by Raven Dark
Pretty Boy went to the foot end of the bed and laid me across it, between Steel’s legs. He pulled out, then flipped me over in one move. Biting my lip, I got on my knees.
“Get up here, petal. Mouth right here.” Steel had undone his pants and nodded to the monster cock in his hand as he stroked it.
I knee-walked up him until my head was where he wanted. My mouth watered while, behind me, I felt the bed dip with Pretty Boy’s weight. Pretty Boy spread me wider and then his cock was there again, but he paused, leaning so his chest lay against my back, his lips brushing my ear.
“There is no place for nice men here, baby. Nice men die fast and bloody. But a mean man’s woman also stays safe. You understand?”
I tried to wrap my head around his words. Warm, romantic nights would never be in the cards for me. These men wouldn’t give me tenderness, but they’d give me something I needed so much more. Protection. The kind of iron-clad protection only men like them could give. The notion made me feel incredibly safe.
“I understand, Master.”
Pretty Boy rumbled his approval and hammered home, a single stroke and I whimpered, part pain, part pleasure.
My clenching, or maybe the noise I made, seemed to spur him on. He didn’t slow down, just pounded into me, deep, fast, hungry strokes. The sound of his hips slapping mine drove me mad with lust.
Panting, I leaned toward Steel’s cock. He shook his head, tracing my lips with his thumb. “I want you all to myself after. Give me your mouth.”
Our eyes locked for an instant before he sat up and claimed my lips. Pretty Boy paused, slowing down for a moment while Steel’s huge hands cupped my face, fingers stroking my jawline while his tongue went crazy. My head swam, and I mewled into his mouth. My nose filled with the smell of him, the sweet hint of the wine from my mug earlier on my tongue, and some sort of spicy aftershave, masculine and intoxicating as it filled my head.
As soon as Steel pulled away, Pretty Boy started again, rough and deep. I rocked into him, just as fast. In that instant, I’d never felt so connected, so one with anyone in my life as I did with these two men. I wasn’t a slave, I was a goddess, worthy of something more.
We came at once, me crying out and Pretty Boy roaring his release. He bent down, kissing me softly on the nape. The moment he straightened and released me, Steel tilted my chin up.
“My turn.”
He grabbed me under my arms and pulled me up, flipping me over so that I laid across the bed, my head on the pillows. The next instant, I was pinned under his weight and his lips were all over mine.
My senses reeled. I ate his kiss. Steel lifted his head, dark blue eyes black with hunger.
“I can’t be gentle. It’s not in me, petal. You deserve to be treated like a queen, but that’s not me.”
“I don’t want gentleness, Master.” I didn’t. I wanted what he’d done to me last night. Maker knew, I craved it the way some women craved chocolate.
“You want to be fucked like a whore?”
I nodded.
“Say it, gorgeous. Tell me what you want.”
That word, gorgeous, was like a salve on every wound I’d ever felt, wiping away the need for anything but him and Pretty Boy, all that they wanted to give me.
“I am your whore. Fuck me like a whore.” It shocked me how easily the words came, maybe because I knew they wanted it, needed to hear it.
He let out a carnal growl, his hands pushed my wrists into the pillows beside my head, his weight crushing. I loved it.
Steel impaled me then, seating himself deep.
Pain and pleasure lanced into me as one, but I loved both, fed off both. I cried out and clenched around him. He made a hungry sound and thrust into me, pounding in and out without slowing down.
“Fuck, you’re so perfect,” he rasped.
I tossed my head, squeezing his hands in a death grip, panting hard.
“You like that?” His tongue laved my ear.
Unable to get the words out, I just nodded, bucking under him. He mashed my wrists into the pillows until they almost hurt and pounded on.
My own need peaked until I was whimpering and rocking my hips, crazed with lust. I hurtled over the edge, the orgasm scouring away all thoughts except the pleasure that washed over me in a wave.
Steel grunted and bit my neck hard. The pain sent me over again while he gave me a half a dozen sharp thrusts and cursed.
