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Chapter 8

Bram

Make her my slave …

Did she even know what she was asking? She feared the men within these walls, but she had no idea that for her, I was the worst of them all. Love didn’t tame monsters like me. The stupid fucking emotion only intensified it. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t become like everyone else here. To give in was a sentence I would never recover from. I’d like it too much to even try. And then there were my suspicions. Fuck, if they weren’t growing by the hour. No. She wasn’t safe with me.

“If I don’t have a choice with what happens, what does it matter? If you don’t want me as your slave, but still want me, put me somewhere only you have access. Or do us both a favor.
Don’t come to me at all
.”

My hand was striking her face before she had the chance to continue. The words, the act of striking her … my blood was fucking boiling. Worse, the lust was unbearable. “You forget who you’re talking to. I’ll come to you whenever I damn well please. Maybe,” I said, grabbing her throat, “maybe I’ll take you right now. Does your new little friend want to watch while I make you scream?”

“P-please.”

The plea came out strained as I applied pressure.

“Please, what?”

“Please, Master.”

I let go, forcing her to the floor. I should go. Leave before I did fuck her. Dammit if I could make my feet work. My mind was racing, already calculating ways to ruin everything I had tried so hard to avoid.

“What will you do with me?”

I looked down, taking in her worry. She wasn’t trying to stand or move away. She knew her place and the reason I put her there. It only made me want her even more.

“Master, please. I beg you to tell me.”

“You talk too much, but you know that. Stand. You’re to follow me. If you say one more word …”

My order left her scrambling to her feet. Her head went down and silence followed as the door opened and I stalked down the hallway. With each step, the darkness within me grew. To want something so much, to know nothing but that gut-wrenching torture, and have to face it every day had taken its toll. I wouldn’t have twenty-four-six-ninety for my slave, but I would have her before anyone else did.

“Faster.”

Footsteps padded behind me and I felt her presence grow stronger the nearer she became. My adrenaline left my pulse vibrating over every inch of my body. Questions and doubt tried to push through, but my battle was long lost. If my suspicions didn’t come to anything, soon she would belong to West. That ownership I couldn’t come between. I wouldn’t. So why was I doing this now?

I pulled out my keys, unlocking and throwing open my door. The fear clouding my slave’s face was all I needed to latch to her arm and pull her inside. The fog that took over after that was one I could barely fight through. My lips crushed into hers and her weight in my arms was nothing as I took us into my bedroom.

The bed bounced underneath our weight and I ground my hard cock in between her legs, kissing her harder. Heaven, sweetness, the feel of her tongue as it hesitantly met mine, left my body moving into her small frame even more. Had she ever been kissed?
Really kissed?
I didn’t think so.

“Master?”

The heavy pants drove me forward to press into her lips again. I cared not for her hesitation. My body lifted enough to jerk the dress to her hips and in a swift tug I brought her panties down. She lifted her legs to help me remove them and in one tiny moment of our eyes connecting, the world I had known disappeared. Everything was gone. Time ceased to exist, leaving me lost within her depths. Forever seemed to pass, and yet, it only had to have been a few seconds.

No words left my slave as she widened her legs beneath me. It was consent in the purest form, but was it one she wanted? She was too well trained to fight. She knew better, and me, I wouldn’t know the truth unless I felt for myself.

My head lowered to her neck and it took everything I had to trail my fingers up her thigh. If she didn’t want me, it’d hurt. But if she did … in the end, it may hurt her worse. She’d become more mine. More than she had ever been.

A small sound was followed by a deep inhale as I cupped her pussy. What my fingers met twisted my stomach into a million pieces. She was so wet. So ready for me. It was a relief and the end all at once. We couldn’t fight this need. No matter how hard we had tried over the years, we couldn’t escape. And I knew she had to have felt it too. The looks, the beatings she’d taken for them. I may have scared the hell out of her, but we were doomed to this desire between us.

