by Erin Trejo
“Cult shit?” Roman chimes in leaning his elbows on the bar.
“Yeah. That weird shit we always hear about but never see,” I chuckle. “I put a call into David to see what the hell he knows. I don’t need that kind of shit around here too.” Stoney grunts his agreement. I knock back another shot when I hear commotion. Turning my head, I see the prospect’s face red with scratches. It peaks my goddamn interest. Shoving off the stool, I head toward him with a smirk.
“What the hell happened to you, Fredrick?” I can’t help but laugh. Last time the idiot came back looking the way he is now, he got attacked by a goddamn cat.
“Those little bitches are losin’ their goddamn minds! Bitch attacked me!” I can’t help but laugh. There’s barely anything to those girls and Fredrick is a pretty large man.
“What did you do to get attacked?” I ask crossing my arms over my chest and glaring at him.
“He treated her like one of us,” Cree says as she walks past with the girls’ old dresses in her arms.
“What do you mean?” I stop her.
“He tried to grab on her. She lost it. Can’t say I’d blame her since she’s being held hostage,” Cree says with a roll of her eyes. She turns and walks away when I call out to Roman.
“Watch this motherfucker, Roman!” Stomping down the steps I turn to the room on the right and walk in. Both girls jolt when they see me but Ariel looks furious.
“What happened?”
They look at each other but I can tell that Ariel is the stronger of the two. Ava cowers in the corner, her head hanging but Ariel stands.
“We have been touched more times than we can count. We are no longer on the compound and I will fight back,” she says, keeping her head high even when I see the tears forming in them.
“He shouldn’t have done that. He won’t be around anymore.” Taking a step back, I blow out a breath when my phone rings. I pull it out but keep my eyes on Ariel.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, it’s David. I’ve been looking into that shit you asked about. On the outskirts of town there is a church cult of sorts. No one is allowed on the compound, not even us. If those girls you have there are really off that compound, they will come looking for them.”
“So, what the fuck do I do with them? They ain’t stayin’ here, David,” I inform him. I don’t need some whacked out cult coming in here for a war. Not that I wouldn’t give them one, I just have other shit to do.
“Send me pictures of the girls and let me see what I can find. Years ago the other detective thought that girls were being kidnapped and taken there. We never had anything to go on and he retired. I don’t know what to tell you, Q. Keep them, throw them out on their asses, I don’t really know,” he says blowing out a breath I can hear through the phone.
“I have a shit ton goin’ on David, you know that,” I remind him.
“Which is why I said kick them out on their asses! I don’t fucking know what to tell you here, Quinn!”
The line goes dead as I sigh.
“Cops want a picture of the two of you,” I tell them. Ariel shakes her head and the fear I see in Ava should tell me to back off, but I don’t. This is my goddamn clubhouse.
“You can’t do that.”
“I can do whatever the fuck I want. This is my clubhouse, darlin’.” Raising the phone, Ariel moves. She leaps toward me, slapping the phone out of my hand as I stumble back into the wall. With a thud, I wrap my arms around her body holding her close to me. So close I can smell the clean scent of the shampoo Cree gave them to use. Her eyes move rapidly between mine, her lips part.
“I will do anything you say as long as you don’t send those pictures.” I can hear the tone in her voice. She’s nearly pleading with me in her own way. Something about the way she’s looking at me grabs hold and doesn’t want to let go.
“Anything I say?” She nods her head, her blonde hair bouncing over her shoulder. I use one hand, bringing it up to brush it back over her shoulder as she watches me intently.
“If I tell you to fuck half my boys, you gonna do it?” My voice is husky and the more I can feel her heart beating out of her chest, the more I want to feel.
“If that’s what must be done.” Ava whimpers in the corner, and when I move my eyes to hers, something else hits me. These girls really were used and abused. The thought makes my stomach churn, but am I any better than what they had before? Setting Ariel on her feet, I run my hand through my hair.
