“I’ll work for you,” I forced out, struggling to speak when pain lanced through my jaw. I’d say anything to buy some time.
I’ll get us out of this, I promised myself. I will.
“Good.” He released my jaw, and I sagged forward, my weight falling onto my wrists before I caught myself on my tiptoes. “My brother might be obsessed with you, but you’re too skinny to earn me much as a whore. No matter how pretty your skin is. I knew Andrés would enjoy marking it up.”
He reached around me, and his fingertips trailed over my bare thigh, tracing the line of one of the faint bruises Andrés’ crop had left when he was punishing me for trying to escape. I gasped and tried to move away from his hand, but there was nowhere for me to go. His touch on my exposed skin made me look down to assess my body. I’d been stripped again. But in this horrible place, it didn’t feel normal to be completely bare. Cold air teased across my skin, making me very aware of how vulnerable I was.
“Mí hermanito is on his way down,” he told me. “Should we put on a little show for him?”
He reached for his belt, where he kept the wicked hunting knife close to his side.
“Don’t,” I begged, remembering the grating agony of the blade scraping across my collarbone.
“I need to make a point,” he told me, waving off my plea as though it was nothing to be concerned about.
He stepped behind me and touched the knife to my throat, the cold steel barely kissing my skin. My breath stuttered. I knew how easily it could part my skin, carving me up the way he’d tortured Andrés.
The soft thump of the elevator arriving sounded just before the doors slid open. I had a moment to register Andrés’ face fixed in a carefully blank mask before his features twisted with rage.
“Samantha,” he snarled out my name and launched himself out of the elevator.
“Stay right there,” Cristian commanded.
The knife sliced a stinging line into my throat, and Andrés stopped in his tracks, his entire body vibrating with barely-suppressed violence.
“Be a good boy and have a seat, or I’ll cut her open right now. Do you want your pet returned to you scarred or dead?”
“Let her go,” Andrés ground out. “I know I’m the one you want to punish. Just let her go.”
“And send her back to the feds, like you did? I don’t think so. Samantha has agreed to work for me, once we’re finished here. Sit down, hermanito. Or I’ll slit her open and let you watch her pretty insides spill all over the floor.”
I gagged, my body’s nauseated reaction to the horrific mental image.
Andrés’ dark eyes were drawn tight with anguish, his scar twisting deep into his cheek. A growl slipped between his clenched teeth, but he began to move stiffly toward the spare metal chair that had been positioned a few feet in front of me. The two guards flanked him, pushing his shoulders down so he dropped onto the chair before securing his wrists behind him with a length of rope. Once his arms were bound, they trained their guns on the back of his skull.
“That’s better,” Cristian said with satisfaction.
The knife left my throat, and I heaved in a gasping breath.
“How should we punish my little brother for his transgressions?” he mused, as though he didn’t already have his twisted plan in place. He suddenly cupped my breast with his free hand, squeezing hard. I bit back a whimper, but my eyes began to burn. He tutted at me and twisted my nipple. I cried out at the bite of pain, and wetness slipped down my cheeks.
Andrés’ nostrils flared, his eyes blazing. He tried to push up onto his feet, but the guards held him down with a firm grip on his shoulders.
“He doesn’t like that,” Cristian observed. “I thought you enjoyed when she cried, Andrés. Or are you the only one who’s allowed to enjoy her tears?” He leaned around me, so his chest pressed against my back as he brought his face close to mine. His hot tongue touched my face, tasting my tears.
I shuddered and flinched away.
“I should fuck her raw while you watch,” he continued, his tone conversational.
“You said…” I gasped for breath, desperate to get away, to save Andrés before Cristian could use me to destroy him. “You said this was for show,” I managed on a ragged whisper. “You promised I could hurt him if I worked for you.”
I had to get down and get my hands on that knife. It no longer mattered to me if I got shot. It was the only opening I’d get, and I had to take the risk.
Cristian laughed, running his hand along the curve of my hip.
