“Ladies, please,” Synrith purred. “No one is raping anyone. Just come sit with me on the bed.”
Sophie immediately obeyed his call, and Cheryl was hopeless enough that she was left to stagger on after her.
Synrith himself was sitting there, looking quite comfortable. He pushed both girls apart so that he was sitting in between them.
“I’m not going to hurt either of you,” he insisted. “Just hear me out for a moment, and then I will leave you in peace.”
“You lied to us,” Cheryl cut in. “You lied to Jet. You said that he could take us with him.”
“Well, you know about the Clan now,” Synrith said. “We can’t have people spreading rumors about us. We’ll become exposed that way.”
“I wasn’t going to say anything,” Cheryl argued. “I just want Sophie and for us to go home.”
“To what? A life of slavery?”
“That’s what you’re doing to us here.”
“Look at your sister, Cheryl. She’s still a drug fiend. I gave her some medicine to calm her down, which is why she’s so docile. But look at how she lives here. She’s happy. She can have anything she wants.”
“What a crock of shit.”
“Alright. Fine. You’re very persuasive. Maybe we should make another deal.”
“What deal?”
“You’ve seen Jet. He’s one of my best men at the moment, but he doesn’t trust me. He thinks I’m too overbearing. He doesn’t respect me. Which you know, I hate.”
“Okay…”
“I want to change that. I want him to do exactly what I want him too. I need full command of power here. You see, one on one, he’d probably beat me in a fight. I didn’t become Dragon Master from Magic or Fighting skill. I’m a diplomat. I get people to like me. That’s how it works.”
“Where do I fit into this?”
“Jet’s girlfriend died a few months ago. He’s always been hard to deal with, but since then, I see the anger in his eyes. It blinds him. He needs someone to counterbalance that. He needs a mate.”
“You want … You want me to be … like his girlfriend?”
“Well. You’ll need to seduce him. He has to fall for you.”
“But why am I doing this?”
“I control you, and you control him. So I can control him.”
“Uh-huh,” Cheryl scoffed. “And I’m really going to go through with this.”
Synrith followed her smile. “Sophie,” he said. “Suck my cock.”
At once Sophie was on her knees pulling down Synrith’s pants.
“Hey,” Cheryl exclaimed. “Cut that out!”
“Sophie, stop please,” Synrith ordered.
She stopped at the buckle.
Cheryl shook her head. “You have to release us. Now. And never lay a finger on her again.”
“Of course,” Synrith said. “That’s what the deal’s for.”
“Just…” Cheryl trailed off. “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do…”
“It’s easy,” Synrith replied, putting his fingers in her hair. “I’ll have Jet take you both home tonight. And you find a way to make him want you.”
“What happens after that?”
“I’m not going to rush you. When the time is right, I will execute a second phase with you. But for now, just make him love you.”
Cheryl swallowed.
“Do you think you can do that?”
She watched her sister sitting lifelessly at Synrith’s knees.
“Yes,” Cheryl whispered.
“Good.” Synrith smiled. “You can both stand up now. Follow me please.”
As instructed they followed Synrith until they reached the dungeon door.
Then he whirled around to face Cheryl.
“There was one more thing,” he said, moving towards her. “A little bonus if you will.”
“What?”
“I need you to kiss me.”
“Huh?”
“Just kiss me now. Sophie won’t mind.”
“Whoa, I don’t, I can’t –”
“I promise it’s just a kiss. No tongue is necessary. Just a kiss to let me know you’re my friend.”
Cheryl went completely still. She closed her eyes.
“Okay,” she said. “Go on then.”
“No,” Synrith replied. “I said for you to kiss me.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
It was no ordinary kiss. It was one Cheryl would be left thinking about for a long time.
The depth there … The chillingness of it …
And yet, she had been drawn towards him...
And he had been the one to let go…
Jet was out on the roof with more of Synrith’s men, looking confused as ever. Upon seeing Cheryl and Sophie with Synrith his expression changed from something of a man trapped in a bunker, waiting for the soldiers to find him out – to one of relief and surprise.
“So Master, you came around after all…”
“I needed to talk to both of them,” Synrith explained standing in the middle of the roof. “Needed to make sure they were both aware of the deal you’d made with me and their expectations should you fail to comply.”
“Okay…” Jet murmured. “So we’re good to go.”
“Yes,” Synrith nodded. “Take these girls home, and find somewhere for yourself to rest tonight. You can sort this mess out tomorrow. I will forward you additional information that will aid you in your investigation.”
“Oh… I see…”
Synrith place his arms on Jet’s shoulders. “I know I can count on you.”
With that, Jet was given enough space to shift into his dragon, and then quickly scooped up both Sophie and Cheryl to his back.
As they took off from the building, and sailed through and above the stars, there was a glimmer of recognition that sprung from Sophie’s tired face.
“Cheryl,” she whispered. “Where are we going?”
