Page 85 of Inhuman Nature
Rake stood so unsteadily he looked like he might keel over any second. He shot one anxious look at DJ, then hurried away. DJ heard him rooting through their toy box. That violation hurt more than Lawrence forcing his way into their flat.
“Stay,” Lawrence ordered, like DJ was a dog. There was a faint nudge in DJ’s brain that had him unable to move. Lawrence grabbed one of their wooden chairs, bringing it over and placing it in the centre of the room. Rake came back in, a coil of his white rope looped over his trembling hand.
Lawrence continued to speak to them like they were animals. “Sit.” He gestured towards the seat. Rake’s jaw tensedas he stared back, unmoving. “Now,” Lawrence said, that odd echo much more apparent with this second command.
Rake sat on the chair as directed, body rigid. DJ was still where Lawrence had left him, kneeling on the floor near the chair. He contemplated shouting to alert the neighbours, but it would only put anyone who tried to help in danger right alongside them.
So DJ watched, helpless, as Lawrence expertly tied Rake to the chair, hands flying so fast they blurred. A sharp snap punctured the silence as he broke the rope with his bare hands. Rake’s breathing turned ragged, and by the time that Lawrence was done, his breaths were more like wracking sobs.
“Rake,” DJ whispered. He couldn’t say anything more. He wanted to tell him that it was all going to be okay—that they would both get out of this. But DJ wasn’t able to promise anything, and Rake wasn’t one for false affirmations.
Lawrence stood back as if to admire his handiwork. Rake was tied to the chair by both legs and around his chest, with his arms pulled behind him in a way that DJ knew from experience made your shoulders ache immediately.
Lawrence’s skin had recovered already, appearing only pink and new on his face when he turned and gave DJ a wicked smile. “I knew I should never have let you borrow my pet for even one night.” Lawrence’s eyes flashed. “So, Rakesh, I’m going to take your boy. Tit for tat.”
“No—” Rake didn’t seem to have any other words, breaking off with a wounded noise that speared DJ’s heart.
Before DJ could even think about running, Lawrence had him by the throat once more. He yelped as he was then pulled onto the sofa, right on top of Lawrence, so that theyboth sat facing Rake.
“No, please don’t do this,” Rake said, eyes glistening.
Lawrence pulled DJ’s head back by his hair and bit him. It wasn’t even close to the careful way Shaun had fed from him.
This was a ravaging.
DJ scrabbled at Lawrence’s arms and face, trying to push him off, but Lawrence didn’t so much as flinch. Lawrence bit harder, tearing at DJ’s skin.
DJ had never seen Rake be scared of anything. But Rake’s broken expression in that moment burned itself into DJ’s mind. If DJ survived the night, he didn’t think he’d ever be able to rid himself of the memory.
Lawrence pulled back. “You don’t taste half as bad as I expected you to.”
“If you want me to thank you for the compliment, you’re barking up the wrong tree,” DJ gritted out. His neck burned like it had been set alight, and a bone-deep exhaustion clung to his limbs.
The tendons on Rake’s neck jutted out as he strained against the ropes. “Stop!” he yelled. “Do whatever you want to me, but stop this now. Let him go.”
“Rake, no,” DJ gasped. He didn’t even have the energy to shout.
Lawrence ran a claw down DJ’s face, ripping his skin and making DJ’s cheek flare with pain as his tears mingled with the open cut. “I don’t intend to let either of you live, so your pleading does nothing.”
DJ thrashed in Lawrence’s grip as Rake continued to shout. A shove from Lawrence had DJ face-planting on the floor. He whipped his head up to see Lawrence hummingto himself as he tied one of their dishcloths around Rake’s mouth.
“Hush. I don’t want to deal with any nosy neighbours,” Lawrence said, shaking his head like one would at a naughty toddler.
Knowing he went unwatched, DJ crawled towards the door. If he could escape… If he could get them some help…
Before he even got halfway there, Lawrence hoisted him up and back onto the sofa, biting into him once more.
Lawrence drank. And drank. And—
Rake’s streaming tears were the last thing DJ saw before he shut his eyes.
Ambrosia. DJ swallowed, and it kept coming. More, he wantedmore. He moaned in delight as the warm liquid coated his tongue and mouth. God, he could just drink this forever.
Muffled shouts broke the moment and drew his attention to his closed eyes. He cracked them open to see what on earth was going on.
At the sight of Rake tied to a chair opposite him, memories came flooding back. DJ yanked at Lawrence’s wrist where it was pressed to his mouth, trying to dislodge it. Lawrence just pressed his flesh harder into DJ’s mouth, and he couldn’t help but swallow more blood.
Even knowing what it was, DJneededit. Whatever drove him to suck at Lawrence’s wrist to consume as much as possible evaded his conscious thoughts, but he snapped back to reality when he locked gazes with Rake.