by J Thompson
Michael had taken leadership of the succubi council when their queen had vanished - along with her only daughter - only hours after news of the queen's consort being killed in a conflict with the vampyres. Talk and rumour had been rife that Michael had planned it all along, but his support outweighed that of any competition.
Helena had never taken an interest in politics but, from her simple point of view, the force of any bond between the males and females of her kind would only end in disaster, and that alone did not bode well for the future of her race.
Her thoughts of her kind made her heart ache. She missed everything, including her minder, Mirium, who, when Helena's parents had died at the age of six, had taken her in and raised her. That woman had been one of the only people Helena had cared about. Mirium and Callum had been her world - they still were - and it hurt to think she had caused them so much pain, all because of a silly trip to the surface. She hated to think she had inflicted pain on anyone, not when she now had an up close and personal experience with that demon itself.
“Right, my dear.” The doc's voice, laced with excitement, grated on Helena's nerves. Her fingers twitched as she imagined wrapping them around his delicate human neck and squeezing. Her fingers were about all she could move. After her last bout of treatment, he had taken an obvious liking to strapping her down. This time, though, he had added more straps. They held her head, biceps, wrists, thighs and ankles, with one more placed across her hips. She had tried to move a few times since she had woken, but it was no use. Every time she moved even an inch, the thick leather straps rubbed against her skin, creating more and more bruises to add to the already large collection.
“Today's fun starts with this.” The doc smiled rather sadistically as he held up a large syringe. The liquid inside was clear, but the excitement in the doc’s eyes and exaggerated movements told Helena she would not enjoy this nearly as much as he would.
She struggled against the straps, ignoring the pain they caused as they cut into her skin. She had to fight. Her mind may have nearly lost hope, but her body hated every second he had her locked up. There was still a small voice in her thoughts that would not let her totally give in.
“My dear, when will you learn not to fight, can't you see it's pointless?”
“Go to hell,” Helena spat out and followed it with a glare, pouring every bit of hate she felt into it. If she had the bodily fluids, she would have spat in his face. His answer was to smile before walking to the end of the exam table, close to her feet. Helena’s body was not naked this time, but covered with a small paper smock that barely covered her breasts and torso. She missed her skirt and blouse. Hell, she missed being clean; missed her bed, missed everything she had before this monster had taken her away.
Helena tensed as she felt the doc’s fingers whisper over the skin of her upper thigh. The way her legs had been strapped down meant they had been placed slightly apart, leaving her exposed for the entire room to see. His hand lingered on her right upper thigh, almost caressing in his manner, which caused Helena to once again attempt to move.
“Get off me,” she screamed, her heart rate spiking as panic started to set in.
In all the other tests, the doc had aimed his focus on her tolerance to pain as well as trying to figure out what she was. Now, his focus has shifted and Helena felt sick. She was still a virgin, as was custom for her kind before she entered into the taking ceremony. The ceremony would always take place before the female would hit maturity.
Helena cried out as she felt every centimetre of the long needle he pressed none too gently into the artery of her inner thigh. The liquid burned as it entered her bloodstream, forcing another cry of pain from Helena's lips. The doc’s hand on her thigh was soon forgotten as heat - intense heat - erupted and travelled through her body.
“Ok, Subject 12 has been injected with a liquid form of Sildenafil Citrate. This is a concentrated form of the Viagra drug which has been mixed with a combination of other drugs specified in my notes. I have injected directly into the femoral artery for a more intense and rapid reaction. Subject did seem a little more panicked than usual today. Straps have been used to hold her in place and to save her from injury. I have noted again that her stomach wound from our last inspection had not healed as it should, even by human standards, and there seems to be a small infection brewing.”
Helena tried to fight the doc, but she couldn't move. He checked her pulse and then her eyes, all the while talking into his tape recorder.
“Eyes seem paler than usual and are now fully dilated, heart rate had spiked. The body seems to be reacting as expected and there is an odour of vanilla that is now present within the room. I have noticed that this same odour was present not long after we first collected Subject 12.”
Helena couldn't concentrate on the doc as her body reacted violently to the drugs. She had only briefly heard of Viagra from the guards when they had been discussing what had been done to another prisoner, this one a male. She knew what they had given her and it scared her more than any of the other tests they had performed.
Every muscle in her body twitched, wanting to move but prevented from doing so by the straps that held her down. Helena’s head buzzed and her heart beat so fast and hard, she could feel it thump against her rib cage. Her breasts seem to swell and throb. Her nipples - now erect - pressed against the paper smock, and every movement sent shivers up and down her spine. Helena cried out as wave after wave of intense heat flowed through her. Tingles and butterflies erupted within in her stomach as her core throbbed with a need Helena had never felt before. Every beat of her heart, created an answering one down below. The need to press her thighs together - to battle the throb - was almost intolerable and had her crying out as they strained against the straps.
“What did you do to me?” Helena panted as white noise filled her ears and her body felt like it had burst into flames.
