Vibe

by Liza James

  “Nova Callis, that was your given name, correct?” He doesn’t move, doesn’t take his eyes off of me while he speaks. He’s perfectly still, practically a statue while he rips my demons from the depths of my mind.

  There’s only one other person who knows that name. One other person who never lets me forget it.

  “My name is Ruby,” I state flatly—defiantly.

  He laughs, just barely, but it’s the most poisonous sound I’ve ever heard. As if he truly doesn’t care what my name is, but simply wants to throw me off guard.

  Unfortunately, he has.

  “I’ve been keeping an eye on you, Nova. You seem to enjoy perverting my sweet girl. My wildflower.” He shifts forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he clasps his hands in the center.

  What? Wildflower? Who the hell is he talking about?

  “I’m not sure who you think I’m fucking corrupting, asshole. But I don’t listen to men, especially ones who seem to have a fucked-up daddy complex.” I cross my own arms over my chest, feeling the need to hide myself from him while I tilt my chin even higher.

  “You have no idea who you’re speaking to, and even if you did, you’d find light on my side of the pasture. You could come with me you know. I could fix you, expel the evil from your soul and take you and my wildflower as my next wives. You could be together, but in a cleaner way than you seem to force upon her now.” His words work through my mind, tugging at something vague I should remembering in this moment. This feels familiar, in a way that’s from the outside.

  “First of all, there is nothing for you to fix because there’s nothing wrong with me. I’m perfectly content with who I am now and you’re the last person I’d ever leave with. So, fuck off, you crazy ass old man and don’t come back here again.” I turn on my heels without listening to his response, reaching for the door when his loud cackle fills the tight space and cracks along my spine.

  “The Nation could use someone like you, Nova. Someone strong and independent. The men of my people would fight tooth and nail over you. You’d ascend without any problems, lead our people alongside my wildflower.”

  The Nation. The Nation.

  Fuck, Aura. Holy shit, everything she frantically told me earlier comes spiraling back to the forefront of my mind. My heart rate kicks up in realization that she truly was telling the truth. I slowly turn my head around, watching him as he leans against the back of the seat, stretching his arms wide while he crosses his leg over his knee.

  I can’t help it, every bit of rage and defense raises along my spine and I launch towards him, slamming my hands on either side of the wall behind his head. He doesn’t even flinch, doesn’t move as I bring my face only inches away from his.

  “Stay the fuck away from Aura and stay the fuck away from me. Don’t come back to this club, don’t come near either one of us again. She obviously ran away from The Nation for a reason. She wants nothing to do with you.” I deliberately grind out every single word, looking for any sort of reaction in his eyes. But nothing comes, nothing that even alerts me to the way his hands suddenly shoot forward and around my neck.

  I’m thrown back so roughly that I don’t have time to catch myself before my back smashes against the door and my head bounces harshly off the wall. “Watch how you speak to me, Nova. I am Aura’s father and I am her caretaker. She will return to The Nation, she will complete the ceremony and ascend with the rest of us. She will lead our people and it’s only a matter of time before I have her again, restoring her rungs and her innocence with the power only given to me to purify her.”

  I rear my head back and spit, watching as my own saliva spatters along his shadowed jaw and lips. I’m shaking with rage and the fact that I can’t get out of this, can’t break free of his strong hold so I can kill him. He fucking deserves it.

  He closes his eyes briefly, but quickly releases my throat with one hand and smashes it against the side of my face so hard that I know he’ll draw blood. Mother fucker, I haven’t even seen Dom yet and I’m already bleeding. He shoves my head to the side as his teeth scrape against my ear while he speaks. “I will take her, just as I’ve done countless times when she was a young girl growing up in our community. Just as the Omega demands I do. I’ve been cleansing her, grooming her since she was just a child. Do not think for one moment that I will let a demon like you corrupt her.” His hand slides down and he grips my cunt over the thin fabric of my panties and fishnets, grinding against me as he feels me. “I’ll cleanse you too. Eradicate this demon from your nature, convert you into something light and holy until you’re ready to become my wife.”

