by C. R. Jane
“No, no, I want to see you open.”
Then he got off the bed and stared at his handiwork before pulling out a phone from his back pocket.
Panic hit me straight in the chest.
I jerked against the restraints. “What are you doing?”
“It’s okay angel. I just need a close-up image because I never want to forget. I want to have your pussy being fucked by a vibrator to view.”
Before I could respond, he leaned in close and snapped a shot of my quivering body.
“That better not be sent to anyone else.”
“Fuck, that is going to set me off every time I look at it.” He pulled himself back up. “For my eyes only. That sweet cunt is all mine.”
He jerked the fabric of his tee up and over his body, revealing the most exquisite muscular torso. Lines of sharp angles, ribbed stomach, and not a sign of hair.
I drowned in lust, feeling like I was in some kind of fantasy as I watched him strip in front of me as his toy continued to torture me.
He unlatched the utility belt around his waist and popped open the button of his pants. In no time, he dropped them and kicked them aside along with his boots.
My attention drifted to his thick, hard shaft that stood upright and erect. He gripped his cock and drew the skin back and forth two times, his eyes rolling back with lust.
“You ready for me?”
“Please,” I begged.
He moved over the top of me and with a flick of his hand, he withdrew the vibrator. A pulse flared to life deep in my gut. I glanced up at him as he stared at me intently. The tip of his dick pressed to my entrance. Adrenaline laced my pulse. He leaned forward and claimed me as he drove into me.
I moaned against his mouth, tasting myself on his tongue. Sweet and musky with a slight edge. My legs widened for him, my hips tilting upward for easy access.
He thrusted into me with incredible stamina and strength. My core pulsed under him, my lips swollen. I shuddered as he fucked me with primal need.
The way he drove into me was savage, and yet, he kissed me tenderly. I cried out from the intensity of his friction, the sheer size of him stretching me with each plunge.
I wanted my hands free so that I could run them all over his body. Instead, I drew his lower lip into my mouth and bit it. I tasted the metallic sharpness of his blood, but he never once complained or stopped moving. Goosebumps erupted over my skin.
He growled with arousal, the strong cords of his neck clenching.
Pleasure surged through me faster and faster. It built, flaring to life. Sparks of white light crashed over my mind, dragging me under.
I caught Keon’s expression, how lost he was in the moment too. He was so sexy, so manly, so fucking delicious.
Both of us heaved for breath, covered in sweat as we moved against each other. The room smelled of seductive sex.
In a perfect moment of utter bliss, a climax caught me by complete surprise. It crashed through me like a storm. Ripping me apart.
Liquid fire rushed through me, and my core clenched around Keon’s cock.
I screamed, my head thrown back, my whole body tightening as I floated on the after effect of my climax.
“Fuck, Selena,” he roared, a muscle ticking in his jaw. “That’s right, suck my cock with that tight pussy.” His groan filled the room as he pulsed inside me.
Our breaths raced, and we clung to one another. I couldn’t stop smiling. “You’re incredible.”
“Fuck me, you’re a vision,” he growled as he stared at me with an expression of complete admiration. He swooped in closer and covered my face in kisses. “You’ve done something to me,” he admitted. “And I don’t think I can ever let you walk away now.”
If I wasn’t collapsed on the bed, tied up and breathing heavily from a mind-blowing orgasm, I might have found his words overly possessive. Except, I came here to escape and forget everything else. Keon gave me what I craved and needed. Just as he had back at the bar.
Once again, I wanted to believe his feelings were real...but how could I ever really know?
His breath grazed my ear. “You ready to go again, my little shadow? Would you like that?”
I met the savagery of his gaze, the eagerness to take me over and over. I wanted to keep inhaling his scent, to never stop feeling the sensation of his skin sliding over mine. I couldn’t get enough of that roughness when he fucked me.
“Yes,” I eagerly answered.
I woke up in bed in my prison cell. Last thing I remembered was falling asleep on Keon’s chest in his secret room after the kinkiest sex ever. It never occurred to me being tied up would drive me so crazy, but it was insanely amazing.
Keon must have carried me back to my room afterward.
I glanced across my dimly lit room to see the door was closed, meaning it was night. Panic flashed through my mind. I missed my delivery shift. Hell! I prayed Keon gave them a reason for me not turning up. I’d be at the kitchens first thing in the morning for my next shift. I didn’t want any excuse for them to insist I wasn’t working out or for the Warden to go back on his word about me working in the kitchen.
From across the room on the floor, a fashion magazine I’d picked up from Alessia caught my attention. One of the featured stories was titled, ‘love made people stronger.’
I never grew up in a normal home, and I wasn't even sure if my mother ever really loved me. Maybe she did... in her own way. But the world I grew up in was filled with hate and fear, and admitting love was being defiant.
What I felt for Keon couldn’t be love… but whatever it was, he had my heart racing, my stomach exploding with butterflies at the thought of him. It was just a crush...right?
I pulled the blanket off when a sting flared across my ankle.
“Ouch.” I bent my leg and drew my foot in closer.
