by L. V. Lane
I jerked back suddenly, shot a confused look at Ethan, and tried to work out what was wrong with this scenario.
Hudson scowled over his shoulder at the other man. “Frightening her was not okay,” he said coldly.
“Frightening her?” Ethan made a choking sound. “The way she’s been eyeballing me, like she’s cataloging all the places she’s going to stab, I’d say she’s been holding up just fine.”
“Good girl,” Hudson said. I thought his lips might have twitched, but I was still trying to mentally catch-up.
They appeared to know each other. How could they possibly know each other?
Ethan? Was this the same Ethan Black who should have been rescuing the doctor?
“Where’s the doctor?” I asked.
“Not now!” Hudson growled, not looking amused anymore. “You should have fucking told her once you got her to safety.”
“You’re only saying that because you don’t know what she did. She was in sore need of a punishment. I figured you’d find this preferable to my belt.”
Hudson had gone perfectly still. “What did she do?”
“I hadn’t dealt with all the team when she came poking her nose out. Walked right into the room where we were standing. What the fuck was that about? Command said you’d told her to stay in the room. They were all running on chemicals by that point, and they’re a bunch of trigger-happy dicks at the best of times. Could have gotten her head blown off. Very poor control you have there, Hudson,” his eyes narrowed, and it shifted his demonic facade to that of a fallen angel about to issue a judgment. “Very poor control.”
Hudson slowly shook his head at Ethan. “Don’t.”
A glint entered Ethan’s eyes as he met Hudson’s glare baldly. “You’re fucked if I report it.”
“Don’t fuck with me, Sasquatch,” Hudson muttered. “You don’t give a fuck about crossing lines, so don’t act like you’re under some duty-bound obligation to notify command. Besides, I barely had more than a couple of hours with her before they changed the operation to this shit hole.”
“And I had her controlled in less than a minute.” Ethan grinned and rubbed his ear. “Then I foolishly offered to untie her, and she tried to rip my fucking ear off.”
“That’s my girl,” Hudson said, and his lips definitely twitched this time. Using his fingers, he lifted my chin. “Fuck me! Did you tranq her?”
I touched my palm to Hudson’s cheek when he looked ready to explode. “I’m fine,” I said. I felt a smile creeping over my face. Hudson frowned as he noted it. “That was a dick maneuver.”
Ethan gestured at himself. “I’m dressed in enemy armor. One good scream and trouble would have poured in.”
Hudson puffed out a long breath. He ran a hand down his face, and as he did, his anger drained away. Then his blue eyes turned calculating as they studied me. “How long until extraction?”
“They’re arriving at six hundred hours,” Ethan replied, the corners of his eyes crinkling in amusement. “I’ll let this slip in control be our secret…never know when I might need a favor.”
Hudson hauled me to my feet. “You’re the last asshole I want to owe a favor, but I’ll take my dues. Somewhere we can go?”
The blood drained from my face, and I shook my head.
“The basement.” Ethan thumbed over his right shoulder. “Take a right at the bottom of the north stairwell. Excellent soundproofing…as I found out earlier.”
“No!” I shook my head frantically. Was Hudson doing this to scare me? I’d already been scared enough for one night. “Please, Hudson. I’m sorry. I couldn’t help myself. I thought everyone was dead!”
“Consider me in your debt,” Hudson said to Ethan.
When he turned back to me, his face was so empty of emotion my chest squeezed in fear. “Start walking, kitten. Or try and run. Yes, I’d really like you to run.” I stumbled forward when he released me.
I didn’t try to run.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Anna
WHEREVER THIS TEMPORARY base was, it appeared safe for now, but trouble might start up at any time. I prayed for an interruption, although I knew it would only delay the inevitable, and with every step down those narrow stairs, I edged closer toward my twisted deliverance.
The heavy metal door clicked shut, closing me in a dark, dank room where a dusty ceiling light barely lifted gloom from bare, crumbling walls. Dripping pipes spanned the length of the ceiling, and the only furnishing was an old mattress that butted up against the wall opposite to the door.
