FIRE
By C.P. Mandara
Book Four of A Sexy Special Agent Series
Fire © 2019 C.P. Mandara
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FIRE
Book Four in The Sexy Special Agent BDSM Series
I am the pawn in a twisted game of revenge. Two men want me, but for entirely different reasons. The one I love must avoid me at all costs. If he doesn't, I'll be slaughtered by his enemy - Alain Dumortier. If James Leveritt touches the same woman twice, she's dead.
Do I fear death? No. Is it something I want drawn out over two weeks as my lover watches me slowly bleed to death? That would be another no.
I need to figure a way out of this mess that won't end in pain, death, and destruction. I want my life back. It will not be easy - it might even be impossible - but if I go down, I'm going down fighting.
The purpose of torture is not getting information. It’s spreading fear.
- Eduardo Galeano
Chapter One - Lois
“Why didn’t you kill me?” James’s voice was raw. It broke the silence that had stretched between us for several minutes, and the last thing I wanted to do was turn around to face him. I already knew the look that was waiting for me. It would be one of resentment, anger, and torment. I didn’t enjoy seeing him in pain.
“So, it’s all about you now?” It was a brutal comeback, but James had to focus. Right now, he sounded defeated, and in this state, he would be of no use to me whatsoever. I needed the alpha male dominant back - the one who could conquer the world. Where the hell was he hiding and how could I lure him out?
“Why didn’t you kill me?” He bit the words out the second time around, but I still couldn’t face him just yet. Biting down on my index finger hard enough to draw blood, I tried to think quickly. What did we do now? We were being held in a locked room that was surrounded by armed guards, and we had no weapons. I’d already spotted two cameras above us and knew without looking that there would be more. Escape from this room would be difficult at best, nearly impossible at worst. Christ, we didn’t even know if we were still in France. We might have been out cold for days, and if that was the case, we could be anywhere in the world by now.
Spinning around to face James, I gave him a hard look. “Stop feeling sorry for yourself. You have your demons with Alain, and I have mine. I need him dead. We both do. This kind of talk will achieve nothing.” Hoisting myself up from the floor, I made my way over to him and began loosening the clamp around his hand. The least I could do was get rid of the vice.
“You couldn’t do it, could you?” he whispered, shaking his head. “Some fucking assassin you are.” It appeared the pity party was still going in full swing. I rolled my eyes.
“Don’t test me, James. At the moment you’re tied to a chair and if I wanted to kill you, it’d be child’s play.”
“So why don’t you?” As I released the jaws of the clamp, James hissed and flexed his hand. The blood would now rush back into it, and it wouldn’t feel very pleasant for a while. On the plus side, it might take his mind off interrogating me.
“Because if there’s any chance of escape from this room, I will need all the help I can get,” I said exasperatedly. There was no way I’d reveal the real reason I couldn’t kill him - the man had an ego the size of Russia as it was.
James went on as if I hadn’t spoken. “You just signed your own death warrant. You heard what he said. He will make me fuck you, and then he’ll do everything in his power to make sure I do it again. Drugs, alcohol, torture - he’ll find the right button to press - he always does.” James drew in a ragged breath. “I can’t watch you die, Lois. It’ll kill me, and I’m knocking on death’s door as it is.”
“So, we’ll be smarter than he is, or go out with a bang. Sex is overrated, anyway.” I looked pointedly at his hand. “You want me to pull some of those pins out, or leave them in there?” Yes, I was changing the subject, but we couldn’t change the past. All we could do was move forward.
“Sex with me is not overrated.” James gave me a dark look.
“I wouldn’t know,” I said, and I grabbed the pin in my right hand and took a deep breath. I figured I might as well know what I was dealing with before I subjected James to the same ordeal.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he said. I paused, my fingers loosening around the steel pin.
“Not a good idea, huh?” My fingers wavered in mid-air while James shook his head. “What would you do?” My hand was throbbing in agony, but removing the pin wouldn’t make it feel any better.
“Leave it. If Alain wants to take it out, he’ll take it out. If you remove it, he’ll have great fun putting it back in there, in exactly the same place. He’s a sweetheart like that.” The old James I knew and loved was slowly returning, but the haunted look in his eyes was still there. I needed him to stay with me. If we were both on the same team, we’d be unstoppable, but it would require both of us pulling together. This was a waiting game and things would get a lot worse before they got better.
“Do you have any idea where Adie is?” The thought had been bugging me ever since I’d woken up.
“Yes, and you don’t want to know.” James gave me a wry glance.
I sighed and rolled my eyes. “I’m a big girl. Spill,” I growled.
Stretching out his legs, James shrugged. “Alain will be preparing to beat the shit out of him. He’ll have him naked and strung up somewhere by now. He’s just leaving him to stew for a bit.”
I swallowed tightly. “Will he kill him?”
“I don’t think so. They are brothers, although there’s no love lost between them. He’ll probably want to keep him alive for one twisted reason or another. I’m pretty sure you’ll see him again, if you’re worried lover boy’s about to bite the dust.”
