He traced her outer pussy lip with his finger again. He moved the other ring and she shivered.
“Was that a good shiver or a bad shiver?”
She gave him a shy smile. “Good, I think.”
He smiled and licked the skin below the ring. “I will mark you here,” he whispered. “And here.” He flicked her clit with his tongue.
She gasped and bucked her hips.
“Well, the hood, not the clit,” he explained.
He looked up at her. “Anna, these will hurt. I am so sorry.” He sat up and pulled at the outer lip, positioning the gun carefully. Then he looked back at her. “You are mine, Anna. I claim you for myself.” She nodded, wide-eyed, and bit her lip. She heard a click and felt the stab as she had last night.
Tears sprang to her eyes. She pressed her lips together and clenched her fists, trying to stay silent.
She felt him brush her clit and then a tugging and he looked back at her. “Mine,” he whispered. His eyes glistened with tears as hers did. Click. Stab.
She couldn’t keep silent on this one. She shrieked in pain and started sobbing.
Alex tossed the gun aside and lay down next to her, holding her tight, whispering to her in German. She didn't know what he was saying, but his voice was soothing and his chest rumbled against hers as he spoke. He lifted her knee onto his hip to keep her legs from pressing together. He petted her hair and kissed her. She began to shake and he pulled the covers on top of her. His body heat radiated into her. His warmth of spirit did as well.
His presence was soothing and slowly the pain began to subside. “Sleep if you can, Schatzi. I'll stay with you as long as you need me.”
She didn't want to sleep. She wanted to enjoy his presence, but her Master's allowance for her to sleep overcame her own desire and she soon drifted off to sleep.
*****
Devin opened the door to Anna’s bedroom and scowled. “You're still here?” he barked, and then smiled when he saw both Alex and Anna jump. Their intimacy irritated him.
“Six piercings in less than twenty-four hours can be a bit wearing, Devin,” Alex said dryly.
Anna opened her eyes and looked up blearily at Devin.
He gave her a gentle smile. “Hey, Baby.”
“Hello, Master Devin,” she said softly.
Devin frowned. He didn’t like being one of two Masters and had to remind himself that he had a plan to work on once that Fucking German left. That calmed him. A little.
“How are you feeling, Anna?” Alex asked in a gentle voice.
She turned her head and smiled at Alex with sparkling eyes. “Much better. Thank you.”
Devin’s eyes narrowed. He didn’t like the way Anna looked at Alex.
“Gut.” Alex sat up slowly and kissed her forehead. “I will see you tonight, ja?”
She nodded and smiled shyly. Devin held back a growl.
The two men nodded stiffly to one another and then, finally, Alex was gone.
Devin sat on the bed, carefully calming himself. He had to play nice. “You really feel okay, Baby?”
She nodded. “Yes, Master. Master Alex gave me some pain medicine before he did the piercings.”
Alex’s niceness could be the weakness he needed. “That was very nice of him. He...seems like a good guy.” Devin cupped her cheek and kissed her deeply, then rested his forehead on hers. “I wanted to have you last night, but Alex...was better situated to take care of you last night. I had to attend to my Brothers.”
“I understand, Master.” She hesitated. “Are you angry with me? For last night?”
He looked at her for a moment. “Anna, last night was not what I expected, but you didn't do anything wrong.” He trailed his fingers down her neck. There was something he needed to find out before she left today. “Baby, do you remember the first time we were together and you had that dream?” His fingers moved down to her collarbone and cupped her right breast gently.
“Yes, Master,” she said softly.
“Was it Alex you dreamed about?” He looked at her intently with his black eyes.
She nodded timidly and he tamped down the rage inside of him.
“Did he recognize you when he saw you last week?”
“Kurt asked Alex if he knew me and Alex said no.”