“She’s a vicious little thing,” he said. “No wonder you couldn’t manage to break her. Is that why you’re so obsessed with her? All of your other pets were very obedient by the time you handed them over to me.”
My gut churned at this horrible revelation. Andrés had trained other women before me. Of course he had. I’d always known, even if I didn’t want to dwell on it. Why else would he have kinky toys stashed all over his penthouse, with a built-in playroom?
But the knowledge that Cristian had taken them for himself once they were trained made nausea creep up my throat. No wonder Andrés had been so possessive of me from the very beginning. I remembered Cristian promising that he’d be allowed to keep me. I was the only woman his brother had ever allowed him to keep, and now, he was trying to take me away from Andrés, too.
I wouldn’t allow him to take anything else from Andrés. He’d taken his family, his innocence, his pride. He’d stripped him of everything and everyone he cared about, leaving him scarred and cold.
“Let me down,” I demanded with as much vindictive fervor as I could manage. I drew on my hatred of Cristian to channel righteous rage into my features. He had to believe I’d hurt Andrés for him. “Give me what I want, and I’ll give you what you want.”
“Savage,” Cristian remarked with approval. “Your little pet is going to cut you up for me,” he told Andrés. “You risked your life to set her free, and she came back here to kill you. But don’t worry. I won’t let her take things that far. You’ll survive this, and I’ll patch you up again after. I’ll always take care of my baby brother.”
Andrés had gone pale, and his body shook with something other than rage. He stared at me, his eyes wide with disbelief. Then his jaw firmed, and he nodded.
More tears flowed down my cheeks. I wasn’t sure if he thought he deserved for me to hurt him, or if he was trying to tell me it was okay to do what I had to in order to survive. Either way, his response was unacceptable. I wanted to scream at him that I loved him and I’d never hurt him.
But I had to get the knife first.
Cristian reached up and finally unbuckled the cuffs around my wrists. My body dropped, and I barely caught my hands on the concrete floor before my face smashed into it.
“Get up,” Cristian said coldly. “You have work to do.”
I pushed up onto my feet and turned to face him. He held out the knife, offering it to me hilt-first.
I drew a deep breath and then sprang into action. I grabbed the knife at the same time as I jammed my forefingers into his throat. He clutched at his neck, dropping to his knees. Gunshots rang out. Pain seared through my right hip, but adrenaline coursed through me, keeping my body going. I ducked behind Cristian for cover and pressed the knife to his carotid artery while my other hand fisted in his thick hair, yanking his head back to expose his throat.
I could have killed him in that moment. I would have killed him for everything he’d done to the man I loved, but the guards were still armed, and Andrés was still bound and at risk of being shot.
“Drop your weapons,” I ordered. “Do it, or I’ll kill your boss.”
The guards slowly lowered their guns to the ground, their eyes fixed on the knife I held to Cristian’s throat. He was still making horrible choking sounds as he struggled to draw in air.
“Untie Andrés,” I barked the command.
They hesitated, so I increased the pressure of the knife just enough to make a drop of
blood bead on Cristian’s skin.
They hastened to comply, sealing their fates.
As soon as Andrés was free, he attacked. He was breathtaking in fluid, violent motion. My dark avenging angel. I watched with detached interest as he snapped their necks. The world was going hazy, surreal, but I kept my hold on Cristian as he continued choking beneath the knife.
Andrés turned to me as the second guard’s lifeless body hit the floor. He closed the distance between us and went down on one knee so he was eye level with me.
“Hand me the knife, cosita,” he ordered, his voice oddly smooth and calm.
My fingers were going numb around the hilt, anyway, so he easily plucked it from my hand.
His gaze left me to focus on his brother. A vicious snarl twisted his scar deep into his perfect face, and he lashed out. Cristian screamed as the blade sliced through his cheek, deep enough that I caught a flash of teeth and bone. Andrés closed his eyes and took a deep breath, savoring the sound. Then his gaze found Cristian again, piercing him with a wickedly sharp black stare.
