Placing the last candle out in my room, the Brick Cell comes across as more of a calming meditation suite than a place the Bastards use to lock people up in. The scented lavender, ylang-ylang, and chamomile candles each flicker about the room making it smell amazing. I want Void to relax, let him know this is a safe space for him to wind down.
So, I take a last peek around, liking the ambiance of the room, then head upstairs to find Void, who’s slouched on the sofa sipping on a whiskey. I sigh while walking over to him. He eyes me up and down, a brief light gleams on his face, but then it’s all but extinguished.
I reach down, grabbing his arm and yank. “C’mon, I wanna show you something.”
He doesn’t budge. “I’m comfortable.”
“Don’t be a cunt. Come with me.”
“Ivy! I’ve never heard you say that word.” A small smirk touches his lips as he stands effortlessly and starts walking with me.
I loop my arm with his. “Well, if you stop acting like one, then I wouldn’t need to say it.”
He exhales as we traipse down the stairs entering the Bricking Cell. Void stops, his eyes focusing on the flickering lights of the candles sporadically placed around the room. His muscles tense as he side-eyes me. “What’s this?”
I let go of him as we walk inside, then I turn back to him. “Surprise!”
Drinking down the rest of his whiskey in one swallow, he narrows his eyes in on me. “You tryin’ to be romantic?”
I jerk my head back at his tone. “I’m attempting to help you relax. Give you a massage. Let you unwind. You’re so freaking tense!”
“You’re gonna do that for me?”
With a small laugh, I wave my hand through the air. “I’m already doing it. Now, stop being your usual asshole self and come sit on the bed. Take your shirt off, and I’ll rub your shoulders for you.”
Void hesitates, but I pat the bed making a slow smile creep up onto his face. “I’ve been a prick to you this last week,” he states, taking off his cut, placing it carefully on the edge of the bed.
I shrug. “I’m not going to pretend I understand what’s going on because I don’t.”
He nods, pulling off his shirt.
I will never get sick of seeing him shirtless. Even with the bruising still smattered over his ribcage, those chiseled abs, his perfect V, not to mention those black and gray tattoos, are perfect for me. Void rests his shirt over his cut, then sits in front of me. It’s the first time I’ve seen his back clearly. The muscles on this man are simply breathtaking, but it’s the Royal Bastard’s logo covering his entire back that really makes my insides quiver with desire. Void is pure sexual torment right now, but I need to keep myself focused.
I kneel in behind him, my thumbs pressing into his incredibly tight shoulders. “But, in saying that, if you don’t want to talk to me about whatever it is that’s going on, then I won’t push you, either.”
“You’re far too understanding, Ivy. Any normal woman would’ve given up on an asshole like me a long time ago.”
I kneed his muscles feeling them loosen with my touch, seeing his body relax beneath my grasp. “The thing is, Void, I’m no quitter. I don’t give up unless there’s a one hundred percent reason for me to do so. You haven’t given me a reason to quit, yet.”
He snorts. “You must have your scorecard set quite high because I can name a dozen reasons why you should’ve given up on me by now.”
I lean down against his ear. “And that’s why you’re not me.” I press my lips to his cheek, giving him a quick kiss before pulling back and continuing with my massage of his shoulders.
“I’ve never had anyone take care of me the way you do.”
My chest squeezes as his walls come down again. This is the Void I’m falling for.
“You need to let me do it all the time. Don’t put your walls up around me. I see you, and I happen to like you… the real you, Cade.”
Void inhales like he’s having trouble trying to keep his shit together. His chin drops to his chest, but I keep massaging him anyway. I’m sure we’re making progress.
He clears his throat, his voice coming out low and almost a whisper. “I grew up in a cult.”
Everything stops as I take a second to let that tidbit of information sink in.
Void grew up in a cult.
That explains some things.
My head starts to spin as I think of all the possible shit he’s witnessed or been put through. My breathing quickens, a cold sweat racing over my skin.
“Ivy?” Void’s concerned voice breaks through my rising panic as he turns to me, and that’s enough to bring me back to earth.
He grounds me.
He’s my rock.
I put on a calming smile and keep massaging his shoulders. “Keep going… tell me everything.”
“My father ran it, he was known as The Redeemer…” He pauses. “That man was anything but.”
I continue to listen as Void hesitantly tells me his story.
“I grew up with many siblings, some older, some younger, male and female, but none of us knew who our mothers were. It’s just how it went. The women in the cult shared the duties and responsibilities of taking care of the children. They were all our mothers, I suppose.”
An ache forms deep inside my chest, thinking about my mother. I grew up loving her, but she was taken from me far too soon. I can’t imagine growing up not knowing who she was. It must have been terrible for Void.
“You say you have siblings. Do you ever see them?”
“No. I have no clue where they are. Some went to jail, others to foster homes. I was lucky when I got out.”
“How did you? Get out, I mean?”
He takes a few deep, steadying breaths. “I started knowing something wasn’t right. Maybe this way of life that was ingrained into me wasn’t the right way. When my dad started bringing in outsiders, and they wouldn’t assimilate, they wouldn’t change to our way, I started listening. They kept telling me it was wrong. We were immoral for doing what we were doing. That what I was doing was evil.”
My fingers stop on his shoulders. “What were you doing?”
His chin drops to his chest again, like he’s ashamed. “I was only young, sixteen at the time, but my father was trying to initiate me to become like him and my older brothers who were running the farm. I didn’t know any better, I was raised this way from birth. It’s all I ever saw growing up. When the children turn five, we were taken to a party to see the elders doing all kinds of fucked-up things. That was our initiation into the farm. Honestly, from that age, it’s so entrenched into you it all becomes second nature.”
I need something to relieve my tense muscles now.
“Void… what were you doing?” I repeat my previous question.
He turns facing me, his eyes meet mine, and they’re so full of regret, it smacks me right in the chest. “My job was to tie women to the wooden crosses naked, and make sure they were prepared for the elders.” He grimaces the second he says it, his whole face screws up in pain.
“It was a sex cult?”
“Yeah… everything my father and brothers did was in aid of pleasing the human form. The women who were there were willing participants, but then he started bringing in outsiders, and they… they were not willing. That’s when I knew that maybe this life I’d been living wasn’t the right kind of life for me.”