“But not tonight.”
I groaned and buried my head again, rocking it dismally side to side. I kicked my feet in a fit of rage and screamed. Why did he always feel he had to protect me?! I was the one who’d already been damaged by this, not him! I was the one who should’ve been taking the hits, protecting him! It was my fault he got caught up in this.
Footsteps made their way through the door but I didn’t look up until I felt him lift my hair off my neck. Before I realized what he was doing, he had something snapped around my neck. I couldn’t see it, but once I figured it out, I gasped.
“What is that?” Nick asked with a firm voice.
“Just something Natalie and I have played with before.” He sat on the far edge of the bed, swiping his finger across his phone as he navigated the program I knew was associated with the horrible contraption wrapped around my neck. “Of course, not this exact model since my last home was raided.” His eyes took that split second to look up and meet mine, a half smile hitching upward.
Every hair on my arms and legs reached for the sky in surrender, anticipating the pain I knew was coming. It didn’t help that I already knew, forced to watch Veronica accept the shocks last time. “Don’t,” I pleaded.
“But he asked what it is. What better way than to show him?”
Before Nick could even shout don’t!, I felt a firm buzz shock the skin of my neck. It was over before I even got my yelp out. My hands instinctively tried to go for my neck, only to go nowhere. Everything within the vicinity of the collar was still vibrating with aftershocks. I opened my mouth and shifted my jaw, which suddenly ached, but at least there wasn’t any real pain – yet.
Zander turned to Nick and raised his phone, gently waving it in the air. “That was just a three. As you can see, it’s now set to eight. Ten is the strongest setting, but that would just knock her out. Eight, however, will keep her conscious to experience every bit of the pain it delivers.” He walked closer to Nick and crouched down, letting him get a close-up view of the screen. “You see this? All I have to do is hit this button once and that collar shocks her for a minute straight. And there’s no off or cancel button once it’s hit. I’m going to keep this screen active the entire time with my trigger finger ready. So don’t be stupid.”
Nick didn’t answer, but begrudgingly nodded his head once. I had serious doubts he would’ve tried anything anyway with both of us tied down the way we were. He knew how difficult I found it to escape either house before so he had to know it wouldn’t be simple this time either. Not to mention the thumb print scanner he already knew about.
Zander’s attention went back to his phone and soon after, I heard the metal clinking as Nick’s chains were being loosened, but they stopped about five feet out, well shy of Zander. “Remove your straps, strip, then put your straps back on,” Zander commanded.
Nick’s mouth fell open. He hadn’t seen this coming. Sadly, I had. Zander was the master at humiliating you as much as possible, especially when he was being gracious enough to offer something in return. There were always hidden loopholes buried within his deals.
“Are you f**king serious?”
“He’s very serious,” I muttered for him. Zander cocked his eyebrows at me, a wicked smile creeping across his face. “Doesn’t matter. He had cameras in our house so it’s not like he hasn’t seen you na**d a hundred times already.” Zander’s smile disappeared. He didn’t say anything, but he clearly didn’t like that I shared that bit of information. Knowledge was power, and what Nick just learned was going to reduce his shame ten-fold.
Like I thought, the shock fell off Nick’s face. With an annoyed expression, he stood up and started by removing his shirt.
“Seems someone’s been neglecting their workout routine,” Zander mocked hotly, his eyes scanning Nick’s abdomen. It wasn’t like Nick had put on any weight, just lost some muscle mass as of late. The definition in his abdomen was close to disappearing altogether.
“Yeah, well, some of us have been ruthlessly gunned down the past four months,” he snipped back, whipping his pants down in anger. “Let me shoot you in the chest and we’ll see how well you keep up with your workouts.”
Zander’s dimples were making an appearance. But instead of provoking him further, he just noted, “Nice tats,” as he focused on the colorful sunburst near Nick’s groin.
That was when I silently groaned and buried my eyes in my knees, effectively cutting me off from this horrible scene. After about ten seconds, I heard Zander let out a humph as he crossed the front of the bed. “Seems we’ve already lost Natalie. She’s not one for keeping her eyes open without incentive. Convince her to watch every bit of this and I’ll extend our agreement to thirty-six hours.”