“You can’t go outside. You can’t go anywhere. I can’t have anyone knowin’ that you’re here.” I don’t know what the hell I’m doing right now. Keeping them? What the hell am I going to do with two fucking cult girls?
“You mean…you aren’t making us go back?” Ariel asks pulling my attention back to her.
“No. Not right now anyway. I don’t need a war with a goddamn cult on my hands today. I need the pictures though and before you freak the fuck out on me again, he can be trusted,” I tell them.
“Father Joseph has cops as well. How can you be sure they are not one of his?” Ariel asks and the words burn like acid through me.
“Because I know. He’s on my side. Besides, we’re not in the same district as your place. Come on.”
Holding my hand out to her, she studies it. She looks at my hand before looking over her shoulder at her sister and nodding. Ava climbs from the bed only to cling to Ariel’s side but it shocks the hell out of me when Ariel slips her hand into mine. The feel of her warm soft skin ignites a fire in me that I know I shouldn’t feel. I look at our joined hands when I see the scars around her wrists. I want to ask but I don’t. Instead, I lead them up the stairs and into the main room. Everyone’s attention is on me with the two girls who trail along behind me.
“These are guests. You treat them like you’d treat your mom. I find out any of you fuckin’ touched either one, I will snap your fuckin’ neck. You!” Pointing at Fredrick, “Get over here.” Turning to look at Ariel, I say, “You need to watch what happens when people don’t listen to me, yeah?” She nods her head slowly when I release her hand and turn to Fredrick. My fist flies quickly, slamming into his jaw. His head snaps back as the guys all cheer. No one really liked this little fucker to begin with and I knew I’d never patch the fucker in. I deliver a few more blows until blood has splattered the floor in front of me. Then I reach down, grabbing his cut and jerk him to his feet.
“You’re out. You don’t follow fuckin’ orders and you aren’t worth a shit,” I hiss in his face. Roman comes behind him ripping the cut off his shoulders.
“Over a piece of pussy?” he questions when I go back in for another hit.
“Over fuckin’ around and not followin’ orders. Did I tell you to go down there and touch them?” His head lowers and he knows he fucked up.
“No.”
“Goddamn right no. Get the fuck outta here, and if any of us see you walkin’ in this direction, you’re a dead man.”
Chapter 8
Ariel
It’s strange not knowing where you belong. When we were on the compound, Ava was abused less than I was simply because I was the stronger of the two. Where Ava would give in, I wouldn’t. Deep down I feel like the men at the compound really enjoyed the abuse and torture they could inflict upon us. They knew I would be the one to give them more trouble, which meant that I was in the dungeon more often for them to hurt. From what I was told, Ava and I were the only girls used for cleansing because of our different looks. We were considered special because of that and that’s all we’ve ever known until now.
Not that we’re away from that terrible place, Ava has done nothing but smile. She looks happy to be away from the hell that we lived. I’m slowly falling into a routine here with cleaning and helping at the bar. And I enjoy it, enjoy having more control over myself and circumstances.
I smile as I think of how Chrissy, the other girl, here has taught me how to mix drinks. All in all I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders not having
to do what they made me do on the compound but now new feelings and emotions torment me. Most of them are because of Q. He watches me all the time. His eyes are always on me. It’s new and different, not at all like the men on the compound. I don’t know what to think about that, but I know when he’s doing it. I can feel a shiver work its way through my body much like it is right now. I turn my head to the left and sure enough, he’s watching me. Those honey colored eyes seem to burn me. There’s a girl in his lap kissing his neck but he isn’t even looking at her. It’s always me.
“I think he likes you,” Chrissy says when she notices where my gaze is. I snap back to attention and finish wiping the glasses in front of me.
“No, I don’t think that’s it. He always has a different girl sitting on him, and I’ve only been here a week,” I tell her. Chrissy laughs and bumps her hip into mine.
“He hasn’t stopped looking at you since you got here.”
I take the chance and look back over at him, and there he is, still watching me. “He just doesn’t know what to do with me is all,” I tell her.
