by Cara Wylde
“Shut up and take it.”
I wanted to make her cry.
Vera
It hurt, and at first, pain was the only thing I felt. As the minutes passed and Dev kept thrusting in and out of me furiously, pleasure began to override the pain. The position was uncomfortable. He held my head down, and I clenched my jaw and pursed my lips, otherwise I could’ve ended up with mud in my mouth. My left cheek was pressed brutally against the grass, my back was arched as he held my ass in the air, and my hands were trapped under me. I tried to move, but it was impossible. He was simply too strong and heavy. I whimpered at first, hoping he would take pity on me, but he just kept going, focused only on reaching his own peak. Why wasn’t Navin doing anything? All I did was to tell them that I knew they were tiger shifters. I saw nothing wrong with that. The word “secret” had triggered Dev, and I wondered why it was such a big deal. They were incredible, wondrous beasts. If I had been like them, I would’ve told the whole world. No one would’ve ever messed with me, or I would’ve turned them into a snack.
Tears ran down my cheeks, seeping into the ground. My body liked what he was doing. My walls clenched and unclenched around his cock as he pushed me closer and closer to the edge. I wanted to reach down and rub my clit again, but he wouldn’t even let me breathe, let alone shift my position. He went so deep inside me that the tip of his cock hit my cervix over and over again. The first few times, there was pain, but now… that spot inside me craved more, and when he hit it particularly hard, I screamed his name and came, my pussy throbbing around him, making him spill inside me with a grunt. He stopped, still holding me down, still sheathed deep within me, and released every drop he had to give. As he pulled out, he raked his nails over my back, and I realized they were claws. I turned around, collapsed exhausted, and looked up at him. His features had changed. His hands were paws, his chest and neck were covered in yellow fur and black stripes, and his head seemed bigger. I covered my mouth with my hand. Not because I was in shock… Well, I was, but I’d seen it happen before with Aryan. I was, in fact, afraid that I might say some other thing that he didn’t like and make him punish me again.
“Like what you see?” he growled at me. “Do you like our secret, or do you find it terrifying? Or maybe disgusting?”
I shook my head. “N-no…”
“You don’t?” He laughed bitterly. “But we’re animals. We’re beasts. You should hate us.”
“Why would I hate you?”
“Because we’re not like you.” He leaned over to sneer at me, and I felt his hot breath on my face. “We’re different. We’re shifters, and you’re human. Humans don’t like what they can’t understand.”
“I won’t say that I understand,” I gulped, nervously. “But I don’t hate you. Why would you assume something like that about me? I’ve been with you for a week. Granted that’s not much… we’ve grown close, haven’t we? You know me… I’m incapable of hate…”
“Is that so?” Navin crouched beside me. He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “You’re right, princess. A week isn’t that much at all.”
I looked into his eyes, and even though he was gentle with me, I could see and sense that something had changed. From the corner of my eye, I saw Dev fall onto all fours. I turned my attention back to him, my jaw dropping when I saw that he was shifting into a tiger right then and there. I heard bones break, I saw how his muscles stretched and took a different shape, how more fur sprouted out of his pores. His face elongated, his teeth turned into fangs, and when he let out a roar, I could swear that the earth shook. I crawled away from him, hugging my knees to my chest, trying to cover and protect my naked body. I felt his seed drip out of me, and I suddenly felt so ashamed. I’d given myself to these men, and now they were accusing me of something I didn’t even understand. I’d done nothing to them! And they were treating me like a stranger for the first time. They were treating me like someone they couldn’t trust.
“Don’t be scared,” Navin said. “He won’t hurt you.”
“How do you know?”
“He’s the same man, but in a different body. That’s all.”
He stood up and shifted too. I was surrounded by two tigers, and there was no way I could escape. No way I could put at least a little distance between me and them. So, I sat there, trembling, with tears still rolling down my face. I sat there and waited. On the one hand, I was in awe. Dev and Navin were two beautiful beasts. I could swear I’d never seen such big, strong tigers – not on TV, and not at the zoo. They looked like Bengal tigers, but they were much larger. On the other hand, though… they were scary. If they decided to hurt me, all they had to do was strike me with their paw, and I’d be dead.
