Page 14 of The Queen's Serpent

Maybe my father is right, and I’m in over my head. The question is, do I send her back to her family and allow her to live out her days without me, or do I show her mercy and take her life here in the jungle, so she can never breathe another breath without me?

Chapter eight

Issy

“You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes,you might find, you get what you need.”

Mick Jagger

I pace back and forth, like a zombie from one of those shows my sister loves;The Walking Dead. My head spins as another bout of nausea assaults me, making me clutch at my abdomen, knowing it’s only a matter of moments before I’m retching out what meager food I managed to consume an hour ago. The groaning sounds leaving my lips, and the rumbles in my stomach, certainly sound like they are coming from the undead.

It’s been four days since Diego savagely face-fucked me in this room, and then destroyed my only hope for oblivion. Four days of withdrawal symptoms which have made me feel like death would have been a kinder mercy. A mercy that fucker is incapable of granting me.I hate him, I fucking hate him, don’t I?Everything in my brain feels scrambled, and all my emotions are charged and on overdrive.

My whole body aches, my muscles spasm involuntarily, my nose won’t stop running, tears escape my eyes unwarranted,fuck, even my hair hurts at this point. I’m struggling to keep even water down, and I can feel myself getting even weaker. Soon, I won’t be able to rise from the bed at all.

Diego’s promise that no further drugs would be given to me has come to fruition, and even the antibiotics have been stopped at the boss’s command. Raphael still checks on me twice daily, but now it’s Santiago and another man I don’t know the nameof, watching him interact with me. I guess they fear I may try to seduce him again. How sexy I must look, covered in my own vomit, hair a tangled mess, reeking of body odor and sweat. Every man’s dream, apparently.

I haven’t been allowed to leave the room of my four-walled prison to shower. My skin itches from the insect bites that are still healing and the cold, sticky sweat that clings to my skin. My greasy hair is piled on top of my head, using a torn piece of fabric from the bed linens I destroyed. The one and only dress Diego allowed me to keep is covered in stains, sweat, and filth, forming like a second layer to my skin. How it got on my body after I passed out still remains a mystery to me. One that I don’t want to look too closely at, so it doesn’t push me over the edge.

The room was cleaned of my destruction by Diego’s men, while he held me against a wall with his forearm pressed against my neck, and a fist full of my hair in his grasp, so that I couldn’t attempt an escape, not that I was in any shape to try, anyways. That was the last time I saw him in the flesh, though I have no doubt that he is keeping tabs on me.His prisoner, his fucking prize. Psycho.

Some prize I turned out to be. A pained chuckle escapes my lips at how angry he must be that he chose the wrong sister. He wanted a fucking queen for the empire that he was building. Instead of going with his original choice; my sister, Mia, he decided that he wanted me. Maybe it was because she would have never let him control, degrade her, and bring her to her knees like I would, and have.

No, my sister was more likely to stab him through the eye than cower at his feet. Poor, miserable Diego got adud, a defective Stratford instead of a real Stratford. I almost feel sorry for him, but then I remember where I am, and that he threw me in a fucking hole and pumped me full of drugs, ending the months-long hard work of sobriety.

Heat rises up the back of my neck, and I surge towards the bucket Santiago has placed in the middle of the room. I drop down to my knees, emptying the contents of my stomach as dizziness overtakes me and my vision gets spotty. Fuck, I need to lie down, just for a bit.Rest, yeah, that’s what will help.I’ll just lie down right here and have a nap, and then when I wake, I’ll demand to see that devil.

He can’t keep me confined to this room indefinitely, can he?My head makes contact with the wooden floor, and my eyes close automatically. My last thought before darkness takes me is an image of my sister’s face. I wish I were more like her, because she would never have allowed this to happen to her.

I’m swimming in darkness, feeling like I’m trapped in deep molasses. It’s so warm in here, so hard to form a clear thought. I must be trapped in a dream-slash nightmare made of my fucked up desires for that bastard, Diego. My dream lips release a whimper at how good I feel right now. There is no pain or turmoil, just bliss.

