Page 1 of The Queen's Serpent

Chapter one

Issy

“If you ever looked at me once with what I know is in you, I would be your slave.”

Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights

My limbs feel so heavy, almost like they’re weighed down, and my skin itches as beads of sweat make their way across my flesh. It’s scorchingly hot, oppressive, and confining. A sensation starts at the base of my spine, rising and encompassing me, whirling within me until it feels as if it’s taking me over with its electricity. My body bows off the firm surface I think I’m lying on, a moan being forcefully ripped from my lips and sounding deranged.

I crack one of my tired eyes open, trying to pull myself from the deep darkness that has me wrapped in its thick chains. I shift my hand to run it over my eyes to help push away the sleepiness that clings to me, refusing to release me from its firm depths, with limbs that don’t seem to obey my commands. My arm refuses to lift from the surface I’m on. I try harder, willing it to rise, only to feel something tightening and pinching around my wrist, and forcing it back down.What. The. Fuck.

My heart starts thundering wildly in my chest, the feeling causing a lump of dread to form in my throat as some of the fog that has me trapped starts to dissipate, and noises around me accost my ears. It sounds like an animal is in the dark with me; low growls vibrate across the surface of my heated flesh, causing more goosebumps to form. I try to lift my head and pull on myarms and legs, only to come to the horrifying realization that I’m completely tied down.

“Nooo… whhaaaatt… the fuuuck?” My tongue feels thick and dry inside of my mouth, preventing the scream that is crawling its way up my throat, and desperately wanting to escape my lips. All my struggles manage to do is tighten the restraints holding me down, and cause shivers of fear to race across each of my limbs.Fuck, fuck, fuck!My mind races with terror about where I am, flashbacks of the last images I can remember flying across my vision and assuring me I’m not safe.Where the fuck am I? Oh my God, where the fuck am I?

My blood rushes in my veins, the sound so loud that it’s almost deafening in my ears. A chilling, urgent sensation races through my body, an instinctive warning blaring through my thoughts like a siren in the dead of night, warning of danger, of consequences, and even of death.

Warm tears slide down the sides of my face and slip into my ears and hair, reassuring me that I’m very much alive. My numb lips mumble words in a strangled breath, pleading and begging for what, I don’t know. The adrenaline and fear rushing through my system are making my head spin, and aiding in further disorienting me.I can’t fucking breathe, I can’t breathe, where am I?

Is something touching my legs?What the fuck is touching me? I feel pressure forcing my thighs apart, as my head spins faster and bile rises up the back of my throat. Something is skimming along my skin roughly, scratching, and feeling as if it’s trying to push against me.Wet. I feel wet down there.Oh my fucking God, is an animal trying to consume me? Am I bleeding? I’m going to die here, eaten by whatever has me restrained.

Get it together, weakling, an animal wouldn’t be able to restrain you. Human. Focus, Issy.The words skate through my mind, and with them, I can finally get a breath inside my lungs.My heart is still pounding furiously in my chest, but at least now, I’m almost a hundred percent positive it’s a human, and I’m trapped in a nightmare.

I force all my senses to focus, and I think I can feel someone’s head in between my bound and spread legs, grazing, licking, and sucking on my most intimate areas. Their hair brushes against the side of my slickened thighs, and a rough and abrasive texture grazes my pussy lips. Scariest of all, I realize my core feels needy, swollen, and wet. My body is responding against my will.

I try to pull and shift my body away from the sensations, still not convinced that I’m not trapped in a nightmare. One that I need to wake myself from now, before my heart explodes out of my chest. “Noooo… waakke… up.” I hear my slurred words, my voice sounding entirely out of it.

Loud groans and growls respond to my words, making the hairs on the back of my neck and arms stand on end.Not a nightmare, it’s not a nightmare! FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!I’m going to die.

Various sensations are accosting me at the same time, making the panic that is enveloping me even worse and more horrifying. Whoever is touching me is taking what they want, and devouring me, as I lie helpless below them. The heat that soared across my skin just moments ago cools and turns to frigid ice, as my limbs try harder to fight against their restraints. I try in desperation to close my legs, and stop the conflicting sensations that are rising across my skin, but whatever or whoever is holding me captive prevents even that small mercy.

“Please!” The word leaves my lips with strength as I thrash my head on my neck against the hard surface; it’s the only part of my anatomy available to me to move, even as my core tightens painfully, and my clit throbs against the invading force.

