on his face, eyes closed and jaw hard, in my mind as the second man settled between my thighs and pressed in along the first. He moved me over them both like I was nothing but a toy to use.
A third man came and I had to shut my eyes tight. I could feel him angling into me. Shoving deep. Stretching.
I pulled away from my body as they used me. Part of me was aware of the stretching, of the pain of being slammed into, of how close they were to one another as they strained in. As much as I tried to shut myself off, my pussy was being tugged in each direction. And it fucking hurt. Cyrus had forced himself on other women with another man, but he hadn’t done that to me. Which made sense if he’d claimed me.
But he couldn’t with Rosali. He seemed a little afraid of her. He would let her men use me, no matter the damage.
Then again, my body would heal. I wasn’t a mortal whose wounds would be permanent. As far as I knew, I’d had one, gentle lover before Daederich.
As an immortal, my body would always return to that state. If Daederich had found me snug, every man would. Be it one or three. The one on the bottom barely moved, simply enjoying the friction from the others. He moaned every time they jabbed in.
I bit into my cheek until I tasted blood as they used me. Disjointed thrusts and then the two men above me pressed in, kissing awkwardly and laughing. They weren’t lovers, but that might change. Rubbing dicks in a tight cunt did that. My blood was slick enough for them to glide against one another.
The heat of their bodies, the stench of them, smothered me. Darkness eating at my vision, stealing me away, gave me some relief. Reality would lose its grip on me, and no matter how short my escape, I was grateful for my mind’s attempt to shield me from the horror.
My body would heal in no time at all. The rest of me?
Waking to a nightmare can only be endured for so long.
Chapter Five
Cement walls painted white, bloodstained in streaks where I could see fingerprints if I looked closely. Chains on the wall across from the bed where I woke. On the floor, with iron shackles around one ankle and one wrist, I could barely make out a man laying naked, facedown on the dirt floor. His skin was caked with blood and mud, camouflaging him in the shadows until he rolled over.
Then I saw the barest hint of white and dark grey as his eyes opened in slits. I slid off the bed, using a blanket to cover my own naked body, inching closer to him, confused that it had taken me so long to recognize him. Elah was a man I’d known for…years it seemed. But to be honest, during all the time I’d known him, I wasn’t sure I could have described him if asked. His eyes had been brown, hadn’t they? Or maybe blue? His hair was either black or blonde.
He was taller than me, but that was the only thing I could say for sure. Which maybe wasn’t so strange at all. As a hunter, he managed to disappear in a crowd with ease, stand among friends or enemies without drawing attention to himself unless he chose to display his strength.
His strength was the one thing no one could forget. One look at him and none could doubt that he was a man to be feared.
Now, laying on the floor, lips parted, shuddering slightly, I couldn’t even see that.
But I saw him. The real him, for the first time ever. Whatever power he’d used to be so nondescript had faltered with the abuse of his body and mind. I knelt at his side and gently brushed flakes of drying mud from around his eyes, smiling when he stared up at me.
“Hey, hunter.” I held my breath as he weakly tried to lift his head and the scent of fresh blood filled the air. The blood didn’t smell right though…the scent was as weak as droplets on the earth being washed away in a downpour. “I’d say it’s good to see you, but that would be a fucking lie.”
“Missed you too, sweetheart.” He let out a raspy laugh, his words faint, as though he couldn’t get enough air in to form them properly. Like me, he didn’t need the oxygen, but the basics of speech were the same for us as for mortals. If he couldn’t breathe, talking would be a challenge.
I wouldn’t force him to keep trying. I stood, grabbing the sheet and pillow off the bed, keeping my tone light, like I wasn’t the least bit worried about him. He’d resent any pity I showed. “I hope you don’t mind, but it’s fucking cold in here, so I want to cuddle.” Carefully lifting his head, I placed the pillow under it. “Just give me a sec to get cleaned up. I’ll bring some water for you too if you—”
“Stop.” Elah sighed, his tongue running over his bottom lip without wetting it. “I’d rather you take care of me than try to tiptoe around my ego. Please bring some water. I… Fuck, I need to be clean.”
It felt like I’d been punched in the throat when he closed his eyes and tried to turn away from me. No matter how tough he was, what had been done to him had broken something inside him. When I’d been through the same, I’d had Daederich to lean on. All Elah had was me.