Fucking bastard. No way Nick wasn’t going to take advantage of that offer. Especially since Zander upped the ante by making him strip.
“Megan.” When I groaned, he said my name more harshly. Reluctantly, I angled my head toward him. He was na**d and leaning against the wall again, in the process of re-securing the straps around his wrists. Zander wasn’t in the picture though. When I pulled all the way up and scanned the room, he wasn’t here at all. “You have to watch.”
My whole body cringed with disgust.
“No,” he said forcefully. “If I’m going to do this, then you can do that. It’s ten minutes for twelve hours. I doubt you’ll be able to see much anyways.”
I huffed quietly. There was that ten again. No way would it be that short, but I wasn’t going to remind him. I swallowed hard. I didn’t want to see this, but he was the one doing it. If he wanted me to watch, then I’d do what he asked.
I sighed and forced my head to nod.
“Better my head between his legs than his between yours.” I thought he meant for it to be comforting, but this just wasn’t a moment where that was going to happen.
“That’s not fair. He’s already screwing with me. We don’t have to let him mess with you too.”
“None of this is fair. We just have to–”
I never found out what we had to do. Zander came back in at that moment and Nick wasn’t willing to finish his thought. The door swished closed behind him, locking us all in. As he passed through the room, he sarcastically said, “Well, look who came out of her hidey-hole. Decided to join us after all?”
I glared and rolled my eyes at him, but all it did was amuse him. The f**ker got off on making others uncomfortable. As he carried the armchair to sit just out of reach of Nick, he told me, “I’ve got a camera set directly on you. Obviously, I’ll be in no condition to watch you, but I’ll check the playback. If I see you’ve looked away or closed your eyes at any given point, deal’s off. And I mean the entire deal.”
Nick’s head whipped towards me, eyes hard. They weren’t mad or stone cold, just pleading with me to cooperate so that what he was doing didn’t go to waste. Funny how he didn’t verbally object to losing all thirty-six hours, but I guess he was finally figuring out first-hand the twisted way this guy worked. Objecting would only screw us further.
“I understand,” I forced my mouth to say without the menace I felt heating my insides.
Zander turned to Nick then, and yanked the shirt over his head. As he kicked his pants off, he said, “Remember. I’ve got that collar ready to do some serious damage the moment you try anything.”
Nick didn’t need the reminder, I was sure. Zander sat his na**d form on the edge of the armchair and beckoned Nick forward. Nick crossed the few feet and fell to his knees between Zander’s legs, his c**k already pretty stiff. This was the moment when I would’ve definitely checked out if I were still able to. Despite the nonchalant front he put on, I knew this was disgusting Nick on an epic level, and the last thing he really wanted for was me to watch him do it.
Because I never wanted him to see what I had to do when it was my turn.
Without a word or sound, Nick reached out and – I didn’t want to say caress, but that was exactly what he did – caressed his balls with one hand and slipped his other around the shaft. My face automatically soured, my lips burying themselves inside my mouth to hide the frown as best I could. He pumped him a few times before his head dipped down.
God I wanted to kill myself. Better yet, kill Zander. For not only making me watch this, but for tricking Nick into thinking he could save me for even one day. Once you’re already in hell, it’s too late to beg for mercy.
Zander sucked in a breath through his teeth, making a hissing sound. Nick’s head was in the way – thankfully – but I didn’t need a front row seat to know that his mouth had already made contact. As Nick’s head began to slowly move around, Zander’s fell back, his mouth partially hung open. After a moment, he calmed and acclimated to the special attention he was getting. He curled his spine and leaned back, the chair finally making contact behind his shoulders. His left hand took up residence behind his head, his elbow hitched up on the small wing that protruded off the top side. His other hand reached out and hooked the back of Nick’s head, fingering locks of hair. I watched as the muscles along Nick’s back tightened. Even his hands and head seemed to pause in that moment.
