Heat sweeps over my skin. The floor vibrates under my feet. The three blood-masked men step forward in unison, and everything inside me fractures.
It's not because of what the next hour holds but because Brax is still staring at me. And I wish I didn't care. I'd give anything for the entire Underworld to see me but not him.
A gold clock lowers from the ceiling behind Brax. It's close to the hour, and every tick of the second hand is loud, competing with the music and chants.
The men lift me, almost reverently, onto the leather swing. Two leather straps get lowered several feet in front of me. They each have cuffs attached and get secured to my ankles, so I'm spread open on display for Brax.
His eyes dart around, taking me in.
I look away.
"Valentina," he barks.
I blink hard and meet a dark, unhinged, heated gaze.
"There you are," he says in a calm voice.
It soothes me. I don't know why.
The clock rings three times, signaling the start of the ritual.
It's sixty minutes of my life.
A man steps forward. Another moves behind me. A third positions himself next to me.
The girls do the same to Brax, dragging their hands all over him and pressing their lips to his skin.
His jaw twitches.
A cart gets rolled next to me. It's full of gadgets. Each man grabs one.
The chants turn to long erotic ohs.
Fifteen minutes of fingers drag over our bodies. Lips touch everywhere but mouths and genitals, teasing, but not going further. Then it's game on.
The white-blonde woman skims her body down Brax's and kneels again. She takes a red-nailed finger and strokes his cock, then gets fixated with the metal. She caresses it over and over.
His erection grows. A flush rolls through his skin.
Nipple rings get placed on my chest. I zone out, focusing only on Brax's determined gaze, right as the man to the side of me pulls it, and sensation shoots right to my core.
I barely register my whimper through the music, chants, and place I'm trying to get to.
The man behind me slides his arm around my neck, bending it like a choke hold, but doesn't squeeze. His fingers grip the gold chain holding the V, reminding me of the lifetime of shame I'll now carry. His lips graze my lobe as his hand grips my ass cheek.
The one in front of me drags his finger through my pussy and then shoves two fingers inside me, pumping while circling my clit with his thumb.
I breathe through my nose, trying to quiet the sensations I don't want to feel.
Brax's expression changes.
I break his gaze, dropping mine down his taunt torso.
The redhead kisses his nipples. The one in the gold dress is bent behind him, doing something to his ass. And the white-blonde is circling her tongue around the tip of his dick.
I cringe, hating the sight of them touching him. Yet the same heat appears as when I learned about his piercing.
"Valentina!" he roars through gritted teeth.
