“So we teach people,” I said. “We don’t lock them up and mutilate them because they’re not the same as us.”
“Can you see Mykail as your equal? Even though he has wings?” Dana asked. I nodded slowly. “Do you think he sees you as his equal? He knows he could kill you with one strike. Do you think he doesn’t think about that? What about Mark? Do you see him as your equal, even though he could snap your neck before your body even registered that he had touched you?”
“But you created them like that.”
“And nature created humans black, white, tall, short, fat, thin, strong, weak, from one area of the globe or another,” Dana continued. “The only thing that is equal about them is the fact that they feel fear. You may see someone as an equal, and you might be lucky enough to have them see you as an equal, but with society breathing down people’s necks, someone is bound to notice you’re not on the same level as one another.”
“Then what would you have humans do?” I challenged. “Not try at all? Hurt and kill people further?”
“You’re advocating the very same by wanting to free these people.” He motioned to the ward around us.
“And I guess I’m advocating it by being a part of the Commission as well, so I can’t win.”
“You’re getting it now.”
“Getting what?”
“The concept of survival and purpose,” he answered. “You know you can’t win either way, but you are advocating for one option over another, and you and I are going to have fun little debates like this until you can no longer try to convince me otherwise, aren’t we?”
“I’m never going to believe that you do good by doing this,” I declared.
“And that’s what I love about you.” He grinned, placing a hand on the side of my face that I tried to back away from. “You have a power inside of you, Little Lily, and it is growing with every passing day. I want to help it.” He started to lean closer, but I wiggled away and stepped to the side, trying to keep my heart from beating too fast as the hormones and adrenaline pumped through my veins. “I can’t wait to see where it takes you.”
“Are you going to show me around, or not?”
Dana grinned, walking with me through Ward Three as I tried to calm down.
“So, does this do it for you?” I said, feeling bolder from the adrenaline. “Turning people into these creatures? Does it get you off or something?”
“I love your attempt to be crude,” he teased, “but this is exhilarating, you can’t even imagine.” Dana walked through the far doors of Ward Three into the hallway that led us to Wards Four, Five, and Six. He led me toward Ward Five, which had two guards standing outside the door. “Watching them slowly react to the tests, seeing the results for yourself, feeling the power you’re giving them…”
His voice was doing that thing again, that seductive, honey-laced tone that made me shudder. My body was already on fire and I was becoming frustrated with how easily that husky voice turned me on.
“You can become the god of their lives,” he continued, swiping his card over the pad next to the door, the two guards bowing their heads to him as we entered the ward.
“You really are full of yourself, aren’t you?”
“I wish,” Dana said. “There are certain areas of myself that I just can’t fill the same way…I’m sure you understand.”
His hand was on my lower back and became acutely aware of every cell on my body, sure I could even feel the molecules of air moving over my skin. We walked into Ward Five and I trembled, but not just from Dana’s hand. This was the ward that Mykail had been in before he became our gift. I followed Dana’s guide as he walked down the brightly-lit hallway, trying not to look at the experiments around me. I didn’t want to see the same thing that Mykail saw every day during his time in the Commission. It was too much to bear.
“This is the strongest of the gift wards,” Dana explained as we walked. “These are the gifts I give to those I really like in the Commission.” He turned a corner and stopped at an empty cell. He motioned to the glass door. “This was dear Mykail’s home when he was here.”
I blinked, not expected to be confronted with the cell that had once been Mykail’s. I could not imagine the pain, the hatred, or any other feeling coursing through Mykail when he had been inside the cell, looking out on the bland hallway.
Dana was suddenly behind me, his mouth next to my ear as I stared in.
“Do you want to meet his brother?”
I turned to Dana quickly, my eyes wide. I was losing my grip already. My feelings for Mykail were causing me to lose sight of what I had come here to do, and I knew that if Dana showed me one of Mykail’s family members, I could endanger myself by wanting to free his brother and pegging my involvement in a breakout—if we succeeded.
I could only stare at Dana as he smiled and motioned across the hall fluidly.
My breath caught in my throat.
There was another man in the cell across from Mykail’s with wings just as white and pristine. However, he had a bar clenched between his teeth and a heavily buckled straightjacket holding his arms around him. His eyes were covered with a black blindfold and his legs were buckled to one another to keep him completely immobile as he sat, fastened securely to a chair in his cell.
I was frozen, staring at Mykail’s brother, who was still and silent.
“I probably will never give the other survivors of the family as gifts. In fact, the oldest brother is no longer in this ward. I had him moved to Ward Two.”
My heart plummeted. I knew that was the ward just before being moved to the termination cells.
“However, I thought it would be nice for Mykail to see his brothers again, so I put them across from one another.” Dana smiled, his arm securing itself around my shoulders as he stood behind me. “You should have seen the way he screamed and called to his brother, but…he’s no longer Mykail’s brother. He’s become a very dangerous and deadly creature…which is why we must keep him like this. Poor thing lost his grip on reality entirely.”
I could not think.
Dana watched me and smiled—I could feel the grin—before his hand moved and covered my eyes, his mouth coming to my ear and gently biting the top of it. I gasped and fell back against him, startled and weak.