Laughter erupts behind us and when I turn to look it’s Ava and Stoney. She has taken a liking to him and I can see why. He’s a very large man with huge muscles. He’s a lot bigger than Q is. Some days I wonder if he shouldn’t be the one in charge, but they all seem to listen when Q speaks.
“Your sister is getting herself into something there,” Chrissy says. I turn to look back at her.
“What do you mean?”
“Do you think these guys don’t want to fuck you two? They do. All of them have been going on about getting some of the new girls.”
Her laughter bothers me. When I see Ava and Stoney walk out the door, I move to run behind them only to be cut off by Q.
His hand comes to rest on my stomach causing butterflies to erupt inside of me.
“Where you goin’?” he asks, his breath smelling of alcohol.
“Chrissy said that all of your men wanted to sleep with me and Ava. He can’t do that. He can’t hurt her!” I scream watching the way his eyebrows pull in.
“No one is fuckin’ either one of you without your permission. This isn’t the fuckin’ compound, Ariel. We don’t rape women.”
“Do they rape you?” I’ve seen the way the girls climb all over him and it made me wonder. Q chuckles taking a drink from his beer bottle before looking at me.
“No, they don’t. Why would you even ask that?” His hand still remains on my stomach, making me nervous and hot all at the same time. I’ve heard the girls talk at school about the feelings they get when a boy touches them, but I’ve never felt this before.
“They are always climbing on you and you never seem interested.”
“You’ve been watchin’ me,” he says, his tone certain and full of himself.
“You’ve been watching me,” I retort. His hand moves from my stomach and comes up to my cheek. His thumb strokes me, and my mouth falls open. I’ve never felt anyone touch me so gently in my life. I find that I like it and my head slowly falls into his touch.
“How could anyone not watch you, Ariel? Do you even know how beautiful you are?”
His thumb moves over my bottom lip and my stomach tumbles. Excitement and fear races through me. The way he’s looking at me is as if he wants to kiss me, and I don’t think that I’d stop him. Q leans in and my heart races in my chest.
“I’ve never seen anyone like you, Ariel. Broken yet strong. So fuckin’ perfect but you don’t even see it,” he whispers, and just as I think he’s going to kiss me on the lips, his lips touch the tip of my nose. My heart feels like it’s shattering into a million little shards of happiness. Q pulls back and his eyes burn into the depths of me.
“You didn’t kiss me.”
“I did kiss you. Here,” he says, tapping his finger on the tip of my nose. “I’m not a good guy, Ariel. You’re young and have a whole life ahead of you. I’m not gonna ruin that, I’m not gonna ruin you anymore than they have.”
“What’s your name, Q?”
His eyes light up and his lips curl into that perfect smile I’ve grown to love. “Quinn Jameson.”
“Quinn. I like it. I’m not broken, Quinn.” With that I step away from him, already missing the heat of his body so close to mine. I spin around and head down the hallway toward my room when I hear him behind him.
“You are broken, Ariel. They ruined you with whatever they did to you.”
Oddly, his words don’t hurt me. I know what’s happened to me and somehow I feel stronger in a way because of it.
I watch him raise the beer to his lips and I wonder what it would be like to have his lips on mine. Without thinking about it, I step closer to him, inches away. He lowers the bottle and looks down at me curiously. I timidly reach my hand up to touch his cheek, and when they connect, I gasp. I’ve never touched a man of my own free will. This is new and different and exciting.
“What are you doin’, Ariel?”
“I was never allowed to touch a man unless I was told to, which was not very often.”
“What do I feel like?” he asks in a husky tone. His eyes are hooded as he looks down at me.
“Perfect. You feel perfect.” Then I take a deep breath and push myself up, pressing my lips to his. Heat explodes inside of me. I’ve never felt this kind of fire before in my life. My eyes stay open as I look up at him, his eyes wide. I don’t know if he wants me to stop, but I don’t. My hand lingers on his skin, reveling the feel of him when his lips finally move. He kisses me back and it’s unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. Of course, some of the men kissed me, but it wasn’t like this. It was full of something more than malice. Kissing Quinn is a tiny slice of heaven.