Why does it always have to be him, or the other one with his piercing blue eyes, invading my unguarded thoughts? For once, why can’t it be some sexy figment of my imagination? Hell, I would take any of my morally gray book boyfriends at this point. Make him a dark, unhinged Fae prince, and you have checked all my boxes. Anyone but these two, who won’t let me have some peace in this miserable world I’m confined to.They both would have given you the world; one promised light and laughter, theother darkness and depravity, yet you chose neither, and that’s on you, bitch.

I could swear it’s Diego’s strong, muscular arms that are wrapped around me, his scent that is assailing my nose with its spicy, earthy musk. A small groan leaves my lips, and a soothing touch across my neck accompanies it, the sensation cooling, as if water is being poured slowly across my feverish skin. It can’t be, because he doesn’t have a gentle bone in his body. The demon devours small children for snacks. The thought has a chuckle leaving my dream state lips.

If this is a dream, I am not sure I ever want to wake up again. I feel light as air as my body is cradled, and more of that water sensation happens on my stomach and then across my hips, pussy, and thighs.Fuck, it feels too good.In my dream state, I arch and moan, spreading my legs wider so that the cooling sensation can cleanse me.

“Descansa mi amor, déjame cuidar de ti.“ The words are whispered so low that I can barely hear them, or make them out. The tone is so soothing and gentle, that it must be a dream.

A soft touch across my pussy lips has a shiver racing down my limbs, and goosebumps break out across my skin. My eyes flutter but refuse to open, the darkness refusing to release me from its comforting grasp. The touch flickers over my clit softly, tenderly rubbing small circles on my throbbing nub as my nipples pucker in the cooled air, and more of that water sensation is poured over my pussy. I take it back; whoever this dream lover is, he’s just fucking perfect, and I hope he doesn’t stop what he’s doing.

The stirrings of an orgasm are starting to wake inside of me, making my skin feel tight, and the sensation of small electrical pulsations race across my back, chest, and neck. Something wet slides across my lips, and I ache to open them, to drink inwhatever is touching me, calling me to let it have its way inside of me.

The electricity continues to rise inside of my poor, abused, and malnourished body. My toes tingle, and my hands fist, as something warm and hard is inserted inside of my core, causing it to tighten and my abdomen to clench painfully. It’s too much; whatever is inside of me, moving slowly in and out to a soft rhythm that I swear I can hear, feels like it’s gradually breaking more of my soul away. I try to force myself to wake from this dream that I am trapped in, even though my body is warring with my mind, and wants to stay in this safe, pleasurable haven instead of the hell of my reality.

“Eso es todo, mi amor. Toma lo que necesites de mí,”the gentle, soothing voice whispers.

The speed of the rubbing on my clit increases, and so does the thrusting, until my body is betraying me and following the motion, arching my hips and spreading my legs wide, aching for the release that is just right there, waiting to take me away.

It can’t be Diego, but maybe one of his men is in here with me. One of them is touching me, being merciful to me, and bringing me pleasure in this hell that I am trapped in. Guilt immediately rises within me, and I try to close my legs again to stop the sensation.

“Noooooo,” the word leaves my lips in a mumble, as I try again to open my eyes. My hand reaches out and touches a hard, warm wall of flesh, and another moan leaves my lips.

No, I have to stop this. Whoever this is will die at Diego’s hands. Their moment of mercy and kindness will have signed their death warrant. I can’t have anyone else’s death on my conscience, and I don’t want to know that I am responsible for him hurting anyone else.

The sensation increases, and so do the tingles that race across my chest. My body tightens, and the orgasm takes me over,coursing through my limbs, making my back arch and my lips open in a hoarse scream. I shatter in the arms cradling me, as they continue to push me over the edge, with a gush pouring from my core.

“Tan completamente hermosa,”the voice whispers, as it stops its ministrations inside me, and the cool water sensation is back now across my thighs and calves. Exhaustion overwhelms me, and the deep, murky darkness calls me back to its depths, and I go willingly.

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