My finger inched inside of her channel and I cursed myself on how I couldn’t wait. Hadn’t she been through enough? If I was going to do this, shouldn’t I at least let her enjoy it? She wouldn’t. Not really. The pain it was going to cause would bring me happiness, but all it was going to cause her was discomfort. The man I’d become over the years didn’t care. Her opinion or wellbeing didn’t matter. She was a slave. The part she’d won over worried about her reaction—her feelings.

The volume of her moans increased, drowning out my worries. I sucked against her neck, easing another of my fingers inside of her. At the gasp, I pushed deeper. My thrusts became faster at the haze that was engulfing me again. My cock ached and I was tired of drawing this out. I couldn’t sit here and make love to her. I couldn’t show too much emotion. Yet, I was. More than I should.

I withdrew my fingers, pushing up enough to jerk off my jacket and shirt. When I removed my pants, my slave’s stare cut up to mine. She was filled with such terror that it only pushed me over the edge of excitement. She scrambled higher onto the bed, but she barely made it there before my weight was colliding onto hers. Her fight was automatic. Even with the training and beatings she’d undergone, fear won.

“Don’t hurt me. Don’t—”

My mouth found hers again and I didn’t force my cock into her like I should have—like the Master of this place
would
have. Instead, I slipped my tongue back into her mouth, teasing, coaxing her to open up and accept me. Minutes went by while I let her trust build. When I pulled the top of the thin dress down past her breasts and began to roll her nipple between my fingers, she gave herself to me even more. Her body softened and within minutes of our kissing, her hips began to rock underneath me.

Leisurely, I slid down her chest, sucking against one of the hard nubs. The whimper that followed was so deep from within her throat that I felt it through every inch of my cock. Her breasts weren’t very big, but enough for me to squeeze against the soft flesh while I tugged at her nipple. Faster, she moved, pulling at my arms, trying to bring me up.

“Relax.”

My demand had her heavy lids rising. Wetness enveloped the head of the cock and I slowly pushed forward, letting her adjust to my large size. She was so small under me. So frail and breakable. God, I
could
break her. I wanted to. I want to be rough and unrelenting. To have my way with her like I did when I had fantasized about this day. No matter what I wanted, the actions weren’t coming. I stayed cautious. My mind kept saying, next time. Next time she’ll be healed. She’ll be ready to take something that brutal.

“Mmm. Yes.” Twenty-four-six-ninety’s mouth flew open and she lifted her head as I withdrew and surged in even more. I was maybe halfway and the wet grip was killing me. I needed more. Wanted more.

“Fuck. Kiss me, slave.”

She didn’t need an order to ravage my mouth. The spirit inside that I had witnessed before, returned. She threw herself forward, wrapping her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist. The invitation was more than I could handle. My cock buried inside of her and I drank in her screams as I held still.

“Did I hurt you?”

“Y-yes, Master.”

“Good. It wouldn’t have been right if I didn’t at least once.”

Tears escaped. Such beautiful tears.

I pushed to rest on my knees, gently withdrawing while I watched the pain flicker and leave her face. When I reached the head of my cock, I began to move back in deep. I kept the thrusts agonizingly drawn out, rubbing over her clit to soak in her reactions. It wasn’t until she was arching and reaching back for me that I lowered to move against her.

“More, Master. More. Yes.”

Nails tore into my back as she clawed into my skin. The stinging left me going faster. Harder.

I bit against her neck and she grew louder in her demands of me … and I let her. I began fucking her right. Fucking her like I wanted. My fingers buried in her hair on both sides of her head and I gripped hard, slamming into her with everything I had. The screams and spasms that shook her body was the purest, most powerful, drug I’d ever been fed. It sank it’s hooks into my obsession and doused the emotion with something new. Something so strong that it was all I could feel.

“You like this. Tell me you like it.”

“I do.”

