Page 34 of Kidnapped By the Beast (Beasts of the Kindred #11)

LEXI

The officers dragged her down another stone corridor, narrower and darker than the grand hall.

Gone was the faint perfume of incense—here the air smelled metallic, sharp, and ugly—like rust and blood.

Their boots clanged on the stone while her bare feet slapped against it, echoing too loud in this dark, foul place.

They shoved her through a heavy iron door, and Lexi’s breath caught.

The chamber beyond was no courtroom—it was a dungeon. Rows of racks lined the walls, displaying devices she couldn’t mistake for anything but instruments of torment.

Her eyes darted from one to the next in horror.

There were iron collars, their insides studded with teeth meant to bite into a neck…straps lined with spikes or hooks, designed to pierce skin when tightened. Wooden paddles studded with glowing stones crackled faintly—clearly they would shock anyone they struck.

And then there were the phalluses. Lexi’s eyes went wide when she saw them.

Dozens of devices were lined up on a wooden shelf.

There were rods of glass with veins of light running through them…

dildos of metal engraved with raised runes of punishment…

implements as thick as her wrist with twisted ridges so exaggerated they looked like drill bits.

Some were barbed…others glowed red-hot as if forged in fire.

None of them looked like they would be fun to wear.

Lexi’s stomach turned and she felt sick. What are the two Terian officers going to do to her in here? Whatever it was, she was sure she wouldn’t like it.

This isn’t punishment—it’s torture dressed up as justice! she thought grimly. But there didn’t seem to be any way to get away.

One of the officers reached for a metal device that looked like something from a museum about Medieval torture devices—a heavy chastity belt forged of iron. He set it on the table with a metallic clank that made Lexi go cold all over.

“What…what the Hell is that?” she breathed as she examined it.

The belt was a contraption of curved metal bands, designed to lock around her waist. Two other curving metal straps hung down in the front and back. At their intersection, protruding from the crotch panel, jutted a thick iron dildo.

Lexi eyed it in horror.

The shaft was long and blunt, covered in cruel nubs—knobs and bumps that were not rounded for pleasure but jagged enough to rub tender flesh raw.

She stumbled back, shaking her head.

“No. No way. You can’t—”

The officers didn’t answer. One seized her arms, forcing her chest flat against the cold table, while the other kicked her legs apart.

“Be still!” one of them ordered, holding her down.

But Lexi couldn’t hold still. She writhed, panic surging up her throat like bile.

“Stop! No—don’t do this to me!”

“If you don’t hold still,” the one at her back growled, “We’ll use this instead.”

His partner lifted another device from the rack and Lexi’s blood went cold.

The new dildo was twice the size of the first, its thick length bristling with short, sharp spikes. Each one gleamed under the lamplight, promising unrelenting agony.

Lexi froze, terror rooting her in place.

If they shove that inside me, I’ll be torn apart. I won’t survive it!

She trembled violently but stopped struggling, too afraid of the spiked monstrosity to fight any more.

“That’s better,” the officer holding her down muttered. And then, without warning, he lifted her skirt and forced the rough dildo up inside her.

Lexi bit down on her lip until she tasted blood. The intrusion was brutal—stretching her too far, the cruel nubs scraping her insides raw. There was no preparation…no gentleness…not even any lubrication.

Tears burned her eyes.

Oh God, it hurts…hurts so much!

This was nothing like what happened with Dr. Brandt during the milking sessions.

The big Kindred was always careful with her—always made sure to take things slowly.

He touched her like she mattered and made her feel good when he did.

It was nothing like this vile pain and humiliation she was feeling now at the hands of the Terian officers.

The two males clearly didn’t care that she was in pain—or maybe they were glad she was.

The iron belt snapped closed around her waist, the cold bands biting into her hips to hold the studded iron dildo in place.

The locks clicked shut and Lexi realized the device was now part of her body—an immovable weight around and inside her.

When they yanked her upright, the dildo shifted, grinding against her tender inner walls mercilessly. Every step was agony—the rough nubs digging deeper—a constant reminder of her humiliation.

Lexi bit her lip again, tasting blood.

Don’t cry. Don’t let them see you break, she told herself. Don’t give them the satisfaction, the bastards!