“Fuck, I can’t get enough of this pussy of yours.” Steel drew back, releasing my hands, fingers taking my jaw as he slowed his thrusts. “You took care of my friend, my brother. I won’t forget that, petal. We’ll never be good masters. Good doesn’t get it done out here, but we will protect you. That’s gonna have to be enough for you.”
Why, I had no idea, but my eyes stung, hearing this. I felt suddenly trapped, but this was a trap I needed to be in. Wanted to be in. Maybe I would never be more than a slave, fucked when they wanted. But that notion reached down into me, fulfilling something in me I barely understood. Damien, Talak, the real evils of the world would never get to me now. My masters were monsters, but they were my monsters, and they’d protect me from far, far worse ones.
“It’s enough for me, Master.” I set my hands on Steel’s face, stroking his rough cheeks.
“You’re too fucking sweet for this world. For us.”
I cradled his head, running my fingers through his thick hair.
Movement caught my eye, and I lifted my head as Pretty Boy went around the side of the bed to the headboard, his fist slowly stroking his cock. I smiled at the lust in his eyes, spreading myself wider for Steel, letting Pretty Boy watch the show before him.
“I’m gonna come inside you so hard, rose petal. Every night.”
“Yes, Master. Yes.” I’d never meant those words so much.
Pretty Boy leaned on the headboard, arms crossed, and when our eyes met, the lust there went all the way to my soul.
“You like that, don’t you.” His hand reached down, smoothing my hair back. “Tell my brother how you like getting fucked.”
The words made me clench around Steel, and sent my desire through the roof. Maker take me, these two would undo me. “I love getting fucked. I love you inside me, Steel.”
Master. I meant Master, but I’d wanted him to know my words were his.
Steel gave a long groan, taking me harder, faster, every stroke sending me higher until I went over the edge screaming, clawing. Steel sped up and came with a roar.
After Steel pulled out of me, he laid down beside me. Pretty Boy went around the side of the bed again, this time lying down beside me, on the opposite side to Steel. “Best sight I’ve ever seen, my beautiful girl getting taken.”
His mouth took mine, hot and brutal until my head swam.
I lost myself in the kiss, and when he finally lifted his head, Pretty Boy’s arm drew me against him, into his side. He was warm, his body hard, safe, so I relaxed into him.
“Sleeping with your ass against my dick,” Steel said into my ear with his chest against my back. “I could get used to this.”
I grinned, rubbing myself into him.
“You wanna take it up the ass, petal?” I stopped, ignoring the way my muscles tightened, betraying me. Steel squeezed my hip and made a satisfied sound in my ear. Pretty Boy kissed my forehead, then my lips. His tongue swept inside, tasting me slow and lazy.
“Welcome to your new life, baby,” he whispered. “You may not want it now, but someday, you’ll learn to accept it.”
As sleep began to descend on us, his words filled my thoughts. Did I want this life now? Was I already starting to like what they did to me or think of the Grotto as home?
Only days ago, if someone had asked me that, I’d have said no, without hesitation. Now I was no longer so sure.
Chapter 8
The Way Real Men Say Goodbye
The next morning when I woke, I found the bed empty.
When I’d dropped off to sleep last night, I remember being san
dwiched between my masters, Pretty Boy and Steel’s powerful, warm bodies all around me. Where had they gone?
Lying on my stomach with the blankets up to my waist, I lifted my head and looked around the room, but didn’t see or hear any sign of them. I didn’t hear anyone in the living room area outside, either.
Logically, I should have felt better being in the bed alone, enjoying the moment to myself, but instead disappointment settled in.
Why? I rolled onto my back. What were those men turning me into? And what had I expected, to wake up in their arms? They’d told me they didn’t have it in them to be gentle or loving. I’d accepted that, but still, some part of me wanted more. Wanted to be seen as more than just a slave for pleasure.
I must have dropped back off to sleep, because next thing I knew, someone was shaking my foot.
“All right, Petal, get up. Time to go.”
Steel’s voice. It pulled me out of sleep and I lifted my shoulders up, rubbing my eyes.
