Page 20 of Take Me

“Do you have a sedative?” he asks, glancing up at Dax.

“Sure.”

“Just enough to calm her down, nothing drastic.”

“No!” I cry through my distended mouth as Dax retrieves a new syringe and disinfects thehollowof my arm.

“This will help you,” Mikhail soothes, but his words don’t register.

All I see isthe needle coming straight for my arm. It sinks into my vein with the ease of a spoon in melted ice cream, and there’s a slight pinch as Daxpresses the butt, emptying the contents into my bloodstream.

The effect is instant. My vision blurs, and lethargy drapes over my body, making me sag in the restraints. A building scream dies in my throat as my head falls to the side, into the cradle of Mikhail’s hand.

Blinking my heavy eyelids, I try to hone my focus on the calloused hands that pick up new items from the tray. It’s all I can do. I can’t even see which item he takes. I don’t realize what it is until he clamps forceps around my tongue and pulls it out of my mouth.

Fear hovers somewhere at the back of my mind, potent and threatening. But it remains in the shadows, unableto penetrate the heavy blanket of fog that keeps my mind in a drowsy state of thoughtlessness.Not even when a thick needle approaches my tongue does the fear break free.

I vaguely register a hand moving over my hair, gentle and warm, coaxing me to let go. So I do just that. I let my heavy eyes fall shut and focus on the faint sensation—the calm heaviness weighing me down.

When a dull pain spears my tongue, all I manage is a small mewl. Then I slowly drift into a hazy place where nothing matters—nothing but the soothing hand and the floaty sensation.

CHAPTER

5

I come to in increments. Slowly, I become aware of my body. Tingling sensations prickle in my extremities and spread through my limbs as thoughts flicker through my mind with increasing vividness. But even as I wake, the fatigue lingers, bone-deep, and I think it’s as much my system reeling from the time spent in Dax’s chair as an aftereffect of the drug.

Vividness is not a welcome relief because with it comes physical and mental reminders of what happened in that chair—along with the realization of what the final violation entailed.

My tongue throbs as if someone has stabbed it. And that’s exactly what happened. Horror infiltrates my dazed mind with oppressive black colors as I move my tongue and feel the click of metal against my teeth.

I wince as the swollen muscle throbs at the movement, and icy shivers race down my spine when comprehension settles into my mind.

A piercing. Solid metal through my tongue.

Why on earth?

Nipples, labia, clit, I would get. But in the mouth…

I can’t come up with any plausible explanation, and the blank void scares me to the core.

The barbell feels entirely wrong. A constant violation in and of itself.

Instinctively, I lift my hand to touch the foreign object, but it’s not skin that touches my lips. It’s leather.

A foreboding sense chills me as I wriggle my fingers and find them locked in position.

My throat constricts with a growing lump as I hold up my hands to find them encased in black leather. But not just encased.

Trapped.

The gloves can’t even classify as mittens since there’s no separate room for the thumb. There’s not even enough room to open my hand. It’s two snug leather cases, keeping my hands fisted and useless.

I don’t remember gloves. I barely even remember getting the piercing. All that pops up as I rack my brain is the sting of a needle in my inner elbow and a thick fog descending over my mind.

Closing my eyes, I try a little harder, and a few memories appear. But they’re all clouded in a dreamlike mist. The forceps grabbing my tongue, the hand stroking my hair, and the sharp prick of a needle. Then there’s the vague sensation of someone working on my hands and someone carrying me back here.

I open my eyes again and heave a shuddery breath. My hands look like two leather-bound stumps.

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