The doc ignored her words as he walked around the exam table. Recorder in hand, he was all scientist: detached and cold.
“Subject 12 appears to be reacting positively to the drug. Vitals show an elevated heart rate and she seems unable to remain still. In short, she has all the signs of being sexually aroused.”
“WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?” Helena screamed, her body no longer her own. She watched the doc as he placed the recorder onto a nearby table, before he moved towards the end of the exam table. His now gloved hands again touched her thighs. Helena screamed to fight off both the feeling erupting inside and against his touch, but both went ignored. Against her wishes, every touch both fuelled and calmed the raging inferno that burned through her. For the first time since she had been taken, her succubi senses erupted with full response, the drug counteracting whatever the doc had done to stop them from surfacing, making the transition into full maturity happen in rapid succession.
She could feel her body changing, her gums aching as her new small fangs forced their way through the soft tissues. The need to feed added to the already overwhelming needs that ran riot through her body. Helena had been told about what would happen when she hit maturity, how intense it was and how, when it hit, her male would lead her through the feeding.
In her mind, Helena called out for Callum, called for her mate. She knew what was happening to her and she fought against it. Out of all the torture the doc and his lackeys had put her through - every beating, every wound - was nothing compared to what he was doing to her now. Without realising, the doc was destroying any hope of a future for Helena. He was destroying the sacred bond that would bond her to her mate.
Her body was on the edge of the precipice, ready to tumble and fall at any point. Every essence of her being rebelled, but it would be dragged from her by force. All it would take was one touch, one single touch to lose her soul.
The doc’s voice penetrated her fog, her eyes filled with tears as she listened once again to his detached voice. “Subject 12, on examination, is indeed sexually aroused,” he said calmly and with detachment as he st
arted the physical exam. His fingers roughly parted her over-sensitive and engorged folds before they penetrated her core.
Helena fought against the impending orgasm, fought with everything she had, but her body wouldn't listen. It was ripped from her, all in the name of research. Her core clamped down on the doc’s fingers. She screamed and sobbed as the drug forced it to happen over and over again.
Tears flowed from her eyes as blessed darkness pressed in. Helena called out again, called for Callum, both out loud and in her mind.
“Callum!”
She apologised for letting someone else take from them what should have only belonged to him. Their bond now destroyed, Helena fell into oblivion's sweet embrace.
“Callum…”
7
Strength, I have none.
“Stay strong, Helena.”
“Stay strong.”
“Stay strong.”
Those words repeated over and over in her skull. Callum's voice had become more and more persistent, constantly telling her to be strong. It was easier said than done, though. Helena was unsure she could actually hold on for much longer. The doc had managed to strip her of every ounce of dignity and had destroyed any and all hope Helena had of a future. Because of him, no male would want her, even her Callum. That was even if she ever did escape this hellhole. Because of the doc, she had been pushed through her maturity before she was ready. She had been put through her first climax without her bonded male. That bond was fragile at the beginning, and Helena had no clue how it would now stand. She wouldn't blame Callum - if she ever made it out - if he turned his back on her. What male would want his female as tainted as she was?
“Stay strong. I’m here, my love.” His voice rang clear in her mind and Helena shook her head, answering him out loud.
“No! No, Callum, don't you lie to me.”
Every inch of her body hurt. The wound on her stomach was now red and inflamed, each staple that had been placed to hold her skin together now oozed with blood and other foul smelling fluids.
After the last test they had done on her sexual response, she had been pumped with a combination of drugs that had done nothing for the pain but made her unable to walk or stand. Her legs felt like jelly on a constant basis and the room constantly spun. She wanted to sleep more than anything, but she was scared to.
So far, every time she had succumbed to a deep sleep, she had been awoken on the exam table, ready to have more tests done in an effort to find out what she was. The doc was obsessed with this question and would repeatedly ask her, knowing she wouldn't say anything. She had become his personal play thing, like a child would catch an insect, slowly removing its wings and pulling its legs off to see how it worked. It was almost as if he was trying to see what made her, her.
When she had been placed in the exam room - before her nails had been removed - she had noted a large cross that hung over the door to the room. The doc was a religious and superstitious man, which explained the mumblings of demon and evil. Yes, she was in fact a demon, but not as he thought. The doc’s own mind had become warped in the twisted world he had created for himself, believing his actions in testing creatures like herself, and others, to be the work in the name of whoever he worshipped. When, in fact, he himself was acting more and more like the dark beings that resided deep in the shadows. His belief that he was in the right would be his downfall. She may not be around to see it, but it would happen.
Helena wrapped her arms around her knees and pulled them as close as her inflamed stomach would allow. She winced as waves of pain travelled through her body. Pain had become the norm for her now. If there was ever a time that she wasn't in pain, she would no doubt miss it. Dressed no longer in that small paper smock, Helena wore a thin hospital gown that had seen better days. Its thin fabric did nothing to keep her warm or protected from the cold and damp of her cell, and in her current position, sat in the corner on the cold floor, she may as well have been naked. She had forgotten what is what like to be warm, to be clean. The idea of a bath was a distant memory, like those of Callum.
