Hard Times: A Dark Captive Romance

by C. Hallman

  Eli passes behind her. “Listen to your brother, Del.”

  Brother? Brother. Oh, hell. That makes a difference—though I can’t imagine why she’s here unless crime runs in the family.

  And I’d be kidding myself if I said this development doesn’t bring at least a little relief knowing she’s not his girlfriend or fiancée. That shouldn’t matter, should it? I wish my heart would get the memo because my emotions are seriously confusing me right now.

  Wait a second.

  As I eat, I go through Hunter’s file in my head. There was nothing in there about a sister. Nobody named Delilah at all. The mystery keeps getting deeper all the time. Not that it matters, because I’m going to die tomorrow, but it’s a way of keeping my brain busy, at least.

  It’s a relief to finish my food and push back from the table. I haven’t said a word since entering the room and sitting down before a plate of food Hunter fixed for me. It’s he who walks me down the hall to his room. I notice he’s careful to make it appear we’re friends, like he isn’t holding me prisoner down here. Though, I can’t help but wonder why he’s changed his habits now that Delilah’s here? Does he want her to think he’s a good guy? I almost laugh at the idea.

  We’re back in Hunter’s room before I get up the guts to ask. “You have a sister? I never read about her. I’d remember if you had immediate family in the area.”

  He sighs heavily and rubs a hand over his head. “Yeah, there’s a reason for that. I’ve done everything I can to keep her away from my life.”

  “But she’s family. How do the authorities—”

  “She’s my half-sister.” He sits on the edge of the bed. “Eighteen. We have the same father. She grew up with her mom and stepdad. We’ve never shared a house, and I was already thirteen when she was born. But… she’s good. She’s honest. And she has no idea who I am or what I’ve done.”

  He raises his head and looks me in the eye. “She thinks I’m a decent person. Her big brother who she loves. I’d like to keep it that way. I need at least one person to believe in me, or else what do I have?”

  Now that I have trouble believing. He looks and sounds like he means it, though. “She doesn’t think there’s anything weird about this place? About you being here? I’d have questions.”

  “She does, but I’ve talked my way around them.” He eyes me. “She’s being a concerned sister. That’s why she asked who you are. She doesn’t have the first clue. I shouldn’t even have her here, but I couldn’t leave without seeing her again.”

  Leave. My heart jumps at the word. They’re not planning to stay here. That makes sense.

  And it doesn’t matter where they go or what their plans are because I’ll be dead. Funny how it’s becoming easier to deal with the idea of dying. Everybody dies, right?

  My guts twist, knowing I’ll die without fulfilling my mission. The only thing I’ve cared about for years. I touch the bracelet and hope Mom forgives me and understands.

  “I’d appreciate it if you see her again that you not tell her anything.” His eyes meet mine. “I don’t have the right to ask favors after all this, but she doesn’t deserve to have her life ripped apart. And I can’t make her pay for me being so weak. I shouldn’t have had her come here, but I couldn’t help myself. That’s not her fault. She’s innocent.”

  So am I. I don’t say it, even though everything inside me screams it.

  I chew on my lip. The hardened criminal has a heart. Then again, didn’t he protect me from dying in that wreck? I can almost feel his hands on my head, my face, keeping me still so I wouldn’t get hurt. He didn’t have to do that. If he wanted to get laid, he could’ve found any girl for that.

  I sigh. “Okay. If I see her again, I won’t say anything.”

  “Thank you, Annie.” He holds my gaze and sincerity drips from his voice. That and relief. “Thank you.”

  I jump when the door opens. Ryker strides into the room and the energy changes, making the hair on the back of my neck stand straight up.

  13

  Ryker paces the room like a caged animal, and every time he passes me, his eyes nearly burn holes through my skull. I can only stand here, helpless, hoping Hunter will step in before Ryker loses control of himself.

  They can be reasonable, can’t they? I have to reason with them. If they were in my shoes, wouldn’t they do everything in their power to free themselves?

  Actually, I know they would, since I lived through the car crash they caused. Considering that, a gun to the head doesn’t seem so drastic.