My toes pushed into the mattress as I drove myself into her mercilessly. The suction on my own neck, the raking against my back, it was ecstasy. The more pain she inflicted, the harder it became to withhold my release. It’d been so long since I had been with a woman. My slave wasn’t just anyone; she was all I had ever wanted. Years of restraint was coming down to this moment and it was more than I could handle.

“I’m coming back for you later tonight. In the morning.” I slowed, grounding my hips into her inner-most thighs. “I’m going to fuck you so much, your new Master will never come close to giving you what I do. I’m going to ruin you for him, slave. He may be attractive. He may treat you well. But you will
never
want him like you want me. I feel you. I see you,” I whispered in her ear. “I’ve got you.”

The screams that came with her orgasm triggered my own. Wave after wave I shot my release into her, and with each one, I lost myself even more.

Chapter 9

West

“You look in a better mood than before I left.”

I took the drink Bram handed me, confused by the slight grin that was permanently etched into his face.

“Do I? Must be the Scotch.” He lifted his glass, downing another shot. In the five minutes I’d been in his living room, he’d tossed back at least two a minute. It was nonstop. It wasn’t right.
He wasn’t right.

“What happened, because something did? It was either really good or really, really bad.”

Still, the grin was there.

“Both? It’s nothing. Tell me what happened at the office?”

I shrugged, sipping the liquor. “Nothing of importance. Things are fine without us. Our lawyers are the best. I guess that’s the perks of owning and not working the actual cases.”

“I’ll drink to that.” Bram refilled his glass, downing it in one drink.

“How’s Everleigh? Have you checked on her today?”

The grin melted into a glare. “She’s twenty-four-six-ninety. She is not Everleigh. I don’t understand why you keep calling her that.”

“Because it’s easier than saying some long fucking number. When I’m with you, I want to say her name. When she’s with me, I will call her slave and do away with the stupid number altogether.”

“I don’t want to hear her name.”

I stepped to the side, following Bram as he tried to turn away.

“Why is that? Does it make her too real for you?”

“Of course not,” he snapped. “She’s a slave. She’s always been and will always be owned. She’s nothing.”

My lids lowered, studying him as he turned and grabbed the decanter. As if Bram had second thoughts, he placed it down with the glass and walked into the kitchen, grabbing a bottled water.

“What’s on your agenda now. It’s getting late.”

“Late?” I looked at my watch. “It’s barely after nine.”

He shrugged, collapsing on the couch. “It’s late and I’m tired.”

“If that’s the case, I guess I’ll revisit Everleigh, then. I’m sure she’s awake. She was when I left. And she seemed to enjoy our conversation.”

Seriousness came to Bram’s face as his legs dropped to the floor and he sat up. I missed nothing as his anger resurfaced.

“She’s not just some guest you can go and hang out with. She’s a slave and she is for sale. Just because I said I would help you get her does not give you free reign to go and see her whenever you like.”

“But
you
can? Her roommate mentioned you coming to their room today.”

“This is my place!” The bottle crackled in Bram’s fist as he stood to stand over me. At my six feet, his stood a good three inches taller. “I’ve let you continue to stay in this life. I have partnered my business with you, and I’ve given you everything you have ever asked for. You’re like my brother.
Do not
push me further than is safe, my friend. It would be unwise of you. Stay away from her. You are not to see her again until after she’s yours. You’ve been warned.”

I laughed under my breath, shaking my head. “Warned? Are you threatening me?”

“You should know by now that I don’t make threats. I’m giving you something I don’t have to. Follow my orders or I put an end to it all.”

I stepped back, holding in my hate. Holding in the millions of things I wanted to say. “I apologize for upsetting you and stepping out of line. I won’t bother you anymore tonight.”

Bram’s breathing was heavy as his stare followed me to the door. When I shut the barrier between us, I let my bitterness take over my expression. Who was he to tell me I couldn’t see her? I did
everything
for him.

I walked two doors down, throwing open my door. A smirk had me nearly exploding.

“What the fuck are you doing here? Have you lost your damn mind?”