“We’re going home,” Cheryl answered.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
As he seemed to be able to hear and understand her through the soaring atmosphere, Cheryl was able to successfully direct Jet to her house. Her car was still parked near the antique store, but that didn’t matter for now – she could get that tomorrow. The most important thing was to get home and make sure Sophie had a safe place to rest.
Given how late of night it was, Jet was able to land on Cheryl’s roof in dragon form without alerting any of the neighbors. He shifted to human form shortly afterward, and assisted the sisters in lowering them to safe ground. Once they were all standing out the front of Cheryl’s place, Cheryl unlocked the door to and hurried in lay Sophie to rest on the couch. As soon as she was settled there, Jet was backing away to the door.
“I’ll call you up tomorrow,” he said. “Confirm I was successful. Otherwise try not to worry. I doubt either of you are important enough to Syn for him to break his promise to me.”
“Okay,” Cheryl said.
As he turned, she reached out for him.
“What?”
“Just – why don’t you stay here tonight –”
“No, really I –”
“Please, I’d feel safer if you were here.”
This seemed to make Jet happy. He stared at her, a little differently than he had been. A little less anxious.
“I really shouldn’t,” he said.
“Why not?”
“Something could happen.”
“What –?”
“Between us.”
“Oh.”
Cheryl moved in closer towards him. “You know, I’m okay with that.”
“Are you?”
She held his gaze. “Of course.”
“Oh.”
He touched the side of her face.
Closed the door behind him.
Their eyes locked deeper still.
“You don’t have to,” he said. “That’s not who I am. I don’t do it unless there’s feeling between…”
“I wan
t to,” Cheryl said.
And even though that was supposed to be a lie…
She soon after realized she was telling the truth.
CHAPTER TWENTY
The bedroom door closed behind them, as Cheryl ripped off Jet’s tank top and jeans, and he ripped off her nurse’s blouse and pants. He forced her onto the bed, smothering her in kisses all over, soft and fierce at the same time. His body was so hard, so brutish… The man was like a barbarian out of some ancient roman film. And yet, at the same time, he was so sensitive and concerned about how she was feeling.
They descended underneath the covers, the both of them completely naked, and she saw his eyes reading hers before he entered. Was he looking to catch her out? Or just making sure he had permission?
His body then slammed into her, and she instantly felt pain. Pleasure as well, but more pain than anything. His cock almost had its own set of muscles, like it had been given just as much working out as the rest of his perfectly formed physique.
After a few thrusts too many, it was hard to keep a straight face.
“Am I hurting you?” he asked.
“Just a little,” she lied.
“I’ll go slower.”
“Okay.”
She felt his breath on her neck as he lowered himself further into her. Yes, he was going slower. But he was going much deeper into her now. Actually, it felt really good. Cheryl could handle it.
He lifted himself up a little and pulled back her hair so he could watch her eyes.
“I own you now,” he said, almost accusingly.
“Whoa – what?” Cheryl stuttered.
“I don’t fuck someone for nothing,” he said. “I see someone really special inside you. Someone who is stronger and braver than anyone around her.”
“Thank you,” Cheryl replied.
Usually a conversation before sex. Perhaps after.
Not during.
“You don’t know who I am,” he said, still fucking her slowly. “You don’t know my past, or what I’m capable of. But soon I’ll show you.”
He rolled over in the bed so that she was on top of him. She relaxed her leg muscles and started to grind him.
The pleasure was increasing.
The pain was almost gone completely.
She leant forward into him, and kissed his lips, and then a flash caught her mind. She blinked it away.
Minutes later, they had hit the floor and he was fucking her doggystyle, still occasionally whispering how she belonged to him and that he’d protect her.
And for one part of it, she wanted him, and knew there was someone deep and magnificent inside him, as his nature was good and his heart was pure.
But there was something else.
Something she could not shake.
She wasn’t even sure of it what it was until an hour and a half later, the pair of them lying in the middle of the floor, in each other’s arms, completely fucked out and spent.
Cheryl realized there she didn’t feel quite the same as he did.
She couldn’t. Not right then.
All she could think about, just as he had planned it…
Was Synrith.
PART TWO
CHAPTER ONE
Cheryl woke up the next morning to find the front door standing wide open, with a trail of blood leading through it from the kitchen all away out to the footpath outside. Both Jet and her sister Sophie were gone.
It was eleven thirty am. Cheryl had slept in. Thankfully she wasn’t rostered to work today, but that was the least of her worries. Even as she turned over in bed to find that Jet was no longer with her, she had found it unsettling. Of course, while there was no reason to believe that he would have stayed in bed with her forever – she had slept in after all – she still felt uncomfortable that she hadn’t woken as he’d left.
She had stood in the room feeling the silence of the house around her, and the faint humming of the day rolling on outside. Then she had been in the hallway, her eyes focused on a stream of bright sunlight coming through the front door. The kitchen tiles were white and gold with it. So bright she almost had to look away. But then… The blood…
It was dark red. Smeared. As though something had been dragged with it. Cheryl shuddered. What had happened? Who had done this?
