If he could scare off the lot of them, I wasn’t sure that meant I was in better hands. Although he hadn’t assaulted me… yet.
My legs shook as we climbed the iron stairs, and Kirk pulling at my arm faster than I could move didn’t help. As the adrenaline wore off, my extremities felt heavier and heavier, so each step took its toll on my waning strength. I grabbed the railing to keep my balance and help pull myself up.
At the top of the stairs, Kirk jerked me in the opposite direction of the door the men had used. I heard voices, and soon, we were walking through what looked like the lobby of a five-star hotel. There were a few people sitting in corners chatting while drinking coffee, but even though my clothes were ripped and barely hanging on, none of them gave me more than a passing glance—if they even looked up to acknowledge our presence in the first place.
My mind raced too fast for me to keep up, apparently trying to make up for the time it has lost while I was unconscious. Where were we? Why was everyone okay with this?
At one point, I even wondered if we were still in the real world.
Kirk shoved me into an elevator and pressed a button for the tenth floor. The building was huge, and no matter where we were, it couldn’t have been inconspicuous. The place could easily accommodate a couple hundred people, so I reasoned that there had to be people coming and going all of the time. How could it not stand out? Especially with that motley crew who drastically clashed with the lush business the decor reflected.
My head ached and I slumped against the wall, rubbing my temple. Between the pain and swelling in my body and the fog threatening to reclaim my mind, each breath and thought became more and more of a struggle.
“Do you remember what happened?” Kirk asked, keeping his voice low—almost calmingly low. A misleading façade to hide whatever beast he locked inside.
I shook my head, unwilling to give into his mock concern.
The elevator halted and my stomach slammed into the lungs, adding to my nausea. I feared I’d lose its contents for a moment, but I managed to swallow as Kirk dragged me out of the elevator and down a hall.
“What is this place?”
“Quiet,” he hissed, wrenching my arm.
“Please, just—”
He hauled me around to face him, lifting me by my upper arms. “Not listening is a good way to get yourself killed here, which is exactly what would have happened if I hadn’t come downstairs to see what trouble our resident dipshits had dragged in. You have yet to be ripped to pieces or to be removed of your ability to speak. If you want to keep it that way, I suggest that you learn to obey simple commands. Shut up.”
I clenched my jaw. I didn’t want to admit the truth in what he said, but with every breath I took, my ribs sent a sharp reminder of what could happen. Regardless of that warning, my brain didn’t stop screaming. All I wanted to do was go home, where neither of us would have to worry about my body parts being ripped off. But, I nodded, and he pulled me forward so quickly I tripped over my own feet and wouldn’t have stayed upright if not for his grasp.
He pushed open a door and shoved me into a large office where the same man in the suit who’d left Kirk in charge downstairs reclined in an oversized black leather seat behind an enormous cherry desk. Behind him, a window looked out over trees and rolling hills.
What happened to the city?
Suit jerked forward and I noticed the top of a head, covered in deep red hair. I gasped and pulled back from Kirk, but he seemed unfazed.
“Don’t tell me you decided to keep their toy.” Suit pushed the girl away with his foot then stood and fastened his pants. I turned away as the scantily clad girl crawled across the floor and sat next to the desk.
How much did I have to drink? I wondered. And where the fuck was I drinking? I barely remembered leaving the house, let alone ending up anywhere I’d get so shit-faced that I couldn’t remember the last several hours—at least. I had no idea how much time I’d lost, but it was obviously enough to get abducted and dragged out to who-knows-where.
Kirk shoved me a few steps further. “Faulted though their tactics may be, she might be a nice addition.”
Suit pressed his lips together and folded his arms. He looked less than impressed and far from convinced. “She looked like a handful. She certainly managed to keep Gabe’s crew busy long enough for you to intervene. Seems like the kind that’s easier to break than bend, which makes her no use to us.”
