Severed: A Dark Romance (The Taken Series Book 1)

by Dani René

  Her dark red hair is long, hanging on her bony shoulders in waves of silk. Tattoos now mark her arms, neck, and I wonder where else she’s inked that I can’t see. She’s beautiful but broken. I know it’s because he’s been fucking her. Rage heats my blood, trickling through my veins at an alarming rate.

  It’s been a long time since I laid eyes on her, and now that she’s standing before me, I don’t know how to form words. Normally with girls I take home, it’s an easy, emotionless fuck. Afterward, I leave them without needing to even know their name, but for some reason, the girl looking at me like I’m a monster has hooked me.

  “Ah, there she is,” Thanos chuckles, crooking his finger to call her over.

  She pads toward us, and I can’t help staring. Underneath her brokenness, she’s exquisite. When she reaches the table, I watch in awe as she stands, waiting for his order. He grips her hair, tugging it in his fist and shoves her to her knees. They hit the cold wooden floor with a thud so loud, but all she does is whimper.

  Her strength steals my attention, holding it hostage. She’s always been strong. Even at eighteen, she was one of the feistiest girls in our dungeon. Now at twenty-two, she’s just as resilient.

  It’s wrong. It’s so fucking wrong, but all I want right now is to take her and claim her. To make her mine. To fuck her into oblivion until all she knows is me.

  It’s ridiculous.

  Shaking my head, I bring my wine back to my mouth. She watches my every move as I gulp the liquid down. I tip my head to the side, wanting to question her, but that’s when Thanos makes his fatal move. The glint of the knife in his hand alerts me he’s about to hurt her, and against my better judgement, I jump to my feet.

  “I think it’s time for me to inspect her. Then we’ll need to be on our way,” I say before he has a moment to get near her with the weapon.

  His gaze flicks to me. Forgetting about his earlier plan, he sets the knife down on the white tablecloth that will soon be stained with his blood. I can feel her confused gaze burning into me at that moment. I just saved her, but I’m here to buy her. I wonder if she recognizes me. If she does, she hasn’t made it known.

  “You’re not staying for dinner?” he questions. There’s curiosity in both his and her stares, but I school my features to keep this game going.

  “Well, the quicker I start with this job, the faster you’ll have your money,” I tell him, knowing that the only thing he wants from me is the cash.

  He flits his gaze over to her. Reaching for her hand, he tugs her toward the table. My body is alert, ready to attack the fucker, but I can’t do anything until River has taken out every one of the guards outside.

  “Yes, you’re right. No sense in wasting time. I trust you’ll enjoy this one, Savage.” Once again, he utters my last name like we’re friends. We are so far from ever being anything close to that, but I nod in agreement.

  8

  Caia

  He stares at me.

  A familiar stranger.

  His eyes hold secrets when he looks at me. Hidden in the depths of the ocean of his gaze. I feel like drowning in the waves that crest in his irises. Anger and hatred emanate from him like a cologne. It’s been years since a man looked at me that way. Like he does. There’s no malice there, and I wonder how I know him. His hair is dark, which is a stark contrast to his ice-blue eyes. He tips his head to the side, the corner of his mouth lifting, and that’s when I see it.

  Recognition flurries wildly in my mind when I’m transported back to a time when I was nothing more than a pawn in a sick and twisted game. The man before me may have darker hair, he may be dressed in an immaculate suit, but I know him. The first man to ever touch me and make me feel pleasure rather than pain.

  Drake Savage.

  Confused emotions swirl through me. Anger. Sadness. Curiosity. And one that’s stronger than all of those, one I need to tamper down — desire.

  I don’t know if I should be thankful or saddened he’s here, but I don’t allow my expression to falter. It’s indifferent. And I watch as his shoulders relax from the tension radiating from him. Even though he’s playing it cool, I pick up every nuance of this man.

  No matter what his plan for me is, there’s nothing I can say to him now. Thanos will know he’s someone from my past, and something tells me that he doesn’t want him to know. So, I play along, the obedient toy I’ve been trained to be.