Her throat ached with the effort, but she swallowed her sobs as they marched her outside, each step a painful nightmare as the torture device inside her shifted with her gait.

The brightness outside the Halls of Justice hit her like a slap. They were in a crowded place but at first she couldn’t make out any details, blinded as she was by the light.

“Come on now—up you get!”

The Terian officers hauled her up onto a raised dais in the middle of a public square. A sea of faces turned as one, the crowd surging closer, eager to see the spectacle. Voices rose, curious…hungry…laughing.

Lexi staggered, her eyes widening as she saw the contraption waiting for her.

Stocks—just like the ones she remembered from her childhood trip to Colonial Williamsburg with three holes—one for the neck in the center and one on either side for the wrists.

Except these stocks were built from a dark alien wood that gleamed like obsidian—heavy and cruel.

The boards were carved with sayings in Terian script, all about punishment and chastisement.

They looked designed to bite into skin—to bruise and pinch as they held the prisoner in place.

Lexi’s knees went weak.

They’re really going to put me in those. In front of everyone, with this thing up inside me!

The officers shoved her down, bent at the waist as they forced her neck and wrists into place. The wood clamped shut, its weight pressing hard against the back of her neck. The scent of wood and blood and old sweat filled her nose, making her stomach turn.

One leaned down, his breath hot against her ear.

“Don’t cry, off-worlder—you’re lucky the Magistrate ordered you fitted with the officering device.”

“If you mean this thing you shoved inside me,” Lexi spat, her voice trembling, “I don’t feel lucky at all!”

He chuckled darkly.

“Then take a look at what happens without it.”

Lexi followed his gesture, turning her head with difficulty in the tight confines of the stocks. And then she saw it—another set of stocks stood nearby.

A Terian woman was locked into them, her skirt shoved up around her waist, her breasts dangling down like clusters of fruit. Her body was slack, her head hanging forward—hair plastered to her sweaty skin.

Behind her stretched a line of men, each waiting his turn.

The one currently inside her thrust hard, grunting with effort, his hips slamming against her bare backside. She whimpered weakly but didn’t resist—how could she when she was locked into such a vulnerable position?

When the Terian man assaulting her finished, he pulled out with a wet sound and the next man stepped forward, already hard, stroking himself eagerly as he pushed into her.

The crowd jeered and laughed, some shouting crude encouragements. Others cheered as if it were sport.

Lexi’s stomach roiled and she wished she couldn’t see the awful sight.

Oh God—they’re using her like a toy, like an animal! She doesn’t even look conscious anymore. And they’re all waiting their turn like it’s nothing—like she’s nothing.

The officer’s words echoed in her ear. You’re lucky.

Lucky. Because the iron device inside her meant she’d be spared that fate.

Lexi’s throat constricted.

Lucky. Sure. Except every step, every shift of my weight grinds this thing inside me until I want to scream. Except I’m naked, locked in wood, with everyone staring at me.

But still, it was better than what was happening to that poor woman beside her.

“It’ll all be over in an hour,” the officer said casually, as though announcing a lunch break. “Be good and don’t struggle—you don’t want to extend your time.”

An hour? Lexi thought. Right now even a minute in this position felt like an eternity. But there was nothing she could do. She was trapped.

The Terian officers stepped back, leaving her alone in the stocks. The crowd surged closer, pointing…whispering…laughing. She heard the words over and over: off-worlder, off-worlder. Fingers pointed at her bare breasts where they hung helplessly, swaying each time she shifted.

Her nipples hardened in the cool air, drawing even more attention. A man’s laugh rang out. A woman pointed. Children craned their necks to see.

Oh God. I’m on display. Like an animal in a cage. Fuck this! I want to go home! I hate this stupid planet!

Her eyes blurred with tears, but she bit her lip hard.

No—don’t cry. Don’t give them the satisfaction. Don’t do it, Lexi!

But despite her best efforts, a tear slipped free, trailing hot down her cheek to drop onto the dusty boards below.

Lexi wondered if she could endure the full hour, and what else the crowd might decide to do to her while she was trapped there, utterly helpless…utterly at their mercy.