  “Fuck you, I’ll never be anything to you. And I’ll never let Aura back into your filthy fucking hands. I can promise you that.” I’m struggling to breathe as I force the words out of my mouth. I can feel the warm trail of blood slip down my cheek and over my jaw. His hold tightens even further in response to my defiance, crushing me against the hard wall and completely restricting my air flow.

  He grunts in frustration as he yanks me back and releases the hold he has on my neck. Instead, his hand slips to my hair as he grips it harshly and pulls open the door, only to come face to face with Dom as he stands with his heavy arms crossed tightly around his chest.

  “Malin,” his voice thunders, and for a split second, I’m happy that he’s caught this man with his hold on me. I almost hope that he’s going to kill him for ever laying a hand on me.

  But my heart sinks and even more fears are confirmed as Malin shoves me towards Dom, who reaches out and catches me in his own firm hold.

  “Dominique, sir. Take her, continue your sessions. I don’t think it will be much longer now.” Malin steps around me and walks away from us without another word. The way he addressed Dom surprises me, as if he holds some kind of reverent respect for him. Dom, however, doesn’t even flinch in response to what he’s just witnessed.

  He’s always been so incredibly possessive, so full of rage at the idea of other men touching me or even hurting me. He wants those for himself, the ability to inflict pain and force me to submit belongs to him.

  “Come along, Ruby. It’s been far too long since I’ve had my way with you.”

  Dom roughly shoves me into the familiar room I share with him. Every single time, almost every single night. I fall to my knees as he shuts the door and I scramble to climb onto the bench seat in order to give myself space between us before he comes closer.

  This room is identical to the room Malin kept me in. But this one is stained with our past encounters. Blood darkens the already maroon fabric. Little splatters here and there when things go as far he enjoys them going.

  He rushes forward and immediately pins me against the bench, bracing his forearm against my neck while he crashes his lips against my own. His other hand bites into my hip as he climbs up and straddles me. His black dress pants are pulled tightly across his already hard cock.

  “You fucking ran away last week. Didn’t show up to your scheduled fucking appointment.” He crushes the words between his teeth as he bites my lip and pulls. He pierces my skin immediately, already taking action to draw blood and it’s only been mere seconds alone with him.

  I’m in for a long, painful night.

  “Do you know how that made me feel, Ruby?” he says angrily, his rough voice stinging my skin and raising the hair on the back of my neck. “It made me feel like there was someone more important than I am. And I know that simply isn’t the truth, is it?”

  “Of course not,” I respond flatly. This is our problem, I never give him the emotions he wants. The fear, the submission, I roll over for him and take it, but never offer the response he actually wants.

  He wants me to care.

  “Fucking liar,” he moves his forearm in order to grip my hair as he yanks my head to the side and begins kissing my neck. Moving quickly, desperately while his teeth bite and I fight not to flinch at the pain. “Who the fuck is it?”

  “No one. There isn’t anyone more important th
an you, Dom.” I slowly lift my hands and press them against his chest, hoping to put a bit of distance between our bodies. He’s practically suffocating me with his hold and I’m already bleeding as it is from Malin.

  “Then where the Hell did you go? Back to your parents?” He releases my hair and grips my hips, flipping us around so that he’s seated on the bench and I’m the one straddling him. I leave my arms at my sides, refusing to touch him, refusing to help him along in his assault.

  “No, I didn’t go back to my fucking parents. Why? Did they tell that man about me? Did you tell him my fucking name?” I fight to control the spiraling emotions, but my name is something private. I’m not that person anymore, I don’t want to be that person anymore.

  She was wealthy and callous. A fake representation of the what the rich do behind closed doors. I had to escape the suffocation of it all, unfortunately, Dom has been involved in my life since I was born. An ever-present shadow linked to my family.