Devin studied her. She wasn’t telling him everything. “Did you recognize him?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
He barely kept himself from hitting her. She had known and she hadn’t told him! Stupid bitch. He ought to drag her down to the dungeon for not telling him. But that would make waves with Alex, and he needed Alex to leave him alone while he figured out how to get rid of him. Then he could do as he pleased to Anna. “Baby, if you have dreams about people you know, or meet, will you please tell me?” he asked in a strained voice.
“Yes, Master.”
“Good girl,” he whispered, bringing his lips down to her neck. She sighed as he pushed her back on her bed and began to fuck her. He might not be able to take her down to the dungeon, but he could make her hurt. At least a little bit.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Alex had arrived back at his house before he realized it. He parked his silver Mercedes SLS in the garage and walked into the house, deep in thought about Anna. How would he win her heart? How could she learn to be her own person?
After learning more about her, and getting a glimpse of how Devin treated her, he felt more determined than ever to make sure she felt safe enough to explore her freedoms.
She needed someone safe to explore them with. Jenna was a natural choice. But Anna needed a male. Someone she could be with and learn that not all men were like Devin and Jack. Someone whom Alex could trust, and would treat her well.
Seth liked her. That much was obvious. Tony, too, but Seth had connected with her somehow. That was a good thing. Seth could be good for her. But, Seth lived with him. Seth worked for him. No, he was too close to Alex. Alex didn’t know if he could deal with knowing Seth was dating her.
Aaron. Aaron liked her a lot. He’d talked about her every time they’d gotten together since that night at the ballet. Yes, Aaron would be good. He was an honorable guy who wouldn’t shy away from the truth about her. They had a history.
Alex tamped down the jealousy and nodded to himself. He would encourage Aaron to ask her out. Alex could use Kirsty as an excuse to encourage Anna towards Aaron. The two of them would date for a while, Anna would learn about freedom, and then they’d break up and Alex could pursue her.
Yes, that would work. He hoped.
Okay, so maybe it wasn’t the smartest of plans, but he didn’t have a better one.
Alex felt the heavy weight of owning Anna. He didn’t mind the responsibility, although he hated the fact that she was a slave. But if she wasn’t his slave, she would be Devin’s puppet. This was by far the best alternative. He had to accept it and work at finding a way to free her.
“Is Anna all right?” Alex’s father asked as he walked into the downstairs living room.
Alex nodded. “Devin will bring her back here this evening.”
“Good. I’d like to see her before we leave in the morning.”
“Devin and I negotiated. He will allow her to live in the apartment.”
Vati nodded. “I hated the idea of her being in that Manor all the time. It’s not right.”
Grief hit Alex hard in the heart. “I know, Vati,” he said humbly.
“I wasn’t criticizing, Alex,” Vati said, walking over and putting his hand on Alex’s shoulder. “You’ve prevented Devin from taking her completely. I will be sure to thank Sebastian when I see him.”
“Will he get into trouble for helping me?”
“If he is found out, yes, he could get into a tremendous amount of trouble. But whomever is helping Devin would be the only one who would know, and if they said something, they would be in trouble for helping Devin. I believe Sebastian is safe.”
Alex sighed in relief.
“Alex?” Kurt w
alked into the room and looked around. “I thought you were bringing Anna home with you.”
Alex frowned. “She’ll be here tonight.” He knew Kurt wanted to take her to bed with him tonight. Alex didn’t like that idea.
“Good. I want to see her before we leave.”
Alex interpreted his brother’s words. “You mean you want to sleep with her.”
Kurt shrugged. “She’s an incredible lover.”
“She’s more than that,” Alex snapped.
Kurt’s eyes widened. “I thought you didn’t care about her.”
Alex closed his eyes. “I do. More than you know.” He ran his hand through his hair and sat down hard on the couch.
“What are you talking about?”
Alex looked at Vati. Kurt knew nothing about Alex’s visions of Anna. His brother knew very little about the Brotherhood, aside from the Dirne that he visited frequently at their father’s Schloss.
“Kurt, we’ve known about Anna for a long time,” Vati said, sitting down in the easy chair across from Alex. “That’s why Alex moved here.”
