Why?
The sharp, short slaps that came from behind the curtain grew louder. I forced myself not to jump at the sounds and met Killion’s stare. “Why come back?” I reached up, massaging the back of my neck. “That’s an excellent question indeed.”
I couldn’t stop from glancing at where the moans came from. Moans that I knew from experience were torturous in the most degrading way. My pulse picked up pace at the thought. Christ. I couldn’t catch my breath. Couldn’t taper that need inside me. Couldn’t hold that darkness at bay…and right now it was all I had. I glanced sideways at Evans and winced before answering. “Because no matter how much I try, I can’t get this place out of my head.’
Killion smirked at the words, his eyes glinting. The sight of that made me want to throw up.
Because I saw the same hunger in myself.
“We don’t normally allow probationary members back in once they leave.” Killion shook his head. “In this case, that’s a pity.”
He gripped the armrests on the seat and pushed to stand. My heart punched all the way up into the back of my throat. Evans jerked a panicked gaze my way as the other two senior members rose with Killion.
“Wait…” I croaked, desperation driving me upward. “Tell me what you want, and I’ll do it.”
Killion stopped, giving me his back as he adjusted his jacket, then slowly turned. That sickening shimmer was shining brighter in his eyes now. “How do I know this isn’t a setup? After all…you could be wearing a wire right now.”
A wire…
That’s what he was afraid of…
That I was wearing a damn wire?
My stomach clenched as that booming in my head turned heavier. I lifted my hand and moved it to the buttons on my shirt, holding his gaze as I worked them one by one. Killion’s brows rose as I undressed in front of him. I had nothing to lose in that moment…apart from Ryth. One lick of his lips and I knew I had him.
He slowly faced me, taking a step to close the distance. His gaze roamed, and his hand followed as he shoved my shirt from my shoulders, then placed his hand flat against my chest. I shivered with the contact.
They liked women; I knew that. But the kind of hunger Killion had inside him was fucking ravenous.
He lowered his gaze to my cock. “As much as I’d like to see the entire show, Caleb, I think you’re out of time.”
He dropped his hand and stepped away. His gaze fixed on my bare chest. “But Christ, I’d like to watch you fuck.”
My balls clenched. Ryth roared into my mind and my own desperate growls returned. When I take you, Ryth…I’m going to take you all fucking night. You’re going to be my favorite fucking toy…my wet, perfect plaything…
Hard breaths deepened as I captured his stare, letting him see exactly what he wanted to see. Me, raw and desperate, and Killion was entranced.
“You want back in?” he murmured, drawing the focus of the other two members. “Fine…but you’re going to need to prove yourself.”
Panic pushed to the surface. I strangled that fear, driving it back into the dark, and slowly nodded. A turn of his head and he nodded to someone in the gloom. Movement came, black on black as the heavy velvet curtain was pulled aside.
“After you.” Killion motioned us forward.
I took a step, my hands moving to the buttons of my shirt.
“No.” Killion stopped the movement. “Leave it open.”
The cool air-conditioned air danced across my skin. But that wasn’t the chill I felt. Killion looked at me like I was a woman he used. I gave a slow nod and lowered my hands.
“Evans.” Killion motioned. “This way…”
“He’s not—” I started.
“He is, if you want back in.”
Evans jerked his wide gaze my way. There was a tiny shake of his head. His pupils were huge, swallowing the blue.
“Maybe you’re not ready,” Killion started.
“I’ll do it.” Evan’s voice was nothing more than a husky whisper. “Okay…I’ll fucking do it.”
Killion smirked once more. “Then, by all means.” He motioned toward the curtain. “Let the party begin.”
This wasn’t what I’d wanted. Not for me…or for him. If there was any other way to get Ryth out of that place, I’d take it, short of putting a bullet through my head. But as I followed Killion and the two other members toward the back room of the Hale Club, it felt like I was killing myself anyway…
Just slowly.
I glanced at Evans as we walked. With each step, he grew paler. His eyes were wide and fixed straight ahead. A soft man shouldn’t be in a place like this, and as disgusted as I was, I was just as fucking excited. We stepped around the curtain and were led to a hallway, then to a door in the back. The guard pressed his finger to the keypad, and the lock gave a click.
Slap! The sound came from another room. Another torture…another act of degradation.
“Caleb,” Killion called my name.
I turned my attention back and followed him inside. Evans closed the door with a clunk. The locks engaged, making me swallow hard. The room in front of us brightened. A spotlight on the floor glowed where a young woman stood. She was scared, dressed in a black negligee and matching bra and crotchless panties.
Killion took a seat on one of the plush armchairs, then glanced my way and motioned with his head. No one spoke. They all watched her as they sat. The other two silent members took seats on either side of Killion, leaving those closer to the door vacant.
“Sit.” Killion commanded, when we didn’t move. “This is what you want, right?”
No…
Yes…
Torment consumed my mind. Still, I followed suit, taking a seat, Evans taking one at my right as we all turned our focus to the woman who stood shivering in front of us. The air was colder in here, so cold my nipples tightened, just like hers.
“Commence,” Killion demanded, and from the corner of the room, a man stepped forward.
He’d been hidden in shadows. But as he stepped into the light, I saw exactly what this was. That gold stitched H inside an O. Hale Order. That’s what this was…the same men who had Ryth captive. I flinched and jerked my gaze back to the woman.
“Strip,” the guard commanded, staring at her.
She jerked a panicked gaze his way, those wide, terror-filled eyes fixed on him. “Please,” she whispered.