Suit moved toward us. I had the insuppressible urge to back away as he approached, but Kirk’s solid grasp made that impossible. Everything about him read power, from his smooth linen suit to the posh office. And unfortunately for me, it was dirty power. I figured on one level I should be appreciative of that power, since it was that power that had saved me thus far—that and Kirk’s undeterrable attitude. But on the other hand, I had a feeling that, like the girl knelt next to his desk, I was about to become a cog in whatever business provided him with the expensive clothes and furniture.
“We all need a challenge from time to time,” Kirk said as he released my arm and stepped away, leaving me feeling even more vulnerable. I wanted to curl up into a protective ball and hope that neither of them felt like smashing it to pieces.
“So, is a challenge what you’re interested in? I was beginning to think nothing could get you riled.” Suit looked me over, walking in a small circle and touching exposed flesh as he passed. I felt my skin crawl everywhere he touched, and I couldn’t help but cringe. His hand reached for my hair, and I had to strain to keep from smacking it away or jerking my head back.
Then, the words slipped from his mouth that made my chest want to collapse and fold into itself.
“Take off your clothes.”
I stood there blinking at him. Hoping that somehow my muddled brain had misinterpreted what he’d said. As if it hadn’t been bad enough when they were ripping my clothing off, now they expected me to willfully strip without an objection.
With a single swift motion, Suit grabbed me by the throat and lifted me to my toes. “She has skewed sense of self-preservation.”
I struggled for air as he leaned his face closer to mine. “Is your modesty worth death?”
He released me and I stumbled back, panting for air. He simply pointed at my shirt and held his hand out.
I slid the ripped shirt off of my shoulders and threw it at his feet. He smirked, but it wasn’t amusement that I saw in his eyes. Lifting an eyebrow, he waved at the rest of my clothes.
I took a breath, closed my eyes and—as slow as I dared to move—I dropped my jeans, underwear, socks, and bra to the floor. I straightened but didn’t dare meet his gaze. Being naked in itself didn’t really bother me. I knew I didn’t have a cheerleader body, but I was comfortable with it. Seeing a naked woman’s body was nothing to them either. Kirk hadn’t even reacted to walking in on his boss getting a blow job.
The problem was in the men’s sneering gazes that reduced me to nothing more than an object to be ogled, and the vulnerability of standing in front of them with nothing to protect me from their grimy desires.
To my surprise, Suit didn’t touch me again, just stared at me for a few long minutes while pacing back and forth and rubbing his hand over his chin. “Her chest is a little small, but she’s not bad to look at. If you want to keep her, she’s yours to train. But, she better be worth it. And I’m not giving you forever to accomplish that.”
Yours? My heart thudded. She’s yours. Somewhere along the line, I’d not only lost my freedom, but also my human identity. Maybe death was better—but the fear of that finality overpowered my sensibilities.
For better or worse, I was attached to being alive.
“Have Clarence look at her and get her prepped.” Suit said, walking past his desk toward the window. He ran his fingers through the other girl’s hair as he passed, and she grinned up at him, licked her lips, and scowled in my direction.
A shiver coursed through my body and I wondered if it was possible to get hypoth
ermia simply from shock. My tongue felt like it was sealed to the roof of my mouth, dehydration making it almost impossible to swallow.
“If you really want to prove her worth,” Suit, said slowly, not even glancing back at us, “bring her to the Outlook tonight.”
Take My Name Away
I could barely hear anything over the pulse pounding in my ears by the time Kirk took my arm and pulled me back toward the door. I wasn’t sure which part to fear more, getting “prepped” or whatever the “Outlook” was. I bent to gather my clothes, but Kirk tugged harder.
“You won’t need those and you may as well get used to that now.”
My skin burned with embarrassment as he led me down the hallway completely naked. There was no one around, but the air felt foreign, intrusive, as if even it saw my indecency and took an extra effort to remind me of my vulnerability.
I kept my mouth shut, and my eyes on the floor as Kirk led me to another room. It was stark, white walls and a white tile floor. Most of the walls were covered in cabinets, and through some of the clear doors, I recognized medical equipment. I got the feeling this building was like some self-sustaining hive of iniquity.