The tiger that was Navin stepped closer. I tensed up but forced myself not to move. I didn’t know whether I was supposed to look into his eyes or not. I knew that looking into a predator’s eyes could enrage him, but was Navin truly a predator? Even as a tiger, wasn’t he the man who’d given me pleasure so many times? And he’d never been brutal… Aryan had lost some of his control the first time, and Dev had lost control today. Navin… Navin had always been gentle and caring.
He nudged my shoulder with his wet nose. My eyes grew wide. I was even more confused now, not understanding what he wanted from me or how I was supposed to behave. He nudged me again, then bent his head and pushed me until I lost my balance.
“Hey!”
He made this sound that wasn’t exactly a purr but gave away the fact that he was feeling happy and playful. I gathered my courage and touched his neck. He leaned into my touch, and with trembling fingers, I rubbed him behind the ear. He made the sound again – this deep rumble that traveled right up my arm and settled in my heart.
“Oh my God,” I whispered as I stroked his big head. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
Dev growled in annoyance, and I realized he didn’t like to be left out. I motioned for him to come to me, and he did. He pressed his head to my breast with such enthusiasm that he almost made me fall onto my back. I struggled to sit upright as the two tigers nudged me and rubbed themselves against me. My smile was so big that my cheeks started to hurt.
“What the hell is going on here?!”
My heart jumped into my throat. Aryan emerged from the house, pulling off his tie as he walked briskly toward us. Dev and Navin turned to him, growling menacingly. Aryan shot them a death glare, and they settled down.
“What do you think you’re doing? Showing her who we are…” He closed the distance between us in two wide steps. He crouched down and grabbed me by the hair, pulling my head back. “You know. Listen to me, whore. If you tell anyone about this, about us… you’re done. You’re dead. No one will find your body.”
“Why?” I tried to push him off me. “Please… I don’t understand. What are you so afraid of? I won’t tell anyone, I promise… But why?”
“Why?! Are you so naïve? Because we’re not like you! Like your kind! And your kind is known for flipping out when they don’t understand something, for shooting first and asking questions later. If they ever ask the right questions…” He pulled at my hair harder. “Give me your word that you won’t tell a soul.”
“I won’t tell. I promise.”
He let go. I rubbed at my scalp, shooting him an angry glare.
“Was this necessary? You could have explained it to me nicely.”
He huffed. “I will explain it to you however the fuck I want.”
I rolled my eyes. Dev and Navin had stepped back, and now that the drama was over, they dispersed, as if they’d lost interest in me. Navin jumped in the pool, and Dev disappeared in the garden. I looked up at Aryan, shielding my eyes with my arm. It was unbearably hot, and I felt dirty and sticky. I was tempted to go into the pool with Navin, but I wasn’t sure it was allowed. Aryan took off his clothes – first the shirt, then his suit pants, boxer briefs, and shoes. In the light of the sun, he looked like a handsome, tanned god. His hair was curly and wild today, and he’
d given up trying to tie it neatly. That never worked, anyway. His cock was hard. I licked my lips when I saw drops of precum gathered at the slit. Involuntarily, I opened my legs. I was sore, especially from the merciless pounding I’d received from Dev, but I couldn’t help myself.
“Look at you,” he snickered. “You can’t get enough, can you?”
I beckoned to him, and when he lay on top of me, I whispered: “Please be gentle.”
He grabbed my jaw. “I don’t want your pussy. Tomorrow, maybe. Now it’s spent. You’re going to suck me off.”
I moved onto my knees, and he stood up, one hand wrapping around the base of his cock, and the other coming to rest on the back of my head. He guided my mouth to him, and I licked the engorged head before I took his length all the way into my throat. I hummed around it, and he growled in appreciation. I knew how to give a good blowjob now. Dev had taught me, and both Navin and Aryan seemed to enjoy my technique. I closed my eyes and focused on the cock in my mouth. The world faded, and I couldn’t even hear Navin splashing in the pool anymore. There were only two things that mattered: Aryan’s cock and the taste of his precum on my tongue. The more I licked, rubbed, and sucked, the more I wanted him to finish in my mouth, to let me know how much he liked what I did to him.
