Page 27 of Make Me Lie (Rich Demons of Darkwood 1)

I was faintly aware of others in the room, but I paid them no mind as I ran at the torturer and jumped on his back, my arms going around his neck as I began to choke him out. He let out a muffled shout before I pressed tight enough to cut off his oxygen supply. His arms began to struggle against mine, but I held onto him tightly with my left arm before stabbing two fingers at a pressure point on the other side of his neck that made him immediately pass out. I dropped his dead weight and ducked down as a humongous guy, also shirtless, lumbered to grab me. I placed a drop kick in his gut, and when he bent forward with a groan, I angled my shoulders underneath him so I could flip him over my back. He crashed to the floor with a shout just as another guy grabbed me by the hair.

How many were in here?

I gritted my teeth as he ripped out some of my hair, and then I reached back and grabbed at his face with my nails, feeling around for his eyes and pressing my thumbs right into them.

He screamed and let me go, dropping to his knees in pain.

My breath was coming out in gasps as I whirled around to look for my next threat. Suddenly, a strong pair of arms decked out in a myriad of tattoos wrapped around me and pulled me against a hard chest. I bashed my elbow backwards into the guy’s stomach, eliciting a soft “mmph” of pain from him. His arms tightened around me. I tried to wrench one of my arms back into the person's gut again, but he was holding me so tightly now I couldn't move an inch. I lifted my leg to stomp on the guy's foot, but he wrapped a leg around both of mine until I was completely helpless. Fear shot through me at being incapacitated. Despite the fact that I knew I should try and keep a cool head, I began to struggle against the person's hold, desperate to get away. My shoulder blades pressed against the cold surface of the wall, but it was his hard body against mine that felt inescapable.

“Hello, little devil,” a familiar voice whispered.

7

Aurora

Cain seemed to glide out of the shadows. Suddenly, I realized that all of the guys from the other night were in here now.

Pax was the one who had me pinned against the wall. Stellan was staring slack jawed at me, and Remington was sprawled on the floor, his tattooed arms spread.

“Did she really knock Remington out?” Pax sounded amused, nay, delighted. “Who knew this little thing could do that?”

He crooned into my ear, “I knew I liked you, sweetheart.”

Cain stopped and glanced down at Remington, looking a little bit perplexed. Then his gaze swept up to me, a frown written across his handsome face.

Fuck, now these guys would see me as the threat that I was. I had to fight my way out of here before things escalated even further and I turned into the girl on the floor. I glanced at her and saw her looking up at me with a derisive sneer, which was strange for someone tied up on the floor.

Cain nudged Remington’s shoulder with the toe of his shoe. “Wake up. You’re going to want to get started on living this down as soon as possible.”

Pax laughed, his grip on me loosening slightly.

I could correct Pax’s amusement. He’d given me just a hair’s width of room to move, and that was all I needed. I threw myself suddenly into motion, propelling my body against his, slamming the two of us into the wall. I slammed my head backward into his face, felt his head jerk. I was already twisting. I grabbed his shoulder and dragged him down, slamming my knee into his face.

He was quick though, grabbing me around the waist so I didn't manage to slip out of his grip the way I'd planned. The two of us struggled, but I found myself slammed up against the wall again, this time with my face and breasts shoved into the drywall. His elbow planted in my back, digging into my skin.

“That wasn't very polite,” Pax scolded, sounding far less perturbed than I'd ever heard most men about being kneed in the balls.

“Victoria,” Cain said. “Why don't you explain to our new friend here exactly what was going on? I think she might have assumed you were in distress.”

Pax yanked me away from the wall, his arm circling my throat, so that I could see her. The edge of his arm pressed so tightly against my throat that black spots danced at the edge of my vision.

“Yes,” I said, “It's easy to see how you're the good guy and this is totally explainable when you're holding me hostage.”

“Let her go, Pax,” Cain said. Even though the words were benign, there was something about his voice that was dark and domineering. There was a subtle threat in it, as if it didn't matter if they let me go. I wouldn't be able to run far enough to escape.

Pax turned his head and pressed a quick kiss to my temple. I wanted to push him away, but he was already laughing and letting me go. “Thanks for the snuggles, Aurora,” he said, patting my shoulders as he released me.

Victoria was still staring at me as if she hated me. Her red lipstick was smeared down her face, her mascara was a wreck, and some of her long, dark hair clung to her scalp with sweat. I’d come out of a weekend trapped in a storm cellar with a serial killer looking fresher than she did at the moment.

“Any day now,” Cain prompted her. “Or did so much cum shoot down your throat today that it ruined your ability to open your mouth for any purpose besides our cocks?”

I winced at his crude language. I couldn’t believe he would talk to her that way. Cain’s gaze caught me. He looked at me as if he was always assessing me, and I’d given him one more way to torment me.

She gazed at him for a second, adoration lighting her eyes, then turned to me. “Cain and I were just playing before you interrupted.”

She pouted at me as if I’d ruined something for her.

“That wasn't any kind of playing,” I responded. “He was hurting you.” I mean I’d heard about BDSM, but I’d never seen it in action…The Demon would have freaked if he’d caught me watching porn. Was this it?

---