He looked up and saw the beginnings of the roof. He felt his head bump against something hard. Stairs. He moved his knee, flexing. Almost time. Just another minute and he would kill Jeremy. He would enjoy it. He would let the beast that lived inside him out and have his way with the prick. He would be covered in blood by the time he was done.
There was that horrible crackling sound as Jeremy struck again. His body convulsed as lightning flared through his system. Hated tears leaked out of his eyes and down his cheeks. Every muscle convulsed from the pulse sent through the darts, and he heard his own animal groan. He’d never felt so helpless, so vulnerable. It was like acid in his gut as he struggled to regain control.
Make it stop. Please. Please. Please.
The begging in his head felt toxic. He held it in. He wouldn’t give anyone the satisfaction of hearing him beg. Not ever again. He’d begged his uncle. He’d gotten on his knees and begged to be allowed into his home with his aunt and cousins. He’d so wanted to be a part of a family. He’d cried that day. His uncle had sent him away.
He would never beg again.
His body sagged in exhaustion as the shock finally stopped flowing through his system.
“I can do this all day, Julian.”
Jeremy knelt beside him, Taser in hand. Julian wanted to shrink back, to crawl away like a wounded animal, but he couldn’t move again. Control was so far away. Jeremy’s hand came out and caressed his face.
“Isn’t that what you used to say while you fucked me? ‘I can do this all day, slave.’ I dream about those words at night. I longed to hear them for so long. So I want you to know that I intend to make our last day together memorable.”
His eyes were big and soft as though he was talking to a beloved lover rather than a victim. Julian hated the word, but victim was the only way to describe him. God, what had this psycho already put Danielle through? Was she even fucking alive? Please, please let her be alive and whole.
Jeremy got up and resumed his previous occupation of dragging Julian’s dead weight into the shack that would probably be the location of his death. He heard the door open and the soft sound of a woman crying. Danielle?
“Oh, god, Julian. Julian. What have you done to him? You asshole.”
That was Danielle. He’d never heard her curse. It sounded a little savage. His sweet little Danielle sounded like a warrior. His head turned as Jeremy pulled him, and he was able to see her. She was bound and still in her clothes from this morning. At least it appeared Jeremy hadn’t raped her. God, he hoped not. He tried to reach a hand out to her. He’d promised to protect her. There was no contract between them, but she’d taken him into her body, into her heart. It was contract enough, he suddenly realized. He was the one who had broken the promises their bodies had made. First he’d said words meant to hurt her, meant to make her feel small and inconsequential. Then he’d gotten her into this mess. He’d be the reason she died.
Tears streaked down her face. “Please leave him alone.”
Jeremy dragged him along. “I can’t, dear. He’s the reason we’re here.”
Julian felt his torso being dragged up against something solid. A wall perhaps. He could still see Danielle, and now he could see Lexi huddled in a corner. She was so still. Her black hair fell over her face, and she didn’t move at all. Lucas was going to be devastated. Lucas might not survive losing her no matter what their current relationship status was. Lucas loved her.
Like he loved Danielle. Like he was coming to love Finn.
Time, he needed more time. If he had just had a little more, maybe he could have made it work. His hands were brought up one by one, and he felt the hard plastic wrap around his wrists.
“I love you, Julian.” Danielle’s voice eased over him, the only soft thing in a world that seemed so full of pain.
He wanted to give those words back to her. He’d never said them aloud since that day his uncle had sent him away. He’d used them that day. He’d told his uncle he loved him in hopes of getting what he wanted. Now he wanted to say them, to shout them, but his voice was mute. His mouth was a useless thing.
“Please don’t hurt him again,” Danielle begged. Her hands were over her head attached to a hook in the ceiling. He could see where the ties were too tight. Her wrists were chaffing. She would be bruised.
If not for him, she would be safe somewhere.
A third woman cried next to Dani. Julian stared at her briefly. She had the same features as Danielle, but there was something weak about the slim woman. Her sister. She looked different without the mask of cosmetics. She didn’t matter. Danielle mattered, and Lexi mattered. He knew he was a bastard, but he would let this woman die in order to save the other two.
Jeremy sighed as he walked up to Danielle. “Poor girl. She thinks you care about her, Julian. She doesn’t understand that you would have come here for any of your slaves.” He gave Danielle a pitying glance. “You see the Master is serious about his contracts. Those contracts mean more to him than the actual slave. He doesn’t have a heart, but he does have an enormous sense of responsibility and guilt. Which is precisely why I know this is going to hurt him.”
Jeremy slapped her across the face with brutal force. Julian managed to kick his feet weakly in a show of protest. Danielle gasped, her head snapping back. There was an angry palm print across her delicate skin when she looked back. Rage churned in his gut, and the vile taste of bile was in the back of his throat.
A thin trickle of blood was on the edge of Danielle’s mouth. She spit it out and turned back to Jeremy. “Is that the best you have?”
Don’t. Don’t tempt him, little one. Cry and plead with him.
Jeremy stared at her for a moment. “Interesting. I chose her because I thought the man was a pain slut. He had that look about him. She looks so soft. I thought it would bother her. But if you like it…”
Jeremy crossed the room. There was a bag on the table, and he reached into it. Julian watched in horror as he pulled out a baton.
“Don’t.” Julian managed to push the words through his lips.
“Don’t what?” Jeremy asked with a smile on his face.
“Don’t hurt her.”
He shrugged a little. “It’s not what you think it is. I’m not going to beat her with it.”
Danielle was shivering. “I know what it is. It’s a cattle prod.”
Shit.
Jeremy knelt down to get at eye level. “I’m going to use it on your cow, Julian. I’ll warm her up a bit, and then I’m going to shove it up her ass. We’ll see how much she can take.”
He had lied to himself. He’d promised to never beg, but now he knew he’d do anything to spare her. “Please.”
Jeremy’s face lit up.
“Julian, don’t. I can handle it.”
Danielle, so sweet, so brave.
The words were bitter, but necessary. “I’ll do anything. Please.”
“Begging like the dog you are. I’m surprised. You really will do anything to keep up your end of a contract. It’s your Achilles’ heel.” Jeremy set the prod down and came back with a dog collar. Julian lay passive as it was clicked around his neck. It chafed and bit into his skin. “You’re my dog now. Good puppy. And I’m still going to hurt her.”