by Khloe Wren
"You will learn your place, Becky. And learn to curb that tongue of yours." Huro's voice was filled with the threat of violence if she didn't comply. She used her gaze to spit fire at him as he went back to groping her chest. He pulled her breasts out of her bra so that the straps and cups framed them, pushing them up and together. As he bent to suckle on her nipples, Gyasi flicked open the button and began to slide down the zipper of her jeans.
Where the hell are my men?
Spread out like she was, the only way he'd get her pants completely off was with a knife. Gyasi’s hand disappeared into her jeans, and she began to fight against her bindings as hard as she could. She felt the bite of pain and the warmth of blood dripping down her arms from where the old rusty metal of the manacles had cut into her wrists, but she didn't care. She would not allow herself to be raped like this. She pulled her legs, trying to get them free. Her skin and muscles burned from the strain but didn't stop her movements. Suddenly they both stopped. Removing their hands and mouths from her flesh, they stepped back and focused on the doorway.
"Damn it, they've found us." Huro turned back to her. "Sorry, sweet thing, we'll have to finish this another time." With a wink, they both bolted out the door and ran.
Tears streaming down her face, she continued to fight to get free, screaming against the gag in her mouth. Utterly lost to her panic, she didn't hear anyone enter her cell, didn't see anyone approach. Suddenly, warm hands stilled her face, and thumbs wiped her tears. She struggled harder, her mind lost in the midst of her hysteria. The bastards had come back, and they were going to rape her. She sobbed harder, on the verge of hyperventilating around her gag.
"Sweetheart, it's me, Savren. Please, come back to us."
Savren's deep pleading voice penetrated her mind, and she blinked her eyes clear to see his worried face before her. His thumbs wiped her tears again, then lowered to rid her of the gag. As soon as her mouth was free, she gulped in deep breaths of air, trying to ease the burn in her lungs.
"Savren … are you really here? Or are you just in my head?" Her voice was hoarse from all the screaming and yelling she'd been doing.
"I'm here, and very real, sweetheart."
He leaned in and kissed her mouth softly, confirming beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was real. His taste exploded across her senses, calming her. He pulled back, and she looked over his shoulder to see Drake looking furious as his gaze raked over her body. When he got to her face, his expression softened.
"I'm not mad at you, little one. I'm furious at what has been done to you."
Savren's hands lowered from her face to her chest where he gently put her bra back into place, before he moved down to her jeans where he re-zipped and buttoned them. He then crouched down to her ankles. He took one of the manacles in his large hands and ripped it open. Damn, these dragons of mine are strong. As Savren removed the second one and stood, Drake stepped in close to her, and after giving her a soft possessive kiss on the mouth, he smoothed his hands up to her wrist where he ripped open the manacle. Savren did the same to the last one, on her other wrist. Both men gently took her abused wrists in their hands and lowered her arms. As blood rushed into her limbs the pain was too much, and black spots danced before her eyes. She was vaguely aware that Savren had her in his arms before all she knew was blackness.
****
Drake paced around the clinic. The small room was getting crowded. Carina was only just starting to wake up, and Skye had refused to leave her side until she did. So both females' warriors were hanging around. Add Becky, himself, and Savren and there wasn't much room to breathe let alone pace. But he managed. Baxter was cleaning and bandaging Becky's wrists and strapping up her right ankle—she'd sprained it by pulling so hard against those damn shackles. Once Baxter gave her the okay, Drake bent down and scooped her up in his arms. His brother had been getting more than his fair share of time carrying their Desired.
"Wait! I want to see Carina before we go. Please."
Drake looked over to where Carina was. She was now sitting up, and Skye was holding a glass of water, helping her drink some. Carina looked up at all the large warriors surrounding her and physically cowered away from them, trying to hide behind Skye. He carried Becky over and set her on the edge of Carina's bed before retreating. Obviously, Carina had issues with men. He watched as Becky ran her hand over Carina's calf.
"Carina? Honey, it's okay. These men are big, but they will never hurt you … especially not like those assholes hurt you."
Carina looked over Becky, taking in her injured wrists and ankles.
"But you've been hurt, Becky."
"Not by them. They came and rescued me before I was really hurt." She turned to Drake with a steely gaze. "Drake, make them promise. Make the men promise Carina she will not be harmed or forced to do anything she doesn't want to do."
Drake glanced around the room at the other warriors, the looks on their faces saying what his thoughts were. What the hell was done to this poor female? After a moment they all turned back to the little group of females on the bed. Drake spoke first.
"Carina, I can promise you that no male inside this castle's walls will ever cause you or any of your friends harm or force you or them to do anything you or they don't want."
The other warriors all followed his lead and made similar vows. Denver, Phelan, and Hart were all standing close to her, seemingly in pain as their minds obviously raced with thoughts of what could have happened to their Desired. Carina remained huddled against Skye.
Becky turned to him again. "Can we have a couple minutes alone? Please, Carina needs some girl time right now."
Drake nodded then led the others out of the clinic, closing the door after the last man left the room.
"What the hell has happened to Carina? What kind of place have these females come from?" Phelan whispered harshly to the group.
