Conveniently Convicted

by Ivy Asher

  I’m hungry too. So hungry that the little mouse is looking better and better to my cockatrice with every passing minute, but I flick my beast on the nose until it skulks back to the corners of my consciousness. You’d think I’ve been lost down here for a damn week with the way my body is whining.

  A few more squeaks fill the empty hallway we’re traveling down, and I have to stop myself from asking, what is it, Rusty? I’m so focused on the mouse chatter as we turn a corner, that when I walk into something hard, dark, and warm, it totally takes me off guard, and I yelp as I go flying backward.

  Son of a bitch, it’s the swamp monster, I just know it!

  Two distinct hands clamp down on my shoulders, yanking me up before I can fall, and then I open my eyes and realize I’m staring into the face of a very relieved looking Rook.

  “Oh, thank fuck!” I squeal, wrapping my arms around his waist and hugging him for all that I’m worth.

  I’ve never been so happy to see anyone in my entire life. He smells so good, and he feels even better. He must be a gift from the deities I was chanting to earlier. I made a lot of promises in my head.

  “I need you to drop your pants so I can show you what I can do with my tongue,” I declare as I squeeze his torso.

  His arms are wrapped around me just as tightly and a bark of laughter escapes him. “What?” he asks.

  “I like you, Rook. I like you so much it scares the shit out of me. I swore if I ever got out of that place, I’d tell you that, and I’m a cockatrice of my word. I also promised to give you oral and show you my tongue tricks. While also pledging to get more oral. More sex, too. Basically, I promised a lot of dirty things.”

  Chuckling, Rook squeezes me even tighter and kisses the top of my head. “What are you doing down here, Sunrise?”

  I sigh, still relieved that he found me. I suddenly feel so safe after hours and hours of being scared out of my mind. I’m not quite ready to let him go yet. “Joe tried to sell me to some dumbass sigbins, but I got away. I’ve been wandering down here lost for what feels like days, until…Rusty?”

  I trail off, remembering my mouse friend who led me to my favorite prison guard. I pull away from Rook to look for the little guy so I can say thank you, but the mouse is gone. I search the floor and call out to it, but the little lifesaver disappeared.

  “Who’s Rusty?” Rook asks as he starts looking around too.

  My heart gets all warm and gooey when I notice that he’s not looking at me like I’m crazy, but instead helping me look for something when he doesn’t even know what it is. I go all doe-eyed, and I just watch him as affection and appreciation tsunami through me. Rook straightens up and looks over at me when he realizes that he’s the only one still searching.

  “The mouse,” I answer, although I’m not thinking about the GPS rodent anymore.

  I walk over to Rook with determination and hunger. His body tenses, like he senses my mood change, and the moment I stop in front of him, I reach down and start unbuckling his belt. This male needs a blowjob STAT.

  Rook chuckles and pushes my hands away. “Whoa there, Sunrise. As much as I’d love for you to show me whatever tongue tricks you’re talking about, you’ve been missing for a couple of hours, and I’m not the only one looking for you.”

  I cringe. I really don’t want to get tasered or put into solitary again.

  “Why would Joe try to sell you off?” he asks, his tone stiff and his eyes pissed.

  “I guess he took up Alpha Bowen’s offer for the bounty on me,” I explain, and Rook laces his fingers with mine and starts to guide me through more dimly lit tunnels.

  “Guards found Joe asleep up on the roof. They still haven’t been able to wake him, but I guess this solves the mystery of why he was up there,” Rook observes, his hand tightening in mine.

  I stop, pulling Rook to a stop too. “Wait, did you say only a couple of hours?” I ask, suddenly confused. “You mean days, right? Because I swear, I’ve been wandering down here for, like, ever.”

  Rook smiles. “You and the troll turned up missing for the head count we do after rec time. Trackers picked up on your scent leading to the roof, but then they couldn’t track you through the basement because of the magic down there.”

  “How the hell did I get from the roof to the basement?” I ask, a shiver running through me at the thought of some of the shit down there.

  “No idea. I’m just glad I found you.”