“Mine.” A feral growl rents the air and has my chest tightening painfully, forcing the air to become trapped in my lungs. Scentsare starting to accost me as I fully awaken into this nightmare I find myself in. The rich smell of musk, something earthy and spicy, and sweat meet my nostrils. Male. My mind provides the word as it stirs and awakens utterly, to claw through layers of obscurity and confusion currently engulfing me.

“No… stop!” A muddled scream leaves my lips as my heart gallops inside my chest. The beast between my legs ignores my request and thrashes, slipping their tongue further inside of my tight core, and causing the next scream to become trapped inside my throat. Rough, firm hands grip either side of my thighs without mercy, tightening their punishing hold and forcing them wider, while the shadowed beast eats me like they’re starving.No, fuck, no.

My body and mind are becoming overwhelmed with all the confusing sensations. The fear and dread, mixed with the pleasure that is rising within me, are sending confused signals to my brain on whether to lean into the pleasure, or to fight to seek our escape. An electric current is running through my limbs and up my spine, signaling the approach of an orgasm I’m unable to stop from crashing over me. My body wants the release; it craves it, even while my mind screams in terror. My hands tighten into fists, my nails biting into the flesh of my palms, and even my toes scrunch as the sensations hit my body like a tsunami making landfall, and taking everything with it in its wake and causing chaos and destruction.

A guttural scream leaves my lips, ripping through my vocal cords and making the muscles in my neck strain and my ears ring, as all the breath escapes me in a whoosh, and my heart feels like it’s going to explode in my chest. My whole body tightens as I pull on the restraints, my neck lifts from the surface I’m on, and my eyes roll to the back of my head. Still, whoever is between my legs doesn’t stop or relent, continuing to push me over the edge of insanity, causing one mind-blowing and earth-shattering orgasm to roll quickly into another, until even my screams are stolen from me with my lack of oxygen.

The temperature in the room has become scorching, filled with humidity, and downright unbearable. My skin feels like it is blistering hot as moisture coats it further. My thick hair sticks to my scalp, shoulders, and back. I’m entirely naked before whoever is using me for their depraved pleasure. My nipples are sharp, hard points, standing at attention painfully, both wanting to be touched and pulled, and yet fearful and dreading whoever is touching me. Moisture pools from inside of me as my orgasm abates, soaking the surface below my asscheeks, and causing further horror at the knowledge of how wet I am.

FUCK!How could my body have come like that? I don’t even know who this is ripping these sensations from me.FIGHT, ISSY! My brain shrieks, yet I’m still unable to move. Fight or flight has kicked in, and I can no longer get enough air inside my lungs. I try to suck in huge breaths but end up choking on air, and sobbing at the same time. Tears, snot, and saliva all coat my face and join the perspiration covering me.

I’m trapped. I’m subdued, and someone has me. Once again, I’m reminded I have no control over what happens to me and that, as usual, I am a doll to be played with.Weak.We are weak, my mind provides the word that I dread. The one that has described me all my life.Who has me? Who is doing this to me? Was I captured by another of my grandmother’s enemies? Fuck, has someone taken me like they did my sister?

How am I going to get out of here? More tears slide down my face, and stifling sobs are swelling in my throat. Hopelessness mixes with fear, and I feel like I am drowning. I need someone to save me. Where is my sister and grandmother? Where is Diego?

Diego.The name slides through my mind, and I can feel my hope rising inside of me, like a beacon calling to a lost merchant out at sea. Could this be Diego? The more I think of his name,the slower the frantic rhythm of my heart beats. It has to be him,fuck, please let it be him touching me.

Where the hell am I? Am I still in my sister’s house in Casbury? The last thing I remember was being with Raegan, my sister’s best friend, on the sofa, watching a show on Netflix. Then Mateo was before us, offering us fresh cookies from the local bakery, but everything after that is a blank.Where are my grandmother and sister? Are they trapped somewhere, too?

Fear overwhelms me at the thought of my sister once again being taken, and both her and my grandmother being harmed.NO! I won’t allow it.I won’t allow Mia to suffer again; she’s already been through so much. I won’t allow anyone to harm my grandmother, Stella, either.

How are you going to protect them?My mind questions with snark,you can’t even stop orgasming for whoever has you. Besides, they are both strong women and warrior queens.They are nothing like you; pathetic, weak, useless.

Another feral growl rents the air, and I feel my core spasm again against my will, as another orgasm threatens to rise and be pulled from me by force. My mind spirals with nothing but dark thoughts of what happened to my sister. I will never be able to endure and survive what she did. I hope whoever has me plans to kill me.Gutless, frail, worthless, my mind hisses at my thoughts.

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