His hand moves to snake around to the back of my neck, holding me to him. I can feel the hard length of him pressing into my stomach, and for some strange reason, I’m not afraid of him. I’m not afraid of what he would do to me. His fingers find their way into my hair while his tongue sneaks into my mouth. Heat builds inside of me when Quinn suddenly pulls back. He rests his forehead on mine, breathing heavily as he looks into my eyes.
“You’re testin’ my patience, Ariel.”
“I don’t mean to.”
“I know you don’t but you aren’t used to men like me. I’m bad for you,” he says softly, his eyes never leaving mine.
“They were bad to me, Quinn. You’ve been nothing but perfect.”
“You should go to bed, it’s late,” he tells me.
I lower my head feeling rejected and ashamed that I actually threw myself at him the way I did.
“Ariel. Whatever you’re thinkin’, you’re wrong, darlin’.”
Looking back up at him as he walks backward, bringing his beer to his lips once more, I shake my head. “No, I think I was right this time. Goodnight, Quinn.”
“Night, Ariel.”
Chapter 9
Q
Stressed wouldn’t even be able to describe what I’m feeling today. Ariel and Ava have been here for a few weeks, and each day I see her I find it harder to resist her. She has a way about her that just tugs at something unfamiliar inside of me and makes me want to fall to my knees for her, but I can’t do that. Ava walks in to where I’m sitting at a table in the back of the main room and takes a seat.
“Hey,” she says sweetly. She looks so much like her sister.
“What do you need?” I ask casually. Ava picks at her fingers nervously not making eye contact.
“We believe that we were taken,” she spits out quickly. I shift in my seat before resting my arms on the table in front of me.
“We did take you,” I remind her with a smirk.
“Not you. Our parents. Q, no one looks like us. Not one single person on the compound. They all have dark hair and dark eyes. They always told us we were special because of what we look like, but I don’t think that’s really true.”
“What’s the first memory you have?” I ask her, finding myself intrigued by what she’s sayin
g.
“What do you mean?”
“Do you remember when you were young? How old were you?”
“We both remember when we were around four. We don’t remember much before that.”
I sigh and pull a cigarette from the pack and light it up while Ava watches me.
“You ever ask?” I ask her, blowing smoke through my nose. Ava shakes her head no.
“We would be punished if we asked questions.”
“Were you punished a lot?” I find myself drawn to her answers. I want to know more about what happened to them and why. I don’t give a shit about the bastards who hurt them aside from wanting them dead, but I’m intrigued.
“Ariel took most of the punishments. I don’t know why she was chosen, but that’s what they told us. The Lord told them that she was to receive the punishments and so she did. I’ve had my fair share as well, but Ariel… Sometimes I think they broke her spirit,” she says softly, lowering her head. I reach across the table and lift her chin so that she’s looking at me.
“You do know that whatever they did to you is not normal, yeah?”
Ava shrugs her shoulder and leans away from my touch, sitting back in her seat. “You have to understand that everything we were taught since we were young has been all that we’ve known. This world here is new to us. We went to public schools, but I think it was more of a tease to us than anything else.”
I nod my head because frankly I don’t know what else to say to her. Those sick fucks have completely messed their heads up and that pisses me off. Not that I should give a shit about two girls we took but I find that I do.
“Hey, Q! Need to talk to you, brother.”
Looking over my shoulder, I find Roman standing there staring me down. I look back to Ava and say, “You’re not there anymore, Ava. You don’t have to live that way, and if you really think that you were taken, I’ll help you find out.”
Her head snaps up with that and her eyes fill with tears. “You will?” she asks as I stand from my chair, nodding my head. She leaps from her seat and runs around the table, throwing herself into my arms. I pat her back, unsure what to do with her aside from that until she lets go. Wiping her eyes, she runs down the hallway toward the rooms no doubt to tell Ariel the news as I walk toward Roman.