Jaxon spits blood onto the floor of the elevator. “Traitorous bitch! If I had my hands free, I would wrap them round your throat and strangle the life out of her.” He sounds cold and furious, and when my eyes meet his in the mirror of the elevator walls, they’re filled with hate. He’s really selling the anger.
Peter cackles at Jaxon’s hostility. “I like how you think, my friend. I also like to wrap my hands around a lady’s throat and choke the life out of them. You could say it’s my speciality.”
The elevator doors open, and I step out and down the secret stairs. Jaxon and Peter follow behind me, the latter’s eyes wide with surprise as he takes in his uncle’s house.
“Holy shit, this is fucking fancy.” He whistles as I lead him up the stairs to the next level and into the other secret elevator.
“My uncle was always a paranoid bastard. You know, he paid me to kill my parents and sisters. Told me he didn't want any competition for his wealth. I guess allowing me to live should have clued me in to the fact that he knew I had no claim on his fortune,” Peter muses, more to himself than me or Jaxon, but he’s still got the gun pointing at us. How is his arm not getting tired?
For the last time, the doors open, and we step out into the sex room. “Woo wee, look at this room. My uncle really was a kinky fuck.” Peter sounds excited, and when he looks at me, his eyes are shining with lust. Holy fuck, is he getting ideas? He licks his lip and steps toward me.
“Oh hey, there are party favors in the safe up here. Why don't we grab those? From the looks of Jaxon, I don’t think there’s any chance he’ll fuck me willingly now that I’ve admitted the truth.” I hurry away from him, beelining for the sex closet.
After a moment, Peter follows me in, his eyes widening when I pull out the brick of coke and a big bag of pills. He’s practically licking his lips. Oh yeah, I recognize that look—junkie stare.
He slaps me on the ass. “Come on, then. Let’s do this. We still need to grab the book and get out of here before anyone shows up for the day.”
“It’s still early. We have plenty of time,” I tell him, hoping he’ll be too distracted by the drugs to use his common sense. There was a clock on the wall on the landing near the second elevator, which showed it was about 6:30. Surely, construction crews start early, don't they? On the other hand, I don't think he would hesitate to shoot anyone we come across, so maybe I hope they don't start early.
When we go back, Jaxon is on the bed inside the cage and the door is locked behind him. Peter must have put him in there before he followed me into the closet. Peter places the brick of coke on one of the sex benches and unlocks the cage, holding the gun on Jaxon the whole time. “Get in here and put him in the shackles.”
I hurry over to do as he asks, untying the rope around Jaxon’s wrists before putting first one, then the other, into the shackles on either side of the bed. Peter stands over me the whole time. Fuck, I thought he would make us grab the book first. I can’t believe I’m going to have to fuck Jaxon in front of him.
“I thought we were going for the book first?” I say, trying to stall.
“I was, but it would be a waste of such a perfectly good room if one of us doesn't get to use it. Unless you want me to fuck you.” I quickly shake my head, and he grunts, “That’s what I thought. Now, do his legs, but take off his pants first so they don't get in the way.” I swallow the lump in my throat and climb onto the bed, crawling toward Jaxon with a plea in my eyes for him to understand, but he won’t even look at me. I smother a sob that tries to escape and get to work on pulling down his suit pants.
Once I have them over his ankles, I put them on the floor. As I go back up to remove his briefs, a noise has me turning my head. Peter is bent over the paddling bench with a line of coke all ready to go. Next to the brick of coke lies his gun, a bank card, and a dollar bill. I watch as he rolls the dollar bill and snorts the white powder up, throwing his head back once he’s done. Jesus, that was quick. I hadn't taken all that long to take Jaxon’s pants off, but I must admit I’m dawdling more than I would if we were doing this for real. Peter turns to stare at me, eyes wide, looking more than slightly unhinged. Fuck, I think I just made it worse. Now he’s high with an itchy trigger finger.
“Get on with it.” He waves his hand at me before using the bank card to set up another line. I focus back on removing Jaxon’s briefs. “I’m so sorry,” I whisper to him while Peter is distracted. His jaw is tight like he’s gritting his teeth, his whole body strung taut with anger.
His briefs join his pants on the floor, and I move his legs into the shackles at the end of the bed. I cannot believe this is happening. This was not what I had in mind when I used that excuse. Then something occurs to me, the last card I’ve got to play right now.
“I’m on the pill,” I tell Peter. “This isn't going to work today. I need time to come off it.”
He stops what he’s doing and narrows his eyes at me. “It’s been two days since you’ve been able to take it. I think we can risk it. Besides, if at first you don’t succeed, then we’ll just fucking try again.”
“But look, Jaxon isn't even hard.” I gesture to my boyfriend, praying I haven't completely ruined everything between us.
“How about I give him a little hit? That might help.” Peter digs his finger into the brick of coke, and it comes out covered in the white powder, with a little pile sitting on the pad. Picking up the gun, he walks into the cage and aims it at me.
“Bite me, and I’ll shoot her. It won’t be a killing shot because I still need her, but it will be painful, and she will die slowly,” he tells Jaxon who glares at him.
“Go ahead and shoot her. I don't care. I can’t believe I let myself fall for another backstabbing whore. My family must be cursed,” Jaxon spits out, his eyes trained on Peter.
He moves the gun and puts it at Jaxon’s head instead. “Fine, I’ll just shoot you.” Thankfully, Jaxon’s sense of self-preservation is bigger than his anger at me, so he holds still.
“Get naked,” Peter tells me as he shoves his finger into Jaxon’s mouth, rubbing the powder all over his gums before pulling back. “I’m sure that will help Jaxon. He’s a redblooded man, and you’re fucking hot. Flash him some titties and that gash, and the powder will do the rest.”
Fuck. It looks like I’m not going to get out of this. Peter exits the cage and slams it shut behind him, locking us in before going back to his line of coke.
I start to peel off my shirt as I hear him snort up the drugs, my mind running through my options and finding no solutions. My heart sinks. I’m going to have to go through with this to keep us both alive.
ChapterSixteen
Harlow
Peter wanders around, poking and prodding at the different apparatuses before he gets to the cabinet of sex toys. He whistles as he pulls it open. “Look at all these toys. You want anything from this cupboard over here, Harlow?” he calls back conversationally like he’s not making us have sex at gunpoint.
