Page 68 of Bottoms
They carried my exhausted body to my bedroom. I let them take care of me like they had when I couldn’t get out of bed alone. I preferred the pampering from too many orgasms far more than being pampered because I was stabbed.
Tanner tucked me into bed, my arms and legs practically useless. He gave me a kiss on my forehead before the others lined up to tell me goodnight. They left together, shutting off the light before closing the door. I appreciated that I would be able to starfish in my own bed tonight, and that was exactly what I did before the dark abyss swallowed me whole.
I awoke in the night to a light knocking at my door. Turning to look at the clock, I was surprised to see that it wasn’t even midnight. My feet swung off the bed, padding across the warm tile floor, while I tried to guess which one of them had come knocking for another round.
I opened the door, expecting to see Colten after finally deciding he had the best odds. But I was surprised to find Mike standing at the door instead, with a grumpy look on his face. It was good to know that some things didn’t change.
“Hey Mike,” I said quietly, not knowing what everyone else got up to since I went to bed so early. “What’s going on?”
“Come with me,” he said, gesturing into the hall.
I stepped out of my room, and Mike turned, heading down the hall without further explanation. He was headed for the back of Bottoms, and I hurried behind him, hoping that the shorts and tank top the boys put me in would be alright for whatever they had planned. Tanner had better not be trying to get me on his private plane to visit my mother.
Mike rounded a corner toward the garage, and my pace slowed as I started to war with myself on whether I should just go back to my room. If Tanner wanted me, he could come to get me himself.
“Hey, Mike,” I said, jogging to round the corner and at least let him know that I was going back to bed.
The moment I turned, I ran into Mike’s chest. His arms wrapped around me instead of letting me fall to the floor. I was thankful for a moment, but he didn’t let go. His arms tightened around me like a vice while his other released its hold for a moment. A rag was held against my mouth, and my head started to spin.
“Sorry, little one,” Mike whispered as I started to fall back into the black abyss inside my mind. Welcoming me home to the vast space of nothingness where I was fated to reside.
20
Surrendering
Thedarkabyssreleasedme, and I didn’t want to let go this time. I had tired of waking up for another day, only to be forced back. I would rather stay alone and in the dark, letting myself slip away. My body screamed out in pain from so many different places, the sharp taste ripping me back into the waking world.
“There she is,” a woman purred.
My eyes opened as my head snapped up. I was tied to a chair next to the lapping edges of an indoor pool. I looked around at the tropical foliage before my eyes and found a familiar sight that was simultaneously wrong.
“Daddy Ryland, I presume?” I said, unimpressed, to the man standing beside a woman in a red dress and black gloves. She held a knife in her hands. I looked down, noticing cuts on my skin, and then I understood where the pain came from. Mike was standing just behind him. They looked about the same age, if I were to guess, based on gray hairs. But the man in question looked back at me with features he had passed down to his son.
“This?” Tanner’s father said, pointing at me in disgust before looking back at Mike. “This girl right here?” he asked, this time turning to the woman in red.
“She’s caused quite the disturbance since appearing, Mr. Ryland,” the woman said. Sliding her gloved palm over Tanner’s father’s chest in a way that suggested they were intimate.
His gaze slid back to me, almost making my skin feel slimy as he perused slowly, evaluating me. He seemed to give up after finding too many flaws, rolling his eyes as he looked back at the woman.
“I don’t understand where I went wrong with that boy,” Mr. Ryland said, disgusted that his son wanted me.
Anger coursed through me, and I struggled against the ropes securing me to the chair. I gave up after a few experimental pulls, and I realized I would either need to cut the rope or break the chair. Fynn had tied me up like this for training several times, but I wasn’t sure I could break it without falling into the water.
Drowning would be the worst way to die.
“I guess,” Mr. Ryland sighed, stroking his mostly gray beard while he thought. “See how much you can sell her for,” he said, looking at the woman.
She lit up at his words like she had been hoping that would be his judgment. Giving him a quick kiss on the lips before starting toward me.
“You’re going to make me so rich,” she purred as she approached. Her hips swung as she walked, her heels clicking against the floor.
“How can you sell people to those monsters?” I spit. Knowing that she planned on putting my ownership up for sale, open to every wealthy, depraved individual in New York City.
“You wore gloves you didn’t earn,” she said, looking down at her hands. I wondered how many different girls’ blood was soaked into the fibers.
“A woman wearing gloves means she owns herself,” I said, glaring at her.
“But you didn’t pay for the title,” she bit out, hauling her gloved hand back before slapping me across the face. “You put a badge on without clearing your debts,” she said, her voice entirely calm as she smoothed her hair. “What makes you think that you are above the rules?”