His hand turned into a fist in my hair. Soon, he started moving, and I stood still, letting him fuck my mouth as hard as he wanted. Tears stung my eyes, but I ignored them. I focused on breathing in and out through my nose. I could barely swallow around his cock, but I did my best.
“Fuck, you’re gorgeous.”
He grabbed one of my breasts and squeezed it. He pinched my nipple, making me moan.
“But if you say a word to anyone about us, it won’t matter how gorgeous you are. We might be bonded to you, but we won’t let you ruin us. We’re strong enough to break that bond if we must.”
What was he talking about? Sure, I’d felt it too. The connection… But I’d just thought it was Stockholm Syndrome. It was wrong and twisted, but sometimes the victim did fall in love with the perpetrator, or perpetrators, in this case. Never once did I think they could feel the way I felt, that they could become aware of the strange connection we shared.
“I don’t want to break the bond, but I will…” He pushed himself all the way down my throat and held me in place as he came. Stream after stream of hot seed, and I swallowed it all. I didn’t even have to make an effort. “You can be ours forever, Vera. Would you like that?”
He pulled out, and I could breathe again. I looked up into his dark blue eyes.
“Y-yes. I’d like that.”
“Good. All you have to do is keep your mouth shut about who we really are and continue to be the good whore that you are.” He smirked. “Deal?”
“Deal.”
He stretched his arms over his head and sighed. “Thank God, this is better. Now I can call the maid to clean the damn house. You’ll behave, right?”
“Of course.”
“Navin will take the cage back to the basement, and you’ll sleep in your own bed tonight.”
My eyes grew wide. I almost couldn’t believe it! This meant that Aryan trusted me. He’d talked about this bond like it was something deep and important, something that couldn’t be ignored or denied with ease. He was certain that as long as I was bonded to them, I wouldn’t try to escape. My heart beat faster when I realized that… he was probably right.
Aryan
I instantly regretted it when I said she could sleep in her own bed. I grabbed my clothes and turned away, afraid that she might see it in my eyes… the anxiety. A million thoughts and fears rushed through my head. I could change my mind and not remove the cage. But she would be so disappointed. I could make her sleep with me, and that would’ve prevented her from trying to escape. I was a light sleeper, so there would be no way she could even sneak to the bathroom without me noticing, if we shared a bed. But maybe it was better for this to be a test for her. If she slept alone tonight and we still found her in the room in the morning, then it meant she was, indeed, our mate, and we could trust her. If she did try to escape, I doubted she’d be able to jump over the wall. The gate was secured with electrical wires during the night, and even if she made it beyond our domain, it would be easy to track her in the city. She wouldn’t make it far. More likely, she wouldn’t make it at all, seeing how New Delhi was dangerous, especially for a young, white woman at night. If she did escape and something happened to her, I had no plan to shed a single tear. She would be getting what she deserved.
Maybe I was worrying for nothing. It had been a hot, stressful day. I took a shower, got into light clothes, and went into the kitchen to prepare dinner for everyone. I liked to cook. I didn’t do it often, but when I had time, it helped me relax. I used cooking as a form of meditation. Through the tall kitchen window, I saw Vera in the pool with Navin, who was still a tiger. They were playing and splashing around, and I couldn’t help a smile. If this was going to be my life… our life… from now on, then it didn’t look too bad. On the contrary.
I liked my food flavored and spicy, so I was generous with the cardamom, black pepper, mustard seeds, cumin, and turmeric. Tomorrow, I’d call the maid and the gardener. The house needed dusting, the piles of laundry overflowed in all our bedrooms, and the bushes in the garden needed trimming. The fridge was also quite empty, so a restock was in order. For now, I managed to prepare a decent meal with what I had.
