by Lust, April
“Hey now,” Doc says. He holds his hands up in the air. “We just wanna find her, you got that? When did you see her last?”
The man snickers. “Name’s Reis, by the way.”
I hold my hand out and we shake. It’s tense, but it leaves me feeling a little more on top of the situation.
“So,” I say. “When did you last see her?”
Reis snickers. “You’re real bent up over this girl, aren’t you?” He rolls his eyes, then reaches for his beer and takes a long swig. “She’s a little tough to control, if you know what I mean.”
I have a sick feeling in my stomach that I know exactly what he’s talking about. The idea of Natalia with another man makes me angrier than I’ve ever felt in my life. I want to wrap my hands around this asshole’s throat and throw him to the wolves.
“I saw her the other day,” Reis says. “She helped me.” He pulls up his shirt and I see a crude stitch on his chest. “I was pretty broken up, and she patched me.”
I narrow my eyes. “Why the fuck would she help you?”
Doc yanks me back. But just when I expect Reis to throw a hard punch in my face, he starts laughing.
“Well, she didn’t really have a choice,” Reis says. He smirks at me. “She was drugged, man. On some kinda heavy mind control shit.”
The urge to punch him is stronger than ever, but I know I have to restrain myself. “And then what happened?”
Reis shrugged. “Well, she musta come to. She said she had to use the bathroom, but then she escaped.” He grinned. “It was just a matter of time before Abram found her, anyway. I’m pretty sure she’s with him now.”
My heart sinks as Reis speaks. So now I’ve lost. Natalia’s been taken by Abram Pestov and his men. She’s probably dead, her gorgeous body cooling in some Bronx ditch.
“You controlled her mind?” Doc leans forward, a frown on his face. “Why would you do that?”
Reis smirks. “Well, it certainly makes things easier, doesn’t it? The best part, though,” he says before pausing and laughing uncontrollably, “they pretended to shoot me to scare her into following them.”
Neither Doc or I find it as funny as this guy does, but we attempt to smile.
In between bursts of laughter, he mutters, “The rubber…rubber bullet…really hurt, but her reaction…it was so funny.”
I pull Doc away. “We gotta do something about that asshole,” I hiss under my breath. “We gotta take care of him.”
Doc nods. He pulls open his jacket and points to a small silver gun in his waistband. “And he thinks a rubber bullet hurts,” Doc says with an evil laugh. “You gotta go find your woman.”
Chapter 25
Natalia
I manage to fight Aleksei off. By the time he’s crumpled on the floor, I know I can’t last much longer.
My father has stood there watching the whole time. I can’t tell if he’s angrier than ever or somehow proud of me. After all, I managed to bring down one of his biggest guys with a few well-timed kicks. But that doesn’t mean I’ve won. In fact, I have a sickening feeling I’m going to be worse off than ever before.
Abram’s breathing hard. He claps his hands together, and William and Chubby rush into the room seconds later. When they spot Aleksei’s motionless body on the floor, William cries out in surprise.
“What the hell, Abram?”
“My daughter, she like to fight,” Abram says. He grins, showing a mouth full of teeth. “And now we must make sure she does not fight.”
William grins. He turns towards me with a menacing expression on his lean face. “I’ll handle her, Boss,” William says. When he steps forward to grab me, I dart out of the way. My head is woozy from all the alcohol I’ve drunk and I feel like my response time is on an obvious delay, but at least I’ve dodged his grasp.
“Grab her!” Abram yells. The anger finally shows on his face. A vein on his forehead pops out as he points towards me, his hand shaking with rage. “Take her!”
Chubby and William charge towards me. This time, I know I don’t have any choice except to let them take me. As Chubby and William each grab one of my arms, I twist and kick the air. My legs are more powerful than ever, but somehow the men manage to dodge each blow.
“Feisty!” William crows. “We’ve got her, Abram!”
“Take her to the room I have had prepared,” Abram says slowly. With his eyes locked on me, he reaches down and picks up the bottle of vodka. He pours himself a shot, calls out something in Russian, and then throws the alcohol down his throat.
“Yeah, come on,” Chubby says. “God, William, she’s heavy! ”
I roll my eyes. “You men are weak,” I say softly. “You don’t even know how strong I am.”
“She’s a real talker,” William adds, as though I can’t hear him talking about me. “Come on, Chubs. We gotta get her down the hall.”
Instead of fighting William and Chubby, I decide to save my strength. Even though they’re not the strongest men around, they’re still stronger than I am. I know that now. I’ll need to save my strength. I knocked Aleksei out once before, but will I be lucky enough to do it again?
“Aleksei’s a lucky guy,” Chubby says with some difficulty. He’s heaving each breath like he’s just run a marathon. For a moment, I can’t resist gloating. Here I am, likely half this man’s body weight, and I just knocked out the thug my father wants me to marry!
“Yeah, if he can fend her off,” William replies. He smirks. The three of us round a corner, and I nearly groan when I see the door at the end of the hallway. It’s made out of metal with only a small window towards the top. My eyes go wide when I notice there’s no door knob.