“What the hell?” There was a black, five pointed star inked on the inside of my ankle about the size of my fingernail. The rest of the skin around it blushed. I looked closer, my mouth dropping open. That definitely wasn’t there before.
I ran a thumb over the mark, finding my skin still sensitive and slightly raised.
“Fuck!” Keon tattooed me? Was he fucking kidding?
I shoved myself out of bed and marched to the sink. Lifting my foot, I placed it awkwardly into the sink and ran water over my ankle. With soap, I rubbed the hell out of the star. I gritted my teeth through the pain, furious that Keon would do this like I was his property or something. Who else would sneak into my room to brand me? And how did I not feel it happening?
The cold water washed over my ankle. But all I achieved was making my skin redder with irritation. The star remained, and I sighed heavily.
Drying off, I headed back to bed and slumped into it, crossing my legs in front of me. I looked down at the mark incredulously.
I couldn’t even begin to make sense why he’d do this, or the fury burning through my veins. When I saw him next, I was going to kill him.
Chapter 14
That same grumpy guard was waiting for me outside of the kitchens, and my heart tripped over itself. I was going to see my fae again.
“Don’t do anything stupid this time,” he warned me as we walked through the entrance of the “crypt” as I’d started referring to this section of the prison. It reminded me a little of pictures of the catacombs in France that I’d seen once. I couldn’t stop the shivers that curled down my spine as I took a step inside.
I did my job, delivering the plates of decaying slop to the prisoners. We’d only made it past a few cells, when the guard suddenly peered through the bars of the cell I’d just passed food into. The prisoner was laying on his stomach, wearing nothing but rags, almost unrecognizable as a living creature, since he was so covered in filth.
But was he living? Fear flickered in my stomach as I noticed the unsettling way he wasn’t moving at all.
“Fuck,” the guard muttered, unlocking the cell and rushing inside. He held a hand to the man’s ne
ck, assumedly checking for a pulse. He cursed again, and my stomach dropped even more.
The guard yelled into his earpiece for medical and then started shaking the prisoner, as if that was going to bring him to life. Just two minutes later, a medical team hustled past me into the cell and started to work on him. I didn’t think anything was going to work.
Realizing that no one was paying attention to me, I couldn’t resist the urge to walk the few cells over and see the fae. There were no sounds coming from his cell, and I was relieved to see him sitting against the wall, idly scratching the floor with a small piece of rock. He didn’t look up until I’d been standing there for at least a minute. But when he saw me, recognition flared through him.
“You,” he said calmly. I just gulped, momentarily tongue tied at the fact that he’d spoken to me.
“Hi,” I finally replied lamely.
“You watch me,” he stated, staring at me avidly. And I couldn’t do anything but nod. I was caught in the trance of those flickering blue fire eyes of his.
“I can’t help it,” I answered, wanting to crawl into a hole after I admitted that sorry fact.
Something flashed through his eyes. Surprise maybe?
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“Selena.”
He repeated my name, almost seeming to savor the word as he said it.
“I think I took something from you,” I blurted out.
Faster than I could blink, he was suddenly standing in front of me, only the bars keeping him from me.
“What did you take?” he asked.
“I was given a crystal on my first night here,” I stammered, overcome with the fury flooding his beautiful face.
He reached through the bars and a blue electricity started to race through his skin from the bars. He just gritted his teeth though and continued to reach for me.
“Give it to me,” he ordered imperiously, desperation leaking out of his countenance though, despite his tone.
“It’s gone,” I gasped out.
He watched me for a minute more, his teeth clenching at the electricity that was still pulsing through him.
All of a sudden, he pulled away, his shoulders drooping as he turned away from me and walked back to sit against the wall. He didn’t look at me again.
Someone grabbed my arm just then, and I whirled around to see that it was the irate looking guard.
“You need to get back to your cell while I finish dealing with this. The cameras will be watching you, and if I find out you tried anything else, I’ll make sure you’re left in your cell for a month this time around,” the guard threatened, and I nodded and hurried away, noting briefly that the medical team was still working furiously on the prisoner.
I should have gone to my cell. A week in solitary confinement had felt like a year, but I pressed on, walking my cart determinedly until I found a guard. “I’m supposed to deliver these to the maximum security section,” I said while motioning to my still full cart.
The maximum security section was not going to like their food today.
The guard looked confused for a moment, but I’d seen him before, and he knew that I delivered food to various places in the prison.
“Where’s Gastod?” he asked, and I just shrugged my shoulders, assuming it was the grumpy guard he was talking about.
“Fine, I’ll take you,” he snapped, beginning to walk away and expecting that I would follow him. I did dutifully, even across the swinging bridge and through the blood hungry wall.
I moved quickly, not looking any of the prisoners in the eye, since I was delivering rotting food to them instead of the meatloaf they were supposed to be eating today. I was especially embarrassed when I served Sinclair her meal. She knew it was meatloaf day.
Finally, I arrived at Alaric’s cell. I ignored the lust that shot through me at just the sight of him.
