Page 46 of To Have and to Hold

Then something warm and sticky dripped from his wound, and Les shuddered, his thighs quivering by my ears. He sounded in pain, but forced his bloody nub against my tongue again, making me taste the saltiness of his pathetic release. He climbed off me with a laugh and turned to spit into my open mouth, pinching my nose for a moment for good measure. Somehow, he’d come. I didn’t care how. I hoped it hurt, a tiny little hole in his belly for him to piss and cum through for the rest of hisstupid life. If it was possible to hate anyone as much as I did Rafe, he was close.

“That was fucking delicious,” he said to someone, and I heard what sounded like high-fiving. Bro-y laughter while I gasped for life, my toes curling as the pain between my legs continued to grow in aching spasms. It felt like Rafe was forcing his way into my belly, the sharp, desperate agony as my body screamed out for mercy, drowning me.

“Oh fuck,” Rafe blurted, his tone harsh. “Stop, I’m going to come. Get the syringe.”

The wet sucking ended, and movement sounded as they did whatever the hell they were doing. My mind was on fire, words and thoughts and feelings a jumble.

I listened to the awful, familiar sound of Rafe coming hard, then some sounds I didn’t recognize in my foggy brain. “Oh fuck yeah,” Rafe muttered. “It’s giving way.”

Sharp, humiliating and horrifying agony rocketed through me from deep within, like the most intense period cramps, making my toes curl and a hoarse scream fall from my reddened throat. He was splitting me in two, breaking into my body beyond any imaginable limit. My belly squeezed, my muscles tensed to coils.

“It’s inside, give me the syringe.”

I fell into that oblivion I so wanted when Rafe moved the tube further. I couldn’t even imagine what he was doing. The last thing I heard was his laugh as another penis slid into my mouth, this one put his hands on my throat too, and I passed out.

Chapter 25

Theo

Shewasn’tinthehouse. I failed to find her on the cameras and my mind raced with all the possibilities of where she might be, what might be happening. She couldn’t be dead, couldn’t. But holy shit, what he’d done to her in the bathroom, when he’d thrown her down the stairs. I watched it all with horror, marching from the dining room to my bedroom and locking the door before yanking open my laptop and watching the feeds. It took every single tiny piece of self-control I had remaining not to march over there and end it all then. Christian had seen this, known her death was imminent, that Rafael was losing patience. Christian's warning didn't come with a plan, only urgency.

I had to be damn careful. If I wanted her truly free, I couldn’t go in and shoot Rafe, then run with her. So, time biding was a necessity. Hideous, but necessary.

I don’t know why; I don’t know fucking why, but I’d assumed she’d be safe after the party. It was idiotic of me, but she’sseemed so alive, impossible to kill, so awake for me. Like Rafe couldn’t touch her. He was too drunk, passed out, to function and hurt someone. I hadn’t seen him on the feed for some time either. And now she was gone. Christian and I were both keeping an eye on things when we could. But this was… this was beyond comprehension.

She was missing. Hidden from all the views we had. No. No no no. I had to find her.

“I’m tracking it, scrolling back through the footage I recorded to find where she went,” Christian told me, the panic in his voice doing little to calm me down.

“Fucking find her, mate,” I growled, doing the same as him, trawling through every image I had of that torture chamber of a house. We didn't have camera access across the whole compound, but Christian was working on it,

I couldn’t wait anymore. Fuck Connor and his witness protection, his promise that if she could just last a small while longer, they would have all the evidence they needed. Thinking about it, I decided he must be waiting for her to be pregnant, too. Clear proof, then. If she would tell them it was under duress, even better.

I was missing something, Connor was keeping things from me. There was more to his plan than he'd let me in on and that became more obvious with each passing day.

But fuck it all, I knew it my gut that the danger Violet was in now was beyond anything she’d experienced before. Father said her failure was making Rafe worse – would he kill her? Grow so tired of her that he just ended her? No. I couldn't let that happen.

So I steeled myself up, left Christian to find where she was, and returned to my family to shoo them away. I wouldn’t hesitate to barge right past them if I had to, but the more subtle I could be, the better in the long run.

It was late, they were jet-lagged, the girls were exhausted. None of them believed me until I told them, in loud, angry terms, that I wanted them to bugger off out of my house. Father took his time leaving, staring at me, picking me apart with his gaze, reminding me of his words repeatedly. “I will return in the morning to take you over there, begin the process of friendship.”

“Fuck your friendship,” I spat back, but then he left, rolling his eyes, their driver hurrying them away and leaving me to get ready. To prepare for what I thought might be my final stand. I was getting Violet out, or I was going to kill us both trying. I had nothing left to give anyone but her. And all I wanted to hand her was freedom. A silver platter of it, of happiness and safety.

When I returned to my bedroom, Christian had her. Or an idea, anyway. I sank into the chair and put my head in my hands to listen, determined to soak in each word.

“Ten hours ago, he dragged her from the house and through the woods. I lose her about… here—” He froze the screen on two images, one the CCTV of my sister’s unconscious body tangled in thistles as Rafe hauled her along the woodland floor, the other of a map, a pinpoint showing the location. “—and from then on it’s anyone’s guess. On satellite, I can see what I think is a small structure just west of this location, but I can’t be sure.”

“I’m going to check it out,” I told my friend, already plotting my path. It was funny in a way that contained fuck all humor that this fucking building was close to me. This, whatever the hell it was he’d maybe taken her to, was right there. Spitting distance. Of all the space in the compound, and this laid between our houses, so close I was surprised I hadn’t heard her scream. Fated? Coincidence? Or was he messing with me?

It was time to find out.

Chapter 26

Violet

Iwokeuptomy toes dragging along the concrete floor, my arms suspended above my head and holding my entire weight. The nerve endings in my body screamed, so on fire it was bordering on blissful- pain so extreme it fizzed and burst to nothing. Like the flames had burned everything away. All the bad sensation singed to oblivion. My head lolled to the side, free of whatever contraption had kept my mouth open for all that time. And I was alone. The room was the same. It was the cabin Rafe had dragged me into many times. The fun new addition, the bed that looked like it belonged in a haunted hospital, remained for me to stare at, to study.

Blood on the floor, splashes of other bodily fluids, cum, sweat, tears, marred the concrete and metal, splashed up the unpainted walls, a disgusting canvas. I let my body take in slow and steady breaths, fighting the urge to panic, to hyperventilate. I didn’t have the energy for anything but staring at my destruction.

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