“James, that’s not even funny,” I barked.
“Nothing’s very funny right now.” The dark look on James’s face said it all.
“So, what do we do?” I whispered. I already knew the answer to that question, but I wanted to keep James talking.
“We wait,” came the ominous reply.
“For what?” Was he going to whip us next, after he’d finished with Adie? If Alain’s warm up had been spearing our hands with two-inch surgical needles, I didn’t want to know what he did for an encore.
“Front row seats. He’ll want to see how you react. He wants to know if you care about Adie.”
I put my head in my hands. I remembered James whipping Adie, and I’d barely held back tears. If Alain took a shot at it while they forced me to watch, I would go nuts.
“What should I do?” I whispered.
“Not show a single ounce of emotion,” James said. “If you don’t give Alain anything to work with, he’ll get bored, eventually.”
“I’m not sure that will be possible,” I mumbled, trying to imagine myself sitting still and staring st
raight ahead while someone I cared about got beaten to a pulp.
“It takes practise.” James gave me a sardonic look. “For now, you’ll just have to do the best you can, but be aware Alain will use all of your weaknesses to his advantage. Don’t give him too much ammunition or he’ll destroy you.” Lying back in his chair, James closed his eyes and groaned. “Get some sleep, Lois. When Alain begins his scenes, they last for hours on end. He’ll think nothing of having you up for twenty-four hours around the clock.”
“Are you serious?” I croaked. “I’ve only just woken up and I have a metal spike through my hand. How the hell am I supposed to sleep through that?” Taking a nap was the very last thing on my mind.
“Lois, this is tame compared to what you’ll be dealing with next. Besides, the drug is still running through your system. You’ll be surprised at how easy it to succumb. Pop your head on my knees and close your eyes. You’ll be asleep in seconds, trust me. Save your energy for later.” He patted the tops of his knees, indicating that I should do as he said.
Walking towards him slowly, I hesitated. “Won’t I hurt you?” His hand was a mess and still bleeding. The last thing I wanted to do was accidently bump into it.
He shook his head. “You could never hurt me, Lois. Whatever goes down in the next few days, always remember that. He will never turn me against you.”
Getting down to my knees, I shuffled forward and put my head in his lap. “Maybe I could tear a strip off this ridiculous dress and try to stem the bleeding…”
“Sshh, Lois. Just close your eyes and breathe in and out. Think of your happy place. Can you do that for me?” James was bossing me around, but I was happy to let him.
Nodding, I mumbled something or other. When I felt his hand on my head, I sighed as he stroked my hair softly, backwards and forwards. The heat of his body was comforting, and the temptation of sleep was stronger than I thought. In less than five minutes, I was once again far, far away, where nothing but the darkest nightmares could touch me.
Chapter Two - Lois
“Wakey, wakey, girls and boys.”
Alain’s voice was nothing more than a soft, sultry whisper, but the back of his hand in my face was an impressive alarm clock. I came to immediately, in a crouching stance, with both my fists raised for battle. Alain was not amused.
“You even think of hitting me, and I’ll make sure you’re tied to the whipping post alongside Adrien in a few minutes time - and I’m no soft touch like James over here.” Alain crossed his arms over his chest and waited for me to back down. For a moment, we stared at each other. I knew there was no way I could take him on. Three armed guards flanked him, and both James and I were injured. The desire to smash my hand through his face took a few seconds to see reason, though.
“Lois, for God’s sake put your hands down,” James grumbled. “He means what he says.”
Dropping my fists reluctantly, I slowly stood upright and smiled brightly.
“Sorry, I’m a bit grouchy when I first wake up.” I stared at Alain with venom dripping from every pore.
“Then it’s a good job you won’t be sleeping for a while,” said Alain, crossing his arms over his black blazer. It gave him a rather intimidating look, but I wasn’t about to let myself be cowed by it. Standing my ground, I waited silently for his next move.
Shouting across to his men, Alain said, “Put these idiots in with Adie. We’ll give them two minutes to have a nice reunion before the fun begins.” He waved his finger around in a circle to indicate us. “Oh, and don’t let them out of your sight. They’re supposedly trained assassins, but they’ve been trying to kill me for years, so I wouldn’t read too much into that.” The infernal man then grinned at us and left the room.
“Fucking asshole,” I hissed.
“You haven’t seen anything yet,” James said, rubbing his hand across his forehead. “Give it an hour or two, and then you’ll see what the man is capable of, and that’s just scraping the surface. You have so much to look forward to, Lois.”
James didn’t sound good. As the guards moved in behind us and pushed us forward, I glanced at his hand and realised the bleeding hadn’t stopped. Looking up at his face, I saw lines of strain that hadn’t been there before, and his pallor was now an unhealthy grey. He needed medical attention.
I, on the other hand, was fairing much better. I just had the one spike through my hand and though it throbbed like a bastard, it was a minor inconvenience compared to what James was dealing with. I will confess to feeling a little overdressed, though. We were both still in the clothes we’d been wearing for our scene in Adamantines, and while James looked fucking awesome in his leather trousers and black, wet-look T-shirt, I was feeling rather ridiculous in my tiny latex dress, which unfortunately hadn’t come with any underwear. Knowing my luck, I’d be naked before the day was out, so I might as well count my blessings for the time being.
