“So this was your plot, then?” Dray pulled my ankle, dragging me roughly across the floor. I bit my lip as sharp stones stabbed my exposed breasts. “Distract me to fetch your stolen orb? You’ll have to tell me if your prize was worth it, if you survive your punishment, that is.”
Yes, yes, it was.
I refused to be this close and lose my opportunity at the last moment.
Dray’s hand dug into the top of my thigh, holding me in place. His body heat beat against me as he reached for the orb.
I smashed it into the stones. Subtle cracks appeared along the glass surface. Dray’s hand inched closer, and I raised the orb and swung it down again.
A thousand crystalline pieces scattered across the cell floor. Ripples of gold burned bright for a moment, then faded as whatever magic the orb once held slipped back into the night.
A raw, consuming pain burned inside my chest and clawed its way to my throat. Worse than the leather belt against my ass, the fire devoured everything inside me as it grew higher and higher, filling my mouth with the taste of ash.
I drew a breath, and a sharp rattle accompanied the inhale.
A noise – from my throat.
Dray’s hand pressed between my shoulder blades and pinned me to the floor like a pig before slaughter.
“Dray–” my words froze in the midst of my begging. I hadn’t heard my voice since childhood. It sounded rough, dry, and the vibration in my throat tickled. “Dray, don’t -”
Dray covered my mouth with one large palm, halting the first words I’d spoken in over a decade. He leaned down and put his lips against my ear.
“I promised my name would be the first word out of your mouth,” he said. “Now to make you scream it.”
Chapter Eight
The metal from Dray’s discarded armor appeared to glow as it liquified and meandered toward me. I squirmed to avoid its touch as it neared, but Dray’s weight on my back and his hand on my face held me tight. The silver drew up my body and wrapped it in thin filaments, holding me to Dray’s will.
A dark anticipation ignited in my core. An archaic part of me became eager for whatever the Reaper planned to do. Even as I tried to get free from the bonds, my sex warmed in eagerness.
One band of metal slipped under Dray’s hand on my mouth and solidified into a gag, pressing my lips closed. The Reaper released me and I thrashed my head to attempt to dislodge it. I’d risked everything to get my voice back, only for him to silence me moments later.
“Tsk, tsk.” The bonds reached into the floor, anchoring me on my tummy before Dray. He slapped my exposed ass with a sharp sting. “I’ll take the gag off later. Wouldn’t want you to say anything that might get you into more trouble.”
He moved behind me, and his hands each grabbed one of my ankles. His fingers pushed deep enough into my skin to send groans up my legs. The metal worked around his orders, softening and hardening again as he drew my legs open wide.
I tried to shift enough to look at him. His wicked gaze caught the movement, and a glint ran through his eyes.
“No, Elys. I don’t think you deserve to look this time.”
The collar around my neck grew silver tendrils that buried into the floor. I struggled against the tightening force, but his power pulled my head to the ground, anyway.
Dray ran his hands over my back, gently, sending chills down my spine and fear of what would come next. He grabbed my shoulders and pulled me backward, loosening the metal to allow me to sit on my knees.
The silver hardened again. My face and outstretched arms pressed against the floor, while my ass and stomach hovered in front of the Reaper. My cheeks burned at the inappropriate position, but the bonds didn’t allow an inch of movement.
Dray ran his hand down my crack, highlighting a trail toward my center. He slipped a finger inside of me and twisted it to massage all the sensitive places. I shook as he went deeper and the pressure turned my core wet.
Dray added a second finger and spread them. He chuckled as I bucked at the sudden fullness and his chains locked me in place. He drew them out, then back in, again and again until my head swum with unfulfilled expectation.
He stopped, catching his two fingers deep inside me. “I think you need more, Elys.”
I wanted to shake my head. The sensations already felt too tender, too sensitive.
Silver coils danced around my breasts. They formed into wicked points that dug into my nipples. The gag over my mouth smothered the scream at the sharp pain. The metal continued spreading into dainty chains descending from the trapped peaks until a small silver ball hung from each chain as well.
“How’s that?” His voice barely registered in my mind as he thrust his fingers in again, driving my body forward with the momentum. The balls swung back, then forward, dragging the prongs in each nipple along with them. Dray increased his pace, torturing me both inside and out, until the pinching suddenly turned to a warmer, almost pleasant feeling. The clamps still hurt, but the pain added to the pleasure, instead of drawing me away from it.
