Page 34 of Blood Ties

Riley

I move my finger slowly across the page, revealing the words syllable by syllable. Kai sounds them out falteringly, his features scrunched in concentration.

When we reach the end of the book, I smile and shut it. “The end.” I lean in and kiss his cheek. “That was really good, Kai.” He’s improved a lot over our weeks of practice.

Weeks . Months. Sometimes I’m shocked to remember how long I’ve been down here now. It’s scary what you can get used to, given enough time. But ever since Knox stopped coming down here — which I know I have Kai to thank for, though he never told me what he did — it’s been more bearable.

Not that I’ve given up on escaping. It just... doesn’t feel so urgent, sometimes. Like I can bide my time getting Kai to come around to the idea, rather than rushing him into something risky.

Kai flushes at my praise, one corner of his mouth quirking up before he tamps it back down. “This is baby stuff,” he mutters. “Nothing to be proud of.”

“It’s plenty to be proud of,” I tell him. “It’s not your fault you weren’t taught.”

He shrugs, looks away. “It kind of is, though. I’m too—”

“Do not say you’re dumb again.” I squeeze his hand, and he glances at me, a little surprised at the fervor in my voice.

I am, too. I take a moment to process the feeling, then offer a reassuring smile.

“I think you have something called dyslexia. Have you heard of that?” He shakes his head.

“It’s a learning disorder. It doesn’t make you dumb, not at all, but it means you learn a little differently.

Your mom probably didn’t realize it, or maybe she didn’t know how to help you. ”

He’s quiet for a moment. “But you do?”

“I’m not an expert, but I know some stuff to try.” Not now, though. Better to leave this session on a high note. “I’ll think about it and come up with some ideas for when we read our next book, okay?”

“Okay,” he says, hesitant. “If you really don’t mind...”

“It’s not like I’ve got anything better to do. He winces, looking down at the shackle around my wrist. Good. “Anyway, I like teaching you,” I say, before the moment can become awkward.

He quirks a brow, skeptical.

I smile. “It’s cute, seeing your nose scrunch up when you’re thinking.”

He blushes harder than before. “That’s not... I’m not...”

“Cute?” My smile widens, and I grab him by the shirt and pull him toward me.

“Yes, you are.” When his eyes drop to my lips, I kiss him.

I keep it light, tender, my unshackled wrist lifting to comb through his hair.

He leans into the touch, and I scratch my nails against his scalp, drawing a little sigh of pleasure out of him.

It frightens me how easy this is now. Something inside of me has softened.

I’m not sure when it happened — maybe during our reading lessons, maybe when he touched me so gently, maybe when I saw those self-harm scars on him — but little by little, my hatred for Kai is turning into something far more dangerous.

My feigned affection is becoming more and more real.

“Could you teach me something else?” he murmurs, in between slow kisses.

“What’s that?”

“I wanna...” He swallows, but doesn’t look away. “I wanna learn how to make you feel good. Like you do for me.”

For a moment, I can only stare at him. I should say no. This goes against the rules I laid out for myself. But he’s looking at me so eagerly, and as heat curls through my lower body, I can’t deny I want this. I want to feel something good, for once, in this god-awful place.

“Okay,” I whisper.

His smile is big and crooked and far too sweet. “Yeah?”

I take one of his hands and bring it under my shirt, shivering as his callouses graze over the smooth skin of my breast. “Touch me here,” I tell him, moving his fingers slowly back and forth.

My nipple hardens beneath his touch, and I bite my lip.

“Yeah. Like that.” He watches my face, drinking in the sight of my pleasure.

As that heat in my belly coils tighter, I guide his hand to my other breast, and he does it this time without my help.

I let out a soft gasp. “Oh. That feels good.” After a moment’s hesitation, I lift my shirt over my head.

I can’t pull it fully off, with my wrist still shackled, but I leave it dangling on that arm so my torso is bare.

“You can use your mouth, too, if you want.”

His eyes darken, and his lips move to the breast his hand isn’t touching. His tongue flicks over the sensitive bud, and I gasp again, jerking against him. He moans low in his throat, lavishing one breast and then the other with attention.

“You can be rougher with me,” I say, breathless. “I like— Oh .” I cut off in a gasp as his teeth graze my nipple. “Yes. Yes. Like that.”

I ease off of his lap after a while, my face flushed and my lip swollen where I’ve been biting it.

I’m surprised how good this feels, how easy it is to lose myself in the moment.

I’ve been trying so hard to hold myself back, but right now I want to pretend it’s just the two of us, that we’re just two normal people exploring each other for the first time.

Lying back on the mattress, I slide my panties down over my thighs.

I reach down, fingers skimming flat stomach and downy hair before reaching the place where I most ache to be touched.

With a jolt, I realize I’m already soaked.

I look over at Kai, who is watching me with dark eyes and lips slightly parted.

“And then,” I whisper, “you could touch me here...” I glide a hand through my own slick heat before bringing two fingers to my clit, delicately circling. My back arches, and I whimper.