He gave me a lazy smile. “I’ve been wondering when I’d see you again,” he drawled.
“I need a favor from you,” I whispered, skipping niceties as I glanced at the guard who was a few feet away from me, fiddling with something on his phone.
“Favors cost things,” he said, eyeing me up and down. “What do I get in return?”
“What do you want?” I carefully answered, somehow knowing that you didn’t enter into deals with this incubus lightly.
“I’ll let you know,” he said. “But first, I want to hear what you want.”
I felt desperate for some reason. I had no idea why I was so desperate to help the fae, but I was.
“I need you to steal something from the Warden’s office,” I said quietly, shooting another glance at the guard who was still occupied and hadn’t even noticed how long I’d been at this one cell.
Alaric started laughing uproariously, startling the guard and all this row’s occupants with how loud and boisterous he was. He’d walked up to the bars to talk to me, but now he turned away, still laughing as he settled himself back on his cot.
“You can ask your boy toy for that one, baby,” he said, crossing his legs in front of him and tucking his arms behind his head as he continued to chuckle.
“Please,” I begged. “I’ll do anything.”
He seemed to think on that for a minute, but then shook his head.
“When I choose to piss off the Warden, it will be because I’ve escaped, not because I was doing something stupid like stealing from him. Everyone knows that shadow demons don’t share,” he answered.
I opened my mouth to beg once more, but the guard was there, pushing me forward. I looked back at Alaric desperately, and he just winked at me.
Bastard.
I was thoroughly depressed as we finished passing out trays, and I began to walk back to my cell.
Suddenly, another guard was there, stopping us.
“The Warden wants to see you,” the guard barked, and I panicked. Had he somehow heard already what I’d asked Alaric about stealing from his office? What was he going to do to me?
Fear spiked through me as the new guard immediately began to lead me toward the Warden’s office.
What the fuck had I done?
Chapter 15
I knocked on the enormous black door that seemed to change every time I visited the Warden. Today, the wood was ornately carved with snakes at the corners and a glorious oak tree in the middle. It was beautiful in a macabre kind of way.
A guard stood nearby, watching me intently as if I might change my mind and run away. He leered at me, and I realized I misinterpreted his creepy interest for something else. He wanted me to try to leave, to give him any reason to give chase. The glint in his pale yellow eyes screamed wolf. Thick brows pulled together over narrowing eyes. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of hunting me down.
“Come in,” the Warden finally barked from inside his office.
Hastily, I pushed open the door and left the gawking guard behind me. Before shutting the door behind me, I caught him blowing me a kiss. What the heck?
I turned around and stepped deeper into the office.
Each time I visited this room, I was in awe by the shelves and shelves of collectable ornaments. The idea of spending a whole week in this office wouldn’t be enough for me to explore every single object.
My gaze drifted directly to my siren orb on the top shelf near the Warden’s desk. The golden waves inside swayed as if sensing my presence, calling to me. Goosebumps peppered my skin in response. There was something disturbing about having a part of myself taken and kept just out of reach. I’d only carried my song ability with me for one day, but in that short time, I felt more complete than I ever had. It was who I was meant to be. Strong, confident, and in control.
Most of my life had been anything but in my control.
My fingers tingled with the need to take back what belonged to me. To embrace my full power.
I looked around at all the objects filling this room, trying to distract myself… all of the items most likely had their own stories to tell
. Like the teal crystal from the fae.
I squirmed on the inside with the memory of what I’d done, and after meeting him, it made my guilt a thousand times worse.
“This isn’t a museum tour,” the Warden snapped, and I swept my gaze toward him as I moved with quick steps to his desk. I took a seat across the desk from him.
He wore a heavy leather coat of deep brown, with bulging pockets, and what looked like plated small armor on his shoulders. If he wasn’t wearing a shirt underneath with a black tie, I might have easily guessed he was a drug lord from the seedy streets of Chicago.
The man rubbed a hand over his jawline, which was covered in three-day growth. Today, he appeared disheveled and irritated. A permanent crease sat on the bridge of his nose as he studied me.
“I’ve heard you’re a hard worker.” He reclined in his seat, the leather of his jacket groaning. “That you don’t complain and do what’s needed. That’s a good trait to have, Selena.”
“I’m keeping my end of the bargain,” I answered. “As we agreed.” As much as I’d like to follow my gut instinct and steal back what belonged to me, that was nothing more than pure temptation. It would land me in a world of trouble. I was practically on Hell’s doorstep already.
He eyed me intently, then a smirk cracked his stoic expression. “Good. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to change my mind about our arrangement.”
This whole time he doubted me? I could only imagine what lies Julian had told the Warden about me. What horrible mistruths that made me seem worse than I was. Just like my records the psychiatrist mentioned.
Was the Warden waiting for me to fail, for an opportunity, so he could change his mind? Did he call me into his office to remind me that he held my power, and I was simply another pawn under his thumb?
I knew he compromised whatever business relationship he had with Julian by going against his wishes and putting me on food delivery service. So, I hoped he wasn’t having second thoughts.
I shifted in my seat uncomfortably.