  His head tips slightly to the side with an inquisitive arch to his dark eyebrow, which makes me want to talk to him. To beg him to free me, to steal me from my hell. But where would he take me? To the awful dungeon where I’ll do his bidding instead of Thanos’s? Perhaps I should be afraid, but Drake doesn’t scare me.

  Why has he come for me after all this time?

  What is he planning on doing with me?

  He offers a smile, tips the glass of wine to his lips, and gulps a mouthful, swallowing the alcohol before turning fully to me. “You’re rather exquisite,” he utters, and his voice takes me back to the night in the library where we spoke like equals.

  “I took your beautiful cunt last night,” Drake says as he shoves me into the chair. I have a feeling we’re being watched because he’s aloof, closed off.

  “You did.”

  “That’s the last time it will ever happen. If I’m found out . . .”

  He doesn’t need to finish his sentence because I know exactly what would happen. Neither of us would survive, but then again . . . Am I surviving?

  “They’ll do horrific things to you,” he tells me. Gripping the edge of the desk, his fingers turn white with frustration.

  “It’s not like they haven’t already.”

  “You keep fighting them, Caia.” His shoulders slump, but he doesn’t look at me. Instead, he lowers his head as if he’s been defeated. “I can’t keep you safe.”

  “Why would you?”

  Either my eyes are playing tricks on me, or Drake’s body really is vibrating with barely contained rage. I wish he would look at me. I silently plead for those blue orbs to pierce me, to steal my soul.

  “Tell me, Drake?” I force. Shoving up from the chair he just put me in, I place a hand on his shoulder, causing him to tense under my touch. “Tell me what it is about them hurting me that pains you so?”

  He spins on his heel, and I can’t stop the shocked gasp that falls from my lips. As if something has taken over him, he is furious. There’s venom in his eyes. Pure, violent, and unrestrained.

  His hand grips my arm, the other wrapping around my neck. When he squeezes, a sound tumbles from my parted lips. His glare falls to my mouth, watching as I struggle to suck in deep breaths. Attempting to pull air into my lungs.

  “Is this what you wanted? Them to choke the life from you? Because if it is, I can do it. I’ll happily kill you before they do.”

  I can’t respond. My eyes tear up, but it’s not because of sadness. Instead, it’s fear that he’s right. They will kill me. And the realization slams into me that I’d rather have him do it than them.

  “This is no game, Caia. It’s life or death.”

  He releases me suddenly, running his fingers through his hair, tugging at the strands in frustration.

  “Fuck this,” he hisses. “I want you again. I’m torn between wanting to fuck you and kill you. Between wanting to steal your lips or stealing your life.”

  “You’re not one of them, Drake.” Coughing the words, I turn away from him, not wanting him to see me struggle with my own thoughts, my own emotions. I want him. I shouldn’t. But I can’t stop my traitorous heart from feeling something for the man who holds me hostage.

  “No, I wasn’t one of them. It’s been years though. There’s only so much I can take,” he confesses with his back to me.

  “They hurt you too. Don’t they?”

  “They hurt us all.”

  And that moment is when I realize I’m falling in love with the man before me. When I realize Drake Savage not only owns my body, he owns my heart too. />
  It’s so strange seeing him again. He looks older, more mature than the time I was first thrown into the hell where his father tortured me. I can’t tell his age, but I would guess he’s nearing thirty. All the visitors that have attended parties were older — men with gray hair and beards and women whose faces were wrinkle-free, but the rest of their bodies showed their real age.

  “Thank you.”

  He smiles, crinkling the corner of his eyes, and the color of the sea twinkles. His almost-black hair is short, but there are some strands hanging over his forehead, reaching his eyes. The darker hair suits his tanned skin, making him almost human. His lips are a dull pink, but they’re full, plump. My eyes travel over the black suit he wears, which hugs his muscles.

  Perhaps he’s not real. An apparition in my mind. And just maybe I’m imagining him being here. It’s been four long years, and the last time I laid eyes on him, I was bleeding out.