Kirk pointed to an exam table and, still in shock and feeling shaky, I climbed up and sat down. He placed his hands on either side of my thighs, “I don’t care what your name is, and neither will anyone else.”
There it was. I knew what was coming. They were going to give me a number, brand me, strip me of my identity, and I’d be just what Suit had called me—a new toy.
Kirk stepped back, but his gaze still bore into me. “I suck at naming pets, so I’ll give you one chance. Make it good.”
“Silver,” I said. I didn’t know where it came from; it was the only word that came clearly in my mind.
He lifted my hand to display my chipping silver nail polish that I had put on while I was making arrangements with my friends to have dinner. Why couldn’t I remember the rest of the day? I couldn’t even pinpoint the last thing I remembered. It all seemed choppy and malformed.
“Silver.” He repeated, dropping my hand, “I can live with that.”
I wanted to ask if he usually did this—or for him to clarify what this was, but I wasn’t really sure I was ready for his answers.
I especially wasn’t ready for another death threat, so I stared down, wringing my hands in my lap. It was the only activity that could keep me slightly occupied and out of trouble. I couldn’t imagine never seeing outside of these walls again. What had I done that had been so stupid or terrible that I woke up here?
The door clicked and footsteps approached. I balled my hands into fists and curled my toes into the base of the table. Too afraid to physically turn and look, I watched the newcomer out of the corner of my eye. He was an older man with graying sandy hair, probably in his mid-forties. He wore an outdated Hawaiian shirt over black golf shorts, looking more like a misplaced tourist than a doctor, but he opened the cabinet and laid out his supplies on a nearby tray table. As, he pushed the table closer to the exam table, Kirk stepped to my side to allow the doctor access.
At least, I assumed he was a doctor and not just some guy they picked up off the streets.
I stiffened, but he didn’t make an immediate move to touch me, instead, he crossed his arms and leaned back against the counter in front of me. “Gabe isn’t going to be pleased to find you not only ruined his fun but claimed the girl as your own slave.”
I kept my head lowered, watching my auburn hair shudder with every thump of my heart. I tried to follow their conversation, reminding myself that as long as they were chatting with each other, they weren’t groping me, but at the same time, their casual rapport made me feel even more broken. I was the foreign element. They were set on keeping me, but I didn’t matter.
“Glad Ross filled you in so thoroughly,” Kirk said, “Gabe is a hot head who doesn’t plan. What else are we going to do with her?”
“I get your reasoning, but I’ve seen his crew’s work and I’d rather just avoid it all around. They have a tendency to blow off steam in destructive ways, especially when you feel the need to remind them who the boss’ right-hand man is.”
Squeezing my eyes closed, I pulled in a deep breath through my nose.
Kirk made a sound in his throat, and I heard feet shuffling. “That’s how I got the job.”
I opened my eyes as they both closed in on me. My back straightened and the hair on my neck rose, every instinct telling me to back away. Fighting would make the pain worse, but at least I’d be doing something, yet my body refused to move.
“And that’s all there is to it?” The sandy-haired man smirked, continuing the casual conversation as if having a terrified woman sitting in front him was just another day at the office. “You’re lucky I was here today and you won’t even have to wait.”
“I doubt I got that lucky. It’s a Saturday, where else would you be?”
“And you dragged me away from my morning with a lovely doll.” I heard the old man grunt, as he moved to stand next to me and put on a pair of rubber gloves.
My eyes widened and my body finally broke out of its frozen condition. “I—uh—”
“He won’t hurt you,” Kirk squinted at the doctor and scoffed, “much.”
The old man extended his hand toward my ribs.
I jerked back as Kirk moved to hold me in place. “I’m allergic,” I blurted.
“Latex allergy?” The doctor stepped back and narrowed his eyes.
I nodded, waiting on the threats or violence to punish me for speaking out of turn, but as soon as I stilled, Kirk also stepped away. His eyebrows were drawn together, the first real hint of emotion I’d seen him display.