“Daddy made that real secure for you, honey,” Chubby whispers into my ear. His breath smells like vomit, and I shudder. “You won’t be able to break out of here until we decide it’s time for you to come out.”
As much as I want to conserve my energy, I can’t help screaming and kicking as Chubby and William push the door open and drag me inside. I scream until my throat is raw and the muscles in my legs are throbbing with agony. If anything, my cries and struggles only seem to make William and Chubby stronger. They throw me in a corner of the room, then dart away and slam the door before I can even get up.
My new room is dark. There aren’t any windows – only the small portal in the door. My eyes adjust after a few seconds, and my heart sinks when I take in my surroundings.
The room isn’t furnished. There’s a small pile of straw in one corner and a bucket with a lid in the other. It stinks, too, like a portable toilet in the middle of a dirty barn. The stench is enough to make me gag and eventually, I resort to pinching my nostrils shut. I hate knowing I’m breathing in such foul air, and I know I’m going to be sick if I’m forced to smell it for another second.
My mind is racing. I know I don’t have very much time. Abram said a priest was on the way. Did that mean he intended to marry me off before the end of the day? Or was that merely a threat? Did he just intend to keep me locked up until I became more docile and accepted my fate?
I start shivering within minutes. The room is freezing, and there’s no fire in the giant fireplace. I groan and lean against the wall, letting my legs slide out from under me until my ass is on the cold, concrete floor.
Beast, I’m sorry , I think. Tears come to my eyes. All I want is to see him again, just for the chance to come clean about everything and apologize. I regret everything I’ve done. I wish I’d never snooped in his drawer and found that stupid newspaper photo. My God, this is all my fault. If only I’d never been so curious about my damn father.
I’m not sure how I manage it, but, eventually, I fall asleep.
My dreams are wild, crazy, and filled with Beast. In one dream, we’re on his motorcycle, racing through the streets of New York. I’m gripping him tightly around the waist, but he’s slipping away from me – I can actually feel my body lifting off the back of the motorcycle and rising through the air. No matter how I scream
for Beast to help me, he keeps riding on without me. Eventually, I’m left behind, hovering in the chilly air as Beast races away.
In another dream, Beast’s a handsome stranger at a bar. He looks different than in real life – he still has the same close-cropped hair, but he’s friendlier. He smiles at me and charms me and buys me wine and fancy chocolates until I’m practically falling into his lap. We kiss and grope and snuggle close together, despite the crowd around us watching in shock. When I open my eyes, I realize we’re sitting together in an airport. Suddenly, I’m filled with the knowledge that Beast is about to get on a plane and leave me forever.
When I wake up, there are hot tears on my cold cheeks. I wrap my arms around my knees and sob quietly into my legs. I can’t remember the last time I ate, but my stomach doesn’t even hurt. If anything, I feel hot and irritable. My mind is still clouded with the effects of the vodka and my muscles are aching from fighting Aleksei.
I wonder if Abram is going to punish me for that. Part of me trembles when I think about having to face my father once more. The other part of me – just a small part – thinks he might actually be kind of proud. After all, I didn’t do anything except show I’m exactly like my father.
Isn’t that the kind of thing all fathers want to think about their daughters?
I hear footsteps in the hallway. When they’re right outside of my door, I take a deep breath and puff my chest out. I have to look tough, and I can’t show any weakness. I can’t cry again. I can’t demand that Abram treat me like a decent human being.
The door opens. William’s standing there. “Hey,” he says. He steps inside, then wrinkles his nose. “It stinks in here,” William says. “Didn’t you use the bucket?”
I grimace. “I’m not using a bucket for a toilet,” I say. “I’m a lady .”
William snorts. “Get up,” he says. “You’re a prisoner, and you need to keep that in mind. You’re not getting out of here, bitch.”
I know it’s juvenile, but I can’t help flipping him off as I climb to my feet. If William sees it, he doesn’t say anything. When I’m standing, he grabs my arm and starts tugging me down the hallway.
“Hey,” I say loudly. “That fucking hurts! I can walk by myself.”
“I’ll give you something to whine about if you don’t shut up,” William replies. From the serious look on his face, I know he’s not bullshitting me. William drags me down the hall and into the room with the fire once more. The heat feels so good that I cry out in pleasure and rub my arms with my hands.
“She didn’t exactly dress for the occasion,” William says. He glances down at me. “You need anything else, Boss?”
“No. That is all for now.” Abram’s still sitting by the fire. There’s a pipe in his mouth, and he blows smoke up at the ceiling. I look around for Aleksei, but, thankfully, I don’t see him anywhere.
“What do you want?” I stand with my hands on my hips, staring at my father. “Aren’t you going to punish me?”
“For what?” Abram pours himself a shot of vodka and tips it into his mouth. “For defying me?”
I shrug. “That, or I don’t know, beating up Aleksei?”
Abram laughs humorlessly. “Oh, you’ll be punished for that,” he says. There’s a cold gleam in his eye. “But I will not do the punishment myself.”
