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skinned and the very end has been shaped into something reminiscent of a wild beast. It’s not smooth and shaped as a man’s should be, instead it’s raw, with a crescent shaped tip, and I’d be surprised if it still worked.

“You’re afraid of me now, aren’t you?” he asks quietly.

“No,” I reply truthfully. “I’m afraid of Lowell.”

“Smart girl,” he says, his voice barely above a whisper. “I wasn’t when he brought me here, and this is my reward. I fought back—tried to win my freedom, but the master of the house doesn’t like that. He’ll change you; shape your body into what he feels your inside looks like, and just when you think he’s done with you, the worst is yet to come, my dear Cessi.”

How could it possibly get worse than this? The instant the thought forms in my head, I regret it. I’m still in one piece and Stone is damn near hacked to pieces and reformed into something that I can’t quite understand.

“You know, there was a time when I used to think that the worst feeling in the world was being used, but it’s not. It’s being wanted—really wanted—by a madman,” he says thoughtfully.

“Used?” I repeat in a shaky tone. I open my eyes again only to find nothing but the dark and resign myself to the fact that until Lowell feels that we’re worthy of seeing the light of day again, I’ll have to make the best of the unknown.

“Mhm.”

“What do you mean by used, Stone?” I ask quietly. I know exactly what he means, but if this is why I’m really here, I want to hear the words come from his lips.

“What did you do with your life, Cessi?” he asks, the chains scraping slightly as I assume he’s attempting to get comfortable.

“I… uh… I did—I mean do things. For money,” I respond meekly.

“Me too. That’s how he found me and the one that was here before me. Lowell has something against what we do for a living, but I was never a whore, you know?”

The way he says the word, with such disdain for what another chooses to do with their life, makes me feel even more worthless than I do trapped in Lowell’s personal Hell.

“Yes, I got paid for the pleasure of my company, but it very rarely ever ended in sex. I would only ever do it when I could tell that the person I was with was really lonely. And even then, I felt dirty for giving in just because I felt bad for them.” Stone lets out an amused laugh. “I will tell you though, that I’ve learned my lesson this time and I’ll never fuck someone out of pity again.”

“Did you and Lowell… um.” I’m wringing my hands again unable to say the word ‘fuck’ for some reason, to which Stone chuckles.

“Yes. We did. Just one time, though. I don’t discriminate, you know? A hole is a hole, and I’ll fuck anyone once, but after we were done, he got really quiet and kinda scary. Anyway, that’s a story for another day that I’ll hold on to, because I firmly believe that if we work together, we’ll be able to walk out of here.”

Stone clears his throat. “I hope that doesn’t deter you. If you still want to, I mean.”

I raise an eyebrow at the form sitting before me, firmly planted on the ground, and wonder what he thinks of me that I’d not want to fuck him only because he’s had sex with another man.

“I’m not shallow, but I’m not exactly in the mood for this right now,” I snap at him. I bite my lip and let out a sigh. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you. I’m just scared.”

“It’s okay. That goes away eventually too,” he replies with a knowing chuckle. “Anyway, we should probably either pretend we’ve fucked or get to it because he’ll be back soon to check on us, if he’s not already here.”

“What?” I ask, turning my head. And he is here. I can see his form sitting on the edge of the stairs again, watching us silently, but for how long? Does he know that we want our freedom? Does he know that we’re willing to bond together to get out of this place?

“I dropped the fork,” Lowell says quietly.

I clear my throat and move away from Stone on all fours, my hands blindly swiping at the dirty ground, attempting to find the fork. Maybe if I help him with something as menial as this, he’ll see that I’m not a bad person regardless of what I’ve chosen to do with my life.

“Don’t worry about it,” he says sharply. I rear back onto the heels of my boots and bite my lip. He sounds angry which means he’s more than likely heard most, if not all, of our clumsy planning.

The wooden stair creaks under Lowell’s weight as he moves away from it and I silently curse myself for not having noticed it when he came back down. Stone’s chains rub quietly together and I can already tell that he’s going to be of no help to me if I make a move against our master.

Lowell’s footsteps are quick and dull on the floor as he walks past me and illuminates the room with the moonlight that Stone had provided for us only a few moments before. I turn toward him and notice he’s watching my face carefully. I steal a glance at Stone who’s got one leg folded underneath him and his arms crossed over his chest, eyeing Lowell dangerously, a slight snarl on his lips.

It’s the animal that he’s meant to be—I can see it now, how quickly he changes his disposition in the presence of this dangerous man and how he plays up what he’s been molded into.

“Earn your money, whore,” Lowell says, nodding his head toward Stone. His eyes haven’t left me and I know that his words, as demeaning as they now seem, are meant to be taken seriously.

A single tear rolls down my cheek, because even with these two men in the room with me, I’ve never felt so alone before.

Lowering my head slightly, I wipe the tear away before I turn my eyes toward Stone. He’s still sneering, but it’s no longer aimed toward Lowell, and I can see the contempt he has for me because I’ve shown fear in a moment of weakness.