Kurt looked between brother and father. “I thought you moved here to get away from the memories of Mina,” he said to Alex.
“I did, but didn’t you ever wonder why I moved here and not New York, which is much closer to home?” Alex asked.
Kurt shrugged. “I figured you wanted to be as far away from home as possible.”
Vati shook his head. “I was given information about Anna many years ago, but she was kept hidden until last week. I couldn’t find her, but the information we had led us here. Then we just had to wait until she was revealed.”
“You knew about her abuse and didn’t do anything?” Kurt asked, accusation in his eyes.
“I couldn’t find her, Kurt,” Vati said with remorse. “I looked. She was nowhere to be found.”
Kurt’s face filled with disbelief. “How is that possible, Vati? You can find anyone.”
“Not when there are outside forces hiding them. Elders can do things like that. And I’m fairly certain Devin had help, too.”
“By who?”
“By someone with the power to help.”
“Who?”
“It’s nothing you need to worry about, Kurt. Please trust me.”
Kurt huffed, but didn’t question more. Vati was an honorable man and both sons trusted him implicitly.
Alex was surprised at Kurt’s concern over Anna. His brother was never lacking female companionship when he came here. Women were a dime a dozen for him. Alex could say the same thing about himself.
“Why did you encourage me to be with her?” Kurt asked in a low voice and slumping down onto the couch, arms crossed.
“Devin has been watching us for some time. We needed a way to gain access to Anna in a way that wouldn’t raise flags with Devin. We thought that he would find you innocuous and take advantage of you being part of our family, but not part of the Brotherhood.” Vati smiled. “It worked, and Anna is in a much better position than she has been in a very long time.”
“So I was bait? Is that why you insisted I come on this trip?”
Alex laughed. “It’s hardly difficult to convince you to travel, Kurt.” Alex stopped laughing when he saw the hurt look on his brother’s face. “Kurt?” Alex wasn’t sure he’d ever seen that look on his face.
“You used me!” Kurt stood and glared at Alex. “Did it ever occur to you that I might have actually fallen for her?”
Vati and Alex both stared at Kurt.
“To be honest, no, the thought had never crossed my mind,” Alex said softly, not quite understanding where all this emotion was coming from. His little brother was happily irresponsible, flitting from girl to girl. Yes, he was a good father, but a terrible husband. Then again, Gretchen was a terrible wife. “You really have feelings for Anna?” Jealousy bubbled up inside. Did Anna feel the same way about Kurt?
Kurt walked over to the window and looked out. “Yes,” he said softly.
Alex glanced at his father, wide-eyed. He’d rarely known Kurt to be so sentimental. Vati looked as baffled as Alex felt.
After a moment, Vati walked over to where Kurt was standing. “I’m sorry, Kurt. But you really did help Anna. Devin has lost much of his control over her. She is much safer than she was when you met her.”
“Why? What happened last night?”
“Devin tried to take over Anna’s mind and your brother stopped him.”
“How?”
Vati shook his head. “I can’t share that with you.”
Kurt clenched his jaw and turned away from him.
“Kurt, Anna belongs with Alex. In order to keep Devin from doing what he did, he had to...bond with her. She is his slave now.”
Kurt whipped around. “What do you mean, slave? Like the Dirne?”
Alex didn’t know whether to be concerned or thrilled that his brother was actually showing concern over someone over the age of five. “She was already Devin’s slave, Kurt. I had to. I had no other choice.”
“You said she wasn’t a slave.”
“We didn’t think she was. Devin was deceptive. But she is pierced now.”
Kurt would know what that meant. Pierced women meant ownership, although Anna wasn’t totally Alex’s. Elder-Sons couldn’t own slaves, so she technically was owned by Devin and Vati. But Alex was still her Master.
“Do you care about her?” Kurt asked after a pregnant pause.
“I do,” Alex said sincerely. “More than anything.”