“Come on, I’m on break, get up.”
I turned onto my side, looking at him at the end of the bed. His tone was different, hard and clipped, nothing like it had been last night. Well, maybe he didn’t like mornings.
Suddenly unable to meet his eyes, I sat up and swung my feet over the bed.
Steel tossed a towel and two frocks on the bed, along with my bag with my toothbrush and tooth powder. “Get dressed.”
Again, ice cold.
Slowly, something close to sadness sank in on me, heavy and depressing as I realized, he wasn’t just grumpy because it was morning. Last night, I’d seen a different side of him, but that man was gone. This was the man I’d met at Damien’s mansion, the man who’d stolen me.
The pirate who saw me as his slave.
Trying to process this sudden switch in behavior from him, I slipped the frock on, then gave him a small smile, hoping we could connect again.
“Hawk’s not taking me to breakfast this time?” At least, I hoped that’s where we were going. With his change in manner, he might have something different in mind.
He frowned. “No, Hawk’s working.” He busied himself with something on the dresser. With his back to me, he asked, “Why, did you want Hawk here?” His tone sounded quiet.
My heart skipped a beat. Wasn’t it women who were supposed to be moody?
“I’m glad it’s you taking me to breakfast, Master.” I wanted to go up to him and touch his back, but I refrained. He stood up straighter and cleared his throat.
“Well, don’t get used to it. We all have jobs here. It just happened to be my turn today.”
Unsure what to say next, I straightened the frock and picked up the second one for after the bath, along with the towel and bag.
“I’m ready now, Master.”
The walk to the common room was short, perhaps five minutes, but it felt much longer. Steel walked at my side, but the coldness of him made him feel a million miles away. His profile was handsome in a savage sort of way, but where he usually looked relaxed and happy, now he looked closed off.
Had I done something wrong? Had something happened at work? In that moment, I almost missed Hawk. Hawk wasn’t companionable, but at least he never made me feel this alone.
Distracted, I stubbed my toe on an uneven wooden plank in the walkway. I stumbled, and Steel grabbed my elbow, steadying me. He looked me over, his dark blue eyes intense. I put my hand on his muscled chest, ready with a smile. He jerked his hand away, the concern on his face disappearing behind coolness.
Steel said nothing over breakfast, just handed me a packet of iris root like Hawk had used the previous morning and watched me stir it into my tea. We ate our meal, bacon and eggs, without a word.
As I ate, I swore I could feel his gaze on me, but every time I looked up, he turned away. Loneliness ate at me.
I drank my tea and iris root down and resisted the urge to ask where Pretty Boy was. If he’d had the same change of heart toward me as Steel, I didn’t want to see him.
Not that I’d ever call what he and Pretty Boy had done last night kind or gentle, but they’d been more open with me, allowing me to see beyond their tough exteriors, if only a glimpse. Now Steel was just like his namesake, cold, uncaring.
“Steel, there you are.” Bear rushed in and over to our table. “There’s a problem down in the mines,” he added when Steel looked at him.
“I’m still on break, Bear. Someone else can handle it.”
“Not this, they can’t.”
He growled and let his fork drop. He looked at me, at Bear, then at me, obviously trying to figure out what to do with me.
“Master, I’ll help the women out again, like I did yesterday. I’ll find my own way there.”
“You’re not going anywhere alone, and the women are busy with personal chores now. You’ll have to come with me.” He took my wrist and pulled me from the common room, following Bear down the walk outside. “What’s happened, Bear?”
“Guess.” He threw a look back at him. “They got to us, same as last week.”
“Again?” Radiating anger, he sped up, leaving me to stumble along in effort to keep up, clattering down walkway after walkway.
“Yeah. Pretty Boy’s already down there dealing with it.”
We passed a series of tunnels, some of them guarded by Hawk’s men, with their camouflage cuts and his hawk insignia patch. Others passed by us on the walkways, slowing us down and giving me a chance to see inside one or two cave chambers. Beyond the entrance of cave, I saw several dozen motorbikes like those driven by the road warriors who’d found me as a child, only they were all black, and sleeker, meaner looking. Men worked on them, glancing at us as we passed.