Kai’s gaze flickers between my fingers and my face, his breath quickening. He watches me for several moments and then reaches over.

“Wait,” I whisper.

He pauses without hesitation. I grab his hand and bring his fingers to my mouth, wetting them with my tongue.

“Now,” I say, meeting his stare. “Touch me.”

His calloused fingertips are a shock after my soft ones, but not an unpleasant one, not at all.

He works me slowly and carefully, mimicking the motions I showed him until I’m gasping and trembling.

I whisper “yes” and “right there” and “faster” until I’m reduced to incoherent sounds.

At that point he doesn’t need my guidance — he can read what I want in my reactions, in my little twitches and cries.

Till finally I’m whimpering, “God, yeah, just like that, I’m gonna—”

I come apart beneath his fingers before I can finish the sentence. My hips lift as I grind into him, crying out. He strokes me until I go limp against the mattress, and then lowers himself beside me, his eyes never leaving my face.

There’s a fluttering sensation in my stomach... but the butterflies are doused by cold dread as I realize I just broke one of my rules.

Or maybe all of them.

No emotional attachment.

No orgasms.

Focus on the goal.

My smile wavers as I reach over to brush hair out of Kai’s face. “You did so good,” I say. “That felt amazing.”

But the words feel hollow all of a sudden, and so does my chest. I fucked up. I almost forgot what this is all about.

“You’re so beautiful,” he says. “That look on your face, it was...”

Then he pauses. His eyes lift to the ceiling as if he can stare right through it. It takes me a moment to hear what he does: voices.

Unfamiliar voices. Women’s voices, alternating with Knox’s familiar low rumble. It’s too quiet for me to work out what they’re saying, but the flirty tone is unmistakable. So is the rough bark of Knox’s laugh, which sends shivers down my spine.

But once I found it charming. I bet those women up there do, too. I bet they don’t recognize yet that it’s not humor, but cruelty in his laughter.

I look at Kai. He’s gone paler than normal, and his eyes are wide as they slide to meet mine. He scrambles to his feet.

“What’s going on?” I ask. “Who is that?”

I reach for him, but he steps away. “Nobody,” he says. “I mean, probably some locals.”

He won’t look at me. He’s lying.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. Um. I’m just gonna go see what’s going on.” His gaze is still avoiding mine, but no longer darting around. I follow it to see he’s looking at the rag I usually use to clean myself. “Riley,” he says. “I’m supposed to... You have to stay quiet...”

My stomach sinks as I realize what he’s thinking. “Please don’t.”

He looks at me, guilt written all over his expression. “You can’t make a sound while there are people here.”

“Please,” I say again. “Kai, you can’t.” I stare up at him. “I promise I’ll be quiet. You don’t have to gag me. You... you can trust me. You know that.”

He hesitates. I stay on my knees, staring up at him, hoping I look properly innocent. After a moment, he swears under his breath and nods.

“Okay,” he says. “Just... yeah. Quiet.” He backs toward the staircase, his eyes finally finding mine. “Seriously, Riley. It’s important.”

I only let out the breath I’m holding when the door shuts behind him. My heart is pounding in my chest. It echoes in my ears, making it hard to listen to what’s going on out there. I close my eyes and focus on the sound of Kai’s footsteps creaking overhead as he approaches the others.

They’re in the kitchen. Right above me. I can hear Kai mumble something, then Knox shooting back a retort that makes the girls laugh.

How old are they, I wonder? My age? Younger?

And I know Kai is lying. Those aren’t locals. Those are out-of-towners, like me and my friends were. They’re prey.

What is Knox going to do to them?

My stomach sinks. I know what he likes to do to girls. And I... I’m one of the lucky ones, as much as I hate to think that way. I survived. My friends didn’t. These girls probably won’t, either.

I want to believe that Kai will stop whatever Knox has planned, but I know that’s wishful thinking. He didn’t raise a finger to stop my friends from being slaughtered. He may be keeping his brother at bay now, but he’s also keeping me trapped here.

My anxiety winds tighter as I strain to listen to their conversation. Kai has gone quiet. Knox is still chatting away with the women. They seem calm. They have no idea what’s coming for them.

Am I really going to sit here in silence and let it happen?

My eyes dart to the gag, and I lick my lips. If I can hear them up above, they can probably hear me, too.

I open my mouth.

Knox might kill me for this. It’s safer to stay quiet.

I snap it shut. Then the guilt hits me like a fist to the stomach, bringing tears to my eyes. What the fuck is wrong with me? How could I think that even for a second?

No. I don’t care what happens to me. I have to try to save those girls. To at least give them a fighting chance.

And my moment of hesitation has presented a better opportunity. Knox’s heavy boots stomp away from the kitchen. Across the house. A door shuts. He’s going to the bathroom, maybe. Or grabbing a weapon.

Either way, it’s now or never.

I take a deep breath, and scream at the top of my lungs.