“Going to make me ask again?” The implied threat made my gut clench.
One tiny shake of her head and her trembling hands rose, working the ties of her negligee. Out of nowhere, music started. Slowed. Reverbed. The beat was heavy and thick, competing with my pulse.
Under the stare of the guard, she moved, stepping forward on bare feet. That tremble of fear sparked in her eyes before it dulled. Right in front of us, I saw her fade away and leave the shell of a woman behind.
“Jesus.” Evans glanced away.
“Touch her,” one of the others commanded. It was the first time one of them had spoken.
The guard lashed out his arm, grasped a handful of her hair, and jerked her head backwards. She cried out, her hands flailing, but it wasn’t in pain. The strands of her hair pulled taut, but that’s where it stopped. With his other hand, the guard shoved the negligee aside and yanked her bra down to softly pinch her nipple, rolling it between his calloused fingers.
Her spine was bowed. She stared up at him like he was everything.
“She likes it,” Killion murmured.
I didn’t want to look his way…didn’t want to see how much he liked it. But I did. I did because I was fucking sick. Only, when I looked at him, it wasn’t Killion’s cruel stony stare I saw…it was Nick.
Nick, who’d sat and watched Tobias touch Ryth, his fingers working the puckering peaks of her tits…Ryth, who’d stared up at him filled with torment and desperation.
Part of me saw this woman as the guard unsnapped her bra and yanked it roughly free. I saw the panicked glance at all of us watching her. Her hands lifted, covering her breasts, until the guard snarled and shook his head. The other part of me sank into the fantasy of what we had in my brother’s bedroom. Ryth…it was Ryth I wanted here and now, so it was Ryth I forced myself to see.
“Get them down,” the guard growled, then with a shove, she stumbled forward.
Killion just watched her as she stood there, her tiny hands trying to cover her perky breasts. “You heard him, lower them. Now.”
She did, her eyes fixed on him.
That is what he wanted, that pained look in her eyes as her cheeks reddened.
“Panties.” Killion glanced at them. “Off.”
She swallowed, then her head gave a little shake. “Please, no. You don’t have to do this…”
Killion glanced at the guard, who took a step closer to her. She stumbled a step sideways, casting a panicked gaze toward the brute. “Please, no.”
“Panties,” Killion demanded, softer this time, although no less forceful.
In the corner of my eye, Evans cast a panicked glance my way, silently urging me to do something. But I didn’t know if he wanted me to save her, or him. But I couldn’t…because this was a test.
The guard feigned a step, and she jerked her hands to her hips, sliding her fingers under the elastic of her panties and slowly lowered them.
“Closer,” Killion demanded.
She jumped and, trembling, stepped as close as she dared.
“Now turn around.”
She stiffened and jerked her gaze along the others until she stopped at me. I don’t know if she was surprised, or desperate to reach someone, but she whispered. “Please…”
Ryth. Ryth was all I saw. Ryth under Tobias when I walked into my brother’s bedroom. “You want out of this?” I asked. She nodded. “Then do what we ask. It’s that simple. Turn around.”
Killion shot me a glance. Hope surged inside me.
Ten-foot-high fences and armed mercenaries. It didn’t matter. If I had to stand here and watch a girl made to strip in front of us, it’d be worth it. Even if she now looked at me with betrayal.
She lowered her head and her shoulders curled as she slowly turned until her back was to Killion.
“Stop,” he ordered. “Now bend over.”
The guard stepped closer until he towered over her and, with one hand placed on her shoulder, made her bend at the waist.
“Spread,” Killion demanded.
She unleashed a whimper and lifted her hands to either cheek of her ass. Humiliation tore across her face as she spread herself wide.
One of the other men shifted in his chair, moving forward. He reached out and stroked her pussy before sliding his fingers in.
“Jesus,” Evans whispered, although this time it wasn’t in disgust. He stared wide-eyed as one partner slowly finger-fucked her, then shifted in his seat. And suddenly, Evans wasn’t so sickened by the events in front of us. No, he seemed…enthralled.
“You like that?” the other partner murmured as he moved to the edge of his seat.
Her eyes closed the moment he slid his hand along the curve of her ass, then pushed his finger into the tight ring of muscle. My cock grew hard, not at the sight of her, but at the memory of Ryth in my bed.
It had been my finger that pushed in, my touch that had made her moan.
Just like this woman moaned.
“That’s it,” Killion murmured. “Now she’s getting somewhere.”
She unleashed a tortured sound and pushed back against the slow thrusts, her body betraying her mind.
So wrong…
So fucking disgusting.
“Whore,” Killion said, his voice stony. “Such a dirty fucking whore.”
She squeezed her eyes shut harder, trying to block out his words, but it was too late for that. Fingers glistened as they sank deep into her pussy. Killion, who hadn’t even lifted a finger to touch her, rose from his seat and took a step closer.
“On the floor,” he commanded, looking down at her.
The others’ fingers slipped free from her body as she lowered herself to the floor onto her hands and knees.
Killion stepped closer, still staring down at her. “Lower.”
She sank down.
Killion lifted his foot and placed his boot on the back of her neck until she pressed her face to the floor. “Now crawl.”
“Fuck me,” Evans whispered.
But Killion didn’t even glance at Evans. No, his focus was all for me. “Do you want one, Banks?”
I swallowed hard, my heart hammering.
“That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? You want your own private fuck toy, someone you can control.” He pressed his foot harder against her until she moaned. “Someone you can own.”
“Yes,” I answered, my voice nothing more than a croak as I met that stare. “I do.”
