Page 44 of Blood Ties

Riley

N o, no, no .

We were so close to getting out. So fucking close. But now I’m pressed against the mattress, trembling, watching it all fall apart. Kai is wild-eyed in his uncle’s grip, but all the fight has gone out of him since he laid eyes on his father.

The man looks more monstrous than I remembered, with that gun in his hands and his eyes roving back and forth between his sons. He’s huge, every inch of him made of corded muscle and leathery skin, his mouth set in a grim line in the midst of his wild beard.

“What the fuck is this?” he asks.

“Nothing, Dad,” Knox says, wiping blood from his nose, his eyes on the floor.

Kai gives one last thrash in his uncle’s grip, and then slumps down. Not saying a word.

“Nothin’, huh?” Their father stops at the bottom of the stairs.

He swings the barrel of his shotgun toward me, and I stare down the barrel, unmoving.

“‘Cause it looks to me like the two of you are fighting over this girl again.” When neither of his sons answer, he walks toward me. He sneers as his eyes wander over me. “You two are blood. It ain’t worth fightin’ over some pussy. ”

I look at Kai, silently begging for help, but he looks dazed, his gaze distant. Even though it curdles my stomach, I turn a pleading gaze toward Knox instead — but he’s staring at his brother, his expression unreadable.

“Thought I was very fucking clear that the two of you had to play nice, or I’d get rid of her,” their Dad says. He levels the barrel of the gun just inches from my face. “It’s about that time, anyway. You know the rules, Knox.”

A whimper slips out of me.

Knox finally looks my way. He hesitates for a moment. “Give us a little longer,” he says. “It’s all good. We’re sharing her.”

Their Dad cocks a brow. “Kai?” he asks, looking at his younger son.

Kai drags his gaze up from the floor. He gives me an agonized look. “Yeah,” he says, barely more than a whisper.

“Yeah?” Their Dad spits, a disgusting wad of saliva that lands just beside me on the mattress. “Mm.” He studies me, scowling. “Not sure I believe that.”

He looms over me. I stare up at him, willing myself to meet his chilling gaze.

There’s something empty in his eyes, something far more terrifying even than Knox’s darkness.

He doesn’t look like he’s angry or lustful or any other things I expected him to be.

He doesn’t look like he feels anything at all. There’s just a void.

“Take off your clothes,” he says, his voice oddly detached.

I stare up at him, too shocked to react. He slams the barrel of the gun across my face.

I gasp in pain, white spots obscuring my vision for a moment. When I raise my head, he hits me again— aiming for my stomach, but I twist so it hits me in the ribs instead. I cry out, crawling away from him to the corner of the mattress.

“Stop!” Kai fights anew against his uncle’s grip, but it’s useless.

“Okay,” I say. “Okay!” I reach with shaking fingers to pull my shirt over my head, letting it dangle from my manacled wrist. I undo my pants too, shove them down, along with my panties. Then I sit, trembling and naked.

Kai’s father isn’t even looking at me. He’s looking at his son, drinking in his anguish like it’s far more interesting than my naked body.

“This?” he asks, looking from Kai to Knox. He uses the barrel of his gun to tilt my chin up toward him, and I choke back a terrified sob. “ This is worth fighting your own blood over?”

“No,” Kai says, still straining against his uncle. “We’ll share her. We’re sharing.”

“This wasn’t about her,” Knox says. He’s taken a step closer at some point, his eyes locked on his Dad. “We’re fighting about other shit. I started it.”

Their father looks between them, his gaze calculating. I stare up at him, one hand raised to defend my battered face, the other curled around my stomach. I’m dizzy, dazed.

Then the man grins, a wide mouth of crooked teeth bared in an expression made horrifying by his cold, dead eyes. “Show me, then,” he says, and steps back from me, gesturing to Kai.

Frank releases him, and Kai stumbles forward a step, looking uncertainly toward his father. “What?”

“Show me you can share,” he says. “You both insisted it was true, so prove it.”

“I...” Kai’s frozen in place. “I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“I’m saying, go over there and fuck that bitch in front of your brother, right now, or I’ll kill her,” he says, cold and calm.