He drew the knife back and slammed it into the center of his brother’s chest. He growled as he twisted the blade. Cristian’s entire body shuddered, then sagged back against me where I was still crouched behind him.
His dead weight fell on me, and I couldn’t seem to get my hands up to push him away. The room was growing darker, the spare lightbulb dimming.
Andrés heaved his brother’s body off me, his expression twisted with some emotion I didn’t understand.
“Sirenita,” he said, strained. “Stay with me.”
“I came back for you. I’ll never leave you,” I promised, my voice strangely faint. I tried to reach up to touch his face, but my arms wouldn’t work. “I love you.”
He scooped me up against his chest, and agony lanced through my hip. A strangled cry ripped its way up my throat as he rushed me to the elevator. As it slowly ascended, Andrés started murmuring to me in Spanish in the soothing way I loved so much. I sighed and pressed my face into his chest, the pain receding as I slipped into warm darkness.
Chapter 26
“Seriously, Dex, I’m fine,” I told him for the thousandth time. My webcam specs and internet connection were flash enough that I could see the little furrows in his brow where his face filled my laptop screen. “Are we going to play a game, or what?”
“Where are you?” he asked. “Come home. Please.”
I shook my head and lounged back against my headboard, glancing down to make sure Andrés’ shirt wasn’t gaping open. I didn’t want to accidentally flash my best friend. I’d only covered myself with the shirt so I could video chat with him. Otherwise, I wasn’t really allowed clothes these days.
I didn’t mind at all. I liked being naked here. It was warm and humid on our little private island, far too hot to bother with clothes.
“I am home,” I told him firmly. “Andrés and I are perfectly happy and settled here.”
He scowled. “You shouldn’t be with him. He’s a criminal.”
“Not anymore,” I told him, repeating something I’d said another thousand times. “I’m starting to regret telling you we’re together. I want to share things with you. I don’t want to lose you as a friend. But if you keep interrogating me every time we talk, I can’t keep doing this. You already know you won’t find me. I’ve made sure of that. If I worked so hard to cover my tracks, do you really think I’m just going to tell you if you pester me often enough?”
He blew out a long sigh. “No, I don’t expect you to tell me. Even though I wish you would. I worry about you.”
“Don’t,” I insisted. “I’ve never been happier. Really. Now, if we’re not going to play a game, fill me in on what’s going on. Did you get all the dirt I sent you on Cristian Moreno? I want to make sure all his people get rounded up and the people they’ve hurt are saved.” I thought about Lauren, my heart squeezing. Dex had told me they’d recovered her and the other girls from Andrés’ building weeks ago. I hoped she was okay and able to get the help she needed to heal.
“Yes,” Dex confirmed, his lips still thin with disapproval. “Although there seems to be a key player missing in everything you’ve sent us. You know, the man who was actually running the organization.”
I waved him off. “Andrés was acting under duress. He’s squeaky clean now. And he’ll never hurt anyone else.”
Well, he might still whip me occasionally, but that was just for fun. And Dex definitely didn’t need to know about it.
“Tell Jason I haven’t given up on helping him, either,” I shifted topics. “I’m still trying to track Division 9-C for him. We’ll find them and trace them back to whatever organization they represent.”
I was in full-on hero mode these days, kicking ass and taking names. From behind the safety of my screen, of course. I was working on ensuring all Cristian’s people were arrested, tracking Division 9-C for Jason, and—although I hadn’t told Andrés—looking for any whispers that Valentina was still alive. I didn’t want to open up old wounds, only to let him down if I found something horrible about his sister’s fate.
“I’ll tell Jason,” Dex promised. “But I wish you weren’t going all vigilante on me. I can’t keep you safe if I don’t know where you are.”
“That’s not your job,” I told him. “Andrés is here to protect me. Trust me, he’s way scarier than you. He’ll keep me safe.”