Heavy chains dangled from the ceiling in the far-right corner directly over an open drain. Dark stains surrounded that drain—I suspected they were blood.
A writhing mess of volatile emotions consumed Hudson that no words could adequately describe. I understood them; I was on that roller-coaster myself.
I didn’t need him to tell me what was coming. He’d been looking for an excuse. Ethan’s threat to report my disobedience provided the perfect reason.
“But I already explained, I thought everyone was dead,” I said. “I…couldn’t help myself.” I thought my actions understandable. With hindsight, I should have stayed put, should have known that command would send someone to my last known location, even if it wasn’t Hudson.
As the words left my lips, I knew nothing I said was going to distract him from this path, but I still clung to a hope that I might slow things down.
His gloved fingers closed over the front of my throat, squeezing until air flow became a desperate wheeze. I tried not to struggle, pressed my fingers to his cheek despite my pounding heartbeat, and tried to let him know by that simple touch that I would give him whatever he desired.
The grip loosened, slightly. “A well-controlled Healer can help. A well-controlled Healer obeys.”
As I stared up into his eyes, I knew this was about to blow me out of my comfort zone.
“My lack of control has put your life in danger. You heard what the general said. If Ethan reports me—” He cut that off. “Don’t worry, I will fix this.” His lips thinned, emphasizing the rugged lines of his face.
A shiver rippled the length of my spine. Hudson would have my obedience. And if I did not give it willingly, he would take it.
“Controlling you is a heady kind of sweet,” he had said, back when we had yet to be deployed. “Makes me want to destroy things, to fight and maim and kill and bathe in our enemy’s blood, and then fuck you like a savage.”
My tremble grew stronger. He was a savage now. Bathed in the blood of our enemy and throbbing with a dark vibrancy that demanded restitution.
“You know what I want, Healer? I’ve been through hell, we both have. I need this. And you’re going to give it to me.”
I watched his eyes lower to my lips. The smell of blood on him made me feel unsettled, and yet I could feel his burning purpose; a pulsing desperation that possessed a life of its own. I suffered the same desperation for a connection. We had both been so close to loss, and here on the other side, it was like succumbing to a potent drug.
It was old blood, but it still really bothered me. “Please not like this. The blood…I can't…not while you’re covered in blood.”
His answer was to begin tugging on the clips at my collar, jaw locked, and determination radiating from him.
The material gave, the toughened compound partially ripping with the force until the suit was parted enough to free my breasts.
One hand gripped my face between his thick fingers. “Eyes on me,” he demanded. Cupping the soft mound he had exposed, his thumb rolled over the top of the engorged nipple. “My Healer is looking forward to her punishment.” Pinching the nipple cruelly, he watched my face as I writhed and whimpered and begged him not to do this, not while there was blood.
“I want you to remember what happens to Healers who disobey. They get fucked by their Controllers, still bloody. Disobedient Healers don’t get any privileges. Disobedient Healers soon learn their place.”
I swallowed. I wanted him…and this.
Growling softly, he toyed with me, pulling and pinching on my stiff nipple before his mouth lowered to mine.
The kiss was as savage as his fingers. Tongue thrusting deep, teeth nipping on my lips, and my mouth held open as he pinched my face between his fingers and thumb. Tears blurred my vision, and a sharp throb bloomed between my thighs. I had died a little thinking he might be gone, and now every touch felt like a potent gift. When he lifted his lips, he asked. “Are you wet, Healer? Is my pussy ready for my cock?”
“Please” I said softly. “I’ve been—disobedient. I want you to teach me my place.”
His nostrils flared, and his eyes darkened.
With a sharp growl and a rough jerk, he ripped my suit apart. Clips flying and material shredding, until it hung from me in tatters. Expression fierce, he stared at my body, and then ripped the rest of it away until I was naked and thrumming with anticipation.
He tapped my chin. “Eyes, Anna.”