“It’s incredible, running these experiments,” Dana whispered as his hand positioned itself at my diaphragm. “You can make all the assumptions you want, run tests that you know work…but you never know how they will turn out. The human spirit always finds a way to effect the experiment. We can only assume that the reason Mykail was a success was because he was stronger than his siblings in some way.” Dana chuckled and his head dropped to my neck. I could not move, frightened and stunned, but there was a thrumming in my body that overpowered my senses.
“Is he strong, Little Lily?” Dana murmured. “Does he hold you tight when he kisses you?”
I blinked, startled out of my stupor. I turned to face him, frightened.
“Does he?”
“We…we haven’t…”
“No?” he challenged. He walked forward and his hand went to my shoulder, his eyes capturing mine and keeping me immobile. He pulled the collar of my blouse off my shoulder, along with my bra strap, and pulled them down to expose the top of my breast, where the telling bruise painted my skin. I felt my face go crimson and I tried to grab my shirt and cover myself again. Dana caught my hand and pushed me against the wall, his hips pinning mine as I stared up at him, wide-eyed.
“He thinks he can mark you?” Dana said darkly. “Let me show you what it really means to be claimed.”
His head swooped to my neck and I felt his lips close over the skin as I gasped, my back arching, my hips pushing against his as he kissed my neck hard. I tried to push him away, but when his hand released mine, it slithered down my side and rubbed over my hip before dropping to my thigh and pulling my leg over his hip.
I gasped, startled. I felt the familiar fire rage. Overwhelmed by the
charge of electricity that shot through me, I could not find the strength to push Dana away. I wondered how many times it was going to take before I was able to control my body’s reaction to him.
His hips pushed upward and my eyes rolled into the back of my head as I let out a shuddered sigh. It felt like my entire body was on fire, pleasure consuming every inch, even with the slight pain where Dana was sucking my neck.
He pulled away and his hips rocked into mine as his other hand took my chin, turning me to face him. His eyes were seductive, powerful, dangerous, and I felt my body shiver in excitement.
“How does that feel, Little Lily?”
I bit my lip to stop the moan that threatened to bubble out of me. It was that damn voice…
“Oh…there we go…” Dana chuckled. “You’re turned on. You want it, don’t you?”
I had to force myself to shake my head. I didn’t want to feel such sensations from Dana. They were feelings I had with Mykail, and I wanted it to only be with Mykail. I didn’t want to contemplate how intense the feelings were with Dana, or how much his dangerous power could turn me on.
He lowered my leg and stepped away. My legs barely caught my weight as I tried to recover.
“That is what it feels like,” he told me. “One day, I will give you even more pleasure.”
I took deep breaths, trying to calm down and protest against the thought that I would ever sleep with Dana, but I was afraid to say anything, afraid of the sounds that could come out of my mouth if I tried to speak.
Dana smirked.
“Come,” he said, turning. “We will continue the tour.”
I forced my legs forward, trying to recall why I was there. I stepped forward shakily, but Dana stopped at the next cell, glancing at the experiment within.
“Ah, Jasmine,” he murmured, shaking his head. I turned and, once again, I was shocked at the sight.
There was a woman lying on the floor of the cell on her rumpled red clothes, completely naked, running her hands over the swell of her breasts, her back arched and her eyes closed, lips barely parted. Dana reached into his inner chest pocket, pulling out a card, running it over the lock to open the door.
The woman’s head turned immediately. Her eyes widened and she clamored to her feet, starting toward Dana.
“Master…” she breathed, her voice dropping from her lips with seductive honey. She threw her arms around his neck, moaning, leaning toward his mouth. Dana chuckled and leaned down, his tongue entering her mouth before their lips met. I felt my body light up once again as I watched the two kiss deeply. The woman was completely intoxicated by Dana, her eyes glazed over in absolute pleasure.
Dana pulled away and shook his head in disapproval.
“You know better,” he said. “You must keep your clothes on.”
“I can’t…oh, Master…” she moaned, her hips rocking against his. “Clothes are too constricting…and you never call on me.”
“Jasmine, I am a busy man.”
“Oh, Master…please…” She leaned up and tried to kiss him again, but he backed away, smiling wickedly.
“Are you going to be a good girl and keep your clothes on?” he asked. “You remember what happens when you don’t? It takes hours for me to pry the guards off of you.”
“Please, Master, let them come to me. I can’t take this heat in my body.”
Dana turned to me. I was standing like a statue in the doorway, shocked and admittedly excited by the display.
“That sounds like someone else I know…” he breathed.
Jasmine’s hands ran down Dana’s chest and she fell to her knees in front of him, laying her head against his hip, her countenance contorted in a look of pure pleasure as she moaned openly.
Dana’s eyes were steady on mine as my eyes darted between the woman and Dana. My body was alive with sparks as I watched what unfolded. Jasmine ran her hand over the front of Dana’s slacks and let out a deep moan, swinging her hips back and forth.
Dana’s smile widened and I felt my knees go weak. The stimulation was too much.