  The one thing I learn by assessing him is that it’s clear he doesn’t like the man who’s taken me, but what I don’t understand is why he’s having dinner with my owner.

  I notice his hands next. Long fingers, with a tattoo peeking under the cuff of his shirt, and I wonder if he has any more ink that I can’t see. The two men stare at each other for a moment before my owner glares at me.

  “Take that dress off,” Mr. Thanos orders me in a tone which scrapes against my skin, reminding me that I’m here because he’s allowing it. Not of my own free will. For years, this has been my life. It’s ingrained in me, and there’s nothing I can do about it.

  Drake’s eyes burn into me as I lift the hem of the dress they’ve put me in. Once it’s over my head and pooling on the floor beside me, I meet those blue eyes that pierce me in a moment of heat.

  He trails his gaze from my bare feet up my thin legs, stopping at the apex between my thighs. I know he sees the bruises. It’s not like I can hide them. I don’t cower. He lifts his stare up to my small breasts, over the lashes, scars, and black-and-blue marks on my flesh. The ink only hides so much. It’s visible only for the occasions when I’m dressed up like a doll for the parties I am forced to attend.

  When he meets my eyes, there’s an emotion I didn’t expect. Guilt. He didn’t do this, but for some reason, he looks even more remorseful than the man who inflicted the wounds on me. He lifts his hand, causing me to wince, but he doesn’t strike me as I thought he would. Instead, his fingers pull a packet of cigarettes from his pocket. He taps one out, pressing it between his full lips, his eyes never leaving my face.

  The lighter flicks to life, allowing the flame to dance wildly as it ignites the tip of the white stick. The silence from the man inspecting me is heavy, hanging in the air like a weight. He pulls a long drag on the cigarette, inhaling the nicotine, then a cloud of smoke billows around him.

  “She’s perfect.” Two words, and my heart stutters. “I’ll make the payment right now,” he says. He’s here to buy me.

  “Good. Would you like her to do anything else? I want all those secrets she’s hiding in her pretty little head, Savage,” my owner says.

  Savage.

  The name may mean violence, but the man before me is far from it. He looks nothing like a barbarian. Far too poised, too calm and collected. I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from pleading for him to take me now, before Thanos changes his mind.

  “Put your dress on. We’re leaving,” Drake grunts around the smoke hanging from his lips. His one eye narrows as he regards me in a sideways glance while he pulls on the cigarette.

  I don’t respond. I obey him.

  “You should’ve stayed for the meal,” Mr. Thanos utters, his tone tight with confusion. Something shifts in the air as the material slips over my slim frame. Once I’m clothed, Savage pulls his phone from his pocket, and I realize it’s been vibrating.

  He puts it to his ear, then utters one word. “Now.”

  Suddenly, the dining room doors fly open, and I’m on the floor in an instant with a heavy body cocooning me. A cry is wrenched from my throat. All I see is a swift movement of black, heavy boots thud on the floor. There’s a grunt, screams from the staff, and I feel dizzy. Everything moves too fast for me to figure out where the blood that’s drenching me is coming from, but the slick fluid is staining my skin.

  My eyes snap up to find Mr. Thanos gripping the handle of a blade. Crimson liquid spurts from his body as his wide eyes glare at the man who’s dropped the smoke he was just enjoying on the body of my owner.

  A grip on my arm is harsh, but I’m on my feet in seconds.

  “Take this.” He hands me a smaller knife, which I grip, but stare at him in shock, not knowing what he wants me to do with it. “He’s all yours.”

  My head turns to see the man who’s hurt me all these years I’ve been here watch me. The blade that’s already inside him isn’t there to kill him. It’s to slow him down. I realize what Drake means. Stepping closer to the man on his knees, I smirk. The satisfaction in my expression must alarm him because that’s when he pleads with me.

  “Think about this. You don’t know what you’re doing,” he tells me. The man who bought me, violated me, and broke me in ways I’d rather not think about, is now pleading for his life.

  Lifting the knife, I press it to his mouth, trailing the tip of the blade over his lower lip. My eyes meet his, and I finally say everything I wanted to tell him all this time.