The guards quickly marched us through empty halls, and all I could see was peeling paint and rotting timbers everywhere. The air smelled musty and old, like no one had been here for a while. When a semi-automatic in the back of my shoulder blades prodded me into a dark room, I stumbled forwards blindly, my hands out on either side of me for balance. James took a hold of my arm and stopped me from falling over, but just barely. There was then the slam of a door, and what little light had been in the room then disappeared. I sighed. It would take a minute or two before our eyes got used to the dark. Meanwhile, we’d just have to be careful.
“Adie,” I yelled. “Are you in here?” There was no response. “Adie?” My voice was louder this time. I wanted confirmation that he was alive, and I needed it quickly.
“Jesus, Lois, my eardrums are bleeding. Give him a chance.” Taking hold of my arm once more, James gave it a quick shake to silence me, and this time I waited patiently for a response, though my anxiety levels were ratcheting up by the second.
“I’m here, Lois.” The sound was faint, and the words were slurred, but we heard him.
“Where are you? Are you okay?” My voice was softer now and laced with concern.
Adie cleared his throat. “I’m a little tied up, and I’m anything but okay. On the plus side, I’m still alive. How about you guys?”
“Did he get anything out of you?” As per normal, James was on the ball. Adie’s slurring was probably due to some drug or another, and while we were asleep, Alain had been working him over for information.
“Did he fuck. It’s not as if I have anything to give him, anyway. He knows where you guys are now, so he was just trying to show me who’s boss. It’s a big brother thing. One day he’ll get over himself.” Adie did not sound convinced of the fact.
“What did he give you, Pentothal?”
“How the fuck should I know? He doesn’t let me look at the bottles before he shoots me up. Pity he didn’t use something more fun. I could really use some recreational help right now.” Adie sounded wistful. I shuddered. My brief spell with heroin hadn’t ended well, and I never wanted to see the stuff again.
“You know where that leads, and the road isn’t pretty,” James said darkly. That made me pause. Had James been using when he first met Adie? It was more than likely, given the fact that drugs were what the Dumortier brothers were all about. I had a feeling there was a story there, somewhere.
“Adie, you need to have a talk with Lois. She’s not seen what’s about to come next before, so tell her what you told me the first time I had to witness it.” James’s voice had an edge to it now, and I had a bad feeling about this. There was a long pause, and I squirmed uncomfortably.
“Lo, come over here, sweetheart. Have your eyes acclimatised to the dark yet?” Adie’s tone was soft and beguiling. I knew that voice. It was the one he used when he was about to torture someone. It sent frissons of heat up my spine, while goose bumps erupted all over my skin. I swear my mind and body were at war with each other.
“Lo, can you see me?” His voice was louder this time, and I instinctively follow
ed the sound.
Blinking, I began to look around the room. My eyes were now making out vague shapes, and I could just about see a whipping post in front of me. In fact, this room looked very familiar. Stopping dead for a second, it took me a moment to jumpstart my heart.
“Is this...?” I let the question hang. Adie would know what I meant.
“No, we’re in Monaco. It’s a different facility. How does it feel to be getting your own back?” It seemed that Alain and Geraud liked to keep their torture facilities fairly similar to one another. The layout of the room was the same as the one in the UK, and the whipping post looked identical. It sent shivers of dread up my spine.
“Not as good as it should,” I murmured, approaching him slowly. As James had suspected, Adie was naked. At least it wasn’t anything I hadn’t seen before. They’d stretched him out in an ‘X’ shape, and they’d fastened him to the post with steel cuffs. Running a hand softly up his back, I stopped at his shoulder and squeezed it.
“Are you okay?” It was a silly question, but it was all I could think of to say. The horror of this situation still hadn’t fully hit me, but I was sure it was about to shortly.
“No, but you don’t need to worry about me. This isn’t anything I haven’t had to endure before. I’ll get through it. The only person I’m concerned about is you.”
The last word of Adie’s sentence broke on his tongue, and he had to repeat himself. For a man who was usually incredibly articulate, it was as good a sign as any that things were about to hit the fan.
“I’ll be fine,” I whispered. My hand wandered up to caress the hair at the nape of his neck gently, but he shook his head.
“This isn’t going to be pleasant, Lo. He’ll whip me bloody and he won’t stop until I’m screaming and virtually catatonic. He’ll be watching you the whole time. He’ll want to know if he can use me against you, or vice versa. We mustn’t let him have that. This is one of the few times where I don’t want your tears, Lo. I want you to stare straight ahead, right through me, and not bat an eyelid. I don’t want a whisper of emotion on your face. If you give him tears, he’ll use them against you. My brother loves to manipulate people, and I don’t want him doing that to us. Can you do that for me? Go into cold-blooded killer or assassin mode?” His voice was pleading.
Fire (A Special Agent Novel Book 4) Page 1