“God,” he groans, grabbing my t-shirt and ripping it open the rest of the way. “Do you know how hard it’s been to wait for this? As soon as your mother showed me your picture, I knew you were the one and it’s been killing me to try and woo you.”
“It never would have worked.”
He laughs. “Yes, I can see that now. I’m not bothered – that’s more Julian’s speed. He loves the chase. I prefer something a little… different.”
“I don’t care,” I whisper, my eyelids drooping and my shoulders going slack. I’m quickly running out of steam. Damian moves behind me, gripping my hips as he buries his nose in my hair and takes a deep breath.
“But you should. It involves you, after all.”
Before I can say anything else, the door bursts open and my head lifts as light floods the room. Julian pushes Ivy inside and slams the door closed behind them. She has a fresh bruise on her cheek and blood trickles from her eyebrow, mixing with the tears as it streaks down the side of her face. My throat feels tight.
“Vi,” I call to her.
“Shut up,” Julian growls at me, shoving her farther into the room and her eyes lock on me.
“You see,” Damian whispers, pressing his palm flat against my belly and I struggle against him. “Ivy is in big trouble for leaving and now she has to be punished.”
The glee in his voice sends my stomach rolling again and I shake my head, unable to figure out how I ended up here when only yesterday, my life was damn near perfect.
“No.”
Julian shoots a look in my direction and Damian clamps a hand over my mouth, his lips brushing up against my ear and I recoil.
“Just watch, sweetheart, because as soon as he’s done, it’s your turn.” His erection presses into my ass and I sob, my stomach turning and my heart turning to stone.
When Julian gets Ivy a few feet away from me, he stops and nods to Damian. “Grab me that chair, will ya?”
Damian releases me and I suck in air, panic clawing away at me but unable to do anything about it as he grabs the wooden chair and carries it over to Julian. Once Damian sets it down, Julian moves it to where he wants to and shoves Ivy into a sitting position. With her hands tied behind her back and a gag in her mouth, she is essentially helpless and I start praying for a miracle.
Julian moves in front of the chair and I squeeze my eyes shut, dropping my head. A hand fists into my hair, yanking it back and warm breath fans out across my neck. Chills races across my bare flesh and my stomach rolls again.
“Watch,” Damian hisses in my ear, excitement in his voice, and I shake my head. “Watch or he will make it ten times worse for her.”
Sobbing, I peel my eyes open and meet Julian’s eyes. His lips part and his tongue darts out, wetting them, as his fingers twitch with the desire to touch me. His cock strains against his slacks, growing harder as his gaze traces the tears pouring down my face. I was wrong before… this isn’t Hell. This is a deeper level of purgatory reserved for the most vile, heinous demons and somehow, I’ve ended up here by mistake.
“Do it,” Damian urges from behind me. “I’ve waited long enough for this.”
Julian nods and turns back to Ivy, balling his fists and my breath stutters. The first punch lands on her cheek, sending her head snapping to the side as she whimpers and I scream. Julian drops his head back and sighs, his body trembling as a low groan rumbles in his chest.
“Scream again, Carly,” he rasps as he glances over at me, his eyes shining and his cheeks flushed. When I shake my head, he hits her other cheek and I give him what he wants. I fight against the rope, struggling to get free as I scream.
“Mmm,” Damian hums in my ear and I stop, my body locking up. “Don’t stop, sweetheart, you’re making my cock so hard.” He runs the tip of his nose up my neck and bites down. “I hope you struggle like this when I finally get to hold you down and fuck you the way I’ve been dreaming for months now.”
Something in me breaks and I wail, jerking on the rope more. I don’t care about withholding gratification from them anymore. All I want is to end this, anyway I can.
I can’t survive this again…
I just can’t.
“Fuck, this is even better than I imagined,” Julian whispers, cracking Ivy across the face again and her head slumps.
“Vi!” I bellow, kicking my feet out behind me and Damian’s grip in my hair tightens. Julian looks down at his fist, clenching it and unclenching it as he examines the blood staining his knuckles and smiles. He glances up and walks over to me.
“Did he threaten your pathetic little boyfriend if you ever left?” Julian asks, his gaze flicking to Damian and I nod. “Good. In addition to that, this will happen to your sister again if you ever try to get away.”
I nod. “I understand.”
“Not yet,” he says, laughing. “But you will.”
Turning away from me, he walks back over to Ivy and picks her up, hoisting her over his shoulder before marching out of the room. When the lock clicks back into place, Damian runs his tongue up my neck.
“And now we get to have some fun.”
I close my eyes, trying to block it all out but it’s no use. This is bringing back memories I’ve kept buried for so long that it doesn’t matter if my eyes are open or not. I’m surrounded by hellfire no matter where I turn.
“You want to know a little secret?” Damian asks, releasing me and stalking around my body. I open my eyes and he grins.
“No.”
“That’s too bad because I’m going to tell you anyway. See, Julian up there, he loves for his girl to be unconscious when he fucks her. His favorite thing in the world is the way she screams when she comes to and discovers he’s inside her. In fact, I would bet that’s what he’s doing right now.”
A knife shreds through my heart and more tears fall down my face as I picture what he’s doing to my baby sister right now. It’s an experience I know all too well.
“After their first date, he snuck into her apartment and knocked her out with the same stuff he used on you today before fucking her. You should have seen the look on her face when she learned that.” He laughs and I sob, shaking my head.
“But I love the fight. That’s why I chose you, baby, because even in the photo your mother showed us, I could see the fire in your eyes and I knew you would give me what I crave most.”
He steps toward me, his eyes darkening and my stomach rolls.
“And you know what else, Carly?”
“No,” I utter.
“If you don’t give me what I want, if you don’t scream and fight me through everything, we’ll bring your sister back down here and I’ll take my anger out on her. See, that’s why we chose sisters. Because you both will do whatever you’re told to save the other.”
He’s right. I’ll do whatever he asks of me; I’ll give him anything he wants if it saves Ivy from any of this. Letting out a breath, I hang my head and nod.
“Okay.”
“Damian!” Julian’s voice pierces through the room and Damian peeks over his shoulder before growling.
“I’ll be back for you.”
He spins on his heel and stalks out of the room, fuming. As soon as the door closes, my body goes lax and it strains my shoulders more, excruciating pain shooting down into my ribs. I try to go to a happier place, in bed with Chance as he holds me close and whispers in my ear that he’s got me. If I close my eyes, I can almost hear those words and feel his breath caressing my ear.