“Always,” he swore, his accented voice rumbling over me. Even after spending nearly every waking moment with him for a month, I still got all shivery and blissed out in his presence. I didn’t think that would ever fade.
He crossed our bedroom, closing the distance between us. He took a moment to glance at my screen, shooting a warning glare at Dex before he tangled his fingers in my hair and crushed his lips to mine. It was an obvious display of ownership. He still wasn’t entirely happy that I’d maintained contact with Dex, even though I’d managed to convince him I only saw Dex as a friend.
He deepened the kiss, claiming my mouth in firm, dominant strokes of his tongue against mine. I moaned and brought my hands up to capture his face, pulling him closer.
Dex cleared his throat pointedly.
Refusing to break our kiss, Andrés reached out with his free hand and snapped the laptop closed. I giggled against him, giddy at his possessive instincts when it came to me. He loved me fiercely, to the point of obsession.
I was equally obsessed, so I didn’t mind at all. I couldn’t get enough of him, and I never would.
His hands fisted in the shirt that covered me, and the buttons popped free with a powerful jerk of his arms. He wore only a towel, his hair still wet from a shower. I tugged the soft fabric from his hips, revealing his hard desire for me.
His weight settled over me, pinning me down against the massive bed we shared. Andrés had spared no expense in selecting a home for us and furnishing it with all his favorite kinky gear. Other than three members of staff, we lived alone on our private little slice of paradise. No one was around to complain about my screams of tormented ecstasy that floated through the humid air.
I felt a little guilty at the extravagance, but after looking at Andrés’ financials, I decided we could keep a small piece for ourselves to ensure our safety and comfort. No one would find us here. I’d donated the rest of the money from his drug empire to various charities, mostly organizations that supported women who’d suffered abuse. Andrés had approved, wanting to do what he could to atone for Cristian’s Bliss trafficking.
He was so good at his core, so kind and caring. He’d carry guilt for what he’d helped his brother do for the rest of his life, but I’d be here to help purge him of the dark moods that claimed him.
He wasn’t in a particularly dark mood at the moment, just possessive. Hungry.
He kissed his way down my neck, between my breasts, pausing to press his lips against the raised pink scar on my hip where the bullet had ripped through me. He’d managed to get his private physician
to arrive at his penthouse in time to stop me from bleeding out. One of my ovaries had been damaged, but the doctor said I’d still be able to have children. My birth control shot would be effective for another three months, but I didn’t think Andrés was going to provide me with another one when it wore off.
I didn’t want him to, anyway. I wanted a child with him. Our lives would be unconventional, but we’d be a family.
He finished lavishing attention on the mark I’d gotten when I’d saved us, my wet pussy distracting him. He gripped my thighs with harsh hands and pinned them down, spreading me wide for him. My eyes closed on a groan when he licked me, his clever tongue knowing just how to caress and play to drive me wild. My fingers speared into his hair, pulling him closer. He growled against me and nipped at my clit. I shrieked as my pleasure spiked in response.
“Please, Master,” I panted, loving the feel of his title on my tongue. “Please fuck me.”
As much as I reveled in his hot mouth on my pussy, it couldn’t compare to the feel of him filling me, marking me.
He pressed one last kiss on my clit before pulling away. Shifting his grip from my thighs to my hips, he flipped me over onto my front.
A delighted laugh bubbled up my throat as giddiness soared through me. The strong, assured way he so easily handled my body send bliss pulsing through my veins. When he was in control, I could let go and relax. I didn’t have to worry about being a hero or think about the weight of everyone who was counting on me to save them. I could just be me. I could be vulnerable with him, because I knew in my heart I could trust him to take care of me. I hadn’t withered in his captivity; I’d become stronger than ever. He’d torn me down to my basest self and built me back up again, making me whole for the first time in years.
He made me whole. And I’d made him whole, in return. He still bore the marks of his brother’s torment, but they didn’t go deeper than his skin anymore. He’d escaped. We’d both escaped. In so many ways, we’d freed each other.
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