  And I wasn’t the one who put the gun to his head, either. He was the psycho who did that on his own. I wouldn’t have pressed the muzzle to his head.

  All of this and more goes through my mind as I wait to see what will come next. I hate the sense of being so out of control of my life. My fate is completely in their hands, and one of them looks like he wants to kill me on the spot.

  “Take your clothes off.” He might as well be an animal—his voice barely sounds human. It sends a shiver down my spine and spreads icy fingers of fear through my arms and legs. I couldn’t move now if my life depended on it, which sucks because it might.

  Hunter clears his throat. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Ryker. Take it easy. Calm down.”

  “Don’t tell me what to do.” It’s a whisper, a hiss, but somehow it’s scarier than if he had screamed it. “I eased up on her and look where it got me. Ungrateful. Stupid, stupid ingratitude.” I figure this isn’t the time to point out that I didn’t ask to be kidnapped and I don’t want to be here. I don’t owe them shit.

  He looks at me again, this time coming to a stop. His arms fold over his chest, and the bulging muscles remind me who’s in charge. It would be a waste of time and energy to fight back against him—and it might piss him off even more, which would make life a lot harder for me. He might be more likely to hurt me if I fight.

  His eyes narrow to slits. “Take. Your. Clothes. Off. This is the last time I’ll tell you. Next time, I’ll do it for you, and you won’t like it very much.”

  Hunter steps between us with his back to me. “She’s not well yet. She’s still hurt. We were going to—”

  Ryker shoves him with a snarl. “I’m taking what’s mine. She’s mine. And yours. She belongs to us, and we’ve already waited long enough that she thinks she can pull that kind of shit and get away with it.”

  Hunter makes a move toward him, and I realize they are about to throw punches. What happens to me after that? “Fine!”

  Hunter turns to me. “You’re still—”

  “I know what I’m doing. I’ll be fine. I’ll give him what he wants.” He’s not the only one who wants it, either, but I leave that part out. “I want to.”

  It makes no sense at all and makes me wonder about myself in a lot of ways, but it’s true. I want them.

  As I shimmy out of my sweatpants, Ryker’s eyes on me light a fire deep inside my core, and my body blazes. I pull the t-shirt over my head—awkward, but I manage it—and my nipples peak in the cool air, under the gaze of two men who are now looking at me like I’m the main course at a feast.

  “That’s right.” Ryker unbuttons his jeans, letting them pool around his ankles. He doesn’t bother stepping out of them at first, choosing instead to pull his cock free from his boxers. He’s hard, twitching, and I can see drops of moisture at the tip before he slides his hand up and down the length.

  My eyes cut to Hunter, who I can tell is still conflicted—but not enough to keep him from getting hard, too. He’s straining against his zipper, his eyes hooded, and he’s breathing harder through his partly open mouth.

  “Get on the bed.” Ryker jerks his head in that direction while he smears pre-cum over his cock and uses it as lube to stroke himself faster. “All fours, with your ass facing me.”

  A shiver runs over my entire body and goosebumps race across my skin. I should fight back, should demand they at least let me keep my dignity. But do I want to? Does it even matter? I
realize the answer is no.

  I have to prop myself up on my forearms instead of my hands, but I doubt he cares much. When I thrust my ass into the air the way he wants me to, his low, broken growl makes wetness drip from my pussy. “See? She’s no better than we are.” Ryker runs a hand over one ass cheek, then the other. “See how wet she is? She likes this. Don’t let her trick you into thinking anything else.”

  Then, he delivers a sharp slap that makes me suck in a surprised gasp through gritted teeth. Warmth spreads across my ass, and again when he delivers another slap against the other cheek. It throbs where he made contact, but it’s a nice sort of throbbing.

  I whimper when he runs his hand over the spot where he just slapped me. It’s so much more sensitive now.

  “Look at you. On display for us. You try to pretend you don’t want me to shove my cock deep in that pussy, but that’s a lie.” He trails his thumb along the cleft of my lips, gliding over my wetness, and a shudder of pure pleasure runs through me as I bite back a moan.