The cold seeped into her skin, helping her to stay awake. The concrete floor just added to her discomfort, but she had stopped caring. Every now and again, her frail body would go into spasm, the muscles twitching in memory from the onslaught of torture she had been subjected to.
Helena rested her cheek onto her knees as she fought the exhaustion that flowed through her body. She rocked gently, forward and back, and ignored the continual drip of the water into the bucket, the screams of fellow inmates and the usual taunting from the guards.
Callum’s voice echoed in her mind, louder than it had ever been before. “Stay strong.”
She answered, her eyes glued to the other side of the room. She could almost picture Callum knelt in front of her, his eyes pleading. “I can't, Callum.”
“Stay strong,” he repeated, his hand reaching out to touch her, but not quite making contact.
“Callum, I can't,” she cried out. “I don't want to,” she sobbed, letting the tears fall freely. “I want to be free, Callum. I want to rest.”
Her voice broke as exhaustion won the battle, 72 hours she had stayed awake, 72 hours she had forced her body and mind to function and deny the doc his chance to take her again. She had fought the drugs they had forced on her, but now, she had little fight left.
“Rest, my love.” His voice felt closer, like a caress of her mind and soul. “I've got you.”
Closing her eyes, Helena fell willingly into slumber, a dream world filled with light and hope, away from the nightmare of reality.
“Helena! Helena!”
Callum's voice called out from within the woods and she grinned from her hiding place. She pressed herself against the trunk of the huge oak she had chosen as her hiding place, knowing the old tree would hide her presence. She hoped that he wouldn't find her and in the same thought, she couldn't wait until he did.
With only a few weeks left until they were to be bonded, Callum had surprised her by sneaking them both out of the realm without a chaperone. Usually, an enforcer counted as one, unless you were soon to be joined, then it was frowned upon. Amazing how their race had come leaps and bounds in technology, yet still required unmated females to be chaperoned.
Callum called it private time for them, even though Helena was positive that they would have plenty of that after the ceremony.
Helena grinned and covered her mouth to hide the sound of a giggle that sneaked its way out of her lips. She knew even the slightest sound would be heard by Callum, and then he would find her. He was, after all, one of the best warriors in the alpha team of the enforcers and had been recruited as such, as soon as he had finished his training. She couldn't have been prouder of her male, but since he had been made a part of the team, it felt, to Helena, like she was losing him. His attention always seemed elsewhere when they were together. His visits had also become less frequent and had her questioning whether he had wanted to be bonded after all. He would be the only one in the alpha team that was. To most, that would seem lucky, but the whispers she had heard was that most of the males preferred to be unbound. Helena had been convinced that he would call off the ceremony, that was until he had left her a note and arranged this trip.
Helena leaned back against the rough bark of the oak tree and closed her eyes, almost holding her breath, attempting to stay as silent as she possibly could. Her heart thundered in her chest with excitement and her palms became sweaty as they pressed against the bark. In seconds, the air around her changed, becoming heavy and intense. Helena kept her eyes closed, already knowing that Callum had found her. His musky scent enveloped her senses and swept over her in a way she would never get tired of. His whispered breath sounded in her ear.
“Found you.”
Her breath hitched and goosebumps erupted all over her skin. With only a few words, this male seemed to always have a way to make her breathless and weak at the knees. He had done since the first time she had been able to u
nderstand her feelings. As a child, he was her best friend, but as they had grown, she had known he would belong to her and she would to him.
“Open those beautiful eyes, baby,” he said quietly as his lips ghosted over her own, his sweet breath filling her senses.
Helena did as she was commanded, her pale orbs meeting his dark ones. Callum had caged her in against the trunk of the tree, his muscled arms offering shelter and protection. She never once felt trapped. She took in every part of his face. His chiselled perfection, slightly crooked nose and tousled hair that fell over his eyes, made her heart ache. But what made her heart beat harder was the look in his dark eyes; a look she knew would be reflected back. She loved this male more than anything else, in this realm or her own.
“That’s better, angel.” His voice was calm, yet husky, wrapping around her, soothing and coaxing.
“Callum,” she murmured on a whispered breath and tilted her head upwards in a silent plea, wanting Callum to kiss her.
“That’s my girl,” Callum growled out as he moved his right hand from the trunk of the tree and slid it up her arm. His fingers skated over her skin before his hand swept up the column of her throat. Callum’s thumb caressed the line of her jaw before his fingers delved into her hair, holding Helena's head in place as he took possession of her mouth. The moment their lips touched, Helena was lost to sensation, lost to the feel of her male as he bent her to his will. His taste became overpowering as his blood filled her mouth. Unable to stop herself, she drank fully, knowing they had gone against tradition, yet elated as this meant they had started the bond that would seal them for all time.