Jasmine unzipped Dana’s slacks, her breath short. I found myself unable to look away from her actions, part of me not believing what was happening and another part of me unbelievably curious. I had never seen a naked man in person before.
I could not even blink as Jasmine’s fingers stole inside Dana’s pants and pulled out his hardened organ. I stared at the foreign appendage in fascination, though I could not study much before Jasmine’s mouth engulfed it.
Her movement caused me to look up at Dana and I found him staring at me, wanting to see my reaction, his eyes fanning the fire deep within my belly. He did not appear to be interested in what Jasmine was doing. He wanted to see what I thought.
I was completely turned on.
I found myself looking down the crisp lines of Dana’s suit and back to the intimate oral play occurring in the cell. I saw the firm skin sliding slightly as Jasmine bobbed her head, and I was a little surprised at Dana’s size. I was no judge of what was considered normal, but he was larger than I expected.
I looked back into those seductive eyes and my knees trembled. I clenched my thighs together, trying to extinguish the fire in my pelvis, finding a quiet, shaky moan escaping my lips as my eyelids fluttered. I looked back down at Jasmine and saw her fingers reaching down her own body, performing actions I had always been too embarrassed to try, despite how much my body craved the attention.
I placed an arm around my waist, finding myself compelled to mimic the actions and touch myself by a force that was almost too powerful to resist. The movement of my hand on my body sent a spark through my nerves and scared me enough to stop moving, shivering, watching the oral sex while I tried to be as still as possible to avoid more stimulation.
Jasmine moaned, her hips moving as she touched herself, still paying close attention to Dana. I shivered at the noises she made and clenched my thighs tighter, trying to find any scrap of rationality left in my brain.
Suddenly, Dana fisted Jasmine’s hair.
“Not now, Jasmine,” he said sternly, pushing her away and straightening, doing up his pants, acting as though nothing sexual had occurred at all.
Jasmine groaned in frustration and lay on her back, still intimately playing with herself, pleading with Dana. He ignored her and left the cell. He kept the door open, walking out of the ward and turning to the guards outside as I shakily followed, not sure what else to do.
“Take care of Jasmine,” Dana groaned, rolling his eyes.
The guards bowed and then, a little too hastily, moved into the ward as Dana pulled out his phone, calling Sean.
“Sean, come to Ward Five and keep an eye on your men. They’re with Jasmine.”
He hung up his phone, pocketing it and turning to me with a smile.
“Shall we continue?”
So nonchalant. I wanted to punch him.
“She’s a weapon?” I said skeptically, swallowing hard. “She doesn’t seem very dangerous.”
“Really? She’s one of the most dangerous ones in Ward Five.” Dana smiled wickedly. “She’s one hell of a distraction. Send her into an enemy soldier’s camp and she’ll distract every man there for hours.” He smiled, stopping at the doors for Ward Six. “Did it excite you? Watching us?”
“Hardly,” I snapped, knowing he could see through the lie.
“You’re not very good at lying,” he teased. “There’s no reason to be embarrassed. It’s completely natural.”
“I was not excited,” I growled. “Now, I have homework to do, if you don’t mind.”
Dana sighed and rolled his eyes. “Fine,” he groaned. “If you want to be boring…I was going to take you to see one of the experiments in progress.”
“I definitely will pass on that,” I said quickly, turning to walk away while Dana stayed in place. I didn’t care that it looked weak and pathetic to leave on such shaky legs. I needed to get away from him.
“Little Lily,” he called. I stoppe
d, but did not turn. I heard his footsteps behind me as he approached. My breathing became short and heavy, feeling the distance between us shorten with each long stride. His hand came by my side and he waved his card in front of the panel to open the door into Ward Three. His voice came to my ear, trickling down my spine. “Don’t get lost…”
I quickly fled. I knew I should have been petrified. I should have been running away from the dangerous predator behind me, but there was something more terrifying than Dana that I could not run from—a part of me that was enthralled by the danger, enraptured in the powerful presence and commanding voice. I wanted him to speak to me in that voice, touch me with those warm, large hands, I wanted to surrender to him when he spoke like that, I wanted to see how much more pleasure he could bring me.
That was more terrifying than Dana himself.
I practically ran past the security office after clearing the wards, trying to find oxygen enough to breathe as a panic attack grabbed at my chest. I had hurried past Sean, who seemed worried, but did not follow me.
As soon as I was in the main office area again, I leaned against the wall, hyperventilating and kicking myself as hard as I could for nearly succumbing to Dana’s powers of seduction.
I turned to the left hallway, intending to return to the conference room so I could process my thoughts, but I stopped, realizing that Dana was in the back of the Commission and, therefore, out of his office. For three long seconds, I contemplated the bad decision I was about to make.
I walked quietly down the hall, searching for anyone and listening for voices as I approached the office of the leader of the Commission of the People.
Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and slipped inside, closing the door behind me, keeping my hand on the doorknob, contemplating leaving before I was discovered, but I remained brave, slowly turning away from the door to face Dana’s office.
His table and desk were littered with open files, books and papers, even the floor had piles of documents. The shelves were untidy, as if Dana had torn apart his office looking for something earlier that day.
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