Page 14 of Dirty Little Saint

The initiate grunts right before he jerks his wrist up and smacks my pussy with the end of the belt. I cry out and buck my hips. The sting of the leather sends a spasm to my clit. The fresh sigil on my thigh burns and weeps as if it’s thirsty for more.

Fuck.

One by one, they continue. I am rabid, feral, and depraved. With each sting, the tingling in my core builds. I can’t stifle the moans. Each break in between edges me closer to release. I hate that I need it.

I’m on my back again as Holden stands over me. “Time flies when you’re having fun. I have to say, I’m impressed. Thirty-four lashings and you’re still conscious. I’m gonna give you your final one. But I want your cum leaking out when I do.”

I want to cum so badly, just not in front of him. But I have no choice.

He nods to two of his initiates, and within seconds, they’re attaching cold metal clamps to my nipples. “For the final blow… a final mark.” They bring him a mortar and pestle. I can smell the cloyingly sweet mixture as he mashes it up.

He kneels over me and begins drawing markings on my flesh with the thick paste. “Nightshade, the crushed bones of a raven, and my precious Zeke’s blood.”

I jerk my face away as he paints my cheeks. “No. I don’t want his blood on me!” I scream.

“Hold her down!” One of the initiates who bathed me charges forward and pins my arms above my head. Holden pinches my chin hard and roars back, “His blood is already on you! It’s all over your traitorous hands.”

The tears I’ve been holding finally spill out. The shame he’s marked me with threatens to eat me alive.

Holden laughs as he stands up and readies the belt. He drags it up and down my slit, stimulating all the nerves in my pussy. My clit begins to spasm. “That’s it, little temptress. We’re almost done. Relax and surrender to the power of Nocturnus.”

I blink back more tears, and as I gaze up at him, I swear he has two horns on his head and a raven’s beak. Or am I hallucinating from the poison that’s seeping into my skin?

I can feel my orgasm building, and it makes me sick. But I can’t control it. The sigil sends spasms to my core in waves, faster, harder, over and over until I can barely hold back any longer.

Holden raises the belt. “I spilled your blood. Now, I will spill your nectar.” He lashes down, slapping the belt hard against my throbbing pussy. I buck at the contact and gasp as a deep orgasm takes hold. Like a feral animal, I break free from the initiate and snatch the belt away from Holden. I squeeze my thighs around it and feel instant gratification. I need this release. I rub the belt back and forth between my folds as I ride out each wave of pleasure.

He steps back and watches, satisfied that he’s turned me into this crazed wild thing. “Don’t ever forget who you belong to, temptress. I can take away your freedom anytime I fucking want. No one will stop me. Not Valentin. Not Atlas. And especially not Riot. They bow to me. Now you do too. Welcome to Nocturnus.”

The room empties out, and I’m left alone on the cold hard cement. I lie there for what seems like hours, teetering on the edge of consciousness until someone picks me up and carries me out. Before we reach the top of the stairs, I black out.

Valentin

I can’t hear her screams, but I feel them. They reverberate underneath my skin, seeping into my bones and blood. They’re torturing her… our firecracker. And I can’t do a fucking thing. It’s ritual. Tradition. An oath that we all pledged, including her. But someday, when we have more power than Holden Graves, I will seek retribution for this night.

Riot is locked away in a cell down below. He went mad after they took her down the stairs. He wanted his father to punish him, not Maureen. And so that’s exactly what Holden did. There is no pain you can inflict on Riot Graves that will make him break. But hurt his firecracker, and it will send him into the deepest depths of hell and despair.

“We should have fought harder to keep her out of this,” I grumble.

Atlas sprawls across the bed next to me. “You heard him. If we pushed, he’d enforce the rule of Hekate. Holden is stronger than us here. With all his initiates around him… they would be doing much worse to our girl right now.”

What a dumb fucking rule. I want to set this entire house on fire.

The rule of Hekate is as old as Nocturnus itself. A clause put in our bylaws to keep initiates from running off for love. We don’t have many women in our order, but this rule exists for the ones who manage to slip through.

Fall in love with a female initiate, and you will be forced to watch every other initiate fuck her. If you have any ounce of decency in your bones, Nocturnus will make sure to flay it out of you. We’re taught that love is weakness. Marriage is for duty and carrying on our bloodlines. And female initiates are not fit to be wives. Only playthings.

So we can’t fucking show how much we care about Maureen while we’re in this house.

“Your pupils are the size of golf balls, Val. She’s going to be fine. You need to relax before you have an aneurysm.” Atlas hands me a vial of nightshade. “Drink.”

I gulp it down in one sip. I’ve always hated this house. Even more so than my own. The energy here… it pulls at my darkness. “Why are you so fucking cheery right now?”

Atlas sits up. A blue glow flashes through his eyes, his pupils dilated. His smile fades, a snarl replacing it. “I can feel her pain. Her sadness. But I’m trying not to betray my oath.”

I nod. “Why are we letting him do this to her?”

He sighs. “The ravens can’t control us anymore, but Holden still has more power than we do. If we try to go up against him now, we’ll lose. We need to wait until we’re stronger.”

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