When he started back up again, I released my breath. I had no idea how long I’d been holding it. My eyes traveled north, and I caught Zander’s stare. He cocked his eyebrows before sighing pleasurably. I knew that f**king smug look. It was the same one he gave me the first night I was forced to offer myself to him. The f**ker kicked back on the bed with his hands behind his head like he was doing now, smiling away as I was forced to ride him all on my own.
Time ticked by, moans came and went. The angle of Nick’s head kept most of what was happening out of view, and I began to wonder if he did it on purpose, to leave me out of it as much as possible.
I knew Zander was going to make this last forever. Every time he got really heightened, I could see it in his expression. I’d feel relief, thinking it was almost over. But then he would command Nick to pause altogether so he could calm back down. Nick would never take one of those moments to look my way. He always tilted his head the other direction. Then Zander would say again, and Nick would have to start all over again. I had to watch that happen four times before I saw Zander tense and dig his fingers into the armchair. He was finally going to let himself come.
His eyes pinched and his lower abdomen began to move in a wavelike motion, mirroring the way Nick’s head moved back and forth. It sickened me the way his groans intensified. He sat up and snatched the back of Nick’s head with both hands. I could tell by the way Nick’s arms tensed and gripped the sides of the chair that he was no longer in control of the rhythm. In fact, I feared Zander was just holding Nick’s head in place while he thrust his dick back and forth inside his mouth. Zander was grunting nonstop and Nick was gagging as he was forced to take it deeper than was comfortable.
Zander cried out, his body shaking as Nick seemed to choke, his whole upper torso jerking in a way I couldn’t help but ball myself up and protect myself. I knew that sound of helplessness. I’d been there so many times, and I just wanted to lean over and hurl for him.
It was at least another ten seconds before Zander released him. They had both stilled at that point, but now that he was free, Nick bent over coughing, a repetitive ripple effect chasing the line of his spine that traveled up and brought on his gag reflex. Zander crashed back into the armchair, breathing heavily, his eyes watching Nick like I was. Again I inhaled a sharp breath as if I’d been holding it.
Everyone was silent, and it felt like they completely forgot I was there. Nick remained bent over, keeping his back to me. Zander chuckled and stood to pull his clothes back on. He motioned his head to Nick even though he wasn’t looking his way. “Unstrap yourself, grab your clothes and take a shower. You have fifteen minutes.”
Nick cracked his neck on one side, but did as he was told, albeit it a little slowly, like it was really hitting him what he’d just done. Not once would he look my way, even as Zander activated the panel and closed the door behind him.
Ugh. My stomach felt sour and I hadn’t even been the one doing that. And now that it was over, I just wanted to sweep myself under the rug and die. Was that how I looked every time Zander finished with me? Lifeless? Destroyed, even? I remembered that horrible moment after my first time with him – the absolute dread that choked me deep into my bones. I felt dirtier than the lowest level of hell. Used and put away wet.
With his back to me, I watched as Zander extended his arms over his head and stretched, the muscles in his back mocking me with their strength. Proof that I could never fight against him. The sad part was that he was a good-looking guy who probably turned heads wherever he went. If they only knew what monster lived behind those fiery eyes. He turned and meandered across the room, catching the way I was gaping, analyzing. He paused to stare at me from the end of the bed, his eyes slowly tightening. I knew that look. Predatory. It always preceded–
I squealed as he jumped onto the mattress and snatched my ankles, yanking me until my body stretched out. My slip got caught up and no longer covered anything beneath my belly button, leaving me completely exposed and at his mercy. He pulled on me once more, stretching my arms out completely, lengthening my body so I couldn’t fight against him. Panic mode set in, because the last time he did this…
“You promised you wouldn’t touch me for thirty-six hours,” I cried.
“No.” He gripped my calves and bent my legs at the knees, throwing them apart and kneeling down in between them. The air was way too cool against my warmth, and my h*ps wiggled uselessly against him. “I didn’t say I wouldn’t touch you. I said I wouldn’t f**k you. And you know damn well in this house it’s not considered f**king unless I have my c**k up your pu**y.”