  Rook wraps me up in another hug, and I don’t hesitate to squeeze him like he’s a lime and I’m making fresh margaritas.

  “So tell me more about this whole you like me thing?” he needles me as we pull away.

  A blush works its way up my neck, but thank fuck the lighting is so bad in these halls that he won’t be able to see it.

  I scoff. “I was pretty traumatized when you found me. I don’t even know if I remember all of the crazy shit that was pouring out of my mouth. I legit thought you were Swamp Thing ready to eat me,” I tell him, a teasing lilt to my tone.

  “Oh, I’m definitely going to eat you,” Rook says with a cocky smirk, and then he quickly yanks me against his body as his mouth crashes down to mine.

  His kiss consumes me as we parry back and forth, trading ownership of each other’s lips and tongues. Everything inside of me heats and melts and gushes as he demands everything I have to give with his kiss, and I let him have it all.

  When he finally pulls away, both of us are breathless. It takes several moments for us to come back down to earth from the life-altering make out session.

  “So. What were you saying?” Rook taunts.

  I clear my throat, my fingers grazing over my swollen lips. “That I like you very, very much,” I answer with a sweet smile.

  “And don’t you forget it,” he replies, looking very smug.

  “Oh no,” I declare, grabbing my head and looking panicked. “It’s slipping away. Quick! I need you to remind me again,” I announce dramatically and then pucker my lips.

  Rook laughs, but instead of kissing me stupid again, he slaps my ass. I bite my lip as he once again laces our fingers together and leads the way out.

  “I can’t wait until you’re out of here and I can tie you up and fuck that naughty little mouth of yours, just the way you deserve,” he purrs.

  My stomach does somersaults. “Mmmm, promises, promises,” I mock.

  “I’m a male of my word, Sunrise,” he crows cockily, and I giggle and clench my thighs at the thought of being tied down and dominated by him. He’ll find out pretty quickly how much I love to dish it and take it.

  A steady stream of all the scandalous things I want to do to him starts running through my mind. I stop again and Rook looks back to see what’s up. He takes one look at the desire banked in my green gaze, and his pupils dilate.

  “You sure we can’t find a nice dark, non-haunted corner so I can show you some tongue tricks?” I question, my tone dripping with pure sex and seduction.

  Rook’s pants tent, and I lick my lips, wanting him deep in my throat. Right. Fucking. Now.

  “Oh, you found her! Was she making a run for it?” a guard’s voice rings out, surprising the shit out of me as he rounds a corner.

  I snap a glare in his direction, and Rook drops my hand like it’s a hot coal and steps away from me.

  He clears his throat. “No. Turns out the troll on the roof was trying to make a break for it and took her hostage. She got away and then got lost running from him,” Rook tells him.

  I try not to roll my eyes or rip Rook’s pants open and just go to town despite the interruption, while he discretely tries to adjust his hard-on.

  “Why don’t you call off the search and go fill the Warden in on what happened? I’ll get the inmate put back in her cell,” Rook tells him casually, and the other guard nods and turns back the way he came.

  As soon as the guard is out of sight again, Rook’s hand comes down to take mine and we walk in silence. When we make it up to the normal, fluorescent-lit h
allways that I recognize, he drops my hand again, and I feel the loss deeply.

  For once, I find myself hating the gray prison uniform I’m wearing. I hate the fact that I have to be stuck behind bars and that I’m not allowed to fraternize with this gorgeous male beside me. I did this to myself, but I never thought I’d meet someone in here and that I’d regret losing my freedoms.

  Rook broods silently as we walk, and I’m not sure what to do about it. I don’t like the constant interruptions of our intimate times either, but this is Nightmare Penitentiary. I’m an inmate and he’s a guard, and until that changes, we’ll just have to figure out how to make it work.

  I don’t say any of that though, because if he wanted to talk about whatever is bothering him, he would. When we reach my cell, Rook opens it and motions for me to go in. I turn around, about to ask when I’ll see him again, but he follows me in, and I bump right into his chest.

