Page 55 of Sinful Desires

“Don’t,” she whispered as I took another step forward. When she realized that her plea fell on deaf ears, she started fighting against her captor again. She had to have known it was no use. Foster was what—6 feet tall, or somewhere around there, and she was a measly 5 foot six inches.

“Where?” I questioned. The only places available to me were her face, her neck, and the bottom parts of her legs.

Foster drew his lips into a thin line as he contemplated that. “Right,” he finally said, releasing his hold on her. My eyes met hers for a split second. Disbelief was written into her features as if I was the issue here. Not that it mattered. Things would be a hell of a lot easier if she hated me.

A loud rip echoed throughout the room and before I could process where the sound was coming from, the shirt she was wearing fell to the floor in two halves, leaving her completely exposed. Her arms immediately moved to cover herself—not like we all hadn’t already seen her naked before at this point. To her dismay, Foster pinned her arms behind her back once more.

The water from her hair dripped down her chest, to her breasts, making her nipples harden. She looked beautiful like this. Held hostage, naked, covered in water, with fear in her eyes.

“Now burn her,” he repeated.

I looked over to where Hunter and Myles were standing, their hungry gazes taking in every inch of her. Annoyance bubbled inside of me as Hunter’s earlier words broke through my mind, reminding me that only days earlier, her mouth had been on him too.

Mustering up the courage, I returned my attention to the girl in front of me. Making my way toward her, I didn’t say anything before smashing the cherry of my cigarette against her bare shoulder. Aspen cried out, tears forming along the bottom of her eyes.

The ashes discolored her skin, giving it an ugly gray color. Guilt ate away at me, but I shoveled it back down, reminding myself that she was just another girl that didn’t matter. A notch on my belt. Sometimes my head confused itself. Obsessing over things came naturally to me, and my body would often trick itself into thinking it actually liked said obsession. The truth was, I just wanted more time with her. To fuck her again, to see if she could out-last Madison. It was never anything serious and once I got bored, then that was it.

“My turn,” Myles decided, shoving past me, and causing me to stumble. He already had a cigarette in hand as he approached her.

Instead of burning her immediately like I expected, he reached out, combing his fingers through her hair like she was some kind of pet. She flinched away, but there was nowhere she could go—nothing she could do. Bringing his index to her sternum, he traced his finger down the valley between her breasts until he reached the spot right below her bellybutton. I watched as her chest rose and fell from the fear and anticipation of what was to come. Before any of us knew what was happening, Myles smashed the cigarette into that same spot with so much force that the muscles in his arm flexed. A loud scream ripped from her throat, and she doubled forward, falling toward Myles. Foster’s grip tightened on her, preventing her from falling. Jerking her upright again, tears marred the skin right below her eyes.

“Hunter,” Foster encouraged, giving him a slight nod.

Hunter hesitated for a moment before striding forward and swapping places with Myles. Unfortunately, his discomfort about the entire situation was gone as fast as it had come.

“Sorry, baby girl,” he said softly. “This one’s on you.”

Baby girl?

Before she had time to protest or even think, the cigarette was on her thigh, causing another yelp to tear from her lips. Her legs shook uncontrollably from the pain and the fact that she was probably weak from exerting so much energy. This time, Foster let her collapse, a smack sounding through the room as she hit the cemented floor.

“My turn.” Foster grinned as he snatched a cigarette of his own and lit it. He wasted no time, striding back over to Aspen who seemed to be paralyzed from the pain as she lay there motionless on her hands and knees. He rolled her onto her back and peered down at her. Her eyes were glazed over with unshed tears, and they were unfocused as she stared toward the ceiling.

“Please,” she whispered weakly. “Don’t.”

Kneeling beside her, his lips stretched into a sadistic smile that had tremors wracking down my own spine. He didn’t bother saying a word before smashing the cigarette into her temple with about as much force as Myles had used.

Her eyes widened and another scream flung from her lips as she started kicking and flailing. The tears that had been unshed tracked down her pale skin. Myles let out a dark laugh that had my blood sizzling. I believed that torture was necessary in some cases. However, this wasn’t one of those times. They were doing this as a power play—to show who’s in control, and that wasn’t something I wanted to be a part of.

Foster moved away from her and moved to stand beside Hunter. Aspen’s chest rattled as she struggled to breathe from hyperventilating.

Aspen wiped her tears away angrily, like it was their fault for being there, and then she pinned us each with a deadly look. Pure hatred stared back at me, and her jaw ticked as she clenched it.

“I might not look like much,” she said weakly, glancing between the four of us. “But listen to me when I make this promise. I will make every one of you pay. Unless you kill me, I will become your worst fucking nightmare. It might not be today; it might not be tomorrow. But I will end you—slowly, and so goddamn painfully that Foster’s mommy will feel it in her grave.” A dangerous grin hooked at the corners of her mouth as her gaze landed on Foster—something dark flashing across his features from the threat.

It wasn’t a secret that Foster’s mom was dead. Aspen could have found out that information from anyone. If she was hoping that would upset him, she was sadly mistaken. While even we didn’t know a whole lot about our best friend, we did know that his relationship with her had been on the rocks.

A smirk stretched across Myles’ face, his gaze glimmering with amusement. “Since when did my little bird grow a backbone?” he cooed as he knelt beside her on the ground.

Shifting into a sitting position, she leveled him with a glare. I watched as she worked, trying to shield the intimate parts of her body away from him.

“I brought an old friend,” he continued, digging into the pocket of his jeans, and retrieving his favorite hunting knife. Removing the cover, he held it in front of her face in a taunting gesture.

Despite the fear flashing within her eyes, she didn’t cower away. Staring at him straight on, she tilted her head, fixing him with a cold-hard look.

“You and your toys,” she rasped. “Will you ever grow up?”

Excitement flashed across his face and his smirk split into a grin. “Never.” Twirling the knife between his fingers, he moved the blade to her torso and allowed the tip of it to pierce her skin. Not enough to bring blood, but enough to make her uncomfortable.

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