Abruptly, the walkway ended, dropping into a ladder. I followed Steel and Bear down toward the ground below, covered with gravel, Bear going first. When I heard Steel jump down, I looked at the ground. The ladder stopped about a foot and a half above the gravel. I looked at Steel, who glanced up at me, then to Bear.
“Bear, take care of her.”
“Sure. Come here, let me help you, honey.” Bear took my waist and swung me into his arms. I yelped with a start and put my arms around him for balance.
“I’ll carry you over to the cement walk.” He nodded to a cement path a few feet away. “Don’t want these pretty little toes to bleed.”
Steel turned his head to look at us, and then walked across the gravel toward a tunnel where a group of men waited. He was letting Bear, the same man he and Pretty Boy couldn’t stand to see touch me last night, now carry me in his arms like some blushing Old World bride?
My stomach sank like a stone.
The sadness I’d felt up to now turned to a dark, roiling cloud. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to run, or walk over and slap Steel, and to hell with the consequences.
No. I’d have to deal with this later. Later, when I was calm and could think rationally.
Bear carried me across the gravel, and as he walked, I glanced around. We were in the middle of a huge basin. My eyes widened.
This was the mine.
All around us, the cliffs rose toward the sky, forming walls of stone that penned in a dozen tunnels, each with tracks running into them, large steel barrels on wheels sitting on the tracks. Clanging filled the air, hammers and anvils on stone and steel, mingling with men shouting over the din. Some of the tunnels had entrances on the other ends that led out to what looked like roads, disappearing into the glare of sunlight. Bikes sat beside a track or two, or at the mouths of tunnels on this end.
Impossible to ignore, every tunnel had one of Hawk’s guards standing sentry at its entrance. In front of some, large gapas, the size of bears with their deep, booming barks, armor-like grey coats, and sharp, curved teeth, snarled and snapped at anyone who came too close. They stretched their chains to the limit, some looking like all it would take is one good tug and the chain would break free of the wall.
Bear set me on the cement path and we went over to where Steel had gone, to a tu
nnel where several crates sat piled on the ground. Hawk was bent over one, rooting through it with a scowl.
“So if your men didn’t see anything—” a man with a chain running from his ear to his nose started.
Hawk straightened and cut him off. “If they did, they would have told me, Chisel. They said the delivery went off without a hitch, as always.”
“Be that as it may, you know Sheriff. He’ll want to see you and your men right away.”
“Sheriff can question my men all he wants, but my men don’t steal from their own, they have nothing to hide.” He noticed Steel, opened his mouth like he was going to say something to him, and then his gaze settled on me.
For an instant, those hazel eyes met mine, and my stomach gave an odd flutter. Until his gaze seemed to sweep right over me, his expression utterly stoic, as if I wasn’t even there. He nodded Steel over to the open crates at his feet. “Look at that.”
The words were meant for Steel, but I instinctively stepped closer and looked while Steel squatted beside a crate.
As much as Damien had provided me with education on a huge variety of subjects, mining precious gems hadn’t been part of my schooling. Even so, I could see the problem right away.
Each of the crates were packed with beds of shavings, and nestled in those shavings, rows of trays lay side by side. Trays where the gems were obviously supposed to be, only instead of stones, chunks of white, green or clear glass lay. The glass looked smooth, pretty, like glittering rocks, but devoid of the value.
Steel picked up a chunk of green glass and turned it over in his hand, then looked up at Hawk. “It’s the same shit as the other two times.”
“Yeah,” Bear said. “Same guys switched out our gems for this.”
“Did Pretty Boy see this?”
Hawk nodded.
“How many crates were switched?”
“Four this time.”
“Fuck. How many of your men escorted the delivery?”
“After last time this happened, I doubled the detail. Four of my men went with Kit and Snake this time. Someone would have been watching the crates every second until Alron left with them.”