  He steadies me, and I lock onto his heated stare. “The cells are monitored, so I can’t kiss you the way I want to right now,” he says quietly, his face a mask of professionalism aside from the vivid hunger in his eyes. “I can’t press your back to the bed and ravish and fuck you the way I want to, or experience the elusive tongue tricks you keep bringing up. And after the hours of panicking when I couldn’t find you, I can’t hold you and remind myself that you’re okay. I can’t do any of that right now, and it pisses me the hell off,” he says, his teeth grinding with frustration.

  I swallow hard at the intenseness of his energy and the rasp of his words.

  “But don’t worry, Sunrise, I’ll figure out a way to make all of that happen and more. Because you’re stuck with me now.”

  The smile he gives me is filled with affection and dirty promises of things yet to come. I return it with my own, and he winks before backing up out of my cell, his gaze never leaving mine.

  “Looking forward to it, Glow Worm,” I purr as he closes the cell door. “Be sure to check out the camera in my cell tonight after lights out. And just know I’ll be thinking about you the whole time I make myself come. Again...and again...and again.”

  Rook bites his bottom lip. Hard. “That’s not right to do to a male, Sunrise,” he chastises me as he shakes his head, his eyes lighting up with even more want.

  “So, it’s a date?”

  “You better believe it,” he confirms, and then he disappears down the hallway.

  My smile is massive, and my heart is fluttery as fuck. I look around my cell and sigh dreamily. Now to get to work on some lingerie to really up the ante for tonight. As annoying as it is that my inmate status is keeping us apart, I can’t deny that it ups the naughty factor. I mean, sneaking around is hot in itself, but a criminal sneaking around with her forbidden prison guard? That’s a hundred times hotter.

  Yo ho, yo ho, it’s an inmate’s life for me.

  14

  “Inmate 11764. Get up and put your back against the wall.”

  I groan, my mind jerking out of the heavy sleep I was having.

  “Inmate 11764!”

  Wrenching my eyes open, I try to blink the bleariness away as I realize that this is a bad repeat performance. “Go away,” I mumble into my silk pillow. “Tell Alpha Bowen I don’t want any more luxuries.”

  “Inmate!” Sandbag snaps. “Last warning. Get up and put your back against the wall.”

  “Dude, seriously. I’m all luxuried out. Keep it for yourself as a PG perk.”

  I hear the door open, and I sit up grumpily, ready to wave away whatever new bribe options necessitated this early as fuck wake up call, but my eyes widen when I see the Warden standing there along with several more guards. All of them look grim, and they’re definitely not bringing in more silk pillows. My eyes flick over to find Rook standing in the back of the group, his mouth drawn into a thin line.

  Fuck, this doesn’t look good.

  I immediately scramble to my feet, nearly tripping when my legs get tangled in the sheets, and then hurry over to the wall and put my back against it.

  The Warden stalks inside, his trench coat slick with shadows curling around his body in ominous waves. Threat. This man is a threat. My cockatrice watches him with wariness while I try not to visibly shake as I stand here in nothing but a pair of panties that I bedazzled and my uniform shirt tied in the middle.

  Shit, is this about my little happy hour show last night? Mortification blooms in my chest at the thought of any of them seeing what I was doing. When I notice the other guards leering at me, including Sandbag, I cross my hands over my chest, my face burning. Stupid. I’m so stupid.

  The Warden walks around my tiny cell room, his steps short and his eyes assessing as he looks over every crevice. Nobody says a thing or moves an inch. I can feel the Warden’s displeasure spiking up higher and higher as he takes everything in.

  Finally, after what feels like forever, he comes to stand in front of me. “Where are you, Inmate 11764?”

  Is this a trick question?

  “Umm…prison?”

  “That’s right,” he says with a nod. “You’re in prison. So why the fuck do you think you have a right to any of this shit?”

  I shake my head. “I...I didn’t—”

  “You are here because you were found guilty of crimes, and you’re now serving a sentence because of that,” he says, cutting me off. “This isn’t a fucking vacation. You don’t get to have privileges here unless I say so.”