"I don't know what's happened to her, but you three are going to have to take it easy on her or she'll run for sure," Drake told them.
"And we'd be grateful if you could calm and claim her soon. Skye refuses to leave her side. We want some time with our Desired." Poor Calix sounded strung out, not that Drake blamed him.
The eldest of Carina’s dragons, Denver, spoke up.
"Trust us, Calix. We're going to start winning our Desired over as soon as we can. We just need to work out how."
A short time later Becky opened the door, and Savren was right there to lift her off her sore ankle.
"You shouldn't be putting your weight on that ankle, sweetheart."
She rolled her eyes at Savren, and Drake's palm began to itch. Their bratty little Desired was heading straight for a spanking.
"It's just a sprain, Savren, its fine. I need to talk to Carina's men. They need to know something."
Phelan, Denver, and Hart came forward and stood around Becky, and Drake joined Savren beside her.
"What happened to Carina? Why would she think we'd hurt her?" Phelan asked.
"Well, aside from the fact that you're all built as big as mountains, which is enough to have most women think twice, Carina has some extra issues."
Drake watched Becky as she eyed the three warriors. "All three of you want her?"
"Yes, we are brothers, and Carina is our Desired."
Becky huffed out a breath. "I'm not sure if you guys are going to be able to win her over." She stopped and rubbed the bridge of her nose while she frowned.
"It's really her story to tell, so I won't go into details. But know that it took her nearly a year before she told us, her closest friends, about what happened. Carina was attacked by a group of men, and they … ah, they hurt her."
Denver growled low and deep, and Becky shot him a quick look. "You can cut that shit out right now. You'll only scare her."
"Becky, I understand it's her story, but you need to give us more than that. How many attacked her? And how did they hurt her?" Hart, the softest of the three brothers, gently asked.
"She was on her w
ay home from university. Five men surrounded her and forced her into an alley—" A sob broke free from Becky's mouth. Drake stepped closer to her and laid a hand on her shoulder as Savren tightened his hold on her. "They … they all took turns … to hurt her. Sexually." Their tough little Desired broke down completely into great sobs.
Drake scooped her up out of Savren's arms and headed down the hallway to their chambers while she clung to him. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she buried her face into his neck and sobbed out all the emotions that were, no doubt, running wild through her system.
****
Becky finished her crying jag and now felt like a fool. An embarrassed fool. Becky didn't cry—ever. But these last days had been so overwhelming, and she'd needed to vent. She'd always had a bit of a problem with bottling things up for too long, then losing the plot totally when the bottle broke.
"It's okay, little one, you don't need to be embarrassed." Drake's deep voice rumbled through her.
She lifted her head and locked gazes with him. "How did you know I was embarrassed?"
Drake stroked her face gently before he reverently kissed her forehead.
"Because you, my love, are a strong female who doesn't let her feelings show on the outside. I'm willing to bet that cry you just had was the first in a long, long time. You're embarrassed because you think you are being weak by crying. Crying is not a weakness. Loving your friend so deeply that you feel her pain as your own is not a weakness. It's a great strength."
Drake's words cracked her heart wide open, and her tears kept coming.
"I don't understand…" Becky just couldn't get her head straight. What was happening to her?
"Shhh, sweetheart. Just close your eyes and rest. You don't need to worry about anything right now." Savren's soft voice came from behind her. He placed a sweet kiss on the top of her head and began to stroke his fingers through her hair, massaging her scalp between strokes. She relaxed into Drake's chest with a contented sigh as she closed her eyes.
The next thing she knew she was wet. She came awake with a jolt, and if Drake hadn't held her tight, she would have ended up under the water of the huge bath she was now in. With Drake and Savren. Looking down she saw that she was completely naked. She quickly wrapped an arm around her breasts and covered her mound with the other hand.
"How dare you! Who do you think you are? You don't just strip a woman naked while she’s sleeping." She stared hard at each man before she huffed and tried to climb out of the tub—while still covering the important bits. When she heard a chuckle, she spun on Drake with a frown.
"If watching all my fat jiggle is so fucking funny, you shouldn't have stripped me in the first place!"
With her temper rising she could feel her cheeks heat, but with her chin held high, she stopped trying to cover herself and grabbed the lip of the tub to haul herself out. Before she could make it over the edge, a wet, naked warmth covered her back. Drake's arms snaked around her front, and he planted little kisses over her neck up to her ear.
"Calm down, little one. We are merely caring for you. You've had a big day and are in need of cleansing and rest. You've had a small rest, and now we are making sure you are clean before your friend's ceremony."
Friend's ceremony? What was he babbling about now?
"What ceremony?" She cringed at the breathlessness of her voice. Just by touching her Drake had her heating up.
"Dimitri and Max are bonding with Eilagh, taking her as their Desired for eternity. The ceremony is due to start very soon, and it's the only reason we woke you."
Drake easily lifted her and sat again with her on his lap. Savren moved in close to her feet and began washing them with a cloth, slowly moving up her legs. Drake put a finger under her chin and drew her attention back to him.
"And another thing, you are not fat, Becky. If I ever hear you speak about yourself in such a way again, I'm going to spank your ass so red you won't be able to sit for a week. You have perfect luscious curves designed to send men crazy with desire."