I shut the door, watching Eli stand from my couch. The guard shrugged, lifting his beer. “My shift was over and I thought we could have some drinks before I go to the barracks and crash.”

“Drinks? I had you do me a favor and you come here for drinks?” I glanced to where I knew the camera was located. “Pretty stupid, don’t you think?”

“Nah. You have to have friends here or you’ll go crazy. Grab a beer. I put them in the fridge. Sit with me.”

I waved the offer away, grabbing the chair to bring closer. “This is dangerous. I know you’re smarter than that. What is it?”

Eli sat back down, gulping a few drinks before he rested back. “No bad intentions. Friends. That’s it. You’re about to become one of the masters. It’s good to have friends in high places. Besides, a lot of them hang out with the guards. We’re all one here. Money on the outside doesn’t matter. There’s nothing dividing us inside these walls.”

He was wrong, but I wasn’t focused on that. My guilt was making me uneasy. Not that I regretted having Everleigh’s master killed. Even if Bram did find out, I didn’t think he’d kill me over it. Maybe never let me leave here again, but I didn’t care about that. This place had always been home.

“Okay.” I stood, walking over to grab a beer. “Friends. Turn on the TV. Find us something to watch.”

A smile stretched across his face and he reached to the end table, grabbing the remote. When I returned to take my seat, a football game was on. I didn’t watch sports, but I didn’t mind them, either.

“I use to play pro. Bet you didn’t know that?”

“I didn’t. What happened?”

He took another drink. “Shoulder injury. Just didn’t have it anymore.”

“So how did you end up here?”

A smile exposed white teeth and he glanced over to me. He was good-looking for a man. Tanned skin, wide shoulders. Thinner lips, but wide eyes. I couldn’t deny he was handsome, but the darkness in him was all too evident in his look.

“I worked some security jobs after I stopped playing ball. My size made it easy. My past made me likable. I made a lot of friends. Guess you could say I made the right ones.”

“Sounds like it to me.”

“I like it here. Sure as hell beats out there. Free food, no rent, girls whenever I want them.”

“Consensually?” I threw him a look and he laughed.

“Always. Mr. Whitlock doesn’t mind either way, but I’ve never had to take a girl against her will. As long as I stay away from the virgins, it’s all good. It’s really all about Slave Row. God, I love Slave Row.”

“My slave’s there,” I said tipping the top of my can toward him. “Keep your hands off of twenty-four-six-ninety.”

“No worries, West. I can call you that, right?” At my shrug, he continued. “No one is going to touch your slave. Mr. Whitlock has made sure of it.”

“Billy’s hand,” I said, lowly.

“Well, yeah. That, but also by his threat. Hell, today he threatened to have a guard’s eyes gouged from his head if he didn’t stop looking through the window at your slave. The man scares the shit out of ninety percent of us.”

“But not you,” I said, smiling.

“Not me.”

The mirrored expression had me downing my beer. A real friend—more than won over guards; more than paying them off or manipulating them. That was even better. It was free. More loyal, where they were concerned.

“No!” Eli’s hands shot up at the TV and I turned to take in the game. Bram’s threats sunk into the background and I tried not to think about how I wouldn’t be able to see Everleigh for another few weeks. With Bram always watching, I couldn’t even consider it. How was I going to stay here and not give into temptation?

“When was the last time you went to a real game?”

Eli’s eyes shot over to mine. “Hell, I haven’t been in a stadium since I played in one.”

“We should go. Pick a game, no matter where it is, and you and I will make a week of it.”

“You’re joking.”

“I’m not. I need a break from here. Can you find someone to cover your shifts?”

His head shook. “I’m not supposed to leave.”

“Bram won’t mind. Let me take care of it.”

And I would. I had a feeling my friend was dying to get rid of me. Just as he was tonight. Let him grovel in his heartbrokenness. I wasn’t going to be at the brunt of his anger. I’d stay away as much as I could until the auction. And when I returned, Everleigh would be mine.