Later in the evening, Navin and Dev brought Vera inside. They all took showers, and Vera came into the dining room last, wearing one of Navin’s oversized shirts. She was beautiful and barefoot, with her wet hair dripping down her back, rosy cheeks, and a healthy tan that made her look like one of us, like an exotic goddess who’d fully stepped into her feminine power. I sat her down next to me at the table and filled her plate. On her first bite, she gasped and reached for the glass of water. We all laughed, and she scowled at us.
“Spicy food doesn’t agree with you?”
“It just took me by surprise.”
Carefully, she took another bite and chewed slowly. She got used to the taste soon, and she ended up cleaning her plate and asking for more.
This was nice. All of us around the table, eating and drinking while the sun set outside. We didn’t talk business that evening, and instead listened to Vera’s stories about her life in Russia, about how it had been to be the only daughter of one of the most influential mob bosses in Sankt Petersburg. She teared up when she talked about her family, about her mother and brothers. On the one hand, her heart ached for revenge, but on the other hand… she knew nothing and no one could bring them back. I could sense how much she hated Petrov for what he’d done, and how powerless she’d felt when he took her and brought her here. She was grateful that she was alive, but she couldn’t help the survivor’s guilt that sometimes seeped into her dreams at night, turning them into nightmares.
“I’ll take care of Petrov for you,” I said without thinking. Both Navin and Dev turned to me, shocked that I’d say such a thing. Petrov was an associate and a good asset. “When he comes back with the rest of what he owes us, I promise you… he won’t return to his home country. Not in one piece.”
“You’ll do that for me?” She looked around the table.
Dev nodded, and Navin shrugged, as if it was no big deal.
“Sure. I bet he’ll go down without much of a fight. He’s way overweight. Terrible shape.”
“He won’t be a problem,” Dev said. “His men, however…”
“We’ll have our own men over the day he comes,” I said. I tapped my lips with the napkin and reached for the wine. I filled everyone’s glasses. “It’s settled.”
“Thank you,” Vera murmured, still stunned. “This means a lot to me.”
As I drank my wine, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. The way she raised her glass to her full, plump lips, how she tipped her head elegantly to let the dark liquid rush into her sweet mouth… I was entranced. No, it was more than t
hat. I was in love. Maybe that wasn’t the right word, either.
I was ensnared.
Vera
After dinner, Aryan, Navin, and Dev took me to my room. The cage was gone. The empty space in the middle almost made me feel anxious. I bit the inside of my cheek and played with the hem of my dress as I stepped over the threshold. The windows were wide open, and it smelled like grass. The air was hot and damp, but I found it didn’t bother me anymore. I’d gotten used to it. The bed was made, and on top of it, I saw two more dresses waiting for me. I shot Aryan a glance, and he smiled at me. So, he hadn’t just been away on business. He’d also stopped to shop for me.
“Good night, princess,” Navin said, kissing me on the cheek. “Sweet dreams.”
Dev grunted something I couldn’t understand and left. Navin winked at me and followed him.
“I don’t understand,” I said. “You’re letting me sleep alone?”
Aryan laughed. “What? Are you afraid of the monster under the bed? It’s true he couldn’t get to you in the cage…”
“Not funny.”
He stroked my hair as he looked deep into my eyes. “Yes, you’ll sleep alone. And I hope I find you in your bed in the morning.”
“Or course you will,” I murmured.
He squeezed my jaw a bit more possessively, like a warning. “Don’t make me regret giving you this freedom.”
“I won’t.”
He leaned in and pressed a hard kiss to my lips. I sighed and opened my mouth to give him access, but he pulled away. He walked out of the room and closed the door behind him. He didn’t lock it.
Looking around the room, I couldn’t believe I was finally allowed to enjoy it. I went to the windows, looked outside, and then closed them. I studied the dresses, noticed one of them was made of soft cotton, and decided it was good enough to sleep in. I dumped the oversized shirt in the laundry basket, brushed my teeth and washed my face, then put the cotton dress on and crawled into bed. The sheets were thin and soft. They felt nice against my heated skin. The pillows were big, and my head sank into them. Sleep didn’t come easy, though.