He would spank her? Like a child? Practically spitting fire as her temper continued to soar, she pulled herself from Savren's gentle hands and Drake's firm grip.
"You. Wouldn't. Dare. I am not a child in need of discipline. And you promised that none of us females would be hurt, only a few hours ago, and already you're threatening violence against me!"
Shaking with fury, she quickly rinsed the soap from her body and climbed out of the tub. She grabbed a towel from the rack and stormed out of the bathroom.
She found herself in the most beautiful bedroom fully decked out in lush purples and golden browns. The opulent feel of the room soothed some of her anger, and her tears started up again. She roughly swiped at her eyes and ran from the room, unable to cope with the emotions coursing through her body. She found herself back in the family room, where, after securely wrapping the large towel around her middle, she curled herself into the far corner of the sofa and hugged her knees up to her chest. She lowered her head to her knees, closed her eyes and let loose the soul wrenching sobs that were begging to break free.
Everything in her life had been turned upside down. She missed her parents, and she even missed her four older, extremely bossy, brothers. Everything was gone, and in its place were these two dominant, macho, alpha males who turned her inside out and infuriated her at the same time.
Chapter Three
"You just had to threaten her, didn't you?" Savren was furious at his brother. Any idiot could tell Becky was only tough on the outside, that her soft center needed comfort, love and affection.
"What? She's beautiful, yet she insults herself. I won't stand for anyone insulting her—not even her." Drake got out of the tub with sharp powerful movements.
"Brother, take a step back and think. She has been sucked through a portal. Except for a handful of friends, she's lost everything in her life. She's been kidnapped, fought like hell to get free, nearly got raped before she got rescued, and just now she awoke in a tub naked with two men she's only known for a day."
Drake's sigh was long and pained. "Okay, so you have a point. I may have come on a little strong. But that's just how I feel. I can't help it."
Savren rose from the tub and toweled off. "Which is why you're going to make yourself scarce for a little while so I can soothe her enough that we can make it to the Bonding Ceremony. I want her to see the others happy. It will help her adjust."
"Fine. I'll go help set up for the ceremony." Savren watched as Drake stormed from the bathroom before he began cursing when he entered the bedroom. "Savren, she's not here. We need to find her."
Within seconds they were both dressed and began searching the house, where would she go to hide from them? They entered the family room together and saw her, curled into as small a ball as possible in the far corner of their sofa. Her whole body shook with the force of her sobs. They were mostly silent, but the emotions behind them were so strong he could just about see them in the air surrounding her. He turned on Drake and glared hard at his brother.
See what your shitty behavior has done? Our Desired is in agony! Are you going to help me fix this?
I can see, brother. Shit. I'll try to curb my dominant side. Ah, fuck. Let me apologize. If she doesn't want me near her, I'll leave and let you calm her down.
Watching the pain in Drake's eyes curbed some of Savren's own anger. His older brother was just built in a way that he needed to be in control, but for their shared Desired he was going to have to learn to curb it—at least for a while.
They both approached her together, falling to their knees on either side of her shaking body. Savren watched as Drake reached out and ran his hand through her hair, pushing the wet tangles back from her face.
"I'm so sorry, Becky. I didn't mean to scare you. I would never hurt you. I would never spank you hard enough to cause harm. I promise. Please, look at me."
Becky slowly raised her head, and red puffy, bloodshot eyes locked their gaze onto Drake's. "I’m not a wom
an who cries often, and I especially do not do it in front of people. But today, all I can do is cry, and it doesn’t seem to matter who’s around me."
Savren couldn't stand not touching her any longer. He reached out and unwrapped her arms from her legs. She turned her watery gaze to him, and the sorrow and pain he saw there broke his heart.
"Come here, sweetheart."
Sitting next to her on the sofa, he scooped her up onto his lap, and she looked straight at him. "Everything's gone. My parents, brothers, job … my whole life. Is. Just. Gone."
Her quietly whispered words ripped his heart in two, and an army of dragons trampled those pieces at the way she buried her face in his neck. When she'd cried herself out, he started stroking her hair. Receiving no response, he glanced up at Drake. Standing with his fists on his hips, his brother was looking at Becky with eyes filled with sorrow and anguish.
Drake, look at me. This isn't your fault. You might have set her off, but it's everything that's happened in the last few days that is overwhelming her.
Drake nodded at him, without moving his gaze from Becky. Savren stroked her face, wiping away the last of her tears. When she remained unresponsive, he stood with her still in his arms and carried her back to the bedroom. She didn't resist him, but she didn't curl into him either. By the time he laid her out on the soft bed and settled down beside her, he was getting really worried. She was completely nonresponsive, and her glassy eyes weren't focused on anything. Their little Desired had zoned out on them. He continued to stroke her hair, her face, her arm—anywhere he could touch her skin, he stroked. Drake crawled onto the bed on the other side. He had a wet wash cloth with him, and he gently wiped it over Becky's face. She gasped at the first contact and snapped her gaze to Drake. Savren sighed in relief.
"Hey, little one. We lost you there for a bit. Are you okay?" Savren had never heard Drake sound so worried.