Page 67 of Broken Surrender
“Welcome to our laboratory, Mrs. Dalton,” Vaughn said. “May I call you ‘Lena’?”
I clenched my teeth, refusing to answer. I wanted to spit in his face, but I held back.
“No matter,” Vaughn said. He motioned to an assistant in a lab coat, who brought forth a cup of pills. I recognized them—the greens and yellows, blues and whites, the ones John had made me take every day while we were together. “Be a good girl. Stick out your tongue and he’ll place each one inside, and—” Vaughn motioned for the other assistant, who brought forth a cup with a straw, “—he’ll help you swallow it down.”
I bucked my feet forward, knocking the pills from his hand. He scrambled to the floor, picking them up.
“We’re speaking with actions instead of words, then?” Vaughn asked.
“The Marked Blooms Syndicate—”
Vaughn cut me off. “They can’t save you,” he chuckled. He pointed at the door. “Their soldiers can’t hear you. But these two?” He motioned at the round guards behind him. “Callen may have killed my best men, but these two have killed for Shin & Co Inc before, and they’ll do it again.” Vaughn motioned toward the counter and the other assistant grabbed a small tray carrying syringes on it. Vaughn picked up the first one, the substance milky. I cringed.
“And this is number one,” he said. The pain swelled in my arm and tears filled my eyes. I screamed, and Vaughn’s smile widened. “And this is number two.” A full, weighty numbness overcame me, my body weighing down on the shackles. And yet, it was familiar.Welcome.I had carried this hopelessness around like a bag of stones for so long that I knew what was expected of me.Stay silent. Stay still.Do as you’re told.It was easier this way. “What do you remember about the night Dalton gave you the Eros injection?”
The injection. The low dose. Had I noticed anything different?
I lowered my eyes to Vaughn’s black shoes.
“Fuck you,” I slurred, the drugs circulating in my system, making it nearly impossible to speak.
“Such colorful language.” He ushered one of the guards forward, who stabbed me with a cattle prod, the electricity shooting through me, locking my bones, twisting them in agony. As soon as it stopped, I dropped down on the chains. I wanted to cry, but everything was numb. “Since you don’t remember, we’ll have to see how you do with another dose.”
The third syringe stabbed my arm, the dull pain spreading through my bicep. The world spun. There were a few guards. Two lab assistants. But why wasn’t anyone stopping him?
Was I on my own?
Did I press that panic button?
Where was Desmond?
The fuzzy sensation spread to my legs, making me squeeze my thighs. Vaughn dragged a hand down my chest, lifting my shirt to skim his fingers across my soft stomach. He nodded again, and the guard pulled down my pants and underwear. A tear slipped down my cheek, but I parted my ankles, letting him in. Vaughn put an icy hand between my legs, grinning at my arousal. My body was already reacting. I couldn’t stop.
Was this what a full dose felt like?
“How does the Eros make you feel?” Vaughn asked.
My skin was on fire. My vision blurry. I needed to get more inside of me. Anything. I needed to make myself come. Maybe then I would be able to think.
“How does it feel to be controlled by your cunt?” Vaughn asked. He pressed a finger inside of me and I closed my eyes, the sobs rolling through me, but they escaped in garbled moans. I shook my head frantically, trying to fight it, to show that I didn’t want any of this, but Vaughn punched me, his knuckles cracking my skull, and I went still.Stay silent. Do as you’re told.My jaw ached. My lip swollen.
“I don’t want any trouble, Mrs. Dalton,” Vaughn said. “But I can make this very, very difficult for you. It depends on how you behave.” He put a finger under my chin, lifting me to meet his gaze. “The first two injections? Those were your daily medications. Based on how you were acting the last few times we met, I know you haven’t been taking them. I doubled them up. They’ll help you now.” He rubbed his hands together. “You’ll succumb soon.”
I could barely open my eyes. My chest tensed and I slumped down, Aaron and John filling my mind. For years, I had sunk down inside of myself, doing whatever they wanted to avoid escalating, because what came next was always worse. How I promised myself that I would never let another man do that to me, and in doing so, I had run away from Desmond, straight into the clutches of Vaughn.
Where was Desmond?
My eyes sharpened. I spread my legs wider and Vaughn snickered. He motioned toward the two assistants in the corner. “Why don’t you check on Callen’s location?”
Neither of them moved. “That’s not our—”
Vaughn raised his hands. “Do I have to do everything myself? Figure out where he is!”
They hurried off and I stood there, my knees shaking, my wrists dangling from the shackles. “Finally,” Vaughn stepped closer to me. “Callen never wanted to share, but I always get what I want, you know. Even your husband knew that.”
Vaughn dragged a finger across my lips. My whole body shivered.
Be quiet.
