Pretty Monsters

by Kimberly Carrillo

  She hasn't moved by the time I return to the main gym floor. There are some rings embedded in the wall, to attach resistance bands to, across from the floor to ceiling mirrors. They'll be perfect for my plan.

  Raven remains still, and I take my time crossing the room to reach her. She's wearing a blue blouse that buttons down the center. It makes her odd colored eyes glow, but as lovely as it is, it's covering too much skin. Without letting my skin touch hers, I carefully undo every button.

  Her breathing is uneven, making her chest heave with every inhale, but still she remains unmoving. When all the buttons are released, I push the shirt off her shoulders and watch as it flutters to the floor.

  Bending down, I untie her shoes and slip each one off her small feet. I don't have a foot fetish, but I find every inch of Raven beautiful. She lets me unsnap her jeans and drag the zipper down, leaving her standing in black lace panties and a matching bra.

  "Mmm," I hum. "Beautiful, but you know what would be better?" My voice is soft, so at odds with the hard edge I feel I'm balancing on.

  "What?" she breathes.

  "You need some jewelry," I murmur, and pull out the leather cuffs. "Perhaps some bracelets."

  "First we need to get rid of the rest of your clothing." Moving around behind her, still being careful to touch her as little as possible, I unhook her bra and let it fall to join the rest of her clothing.

  Lifting one arm over her head, I buckle the leather cuff and use a carabiner to attach the chain to the ring in the wall. Once that arm is secure, I bring the other one up to fasten in the cuff.

  I can't avoid touching her as I slip her underwear down her legs. Reaching back into the bag I produce a spreader bar with leather cuffs similar to the ones securing her wrists.

  Raven's eyes open wide. "What is that?"

  I chuckle, feeling much more in control of myself and confident she won't run away from me. "You said anything I wanted to do. Are you backing out?"

  She closes her mouth and shakes her head.

  Locking her ankles into each cuff, I adjust the bar forcing her legs wider. Then I step back and let her get a view of herself chained to the wall, open for my pleasure.

  I pretend to examine her. "Still missing something, I think." From the bag, I dig out a pair of nipple clamps. This is so much farther than I've taken her before, but I need it. I guess I knew this moment would come when I went on my little shopping expedition.

  Holding up the little rubber tipped clamp, I let the light hit the blue crystal hanging from it. "These aren't designed to hurt, but they will be intense."

  She sucks in a breath as I attach one then the other. Tugging on one, she whimpers. Already, she's drenched and needy, but I'm not done playing with her yet.

  Retrieving a wand style vibrator from my bag of toys I turn it on and let her anticipate the moment it would touch her skin. Instead of moving straight to her mound, I start inside her thighs and tease her with the vibration.

  When she starts to relax into the sensation, I move closer, building her arousal higher and higher. Never enough to come though. Finally, I press the toy against her center, letting the buzzing drive her close to the edge, then I remove it.

  She growls in frustration, and I chuckle. "Sin," she begs.

  "Who's in control here?" I ask her.

  "You," she sighs.

  "Then you'll take what I give you, when I give it."

  I drop the wand and drop to my knees. The scent of her arousal nearly makes me abandon my plans to torture her with pleasure, but I lock the feeling down. The need to drive her out of her mind with desire is too strong.

  Still, giving into tasting her is too much temptation to avoid. I suck on her clit, causing her body to hum and pulse like the vibrator had. Her thighs squeeze against my head, signaling how close she is to her orgasm. I back off again, and she whimpers.

  Rising to my feet, I run my hands across her skin. Lifting the heavy globes of her breasts in my hands. I pull on the clamps again before finally releasing them. The leash on my control is close to snapping. I take the time to draw her distended nipple into my mouth and sucking hard, while pinching the other one to recreate the feel of the clamps.

  Wordless pleas escape her lips. She's nothing more than sensation, surrendering to the waves of pleasure moving through her body. Before she comes I back off again. If she weren't locked in the cuffs, I'm sure she'd strangle me.