Their uncle laughs in the corner, leering at me from behind Kai’s back. He plants his meaty hands on his nephew’s shoulders and shoves him toward me.

Kai jerks away, revulsion flickering across his face. “W-What?” He takes a step back, bumping into his uncle’s chest. He looks at Knox, but his brother avoids his gaze, staring down at the floor instead. “No. No .”

“Alright then.” Their Dad lifts the gun to my head again.

“No, please,” Kai begs.

His father’s finger begins to tighten on the trigger. Then he pauses, and swings the gun toward Kai instead.

“Come to think of it,” he says, “ you’re the real problem here, ain’t you? Maybe I should shoot you instead. Leave the girl for your brother, since he seems to like her so much.” He steps toward Kai, shoves the barrel of the gun against his cheek. Kai stares at him, still as a statue.

I want to believe his dad is bluffing, but... The way he looks at Kai isn’t any different than the way he looks at me. We’re both disposable to him. Things to use and toss away.

I shut my eyes, one hand still clutching my lower belly. I think of how close I was to freedom — how close I still am, if we can get through this. This one last, terrible thing.

“Kai,” I whisper, opening my eyes.

He looks at me, his expression stricken. I meet his gaze, and bite my lower lip as it wobbles.

“Do it,” I say. “Just do it.”

He shakes his head without breaking my gaze. “No. No. Not that.”

“Please,” I say, my voice cracking. I can’t force out anything more than that, can’t bring myself to beg for this, but I hope he understands: I would rather endure this than die.

He takes one step toward me, than another. His father steps aside, though he doesn’t lower the gun, still pointed at Kai. Knox is watching, expression stormy, his shoulders tensed and his arms folded across his chest. But I keep my eyes on Kai, giving him an encouraging, watery smile.

He sinks onto his knees on the edge of the mattress, and I pull him closer and kiss him. His fingers weave into my hair, clinging to me like a lifeline.

“I don’t know if I can,” he whispers to me, face hot with shame.

“You can,” I say. “Just look at me, okay? Ignore them. It’s just us.”

His eyes stay on my face as I lay back on the mattress, pulling him with me. One of us is shaking, or maybe both of us. I kiss him the way I know he likes it, reach down between our bodies to undo his jeans and stroke him until his body starts to respond despite his obvious reluctance.

I’m hoping that will be enough. That his father will call off this sick game at some point. But I can feel him watching, unwavering. Him and Kai’s uncle and Knox. My stomach twists.

I try to forget about everyone else in the room. Especially Knox, whose eyes I can feel burning into me.

“I want this,” I whisper to Kai. “I’ve been wanting this.” I wish we slept together the other night. I wish, more than anything, that this wasn’t going to be our first time together. His first time in general. At least it will be over quickly, I think, and have to swallow down bile.

He catches the look on my face. Of course he does; those dark eyes are always watching me, seeing more than I care to show. He starts to pull away, but I wrap my arms around him and pull him close.

“Tell me to stop and I will,” he says. “I don’t care what happens to me—”

“I do,” I say, firmly. “Do this for me. Please. Don’t leave me here alone.”

He looks at me. Hesitating still, though he’s growing hard in my palm.

“Fucking hell.” Knox speaks for the first time since their father’s declaration, his voice a slow drawl, but with a thread of tension beneath the surface. “Do I need to show you where to put it, Kai?”

I tense, fear flickering through me, but Kai cups my face with one big hand, his fingers cutting off my view of his family.

“Just us,” he murmurs against my lips.

I nod, my eyes locking with his again. Watch as he wets his fingers with his tongue and reaches down between my legs, touching me the way I taught him. Part of me wants to hide my enjoyment, to not give his family the show they’re clearly wanting, but that would mean hiding it from Kai too.

So despite the discomfort crawling over my skin, I whisper Kai’s name as his fingers curl inside of me.

He’s good at it, better than good after I taught him, knows exactly how to work my body to bring me right to the edge.

But even with my eyes shut I can feel the stares on me, sense the presence of his father and his uncle and most of all his brother.

My body won’t or can’t relax enough to let me feel anything.

I pull Kai close and kiss him. “I’m ready for you,” I whisper.