  Hunter appears in front of me, stripped naked. His cock precedes him, swaying back and forth, jumping a little when blood surges to it. It’s in my face, nearly touching my lips. When he takes a handful of my hair and feeds it to me, pushing it into my mouth with brutal force, I have no choice but to accept him and try not to gag too hard.

  There’s a tongue on my pussy, pushing its way past my lips, into my folds. I whimper around Hunter’s cock, which only makes him thrust harder against the back of my throat. “Suck it, baby,” he groans.

  Ryker runs his tongue up to my asshole, where he swirls it in a slow circle before moving back down. He thrusts inside me, up into my tunnel, before pulling out and circling my clit.

  It’s not just what he’s doing to me, or what Hunter’s doing. That isn’t what has me shaking and moaning. It’s the way they sound. The way Hunter eggs me on, encouraging me to suck him until my cheeks hollow out. Ryker’s grunts of pleasure, the way he sounds like a hungry animal finally getting what it’s craved. It’s filthy, so wrong.

  Yet here I am, eagerly bobbing up and down on Hunter’s thick, dripping cock, spreading my legs wider for Ryker to shove his tongue further inside me. “Sweet, sweet pussy,” he growls before driving what feels like three fingers into my quivering hole.

  “You like that?” Hunter asks, pulling my hair until it hurts and thrusting with a new, more vicious force. “You like being used like a slut?”

  That’s what does it. That word. That, and the way they’re using me, because yes, I do like it. More than I should. My body responds to his voice, the tightness and heat deep inside finally exploding. I cry out, but my mouth is full, so all I can do is let out a muffled groan as my muscles clench around Ryker’s brutal, thrusting fingers.

  “I think she does like it.” Ryker chuckles, fucking me harder with his fingers while using his thumb to torture my clit. I can’t stand it. I can’t take another second of it. They’ll kill me if they don’t stop. They’ll kill me if they do. “I think she wants us to take turns fucking her holes before we come all over her.”

  And what is this? I realize I’m pushing back against him, fucking his fingers while Hunter fucks my face. Ryker hooks them, rubbing my G spot, and during my second orgasm Hunter comes down my throat. I gasp for air when he withdraws his length from between my lips. “Goddamn, you’re good at that.” He yanks my head back. “I wonder what else you’re good at.”

  “Enough foreplay.” Cock replaces fingers as Ryker pushes his way into me without warning. The first thrust drives me forward, rocking me hard enough to make me crash against Hunter.

  “Don’t tire her out before I get my chance.” Hunter reaches down under me and cups my tits, kneading them, teasing the nipples.

  Ryker only grunts in response. He’s too far gone now and won’t last long. I have to be the first woman he’s fucked in a long time, and I know without them telling me I’m tight down there. Soon, his grunts get louder, his thrusts lose their rhythm and he roars, pulling out just in time to spray hot cum across my back.

  There’s no time to wonder what will happen next. He takes me by the hips and flips me onto my back without wiping his jizz off my skin. When our eyes meet, I see he isn’t satisfied. Not by a long shot.

  Neither is Hunter, who’s already hard again by the time he walks around to the side of the bed closest to my legs. He picks them up at the ankle and holds them high, spread open for them to see everything. His breathing gets heavier, raspier, and in the blink of an eye he’s on his knees, delving into me with his tongue moments after Ryker was balls deep.

  “She’s fucking tight, too.” Ryker announces this like it’s a badge of honor as he climbs up on the bed, kneeling beside me. Hunter only moans, his face buried between my thighs, sucking on my tender flesh until I arch my back and thrust my hips upward.

  “You love this, don’t you?” Ryker strokes himself again, inches from my face. I can smell myself on him. “You wanna be used.”

  Damn him, because I do. I hate the way he says it, like he’s laughing at me, but it’s not a lie.

  Instead of pushing into my mouth the way I expect, he surprises me by straddling my chest. I watch as he spits between my tits, then pushes them together and slides his hardening length between them. The purple head peeks out, disappears, then pops out again.

  “Lick it.” It’s not a request, and I stick out my tongue to lap at his head with each thrust. “Good girl.”