  “Malin doesn’t need my information to know who you are. You’ve made yourself apparent for years now,” he replies in rage as his hand pulls away to fly back against my face. My head whips to the side and I can feel where my lip has split a second time. I try to hide the groan of pain that he inflicts, but it’s nearly impossible while my head throbs with tension.

  “On your fucking knees,” he demands as he shoves me down and in between his legs. He holds my head with one hand while he unbuckles and pulls his thick cock free. It springs forward and I immediately want to gag at the sight of him. I fucking hate this, hate him more than anything. He’s been around for years, doing this to me time and time again while he forces me to obey.

  “Fuck you,” I spit, yanking back and feeling the sting of my scalp as he wrenches my head forward. He grips his cock with one hand and pulls my head down until his length is pushing against my lips, against my teeth. I refuse to open, refuse to take him until he absolutely has no choice but to hit me again, sending my jaw slack while he slips himself inside my mouth.

  “Suck, you fucking whore. Do as you’re told and take it. You need this, to be prepared for what’s to come. You know what I can do if you don’t,” he speaks in a breathier voice as he holds the back of my head and forces me down on his cock. I gag immediately, but my mind releases the attachment I have to this, freeing myself so it’s as if I’m watching it happen and not experiencing it myself. I can do that when it’s only me, when I’m the one he’s forcing himself on. Things get a bit trickier when he starts including someone else.

  He knows my family, in fact, he’s been a close friend to my parents since I was born. He worked alongside my father on countless investment firms. But while my father worked on the legal side of contracts, Dom made a name for himself on the streets. He created a ring of drug trafficking, and with the connections my parents held, he was able to build a practically impenetrable construct of movement across borders.

  And unfortunately, I was all too eager to get involved when I was sixteen. I saw the things my parents did, the callous events and shallow relationships they were constantly manipulating and thought—maybe Dom was different. Maybe if I pushed back against my parents, when they were quickly growing tired of my own teenage years, then I could thrive at something else. So I followed him into the darkness.

  Until I realized I needed to run for myself and get away from all of them.

  I left my parents—the falsified wealthy life I lived anyway—and ran off to be my own person. Escape the confines Dom held me in.

  But he found me, like he always did. He’s an incredibly powerful man on the streets, and now holds so much influence over the city that Sal lets him take whatever he wants, do whatever he wants to the girls for fear of retaliation. My parents stopped looking for me when they realized what I had become, the career I had chosen for myself. That would be far too embarrassing for their affluent, upscale friends.

  Every night I’m the one left alone, abused, forgotten.

  He leaves after taking a piece of my soul with him. Every fucking time.

  But karma is a bitch, and she’s getting ready to fight back.

  I bite down on the base of him while he grinds my mouth against his cock. He shouts in pain but doesn’t actually let go of my head. No, he keeps me there, enjoying the excruciating sting of my teeth along his sensitive flesh. It’s only until it hurts him so badly and I can’t breathe that he releases me.

  “Cunt. You’re a fucking cunt, that’s all you are. All you’re good for. Now give me yours before I drag one of your friends in here.” He yanks me up so quickly that I don’t have a moment to fight back in between my gasps for air. His fist clenches tightly as he sends it flying forward and into my ribs. I finally collapse, falling to the ground and clutching my side as the pain sears through me. I look up quickly enough to catch the imprints of teeth I left at the base of his cock and I’m fucking glad. Happy to have inflicted any sort of painful mark on his body while he tortures my own.

  His booted foot flies forward as he kicks me in my stomach. I want to throw up, the pain so harsh that I gag at the feeling of it rolling up through my chest and limbs. He calculates his movements though, enough to where I know he isn’t breaking ribs, but is only a fraction of strength away from that. He goes as close to the line as he can possibly get before backing off for a quick moment.

  His arm slips under my waist as he pulls me up to my knees and he lifts my arms so that they can rest on the bench in front of me.

  I know what’s coming. I can feel it radiating from the anger and vile nature of him. But I’m exhausted, and my head hurts so badly that it’s pulsing behind my eyes. My stomach, my sides, their a mess of aching pain and I don’t have the strength to fight back just yet.