Yes, but he does have me. His lover and his friend. And damn it, I’ll be enough.
I had to be.
“If I give you some blood, you’ll heal faster. Maybe that will help.” I frowned when he shook his head. “Damn it, Elah, your blood is thin. I don’t know why, but you’ll take forever to heal like this.”
“And you don’t have enough to spare. If you weren’t so focused on me, you’d realize you’re not in hot shape yourself.”
“But I can stand.”
He managed to turn away from me now, so I gave up arguing with him and tore a length of the sheet before heading to the bathroom. This one was cleaner than the one I’d had in my original cell, but not much bigger. There was a toilet we wouldn’t need, and a sink with a large cabinet. Inside there was an old bar of soap. Between the toilet and the cabinet, I found a small, empty trashcan, which I quickly filled in the sink.
Returning to the room with the supplies and the water, I settled on the floor by Elah and got to work cleaning him up. Under the dried mud, the skin of his back was torn so badly I had to pour water into the wounds to clean them before pushing the flesh together and compressing it in place with folded pieces of the sheet.
At first, I tried making small talk, but after a careless question of ‘What have you been up to?’ resulted in a curt ‘Looking for you.’ I decided silence was probably best. I lost count of how many trips I made for fresh water. Elah’s wounds weren’t closing and nothing I did could staunch the steady flow. Frustrated, I tore the flesh on my wrist with my fangs and pressed it against his lips.
That he couldn’t fight me off, despite his best efforts, scared the hell out of me. I was pretty sure we couldn’t starve to death, but whatever had been done to him prevented him from healing. And in his weakened state, there was no telling how much more he could take before his mind snapped.
In my time with Daederich, hunting for his son and taking up contract kills to earn a living—we were mercenaries after all, not thieves—we’d come across immortals that had to be put down like rabid dogs. Creatures who ran the risk of exposing us all, mindless things that could never sate their endless thirst. Because their hunger drove them. There was nothing left of the sentient being they’d once been.
Daederich had told me, for some, the embrace alone could destroy the mind. For others, it was a traumatic experience. We might live forever, but our sense of self was still fragile. Granted, a hunter could probably take more than the rest, but there was a reason they chose death rather than capture. Even if they managed to escape, the damage would be done.
Making sure Elah survived this hell was one thing. Keepin
g him whole was a completely different story.
“Don’t look at me like that, Lydia.” Elah licked my wrist, shaking his head when I tried to force it back against his mouth. “I’m here for you and that’s all I fucking need to hang on to. Our whole rescue plan is shot, but there’s always plan B.”
This I gotta hear. “And what’s plan B?”
“Don’t you know? I pretend to be too weak to fight. Let you take care of me and then catch them off-guard.” His lips slanted when I rolled my eyes. “See, it’s working already. You bought the act.”
A slight rustle of fabric, likely intentional because I knew how soundlessly he could move, brought my head up as Cyrus approached. He’d gotten through the door and within two steps of me without Elah noticing. Unheard of for a hunter, especially one as experienced as he was.
Not that I’d believed Elah was playing at being hurt, but this was very, very bad. I bit the inside of my cheek and fought to keep my expression neutral as Cyrus gazed down at us with an amused smile on his lips. He brushed his hand down the front of his fitted, three-quarter length, black velvet jacket, looking every inch the polished devil. Only a few hours earlier he’d been covered in blood, with his tangled hair strung wild across his face, his eyes flashing with rage.
Or maybe I’d imagined him on the edge of losing control. It would make for a pretty dream.
“Conspiring your great escape, pet?” He held his hand up when my lips parted. “I’m teasing you. I’m fully aware that your sole focus is on keeping this one whole. I brought something to help.”
Baring his fangs, Elah lifted his head from the pillow, pressing his fist into the dirt. “Don’t listen to him, Lydia. Everything he offers comes with a price.”
Taking Elah’s hand, I squeezed lightly, never taking my eyes off Cyrus. “Why would you help him? We both know you can’t handle him at full strength.”
Cyrus laughed. “I should be insulted, but you’re right, my dear.” He pulled a flask from an inner pocket of his jacket. “I have no intention of letting him return to full strength. But he won’t be very entertaining as so much lifeless meat. Rosali has always been careless with her pets. She still has much to learn.”
The End (Deadly Captive Book 3) Page 6