A cold fear seeps into my bones, and I shudder, despite the close warmth of the fire.
“Come here, daughter,” Abram says. He pats the empty chair.
My legs propel me forward, and I can’t stop myself from moving towards my father and the fire. “What do you want.?”
Abram smiles tensely. “I want to talk to you,” he says quietly. “We have good conversation now, yes?”
Turning towards the fire, I rub my arms vigorously until the goosebumps disappear. The fire flickers over my face, making me feel relaxed and happy.
“I have drink brought for you,” Abram says. He snaps his fingers, holding his hand high up in the air. A man walks into the room, carrying a small tray with a steaming mug on top.
I frown. “No more vodka?”
“No more vodka. You take drink,” Abram says. He gestures for the man with the tray to come closer.
I have to admit that whatever it is, it smells delicious. Reaching forward, I pick the cup up in my hands. The steaming hot mug feels good wrapped in my fingers, and I inhale deeply. It smells incredible like some kind of tea mixed with honey, maybe.
“You drink,” Abram says. “Then we talk.”
I sigh. I don’t feel like arguing anymore. I just want to let the tea warm me from the inside out. I take a sip and swish the liquid around in my mouth. It tastes like a mixture of Earl Grey tea, whiskey, honey, and cinnamon.
“This is good,” I say politely. I take another long swallow. Two more and the cup is empty. Abram gestures for me to hand it back to the man. As soon as the cup is back on the tray, the man leaves the room.
“Now we talk,” Abram says. He crosses his legs. “Tell me, daughter. How did you come to be in Beast’s possession?”
“I was never his possession,” I say tartly. “He kidnapped me. But I never belonged to him.”
Abram laughs. “Yes, daughter.” He takes another sip of vodka and my stomach lurches. I put my hands on my belly. Suddenly, I’m feeling sick like I’ve just drank a gallon of wine at once. My head feels like a balloon on a string.
“What did you give me?” I glance down at my hands, and they look like they’re a million miles away. My arms are twisting like snakes, and my stomach is sloshing around inside of my body from one side to the other.
“Nothing you have not had before,” Abram says. He smirks at me and I see the devil flashing behind his eyes. “You have had drinks with Reis, yes?”
I blink. “Reis…”
“The man who took you from Beast’s house,” Abram says. “I sent him for you. You helped him, didn’t you?”
I nod slowly.
“And then you escaped, like naughty girl,” Abram continued. He stroked his chin with one hand. “I was not expecting my little Devochka to be such a vicious woman. I should have trained you better.”
I blink slowly. My mind is covered with a thick fog, and I can’t concentrate. Slowly, I nod. “I helped Reis,” I say mechanically.
That’s when the sensation returns. Hot arousal, so intense that it’s almost painful. I feel my nipples stiffen inside my shirt, and my pussy swells and begins to drip moisture. Every second, every moment feels charged. As I shift around in my seat, I actually have to suppress the urge to moan. Everything feels so good, so raw.
“The drug is working,” Abram says slowly. He smirks at me. “Now you will welcome your husband with open arms.”
I feel like I have to do the crawl stroke through a raging sea just to make my brain work. It’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before. It’s intense, it’s strong…it’s just like I felt when I was with Reis, except dialed up to 11.
“You…you drugged me,” I say slowly. My tongue feels as thick as an eel in my mouth, and just as slippery. “What…what did you do to me?”
Abram grins. “Nothing permanent,” he says. “I wanted you to feel the way you should feel. I figured an extra dose wouldn’t hurt,” he adds.
The urges rushing through my body are the most intense I’ve ever felt. I want to grab the nearest man and hump him until I’m too sore to move. But that’s just on the surface – deep down, in the recesses of my brain, I try to internalize the fact that I’ve just been drugged with something powerful.
Everything I felt with Reis was false , I think, feeling numb and stupid. Everything was manufactured. That’s how I wound up with him, and that’s why I helped him. It was all a trick to pull me away from Beast. They don’t want me with Beast. They wanted me with Reis; they wanted to steal me and hurt me. Oh my God, what have I done?!
“No!” I finally shout. My legs are trembling and shaking like gelatin, but I force myself to stand up.
“Daughter,�
� Abram says calmly. “Sit down. Your husband will be here soon, and then the two of you may acquaint yourselves.”
“No!” The word comes out louder this time. The drug is still working its evil magic on my brain, but now that I’m aware of the effects, it’s easier to act like myself again. Or is it? I suddenly become aware that I’m moving through the room, but it’s hard to slow down. My feet are spinning beneath me, propelling me across the room like I’m dancing on stage.
“Daughter,” Abram says again. “Calm yourself!”
I can’t. I can’t stop moving, can’t stop spinning. I scream and shriek and cry out, tearing at my big brown curls with my hands. My body is waging war on itself, and I’m stuck in the center, useless and helpless. I can’t control my muscles, can’t control my limbs. It’s like I’m stuck in a hell of a bad nightmare.