He nods. His fingers recede, and he notches himself at my entrance.

Even after he warmed me up, his length stretches me out as he presses in.

My breath hitches, body arching. Kai pauses, breathing hard, pale face flushed; I can see face how hard it must be to hold himself back, but he does, perfectly still over me.

“Shit,” he whispers. “Are you okay?”

Someone’s wolf whistle echoes around the room.

Knox, I suspect. Kai tenses above me, and I can see the resolve crack in his expression.

I grab him by the back of the neck and pull him in for a searing kiss, all heat and tongue rather than gentle like before.

I roll my hips, taking him deeper into me, and he gasps against my mouth.

“Please, Kai,” I whisper, just loud enough for his ears, even though I’m shaking and sick to my stomach. I pull his face into my neck, blink away tears as I stare up at the ceiling. “Fuck me.”

He sinks deeper inside of me, and I moan loudly enough to drown out his uncle’s snicker.

Fuck them. Fuck all of them. I need to pretend for Kai’s sake, because I know he can’t do this if he thinks I don’t want it. But I also want to do it for my own sake, to not let them take this moment from us.

So I let everything fade away except for Kai’s face, Kai’s mouth, Kai’s cock moving inside of me. His muscular torso sliding against mine, the slap of his hips. I wrap a leg around his waist and gasp and writhe for him, whimpering his name. Doing all of the things I’ve never done for Knox.

I can feel his eyes on me the entire time. He wants to watch this? Then let him watch. Let him see that his little brother fucks me better than he ever could.

I’m pretending at first. Amping it up, at least. But it’s not a lie to say that Kai is better at this than he has any right to be.

He drinks in every little gasp and moan I make, figures out what pleases me and does it again, again, again, until I don’t have to fake my whimpers at all.

Soon every thrust is hitting that sweet spot inside of me, making my toes curl and my eyes roll.

My head is still spinning from that blow to the head, and a delirious sort of haze settles over me, making it easier to forget everything beyond the mattress.

My awareness tunnels until all I see is Kai.

I dig my fingers into the muscles of his back. “Faster,” I beg. “Harder.”

He slams into me, his breath quickening. He kisses me sloppily as he fucks me into the mattress, and I moan into his mouth, stroke his tongue with my own and tangle my fingers in his hair.

There’s a new hunger in his kiss. An animal freneticism to the slap of his hips against mine as each thrust fills me utterly, completely, so much it’s just on the verge of overwhelming. He’s close.

“Come for me, Kai,” I whisper in his ear.

A guttural little sound tears out of his throat, and he slams into me, once, twice, and shudders as he spills himself inside of me.

I cry out too, arching. My orgasm is sudden and almost violent, shocking me.

I tremble as he ruts against me, both of us wringing the last drops of pleasure out of our bodies.

Finally Kai stops, his sweat-slick body resting atop mine.

For a moment it is just us. Our mingled breath, his forehead pressed to mine. He kisses me even though he’s still panting, craving me more than air.

“I love you,” he says.

Then a massive hand grabs the back of his neck and yanks him off of me. Kai’s father pulls him away and shoves him to his knees on the concrete, where he scrambles to pull his pants up.

I cover myself with my hands, scooting back on the mattress, nausea pulsing through my body as I remember the reality of our situation.

As I look up and see Kai’s uncle grinning at me from the corner, palming the front of his pants.

Knox watches me with a simmering heat in his gaze.

He’s silent, his jaw set. Not finding this funny anymore, I guess.

It feels a little like I’ve won. My lips curl into a slight smile, even as I tremble under the stares.

Kai’s cry of pain wipes the smirk right off of my face. I look over to see his father pressing him facedown on the floor with the shotgun barrel against the back of his head.

“No,” I cry out, sitting up on the mattress and letting my hands fall, heedless of my own nakedness. I yank against the chain on my wrist, trying to get to him, even though it’s impossible. “He did what you told him to do! Don’t hurt him!”

Kai’s father looks over at me. He smiles in that cold way of his, his eyes as blank and dead as always, and it sends a shiver of foreboding down my spine.

“Knox,” he says, and jerks his head at me. “Your turn.”