I looked up into deep indigo eyes that glistened in the dull light. He would not be easily appeased.
“Open your legs.”
My breath hitched. I widened my stance, feeling that throb increase just from his command.
“That’s my good little Healer. Now you’re going to get a rough finger fucking.” He closed his hand over the back of my neck in warning when I dared to step back. His other hand stroked down my abdomen to cup my swollen pussy.
My mind might be sawing between fear and want, but my body welcomed his aggression and demands.
Our eyes locked as a single gloved finger traced along the length of the slit. My breath turned choppy as the blunt tip caught my clit. Dipping lower, he parted the lips of my pussy and slid deep inside with ease. Face implacable, he held me still with his thick finger. The feeling of fullness set my inner nerves to life, and dark sensations sharpened into the achingly sublime. It was too much, too quickly and I tried to hold myself off.
He gripped my neck tighter and forced me back down. “Are you fighting it, Healer? Let me help you.” He pulled out and thrust a second finger in.
My muscles sucked down. Stretched wide, the ache transitioned into desperation, and my legs began to tremble. “It’s too much.” Cold seeped into the soles of my feet from the damp floor, making me tremble harder as my pussy fluttered wildly around his thick fingers.
“Submit to it, or I’ll think you need more,” he growled softly. “Widen your legs and let yourself go.” I sobbed as I parted my legs allowing him to penetrate me deeper. “That’s better.” Stroking my hair, he drew my face against his blood splattered chest as he pumped his thick fingers in and out. “This blood, Healer, is the evidence of what I am. I would have done this again if I hadn’t found you were safe. I thought you had been taken. I’d have killed their whole fucking army if that’s what it had taken to get you back.”
I tried to hold myself together, but I was shaking so badly my teeth chattered, and my tiny fist smeared into the blood next to my cheek.
It wasn’t Hudson’s blood, though. He was whole, powerful, and I believed him when he said he would come for me and that he would do whatever it took to keep me safe.
“I can feel your pussy fluttering around my fingers. Do you want to come?”
I moaned softly. There was no point in denying it. I could feel my breath stuttering and the nerves awakening along my channel with every rough thrust.
His fingers withdrew so suddenly that I blinked disorientated. I was forced face first into the cold, damp wall, my wrists held within a single hand stretched high above my head. “What are you doing?”
I fought wildly, kicking out, but he merely dragged my hands higher up the wall. It stretched me up onto my tiptoes, and I couldn’t struggle anymore.
A big hand connected with my naked bottom, a sharp stinging blow that robbed me of breath. The next slap was harder.
“Next time I tell you to do something, what are you going to do?” he growled next to my ear.
He didn’t wait for me to answer and began raining more sharp slaps against my bottom. Each blow set the burning pain higher until every inch of my bottom and thighs became a source of flaming agony.
The tears came immediately. I had been so terrified for myself, and worse, that he might be gone and that I would never see his face again. Broken sobs and promises poured from my lips.
“This is only the beginning, Kitten. I don’t believe you’re sorry enough, yet. Not even close to sorry enough.”
I was, I really was.
The blows stopped, and a second later his fingers shoved back into my weeping pussy. “That’s a beautiful shade of pink,” he said. “I love seeing my healer’s naughty bottom well-spanked. Maybe I should follow Ethan’s lead and invest in a nice belt.”
“No!” I was a mass of conflicting feeling. Pleasure flared back to life where his fingers filled me while pain tingled like a thousand pinpricks over my bottom.
His fingers scissored inside me, and my pussy gushed in response. “Good girl. Let it happen. Let yourself come.” He began to pump in and out slowly.
All I could breathe in was the coppery taint of blood.
All I could feel was the violence caging me in its embrace.
Whatever he wanted and whatever he needed. I would gladly give it to him.