  A rush of cool air touches my skin when Hunter lifts his head—but moments later he’s driving himself deep into me. “You’re right. She’s tight as fuck.” He pounds me with unforgiving thrusts that would make my tits bounce if Ryker wasn’t holding them.

  A familiar tension builds with every thrust, with every slap of Hunter’s balls against my ass, with every swipe of my tongue over Ryker’s head. “Oh, God!” I manage between licks. “I’m going to—”

  “That’s right. Come for me. Come on my cock.” Hunter holds my hips and pummels me like a jackhammer, and I’m lost, gone, spiraling out of control, sobbing out the most powerful orgasm of my life.

  Ryker comes to a stop just outside my mouth. He holds my head still before spurting on my chin, my lips, my tongue. Hunter’s cum splashes my inner thigh while he lets out a strangled groan. “Fuck, yes…”

  By the time I come to my senses, I’m covered in warm sticky cum and still trembling with aftershocks.

  Hunter leaves and returns with a warm washcloth and is gentle as he wipes me clean—thigh, back, even my face. “That was fucking hot,” he murmurs, looking me in the eye as he cleans my chin.

  I can only nod since really, what is there to say? It was hot. I came harder than I ever have.

  That changes nothing, though. It doesn’t change the way Ryker clasps the cuff around my ankle and snaps it shut before collapsing next to me in bed with Hunter on the other side.

  He’ll fuck me, but he can’t trust me.

  That’s okay. The same goes double for me.

  14

  The sound of the shower wakes me. I’m a little sore, but it’s the good sore that comes after a hard workout. And a hard—

  My eyes fly open.

  This is my last day.

  And I’m alone in bed.

  Ryker’s in the shower—I hear the psycho humming. Who hums happily the day they’re about to execute somebody? Hunter’s not here, so that means I have little time.

  I’m still shackled at my ankle. No sense trying to break the cuff or the chain, it wouldn’t be anything but a waste of precious time. There’s got to be something around here I can use to get free. If not now, at some point during the day I have left.

  The nightstand drawer is empty. I close it slowly, carefully, one eye on the half-open bathroom door. The water’s still running, and I hear splashing coming from in there. He isn’t just running the shower to throw me off-guard.

  What else can I search? I feel under the pillows, even in the cases. Nothing. No key, no bits
of metal I can use to work the lock.

  My only other option is searching under the bed. Might as well. I won’t die without knowing I did everything in my power to be free. I roll onto my stomach and lean over, hands exploring under the bed frame while the shower runs and Ryker hums. It’s all so damn surreal.

  Nothing on the right side. I search under the foot of the bed next, but no luck there, either. Dust bunnies won’t free me.

  It’s not until I’m searching the left side, up by the headboard, that my fingers touch metal. I run them over the metal, holding my breath. It’s a small key, I’m sure of it, tucked inside the little lip running along the underside of the wooden bed frame.

  The water stops. I leave the key and straighten myself out, forcing myself to breathe evenly as I curl back up like I was asleep all this time. I don’t want him coming in here and seeing me all out of breath and flushed.

  Now, it’s a matter of finding the right moment. How many times have they left me on my own? I’m cuffed at the ankle, there’s no way for me to break loose. I can only pray that’s how they see the situation.

  It’s not the bathroom door that opens first. It’s the bedroom door.

  Hunter walks in—no, that’s not right. He staggers in a little, like he’s slightly drunk. I’m glad he has it in him to celebrate on the day he knows I’m going to die thanks to him.

  I grit my teeth and sit up in bed. “Hi.”

  “Goodie… good morning.” Yeah, he’s messed up on something. “How you feeling?”

  “How do you think?” I move my leg, tugging the chain on the cuffs.

  He looks away from it. Away from me. “Yeah, that’s tough. I can’t say I’m sorry since you were bound to try to get out. Obviously, we couldn’t let that happen.”

  He’s already speaking in past tense, like the way they’ve treated me happened a long time ago. He stumbles to the dresser and rummages through the drawer, talking to himself under his breath.

  What the hell is going on?