  I unhook the carabiner from the ring and lift her in my arms. Her wrists and legs are still restrained, so carrying her is the only way she's going to get where I want her. I lay her on the center of the mats, facing the mirror.

  Another adjustment of the bar pushes her legs wider. With it set like this she can't close her knees. She can't hide any part of herself from me like this. Not that she will try to as needy as she is in this state.

  I stand in front of her and slowly remove my own clothes. I'm still feeling raw from exposing my past, and now I'm physically bare in front of her. My scars, both emotional and real, are on display.

  Her eyes land on the knife wound on my side. I stroke it letting her know I see where she's looking. "I got this one when I was thirteen. One of the men who paid to use me was more interested in watching me bleed than touching me."

  Next I move to the bullet wound on my shoulder. "This one was one of the trips Lucien and I went on. Someone warned our target we were coming, and he took a shot at me as soon as we entered his house."

  Letting my arms drop to my sides, I stand still and let her look at me. All she needs to do is tell me to stop and I'll release her. I hold my breath waiting for her to end this.

  A tear leaks from the corner of her eye. I kneel down and wipe it away. "Why are you crying?"

  She licks her lips, an obvious effort to rein in her emotions. "Because there were so many times I almost lost you, most of them before I even knew you existed."

  "I'm here. I'm not going anywhere unless you ask me to," I promise her.

  I should say the word now, but I still can't. She knows, but I still can't tell her I love her.

  There's still one more thing bothering me. I told her I was fine with her friendship with Ford, but knowing he's held her, been inside of her is like a thorn in my side. It's annoying, but the only way to end the torment is to extract it.

  Since I actually like the guy, there's only one way for me to soothe the jealous beast inside of me. I just hope she'll forgive me.

  The door opens and closes. I can hear him enter the room, but he doesn't speak. Raven's eyes widen with surprise, but she waits for what I'm going to do next.

  "She's beautiful, isn't she?" I ask him without turning around to verify he's watching.

  "Very, but is there a point to this?" Ford asks, amusement clear in his voice.

  "Just proving a point," I murmur.

  "That she's yours? I believe that point has been driven home. You don't need to do this to make me understand that."

  "True," I concede. I don't need to prove to him that she's mine, I need to prove it to myself. "You can go if you want."

  He sits on a weight bench instead. "She looks frustrated."

  I chuckle. "She does, doesn't she?"

  "Are you going to leave her like that?" he taunts.

  "That would be cruel." Using the bar, I twist until she turns over bracing herself on her hands and knees.

  "Sin?" she asks.

  "This is the closest I'll ever get to sharing you," I tell her.

  I've seen the looks he gives her when she's not looking. He's never stopped wanting her, only conceded she wants me more. If he wants to look, he needs to remember who she belongs to. It's not a modern notion, but she's mine.

  Her eyes land on the mirror, and she watches me as I grip her hips and thrust deep inside of her. Her inner walls clamp down hard around me drawing out a guttural moan from my chest.

  "How does she feel?" Ford's eyes are glued to the mirror as well.

  "Tight and hot," I say on another groan. />
  "I remember," he says.

  "I know, but next time you'll remember this."

  I take her hard and fast. Her elbows scoot forward, and I fist her hair to keep her up. With my grip on her hip and hair I rock her forward and back on my cock as I drive into her.

  The sounds of skin slapping together are borderline obscene. The taunting I'd already put her through has made her wild. Knowing she's being watched seems to add an extra level to her arousal.

  I pull her onto my lap so she's riding me reverse cowgirl style. I reach down to unhook her ankles, allowing her more use of her legs, but I lift her bound wrists around my neck.

  "He's watching you," I whisper. "Show him how much you want me."

  Raven whimpers and begins to lift and lower herself on top of me.

  "What would you do?" I ask Ford.

  "Touch her. Rub her clit," he chokes out.

