Page 5 of His Black Onyx

Chapter 3

Nate

Was this a big mistake? How could I not have thought this through?

This is so typical. Daveed and Mike warned me against it. Both of them fought me on this, trying their best to come up with another plan, a better plan.

But they both know there is no better plan. While this may be high risk, it's better than the certain death that awaits us if we can't hold up our end of the deal.

Our deal. My deal.

The Scivolas expect us to hand over a girl to them for one of their sons to marry. They are expecting us to bring them Lailah. Beautiful, seemingly innocent Lailah. Lailah with her black curls and equally dark eyes, an olive complexion and petite frame, all set off by a radiant smile that attested to the fire burning within her. She was a fiery girl, stronger than she appeared on first sight, and far more cunning.

She was.

But how will this girl match up to the real Lailah? How could I expect a random girl off the street to be up to this task? How could I think it would be this easy?

Things are never this easy.

Nothing ever is.

My actions speak of desperation, and I fucking hate it. I hate to find myself cornered in this position, I hate to lose control, and all I want is to regain the upper hand. Capturing this girl was a step in that direction—or so I hoped.

Now that I see nothing but terror in the depths of her black eyes, it dawns on me that as much as she resembles Lailah, she’s nothing like her. It will take a lot of effort to turn her into the person we need her to be. Hard work, a strict hand. And time.

I have all of that, except for one thing: time.

It will take a miracle for this to work. And a lot of threats.

"I don’t get this…," she repeats, her lower lip trembling as her glossy eyes fixate on me.

Poor little thing. One more threat from me and she'll burst into tears, but the sooner she gets over this, the better.

"You can wail all you want, little girl," I seethe, crowding her as I tower over her. Her fearful, teary gaze follows my movements, forcing her to throw her head back, her trembling lips parted in silent terror.

"I'm telling you this once, and I won't tell you again: do as you're told, or you're dead. And so is your family."

I came up with that last part off the cuff, and her horrified reaction fills me with an odd sense of pride.

"I… I don’t un… understand," she cries, and I revel in watching as the first stream of tears roll down her blushed cheeks. "What did I do to you? Why are you-?"

"You are not being punished for something you did," I cut her off. "Instead, I suggest that you consider it an opportunity."

She wrinkles her eyebrows, slowly shaking her head. "No."

No? Now I'm the one shaking his head. Letting out an exasperated sigh, I regard her with a severe look. "No, huh?"

The girl swallows thickly. She doesn’t say a word, instead pressing her lips so forcefully together that they become a narrow white line. She's scared of me, but not as much as she should be.

The surprised shriek she emits as I grab a fistful of hair at the back of her head is music to my ears. She cries out in painful surprise when I force her down onto the mattress with one violent yank. Her tied hands and ankles are of no help as she tries to support herself and struggle against my grip, her entire body squirming beneath me as I hold her down with just one hand, barely using any effort. I keep her head pinned to the bed with one hand, using the other to exert a new kind of threat, one that I'd hoped to save for later.

Her eyes widen in panic when I place the palm of my hand on her upper thigh, sliding the hem of her dress up until the tip of my fingers almost meet her sex. She's still wearing the red dress she wore when we took her from her room, and it leaves her exposed to my touch as the fabric stretches between her spread legs.

"No, no, no," she frantically repeats her favorite word, all the while trying to shake her head. "Please, don't..."

I ignore her desperate pleas, my hand traveling further until it finds the heat of her core. She mewls, failing at closing her legs to save herself from my intrusion.

My palm finds her mound. I cup it, almost tenderly. I can feel the outline of her pussy through the thin fabric of her panties, parting her soft lips slightly with the placement of my middle finger.

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