  Awash with newfound humiliation and nervousness, I find myself pressing harder up against the wall. The Warden seems to like the fact that he’s scaring me, because he smirks cruelly. “You think this all some big fucking joke? That Nightmare Penitentiary is some all-inclusive resort?”

  “N-no, sir.”

  He narrows his eyes, lifting the cigarette perched between his fingers and taking a long drag off it before blowing his polluted breath back into my face. My eyes immediately burn from the assault, but I don’t dare complain or try to move away.

  He gives me a hard look until I’m squirming beneath his gaze. “Where is Inmate 57893?”

  My eyes dart to the left to Rook for help, but he’s not even looking at me. He’s just staring down at his boots.

  “I’m waiting.”

  My eyes fly back to the Warden, and I cringe when I see that his shadows have started to float toward me. “I don’t know who that is.”

  “Zen Urlson. Ring a bell?” he asks, his cigarette caught between his teeth.

  My stomach drops. Fuck. This is about Zen escaping.

  At the look on my face, the Warden takes another step forward until the top of his boots are stepping painfully on my bare toes. I bite my lip to keep from making a noise.

  “Where is she.” A demand, not a question.

  “I don’t know,” I answer truthfully.

  “We spoke with the troll. He claims it was you who was going to try to escape that night.”

  Fucking Joe.

  “Well, he’s misinformed, because I’m here, aren’t I?” I answer back.

  The Warden studies me and then blows another puff of smoke in my face, making my throat burn as I’m forced to breathe it in. “You made trouble for me. I don’t fucking like it when inmates make trouble.”

  I gulp. “I’m sorry.”

  “I’m fucking done with you and your plush life here. It’s all about to end. And if you even think about causing any more trouble or breaking any rules, your ass is mine, do you understand? It’ll make your stint in solitary seem like nothing but a holiday.”

  His voice is like a gavel of judgement cracking down, and my body breaks out in a cold sweat. His shadows curl around me with obvious threat, and my entire body shudders and sways.

  He turns to look at the guards. “Remind her that she’s an inmate and under our thumbs. And strip it all,” he barks out before stalking out, disappearing into his own shadows.

  The moment the Warden is gone, my cell is ascended on like a feeding frenzy of carnivorous birds diving into a sea of fish.r />
  Guards, so many guards, rushing and stripping my room all at once. I’m caught against the wall like a fly in a web, watching as they destroy everything.

  My mattress is pulled off the frame and sliced with a blade. My pillows are torn apart, making feathers go flying. My fridge is picked up and smashed against the wall, the loud crack filling the air as things from inside come bursting out. I duck and scream as my TV is yanked up and smashed onto the floor, glass shattering. They take all the pretty rocks I’ve collected and smash them against the ground, and then it all becomes one huge cacophony of smashing, kicking, cutting, tearing, and breaking.

  I hug my knees against my chest, trying to protect my head as objects and broken bits fracture all around me, pieces hitting my body while I cower. And then I’m being dragged by the hair, a burst of intense pain flaring from my scalp as I scramble to grab hold of the hand and make him let go.

  I’m tossed away like a rag doll for my efforts, and I land hard against the concrete floor, the side of my head smacking into the broken fridge sagging against me.

  Blinking away stars, I look up at Sandbag standing over me. “Fucking shifter bitch, think you can just do whatever the fuck you want?”

  Bam!

  Lighting-hot pain lances through me as Sandbag lands a kick right into my stomach.

  My tear-filled eyes lift up, desperately searching for Rook, and I see him standing by the door, his hands curled into fists at his sides, his fire-filled, furious eyes locked on Sandbag.

  “Help,” I mouth to him as the first tears track down my face.

  But as outraged and angry as he looks, he doesn’t help. He doesn’t move at all apart from an angry twitch of his tail.

  He just stands there and watches as Sandbag delivers another kick to my side, and I dry-heave, a pained cough scraping out of my throat as I curl over into the fetal position.

  Someone else spits on me and stomps on my tail, making me flinch in pain.

  “Look at this! She’s fuckin’ writing love notes in a shitty arts and crafts diary,” a different guard says, barking out a laugh.