‘She needs to understand,’ he says. ‘What it feels like. To be watched against your will. To have no choice in how your body is used. You both need to understand that.’
Kat’s hand tightens on my arm.
I look at him across the cold floor and breathe hard through my nose. The rage that bubbles in my stomach is so familiar, and I never want Kat to experience it. That feeling of being powerless and made to debase yourself for someone else’s satisfaction.
‘Don’t,’ I threaten.
‘You don’t get to tell me what to do. No one does,’ Sam says. ‘Not anymore. You’re going to fuck your blonde whore, and you may as well enjoy it, as it’ll be thelast time you do. And if you refuse to perform, I’ll sell your sister to the highest bidder, too.’
‘Your sister?’ Kat mumbles.
‘Oh, sweetheart, he hasn’t told you? Ellie is his foster sister. It’s how he was so easily able to get into your flat. It actually gave me the idea. Go after Ellie and get a copy of her keys, just like I assume Liam did.’
Kat looks at me with those pink-rimmed eyes, and I lift my chained hand to cradle her face. ‘I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you.’
‘Is that how you found me?’
‘I saw the two of you walking through campus. Then I learned about you from her social media.’
‘Little did he realise that Ellie is his downfall. She was my way in.’ Sam looks so fucking pleased with himself that I want to gut him. ‘So you’re going to fuck your girl, and you’re going to look into her face while she learns what it is to be one of us.’
‘No,’ I snarl.
‘Please, Sam, you don’t need to do this,’ Kat whispers, and the pain in her voice cuts me deep.
‘No?’ Sam repeats. ‘Do you think you have a choice?’
Sam walks over, and I try to shield Kat, but he yanks on her chains, grazing her skin on the concrete as he pulls her out of reach. I’m on my knees, pulling at my chains until my shoulders burn while he grabs her by the hair, gathering it up and forcing her to kneel facing me.
‘Let her go,’ I roar. The scabs on my wrist are opening and splattering the floor with blood as I try to get to her.
Sam slides his knife over her throat, the tip leaving a pink scratch in its wake. Kat quakes, two trails running down her face. With a snick, he cuts open her top, reaching down and ripping it from her.
My body is hot with anger; it feels like my blood is boiling from the inside.
He cuts her bra off, too, as Kat sobs. I want to tell her to fight, but he’s got the knife. We’re at his mercy.
He keeps going until she’s naked and shivering, and I’m sure the vein in my neck is going to explode.
‘Do you know what they did to me?’ Sam asks, ‘I know that objectively, you’re a beautiful woman. And I have you at my feet naked and shivering, and I feel nothing. They broke me. If you had said something, maybe I would have been like Liam, fucking you over the counter like a real man.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Kat whimpers, trying to cover herself as best she can.
‘It’s okay, Kat,’ I say, trying to find a way to make it easier for her.
Sam lets go of Kat’s hair and kicks her toward me. ‘Get your dick out, mate. It’s not like I haven’t seen it before.’
It’s the last thing I want to do in front of him.
‘Let’s just get it over with,’ Kat whispers to me. Her cheeks are wet, and her body is quivering.
I unbuckle my belt and pull my trousers down. Shame heats my face as I remember all the times I’ve been made to fuck while unhinged men watched.
But this isn’t like any of the other times. This is with Kat. My girl. And I can’t protect her physically, but I can do my best to protect her head and heart.
‘Kiss me,’ I say. ‘Forget about him, and kiss me like it’s just us.’
She climbs into my lap, our chains cold and awkward as I wrap my arms around her waist.