When his finger squashed hard against my clit, I came with a long, gasping cry. Face pressed to the damp wall, I tried desperately to breathe through the madness as my inner muscled milked his thick fingers. A squirt of liquid flooded from my pussy with each rhythmic contraction, and I gasped again, feeling tears spill over my cheeks with the intensity of the release.
“Don’t fight it, Healer. Let it out.” I groaned softly as more viscous liquid dripped. “That’s it, let it all out.” I tried to pull back, but my struggles only drove his fingers deeper. And I could not stop coming.
When he finally drew his fingers from my dripping pussy, I was utterly boneless. I could hear my cum splatter against the floor. “Please make it stop.”
“I’m never going to stop, kitten,” he said softly. “You know what I want, don’t you?”
His words set a dark thrill pulsing through me. Still reeling, I barely noticed when he took me down over the old, stained mattress. It was cold and damp to the touch, and I didn’t want to be in the same room as it; I certainly didn’t want to be on it.
“This is going to be hard on you, kitten. But it’s a punishment so feel free to scream as much as you want.”
Those words snapped me out of the drugged state, and despite my conviction to give him whatever he needed, fear came rushing in. At the jangle of the clips on his armor, a whine escaped my lips. “Foolish little Healer,” he said. “Do you think there is anything I can give you that you cannot take?”
He sounded so sure, and yet it did not help to ease my mounting panic.
When his hands tightened again, I did what I had failed to do when we first left for deployment—I projected healing calm.
His body slammed up against mine in a sudden jerk, one hand planted heavy on the mattress beside me. He chuckled. He rarely smiled, and I was shocked by the sound.
Leaning back, his arm clinched around my waist, holding my body tight against his. I felt the bulbous head of his cock nudging between my legs. Finding my pussy, he sunk into me slowly, so slowly that I forgot the horrors of the operation and this foul room and thought I might die from the bliss. He held it there, his breath a rasp next to my ear, giving me time to adjust to his thick invasion.
“Is this good?” Hudson asked. Hips rolling, he pumped slowly in and out.
As sated nerves reawakened, a breathy sigh escaped me. “I need you, Hudson. I want this. Please fill me and make me whole again.”
He growled softly, rocking in and out, and whispered. “You’ve been a very naughty Healer.”
My breath caught as I realized what he’d just said.
“Trying to control me, kitten?” There was ju
st a touch of bite to his words, and he thrust deeper, lifting me up off the bed. “It seems you never learn. I better make sure this lesson is memorable.”
He fucked me hard then, making our bodies slap together. His fingers tugging sharply on my hair so his lips could trail over the sensitive skin of my throat…until he bit down over the bruise where he had marked me back on the ship. My arms could not hold me up against this driving onslaught and my face mashed up against that damp mattress. “Disobedient Healers get a hard ass fucking. Don’t think this is going to save you from that. The more you fight it, the more you try and control me, the harder it will be.”
This position made it too easy for him to batter the entrance of my womb, and the heady pleasure blurred with pain as he began to pound harder.
Thrusting deep, he held still. One hand reached around my waist holding me tight against him as his fingers rubbed mercilessly over my swollen clit. He closed his other hand over my mouth, arching my neck, then he clamped his finger and thumb over my nose. I jerked and thrashed, panicked by the denial of air. He sank fully onto me, an immense weight that crushed me into that dirty mattress. My world darkened, narrowing until I could feel nothing but his heavy weight pressing me deeper, the thick cock impaling me, and the rush of blood thudding through my veins. I could not move or breathe.
The pleasure and panic rose higher, sharper.
Still working my clit with rough strokes, he pressed his lips close to my ear and whispered, “Come.”
I jerked violently.
Adrenaline flooded my system, and I came, a bright prism of intense fulfillment that went on and on in waves as my body shook and convulsed wildly in his arms.
As he released my nose, I sucked air deep into my lungs. I was spent, barely aware of his weight easing slightly. Too weak to move; too weak to even think of making a foolish attempt at trying to calm the beast behind me.
And too weak to care where I was.
“How long until your next heat?” he whisper-growled next to my ear.