Kurt turned and studied Alex for a long time. “I thought you swore you’d never fall in love again.”
“With anyone except Anna,” Alex said softly. He glanced at Vati who nodded. “I’ve been having visions of her for four years. I’ve seen her mature. Seeing her with you last week nearly killed me.”
“That’s why you were so pissy?”
Alex grimaced, but nodded in admission.
The room was silent for a long time.
“All right,” Kurt said, face inscrutable. “You’re the unmarried one. I’m stuck with Gretchen.” He turned and walked out of the room.
Alex looked at his father. “Did you have any idea about his feelings?”
Vati grimaced. “I saw the way he looked at her, but....” He shook his head. “I never imagined they went so deep. It’s unlike him.”
Alex nodded. Very unlike him.
Kurt walked back in a few minutes later, an even more sober expression on his face. “I just got a message from Mutti. They’ve taken Gretchen to the hospital. I need to go home.”
“Oh, Kurt!” Alex exclaimed. He glanced at Vati.
“I’ll call the pilot,” Vati said, reaching for his phone.
“You don’t need to shorten your trip on my behalf. I can fly commercial.”
Kurt’s calmness disturbed Alex. He stood and walked over to Kurt, embracing him in a tight hug. “I’m sorry, my brother.”
Kurt nodded, sadness in his eyes, though Alex didn’t know if the expression was about Anna or from the phone call. “Take care of her.” He turned to Vati. “You should stay. Anna will want to see you tonight.”
“Then you take the jet, Kurt,” Vati said. “You need to get home faster. I will fly out in the morning.”
Kurt grimaced and nodded. “I’m going to go pack.”
*****
Anna stared at the houses passing outside the window of Devin’s BMW sports car. A few of them looked gold in the glowing light from the setting sun.
She winced as she shifted in her seat. Devin had been rough with her this afternoon. Mixing pain and pleasure was messing with her head and she didn’t understand why she came so hard when he did it.
“There is a banquet on Wednesday night that I’d like you to attend with me. The bank is sponsoring an event on the fourth and I am the MC for the evening. I’d like you to be there.”
“Yes, Devin,” she said quietly. “What time?”
“I’ll text you the information. You need a
cocktail dress. Do you need help getting one?”
Anna bit her lip. Her only shopping experience had been with Kurt and Wilhelm. Maybe she could call Jenna. “Could I ask Jenna to help me?”
“Luke’s daughter?” He didn’t answer right away. “Yes, that would be fine.”
“Thank you.”
Anna felt awkward around Devin now. She had been foolish, thinking that he loved her. He wanted to use her, for what she didn’t know, but she knew he didn’t have feelings for her.
Devin reached over and put his hand on her thigh, stroking it gently until he parked in front of Alex’s house. Eager to escape him, she reached quickly for the door handle.
“Anna, wait.” She turned to Devin and was surprised to see regret in his eyes. “I’m sorry for what happened this weekend. I am trying to grasp all the things that happened this weekend.” He paused. “I hurt you, didn’t I? This afternoon?”
Anna bit her lip and nodded.
“I’m sorry for that.” He smiled. “I promise I will get my head on straight and be better on Wednesday.”
Anna studied him. He looked sincere. She knew he liked to be in control and dealing with disappointments wasn’t easy. She gave him a timid smile. “Yes, Devin.”
He stroked her cheek and leaned forward to kiss her deeply. “I love you, Baby.”
“You do?”
His face was soft as he nodded. “I do, Baby. I always have. I just need to get my head around what happened. I’m sorry for hurting you.”
Anna felt her heart lighten. Maybe she hadn’t been as foolish as she thought. “I love you too, Devin.”
“Get settled into your apartment and get to know your old friends in the next few days.” He caressed her cheek again. “Be young. Just be careful, too. I’d be devastated if anything happened to you.”
Anna thought for a moment. “Aaron invited me to a party tomorrow night. May I go?”
The Life of Anna, Part 2: Entwined Page 6