  I note he isn't upset, which manages to calm me. I won't feel the same edge of jealousy after this. Letting my hands glide over her skin, I press against her clit, rubbing her toward her orgasm.

  Raven's movements start to become faster as she climbs higher and higher. Her thighs start to quake, and I feel the first waves as her pussy squeezes my cock tight in her velvet embrace. I join her in when she comes, shouting her name.

  Ford slips quietly out of the room as Raven slumps against me. I undo the cuffs on her wrists and lift her off my lap. Joining her on the floor, I embrace her tightly.

  "That was different," she hums.

  I cringe. "Sorry. I got a little carried away."

  "Why did you want him to watch?"

  "The more out of control I felt, the more the feelings of jealousy re-emerged. I didn't even know it still bothered me until he came upstairs and said he was coming back alone. There's very little that's ever been mine, and–"

  "You decided to claim me," she finishes.

  My views on sex are skewed. Being watched in the act isn't new to me, even when I was able to choose my partners. I hadn't really considered how she'd feel about it.

  "I'm sorry if that was too much for you. I should have asked."

  She needs more of an explanation, but I don't know how to tell her why I was driven to take her in front of Ford.

  Raven snuggles in closer to my chest. "You were feeling laid bare, and you needed to reclaim how and when you chose to reveal yourself. Also, despite what you've told me, my friendship with Ford is threatening to you."

  I guess I don't need to explain myself after all. "I won't be threatened by him anymore."

  "It was pretty hot though." She giggles, and I tighten my grip on her. "Not because it was Ford, although I was more comfortable with it being him. Sorry if that bothers you."

  It would have, but for now at least, those feelings are suppressed. "What made it hot?"

  She shrugs. "I don't know. The taboo nature of it. Knowing someone saw what you do to me, how wild and free I am with you."

  "Don't get used to it," I grumble. "I don't particularly like sharing you. Not even if they can't touch you."

  She kisses me, a quick brush of her lips on mine. "I'm yours. Whatever you want, whenever you want. It makes me happy to know I'm the one giving it to you."

  Finally, the chains binding me to the past fall off. "I love you, Raven. Even if the word isn't big enough for how much I feel for you, I love you."

  She smiles at me. "I know. I love you, too."

  33

  Full Circle

  Raven

  Voices float from downstairs, rousing me from what was more like a coma than actual sleep. My body is deliciously sore when I stretch. I roll over and find Sin's side of the bed empty, but still warm. Wherever he went off to, it hasn't been very long.

  I do the bare minimum to get decent enough to see people. I've never been a big fan of make-up, so I'm ready in about five minutes. Teddy has returned from the apartments, and it appears he's brought Agent Holbrook back. Three times in two days seems like a lot. Hopefully he's back with news of a safe house, or another means of protecting ourselves. We've already had one close call, and I can't help but feel we're living on borrowed time the way we're going right now.

  "–safe to go back to class. Campus police have been provided with pictures of all known soldiers of Damien Blackthorne, including those provided by Lucien and Sin." Agent Holbrook stumbles over Sin's name; he clearly doesn't like it.

  "That moves us to the next order of business. Mr. O'Brian–"

  "You know I don't use that name anymore," Teddy interrupts.

  "As I was saying, he mentioned you don't have any legal documents whatsoever, is that correct, Mr...uh...Sin?"

  Sin tips his head. "No birth certificate, social security number, driver's license, hell, I don't even have a library card."

  Holbrook takes a second to write something on the tablet he's holding. "Right. I had missing persons run a search for anyone that matches your description starting at infancy to elementary age. There weren't any matches."

  Sin crosses his arms, and leans against a filing cabinet. "Not surprising. I doubt parents who sell their children go on to report them missing. You could search hospital records for births, and compare those to children actually enrolled in school, but you have to have a general location to begin the search."