  Before I can stop him, I feel his fingers slip through the holes of my fishnets at my core as he rips them apart. He grips the hem of my panties and rips those down as well, until I’m completely open and exposed for him.

  “Not tonight, Dom. Please,” I try, even though I know it won’t do anything.

  “Every night,” he replies as I feel the head of his cock brush against my cunt. I’m fucking dry, absolutely no part of this is a turn on and I know how painful it’s going to be when he forces himself inside of me.

  I groan out as more painful throbs wash through my body and try to pull my legs together in order to stand. But he’s so much stronger, so much quicker and suddenly his hand crashes against the side of my face as he smashes it against the bench wall.

  Those buttons. Those familiar buttons that will unfortunately leave reddened indents on my face when I’m finished here. They hurt, but it’s nothing compared to the ripping sting of his cock as he quickly thrusts inside of me.

  In. Out. In. Out.

  God, it feels like fucking sandpaper and I bite my tongue to stifle the cry I know he wants from me. Fuck no. He’s taking whatever he wants, but he doesn’t get to take that. He doesn’t get my feelings, my pain, my fucking dignity.

  “Always such a pervert,” he mutters as he continues pumping inside of my dry core. This stings, so fucking horribly and I feel tears begin pricking the backs of my eyes. But I squeeze them shut and force them back. I’m not giving them up. “Ever since you were a kid you were like this. So defiant, so enticing. Such a little slut.”

  I ignore him, keeping my eyes closed while my heart slows its pace and my mind begins going blank. I relax onto the bench, becoming what deadweight I can manage while I work to mentally escape this fucking nightmare.

  His hand slaps my face again while he tries to get me to respond with anything. A moan, a cry, a word. He wants any of it, but I won’t give it to him. I collapse against the seat while his thrusts become more frantic. He’s about to come, I know he is. It’s routine, every single time. I could sense his orgasm from a mile away.

  Not much longer.

  “Bitch,” he shouts as he thrusts into me one last time and stills. He falls silent, catching his breath while I lay limp below his large body
.

  Without a word, he pulls out and stands up. I fall completely to the ground in front of him and pull my legs up to chest. I keep my eyes shut, refusing to look at him and acknowledge what he’s just done.

  “Monday,” he reminds me of our next meeting, because he doesn’t come on the weekends. Turning on his heels, he slips his cock back inside of his slacks, readjusts the black button up dress shirt he has on, and then leaves the room with the quiet click of the door shutting in his absence.

  I step into the dim lighting of the club I'm now becoming so familiar with. It's two in the afternoon, my scheduled time for my first training session with Ruby. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous, for several reasons.

  Firstly, because I haven't told anyone I'm doing this. Hawk doesn't know, Bethie doesn't know. When I finally made it back to my studio that night, I had called Hawk to pick me up early and was quiet for the rest of the evening. I didn't want to talk. I wasn't ready to explain the note from Malin to him, and I definitely wasn't going to tell him about Ruby.

  Truthfully, I'm afraid of what he'll do if he found out something happened between us again. That night that we slept together, it felt odd. It felt different, and I didn't enjoy it like I usually do. He was acting out of a place of darkness, his touch a painful mark against my flesh instead of the desire I usually feel from him. It was vacant—empty of emotion outside of anger and discipline.

  I don't want to experience that again, and I'm worried he'll get so jealous that he tries to take me like he did the last time.

  I know what I'm doing is wrong though. Fuck, I know it is. It weighs so heavily in my gut, the fact that I've cheated on him twice. Little reminders prick through my mind constantly now, telling me I need to leave him. That our relationship isn't what I need it to be, isn't what he deserves.

  Not while my mind is so confused and attached to another woman.

  Ruby. She's claimed everything in me, and I was fool not realize it would happen the first night we met. I didn't want to give it to her, but she's taken it without permission. My affection, my mind, my thoughts. All of it remains on her constantly.