  “You’re a sick fuck. This is mercy,” I bite out. Spitting in his face, I smile. Blood trickles from his mouth where I slice into his bottom lip, causing him to cry out, and I revel in the agony I’m causing him.

  Two men dressed in black grip his wrists behind his back as I push the sleek silver onto his tongue. “Time for you to learn how to swallow this,” I spit his words back to him with venom lacing every syllable. Pushing the long silver blade into his mouth, I feel flesh squelch as the blood seeps from him. My whole hand is in his mouth as I watch his eyes roll back, and the scarlet fluid rushes like a waterfall down his chin as I throat-fuck him with the weapon I’ve been gifted.

  I feel Drake’s eyes on me as I pull my arm back and shove it back in, again and again. I’ve never felt such intense satisfaction as I do in this moment when I watch the life drain from his eyes. When I finally rip my arm away, there’s no longer silver or black on the weapon; it’s red, shimmering in the low light like a beacon.

  Vengeance feels good.

  Turning to my savior, I see the smile on his face, and for the first time in a long time, I grin back. He’s handsome in a dark, dangerous way, but I find myself magnetized to him. I don’t know what his plan for me is, but for now, I’m happy.

  9

  Caia

  His blue eyes leave mine, and he gestures with his head to the other man who just walked in. “River,” he says to the male I recognize instantly. “Take her to the car. We’ll get her cleaned up and head to the house.”

  “I can speak for myself,” I say confidently, causing his stare to snap to mine. “Why did you let me do that?” I ask.

  “Because you needed revenge. Now let’s go. I want to learn all there is to know about you.” He winks, the corner of his mouth tipping up into a smirk so sinful I know I’ve just met the devil himself. He hands me a lit cigarette. “Smoke that. It’ll calm you,” he orders, and I place the smoke between my lips, pulling the nerve-calming drug into my system.

  My lungs fill with nicotine, and my eyes flutter closed in satisfaction. When I look at Drake again, there’s a storm in his eyes. It dances like a hurricane ready to wipe out a town, a city, or even the world, and I wonder just how dangerous my knight in shining armor is.

  “Let’s go,” he tells me.

  “Why should I trust you?” My question feels pointless. He’s just given me a weapon, which I used to kill a man. He watched, smiled, and waited until I was ready before touching me. And even so, his touch was as gentle as it was commanding.

  “I don’t expect you to trust me, or forgive me for what happe
ned in the past,” he tells me with a shrug. “But we need to get out of this house before the police pull up. River and his men will clean the mess, and we’ll be safe at the house before dawn.”

  “And . . .?”

  “And you’ll be able to shower, sleep, and decide what it is you want to do next. But you don’t have to decide right now. All I want to do is get you out of here safely.” There’s a glimmer of affection in his eyes as he regards me warily. He doesn’t trust me, and I don’t trust him. We’re at an impasse.

  I nod. His fingers find the small of my back. Immediately, a slight shiver races over my body. It’s involuntary, but the fear of being hurt is still there. “Look at me,” he utters. An order which causes me to stop, my eyes meeting his. “I’ll never fucking hurt you like he did.”

  I look at him for a long while. Is he a wolf in sheep’s clothing? No. There’s brutal honesty in his gaze. I know one fact, and that’s Drake Savage is indeed a devil in angel’s finery. He smiles once more. That same intense grin makes my stomach flip-flop and my heart beat wildly in my chest. Nodding slowly, I respond, “Fine.”

  This feels too easy. Almost. There are two men dressed in black cleaning the mess I made. Thanos’s body is gone, and I notice River is watching another two men from their team work around the room, invading the cabinets. I’m unsure of what they’re looking for, but I keep my mouth shut.

  “Sir, we’ve found the basement where he kept the—” The young man’s words halt when his eyes land on me. No doubt he found my cage.

  “What is it, Crow?” River questions, insistence in his tone.

  “There’s something you need to see.”

  “I’ll be there in a moment,” he responds, then turns to Drake, questioning with a serious expression that only serves to make my anxiety twist low in my gut. “See you at the house?”