Where was Sophie?
Her eyes darted to the sofa they’d left her sister to rest on, and discovered one of her pussy cats, Sniffy, sitting comfortably in the middle of it. He looked at her curiously. Cheryl turned back to the open door and for a second was relieved Sniffy hadn’t run outside (as it was dangerous with a main road close by) but then realized she had not seen her other cat, Hoot, since she’d been awake. Cheryl stepped outside and walked across the porch, surveying the garden. No sign of him. Her eyes followed the road adjacent to the house, and didn’t see him there either. She carefully closed the door back behind her and proceeded to search every room in the house.
Hoot wasn’t there.
“Shit,” Cheryl cursed.
This was her worst nightmare. Cheryl loved and adored her cats as much as her own family, and the fear of losing them gripped at her stomach. She took Sniffy from the sofa and put him in her bedroom, where he’d be safe and secure. She then reopened the front door and walked outside began calling for Hoot.
After twenty minutes, she decided to give up. The front door had to stay open now, always, because he may have been hiding under the house somewhere or just in a neighbors garden, soon to return. Cheryl was aware many people in the area allowed their cats to roam freely outside, but for her it seemed far too dangerous, and in truth, anything could happen to them outside in this jungle of a world.
She knew what she had to do next.
Perhaps she should have done it right away, but she wasn’t in the best frame of mind at present.
It was time to call the police. Someone may have been murdered.
CHAPTER TWO
Cheryl’s phone was inside the house. Just as she was about to head back there, she caught a figure in her peripherals approaching her garden from the driveway. She turned immediately, and was surprised to see it was Synrith.
His suit had been changed from the night before, but it was still the same mix of colors – black and green. With his hair slickly gelled and the light of the sun radiating behind him, he looked just as daring and seductive as he had the previous night. While his character was certainly questionable and his behavior undoubtedly sinister, seeing him in the garden now was as much a relief as it was a surprise.
Cheryl didn’t want to face this alone.
“Good morning, afternoon,” Synrith murmured as he came closer. He stopped between her and the trail of blood on the ground. He looked down at it and squatted a moment. “I feared as much.”
“What are you doing here?” Cheryl demanded.
Behind him she noticed a group of security guards in dark suits moving into the area. He motioned to the first three to inspect the house, and told the remaining guards to cover the rest of the area.
Cheryl stared at Synrith, still waiting for him to answer her.
He stepped over the blood trail and stood directly in front of her. “Where is your phone?”
Cheryl blinked. “In the bedroom. On the floor.”
“The phone is in the bedroom, on the floor,” Synrith sang out to the guards.
“Why? What’s going on with my phone?”
“You are going to receive a call at twelve pm. Which is …” He paused to check his wrist watch. “… In six minutes.”
“How do you know that?” Cheryl demanded. “Who’s going to call me?”
“The people who have taken Jet. Did you witness the break in?”
“No,” Cheryl exclaimed. “I was fast asleep. I woke up and he and Sophie were gone. As well as my cat Hoot.”
“I don’t know anything about your cat,” Synrith said thinly. “But this blood down here is Jet’s. I’m simply amazed they were able to hurt him this badly.”
&n
bsp; “How do you … know it’s not Sophie’s? Have they taken her too?”
“Sophie was the one who gave up Jet’s location. She is friends with the vampires – though it’s not the vampires who have taken Jet. He surely would have overpowered them.”
Cheryl thought about how Jet had destroyed the vampire Cadogan last night at the antique store. How easy it had been. She wondered who it might have been if not vampires.
“Is that the phone?” Synrith asked.
One of the guards had just exited the house, holding Cheryl’s phone.
“Give it here,” Synrith instructed and took it from him. He then had a long, hard stare at it.
Cheryl watched on nervously.
“I was contacted myself just an hour ago,” Synrith explained. “I was told to come here if I wanted to see Jet again. I was also told they would ring this phone at twelve pm for further instructions. But I already know that whatever it is they’re going to ask me, it involves you.”
“Well, what would they want from me?” Cheryl asked. “Have you any idea?”
“Just one idea.”
“Well, what is it?”
Synrith was hesitant to answer. He took a deep breath.
Cheryl’s skin began to tingle.
“They want you to convince Jet to turn to their side.”
CHAPTER THREE
Cheryl wasn’t sure she heard him right. She studied his face, awaiting further explanation.
Synrith leaned in and put a hand on her shoulder. “I was going to try the same thing with you.”
“You’re … crazy …” Cheryl mumbled. “I hardly know him.”
“But you’ve been intimate with him, have you not?”
Cheryl shook her head. “None of your business.”
“I’m trying to help you,” Synrith sighed. “If you don’t want my help…”
“What?”
“Well, who knows what will become of Sophie.”
Cheryl felt faint. She couldn’t see far enough ahead. She couldn’t figure it out, she had no power or control. She stooped down and sat on the porch with Synrith hovering over her, the phone in his hand. And little by little, she realized she was feeling some resentment.
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