Page 35 of Kidnapped By the Beast (Beasts of the Kindred #11)

LEXI

She’d been standing here, bent over, naked and trapped with the cruel metal dildo biting inside her forever.

The crowd murmured and the wood of the stocks bit into her wrists and neck as Lexi shifted miserably, trying to ease the grinding agony of the iron device locked inside her. Each tiny movement made, the rough nubs scraped her raw.

Her breasts hung down, swaying helplessly.

She hated how exposed they were. Hated how the crowd stared at her like she was some kind of sideshow attraction—a freak to make fun of.

A Scarlet Woman to jeer at and revile. The poor woman beside her had been taken away a little while ago and now they had all turned their full attention to her.

“Can she really make nectar with only two breasts?” a Terian voice called out, loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Yes—look! It’s dripping from her nipples already,” another answered, and a ripple of laughter went through the crowd.

Lexi’s cheeks burned hot. Sure enough, a bead of golden nectar had welled up from one tight nipple, slipping down the curve of her breast to drop onto the dusty boards below.

She wanted to scream at the crowd to leave her alone, but the words died in her throat. And she knew if she got upset, it would only make them laugh harder.

“I wonder what they feel like,” a Terian man speculated. “Ain’t never felt no off-worlder tits before!”

“Go on—touch them!” another man urged him. “You know they’re fair game in the stocks.”

“No! Keep away from me!” Lexi shouted, her voice cracking with fear as she found her words at last. “Don’t you touch me, you perverts!”

The crowd roared with laughter, the sound rolling over her like a wave. Hands clapped, voices jeered—words she couldn’t catch, all blending into one cruel chorus.

She twisted in the stocks, desperate to get away, but the heavy wood held her fast. Panic rose in her throat.

Oh God, they’re going to touch me and I can’t stop them! I’m trapped like an animal, waiting to be pawed at.

A shadow fell over her. One of the Terian men had stepped forward, his four eyes glittering, one large purple hand outstretched.

“Hey now, aren’t you pretty for an off-worlder? Why don’t we see how juicy your tits are?” His fingers reached for her breast, slow and greedy, as though savoring the moment. His lips curled in a hungry smile.

Lexi squeezed her eyes shut, her skin crawling as the smell of his sweat filled her nose.

I can’t watch. I can’t bear it. I’ll take myself away—I won’t think about it!

And then she heard it—a sound so low and feral it didn’t seem possible it came from a person.

“Touch her…” the voice growled, deep and vibrating like thunder, “…and DIE.”

The crowd went silent as if someone had turned down the volume on a screen.

Lexi’s eyes flew open, hope welling inside her.

Brandt was striding toward her, his massive frame cutting through the onlookers like a blade.

Lexi’s breath caught in her throat—she had never seen him like this!

His golden eyes were no longer golden at all—they glowed a terrifying, blood-red.

His face was as mask of fury, lips pulled back from his teeth in a snarl that made him look more than half-beast. He seemed to fill the square, towering over everyone as if he had doubled in size with sheer rage.

Her heart slammed into her ribs as the last thought solidified.

Oh my God—Rage. He’s going into Rage!

Natalie’s voice came back to her, unbidden, from a night long ago when they’d sat up late in her apartment on Earth, whispering secrets.

“It was back before V’rin and I were mated—when we were still getting to know each other.

I invited him to come with me, to my high school reunion,” Natalie had told her, twisting one long braid around her finger nervously.

“V’rin went to get us some punch, and I ran into this guy I used to have a crush on—Jed Winters.

He was so friendly—noticed me like he never did back in the day.

Stupid me, I thought he just wanted to talk.

He said he had something to show me—an old trophy he won—so we went down the hall to the gym to look at the trophy case.

I thought we’d just be gone for a minute, so I didn’t bother to tell V’rin. ”

Lexi remembered how her friend’s face had darkened, her brown eyes serious.

“What happened?” she’d breathed, fearing the worst.

“He attacked me,” Natalie said bluntly. “He shoved me against the bleachers and put his hand over my mouth so I couldn’t scream. He started trying to—” She swallowed hard, shaking her head. “I couldn’t breathe. Lexi, I was terrified—I didn’t know where V’rin was. I thought I was on my own.”

Lexi had gasped, clutching her friend’s hand.

“Natalie, that’s awful!”

“But then he was there.” Natalie’s expression had softened with awe and lingering fear.

“V’rin. He ripped the guy off me and punched him so hard I thought his face would cave in!

His fangs were bared and his eyes had gone blood red—he didn’t even look human anymore.

Or Kindred, I guess. I mean, he looked like death coming for that man.

And I really think he would have killed him if a bunch of the other guys at the reunion hadn’t pulled him off. It took six of them, Lexi!”

Lexi remembered the shiver that had run down her spine as Natalie related the story.

“He told me later that the Goddess warned him I was in trouble. He felt me in his blood, Lexi. He knew I needed him. That’s what Rage is—it’s when a Kindred male’s love for you turns into fury—when he’d destroy anything or anyone who threatens you. It’s amazing…but it’s terrifying, too.”

And now Lexi understood exactly what Natalie had meant.

Because Brandt didn’t look like the calm, controlled scientist who’d lectured her about nectar production, or even the stern man who’d spanked her until she sobbed. He looked like a beast unchained.

His red eyes locked on the Terian who had dared to reach for her, and his growl deepened into something primal, promising imminent violence.

The man stumbled back, his purple face blanching as Brandt’s snarl split the air. There were no words this time—just pure fury in the low, guttural growl.

Lexi’s breath caught.

Is he actually going to kill him?

The square trembled with silence, every eye fixed on the Beast Kindred in Rage.

And Lexi, locked and helpless, could only watch as the man who had once treated her like nothing but a science experiment now looked ready to rip someone’s head off for her.