Page 72 of The Dark Rising
Charles moves to the side, lifting a hand and running a finger around the poker, collecting my blood. He sighs as if he’s content before he pops his finger in his mouth, his eyes rolling back. “Make sure you mix it with her blood,” he rumbles, going back to circling his finger around the poker.
Patrick’s breathing begins to pick up, his body becoming tenser, and I know he’s close. Charles grips the poker, twists and then suddenly yanks it out of me. I open my mouth to scream, but Patrick’s already there, scrambling over me. He moves so fast, his knees on either side of my arms, and before I know it, he shoves his cock in my mouth, cutting off any sound I was making and causing me to choke and gag. He moans, his hips moving rapidly as he grips my head in both hands and holds me still. “Cover those teeth or I’ll remove them,” he growls, and I do, more tears pouring out of me because I know he will do it, he’s done it before. “Swallow everything,” he rasps out and then moans as he releases in my mouth, his eyes glazed in pleasure as I cough around his dick.
Patrick pulls out of me, leaving me a mess of tears, spit, and blood as I try to catch my breath, lying limply in defeat to the pain, to them. Charles gives me a pointed look, his fingers gripping my jaw and I swallow. Swallow Patrick down and try not to throw up. I don’t want him in my body, I don’t want a part of him inside of me, but he is. He always is, because he has done this every day for as long as I can remember. I can’t get away from it, can’t stop it.
“Pretty,” Patrick murmurs, and then the door opens and he turns his head. “Ahh, just in time.” It’s his friend, the one with dark eyes, he’s come again and I know I’m not going back to my cage any time soon. Know this is only the beginning for the day. For them to continue hurting me and violating me and—
“Little wolf?” My memoirs fade, the fog lifting at that voice. “Breathe, dammit!” What? Breathe? I am breathing. “Rhea!” someone calls, and I open my eyes, not even realizing I closed them. Light, green eyes stare at me and I scrunch my face up. What is he doing, and why am I on the floor? Why am I in his lap? “Fucking breathe!” Darius demands and slams his palm against my chest, his power rushing into me and I gasp, my back arching as it sinks into me. I take in lungfuls of air, my chest burning as I grip his shoulders.
“Fucking Gods, Darius,” I cough, still taking in air. “Go easy on my chest.”
“Don’t stop fucking breathing then!” he growls, his hand still on my chest, now moving in circular motions roughly, almost in a panic.
I look up at him, breathing heavily. His eyes are a little wild, and there is a tightness around the edges. I look around. Josh has Sarah cradled in his arms and Leo looks over at us from his position next to him, pity in his eyes. I blink and move my gaze away and then look down. “Why am I in your lap?” I rasp, my throat dry.
“You wouldn’t respond, wouldn’t even move, and then you just dropped. I caught you before you cracked your fucking head on the floor!” Darius barks at me. “Why the fuck do you keep passing out?”
“We have to go,” Leo says, and takes a port stone out of his pocket. I look around the room and then to Sarah.
“Is she okay?” I ask Josh, and he swallows roughly, pulling her tighter to him.
“She’s out for the count, but I can’t see any life threatening injuries.”
“You go on ahead,” I tell him. “I won’t be long.”
“Rhea, just come with us,” Josh says, looking around the room. “It’s no good for you being here.” It was no good showing the war on my body either.
“No, there might be something here. Just go.” I stand, wobbling on my feet but Darius steadies me, his hands holding my hips. I look down at him before I move away. “Go,” I order Josh, putting some dominance in my voice.
Leo looks to Darius, who gives him a nod and then they port out. I move over to the desk at the back, pushing down the dark memories that try to drown me. “Are you going to tell me what that that was?” Darius asks, coming to stand beside me and rummaging through papers.
“Now isn’t the time and I owe you nothing, Darius,” I murmur, feeling out of sorts after that flashback, after feeling like I’m going through it all over again. I won’t let it take me under. I refuse. But if it must, it will be on my own terms and when I’m on my own. “Let’s have a quick look and then we will leave. There might be something here that will tell us what Charles really wants, or maybe what he has done with the kids he took. He came down here and would write all sorts of things when I was here, maybe he’s still doing that or my family took over.”
“Fine, but you will fucking tell me when I want to know,” he mutters and goes over to another table.
“Not if I have anything to do with it,” I grumble.
“That’s the thing, little wolf,” he says in my ear, having not realized he came up behind me. “You won’t have a choice, eventually. When everything comes pouring out of you, it will be me there. Have no doubt about that.”
Twenty Seven
Rhea
“Arewegoingtotalk about it?” Darius asks, hot on my heels as I wind down the corridors in the west wing, trying to find where they have taken Sarah. We’ve been back less than ten seconds from my old home, and he’s already on me like a pixie orgy.
I scoff at him. “Oh,nowyou want to hear my side of the story? I’m surprised you let me the other night without threatening to break my jaw. Did someone slip something in your drink?“ I can’t deal with him right now, I feel too raw, too out of sorts.
I’m grabbed by my arm roughly and the next second, I’m slammed up against a wall. I grunt, glaring up at Darius. He lowers his head, his lips a touch from mine and my eyes narrow. “You will tell me,” he rumbles, the sound deep.
“Don’t you think I’ve told you enough? What fucking more do you want from me, huh?” I shove at his chest, but he captures my wrists and pins them to the wall beside my head. He runs his nose along my cheek to the side, the movement slow until it trails down my throat. His lips touch my pulse that’s beating rapidly, wildly. I can’t control it, can’t control how my body reacts to him. His lips move up my neck until he nips my ear, causing me to suck in a sharp breath and resist the urge to tilt my head.
“I want everything, little wolf,” he murmurs, his breath caressing my skin as he speaks. “The moment you decided to try and kill us in The Deadlands, I owned you. I own everything down to the soul within you.”
“You can’t own what’s barely there, Darius,” I whisper. How could I have one after what they did to me, what has been done to me, what Darius did to me. It feels like there is nothing fucking left of it. He moves back, his face so close to mine.
“You think you barely have a soul?” He asks, I say nothing, but he sees the answer in my eyes. He breathes out a chuckle, shaking his head. “You have a soul, Rhea, just like we discussed the other night, you don’t need to remake it. I’vefeltit. There’s nothing wrong with it.“ My brows furrow. “Every time you look at me unguarded, as rare as that is, I see it. See what’s within you, see who you are.”
“A murderous, manipulative whore?” I ask, still hurt over the words he once said to me.