The rubber gloves snapped, slicing through my thoughts. Clarence dug around in a drawer then returned a few seconds later with bright purple gloves. This time, he took no delay in prodding me—paying particular attention to my sore ribs. With every poke, I felt more off center. I wasn’t sure if it was my brain trying to escape from the pain and the situation or the effects of whatever had screwed with my head.
By the time he was done, I was convinced that he especially liked watching me squirm and jump in pain. I wouldn’t put that against anyone within these walls.
“You’ve never taken much of an interest in the girls,” Clarence said, elbowing Kirk as he moved around me, checking everything from my throat and ears to my reflexes. “That’s what has paid off for you. While the others play, you get ahead. Although, I’d say it’s about time you learn to balance them both. Why live in a place like this if you can’t indulge sometimes?”
“I indulge plenty; I just don’t make a public offering of it.”
“Mmh hmm, well, we’ll sit back and take bets on who kills who first.”
The doctor dropped a tray onto the bed next to me with empty tubes, a tourniquet, alcohol pads, and a hypodermic needle.
“What?” escaped before I could stop it. All I got was a glare, and I was thankful for that small reprieve.
I kept my mouth clenched as the doctor drew blood three vials of blood and set them aside. “Birth control?” he asked.
I nodded, “Shot five weeks ago.” As soon as I handed over that piece of information I wondered if I really wanted them to know that, but it was probably inevitable since I didn’t want doped up on double doses.
“Sexual partners?”
“Uh.” Answer their questions and stay alive long enough to figure something else out. “Three.”
He pulled the stirrups out of the end of the bed and my eyes widened.
“Feet up. Lay back.”
“No, no…,” I whispered, my body froze in shock again.
Kirk put his hand to my chest, inches below my neck and pushed me back. “You may want to hold still.”
Hold still? Right. Assaulted in the basement, stripped in the boss’ office, and now laid out in front of a doctor who looked like he belonged on a tropical golf course and he just wanted me to hold still.
&nb
sp; The doctor started to lift my foot into a stirrup, but I jerked both legs up and rolled off the side of the bed. I barely managed to land on my feet, but as soon as they hit the floor, I sprinted toward the door.
Just as I grabbed the handle and pulled it open, Kirk’s weight slammed into me pushing it closed again.
“We’re on the tenth floor, where the hell do you think you’re going?” He twisted me around pressing my back into the door with his forearm against my throat.
Fight, I screamed, but the room tilted and it was everything I could do to keep down the rise of nausea.
Kirk grabbed a handful of hair, using it to drag me back to the table, then he lifted me up and dropped me into place. This time, he kept his hand pressed into my chest and the other on my hip as the doctor lifted my legs into place.
I squeezed my eyes closed as the doctor prodded. I was too tense to relax, but even if I could, he seemed intentionally rough and intrusive.
It felt as if his exam would never end, and I fisted my hands at my sides, trying to stay in control. Just a little longer. I tried to push my mind to a different place—to an escape plan.
He removed the speculum and fingers slipped inside of me, stretching until my breath squeaked out. I thought for a second he was trying to rip me open, but he pulled his hand out and I breathed in relief until he coated his fingers in more lube and went for another hole.
My foot kicked up out of the stirrup, but Kirk pressed me into the bed, glowering down at me.
I returned his dark gaze until a finger slid into my asshole, and I clenched my eyes closed. Within an hour of waking up here, they were sequentially taking away everything I could possibly keep to myself.
Maybe I should have been happy that they didn’t want my name to tarnish, but taking it away was just going to be another reminder of their power.
“She looks clear, but I’ll let you know when the tests come back. You know the drill until then.”
Kirk rested his fists on the edge of the bed next to me and leaned over. “Anything we should know—keeping in mind that we’ll find out if you’re lying?”
Irrevocable: A Sins of Ashville Abduction Dark Romance (Irrevocable Duet Book 1) Page 2