  I step closer to the office door, and with his sharp reflexes he sees me before I'm even out of the shadows. His arms drop to his sides, and I take it as a signal to move close to him. Once I'm within reach he tugs me closer by hooking his finger into the belt loop of my jeans. With my back pressed against his front, he wraps one arm around my middle, holding me in place.

  "Well," Holbrook looks up from his device, "I'm not going to stop looking, but in the meantime we need to make you a legal citizen. Of course, until we determine your birth place and parentage I can't say for certain you are in fact a citizen. But I also can't say you aren't. I've had some colleagues push through the necessary documents."

  Next to his chair he pulls a brown envelope from the bag he seems to always have with him. He dumps the contents on the table. "You've been assigned a social security number." He pushes the blue paper card forward. "The lack of a birth certificate is tricky. Since we can't find any coordinating missing persons reports as I mentioned earlier, assigned you a birthday of January 1, 1999, and chose to list the local hospital of Devil's Crossing as your place of birth. Your legal name on both your birth certificate and social security card is Jackson Sinclair. If we are able to discover your birth parents, you can choose to adjust these documents."

  Sin's hands shake as he reaches out to take the two pieces of paper. "So, this means–"

  Holbrook smiles sadly at him. "You're now a legally recognized person. For that matter, go get a driver's license."

  Sin leans down and rests his chin on my shoulder. "You know what this means?" He whispers.

  "No," I reply.

  "I can enter into all sorts of legal agreements."

  I gulp. Teddy's idea. He wants to discuss getting married. "Is that really necessary now? I mean now that you've got immunity and they are investigating my father?"

  "Two reasons. One, with your father, it's always best to plan for every contingency. And two, you are mine, and I don't like you having that bastard's last name."

  "Let's talk about this when we don't have an audience," I suggest.

  He pulls the truck keys out of his pocket. "Good idea. Let's go for a ride."

  "Where are we going?" I ask.

  He waves his new documents at me and smiles. "I'm getting my license."

  "Where have you two been? You left to get Sin a driver's license almost four hours ago," Lucien demands the second we walk back in the gym.

  I fidget. "We had, uh, errands?"

  Lucien groans. "Did you stop to screw in the truck?" He holds up his hand. "You know what, don't tell me. The two of you are like rabbits."

  Sin chuckles. "You caught us."

  His happiness is infectious, and
soon I'm laughing too. There's always a counterbalance for us though. I should have known this time would be no different.

  Shane rushes out of the back, where a cot and other essentials were set up to hold Jess through her detox. He runs into the office, and I hear keys clacking on the computer.

  "God damnit!" he shouts.

  "What now?" Sin groans. He takes my hand and leads me toward the office.

  Lucien and Ford also hear Shane shouting, and come running around the corner.

  "What's the matter?" Ford asks.

  "Jess is gone," he says, continuing to flip through the feed.

  "What do you mean, she's gone?" Sin asks, a dangerous edge to his voice. "How long?"

  "Give me a second, I'm looking." A few more clacks of the keys and he drops his head back. "Shit, she's got about a twenty minute head start."

  "How?" Lucien asks, his voice is calmer than Sin's, but only marginally.

  "Let's figure out the how after we get her back. If we're lucky she won't have talked to anyone before we do," Teddy interrupts.

  "Where would she go?" Lucien asks.

  "My guess is where she could score," Ford theorizes.

  Sin pinches the bridge of his nose. "Did she take any money from anyone?"

  Shane shakes his head. "I've reviewed all the footage, and I don't see her going through any bags or pocketing anything. She just walked right out the fucking door."

  Lucien exhales. "Then she probably went back to the club. Even if she can't get on stage, they overlook the girls turning tricks. Those that have a choice at least. She'll either get enough money to buy, or trade sex for drugs. Even that won't be hard, there are a few dealers that hang around."

  "Let's go then," Lucien demands. He heads toward the door, but Teddy puts his hand on his chest to stop him.

  "If they don't already know she has information on you, they will if you show up there. I can handle this. I know this is a hard concept for you, but you're going to have to trust me," Teddy argues.