Page 37 of Kidnapped By the Beast (Beasts of the Kindred #11)

LEXI

Lexi curled on the moss-padded bed, clutching the leaf sheets in trembling fists. Her whole body felt raw, scraped hollow by humiliation and pain.

She should feel safe now—Brandt had come for her, had ripped the stocks apart with his bare hands—but shame sat like a stone in her chest. Everyone had seen her. Staring, jeering, pointing…and the thing inside her…

God, the thing inside her still hurt so much.

She shifted, a sharp ache lancing through to her core. She bit her lip to keep from whimpering. It was wedged deep, the rough nubs grinding every time she so much as breathed.

How will I ever get over this? How do I go back to normal after being displayed and tortured like that?

And how could she get the painful metal dildo out of herself? When Brandt had tried to pull it, she’d felt like he was yanking her insides out! She couldn’t take that kind of pain again—it was too much.

“Alexandra…sweetheart…” The big Kindred’s deep voice broke through her thoughts.

Lexi blinked and looked up to see him looming over her, his big frame tense, his eyes still faintly red from the Rage. But the fury was gone now, replaced with something that made her throat ache—worry.

He knelt beside the bed, brushing her damp hair back from her face with a tenderness that undid her.

“Sweetheart,” he murmured, his voice rough with anguish. “I’m so sorry—so fucking sorry I didn’t come for you in time. So sorry they hurt you.”

Her lips trembled. She wanted to tell him it wasn’t his fault, but the words stuck in her throat. All she could manage was a shaky nod.

He bent and pressed a kiss to her forehead—so careful it was like he was afraid she might break apart under his touch. Then he stood and crossed the room. She heard water trickle and the sound of fabric being wrung out.

When he came back, Brandt held a cool, damp cloth. He laid it gently over her swollen eyes and hot forehead, his big hand cupping her cheek. The chill made her gasp, but then relief seeped into the burning skin around her eyes.

“Better?” he asked softly.

Lexi nodded again, a tear sliding free to dampen the cloth further.

But even the cool relief couldn’t block the constant, grinding ache low in her belly…in her ravaged pussy. She shifted, wincing.

“Please, it’s still in me. I…I can feel it. Hurts so much.”

Brandt’s jaw tightened. His hand flexed against her cheek.

“I know, baby. Don’t worry—we’re going to get that thing out of you,” he said at last, his voice low and controlled.

Lexi’s throat closed. Just the thought of the metal torture device inside her being pulled out made her want to curl up and disappear.

“I don’t know how you can,” she whispered, barely audible. “When you pulled on it…it was like someone pulling my insides out. Dr. Brandt, it’s stuck in me somehow!”

He stroked her hair again, his big hand incredibly gentle.

“I could tell it hurt—I’m so sorry, little Lexi. But I promise I’ll find a way to take it out without hurting you anymore.”

“I just don’t see how you can.”

Lexi shut her eyes tight, pressing her face into the cool cloth, fighting another wave of tears.

“I will—I promise,” he said again. “We just need to—”

Just then, the door to the bedroom slid open with a soft hiss.

Lexi flinched, clutching the sheet tighter to her chest. But it was just Dr. TOo-loo and T’linga, both looking agitated and out of breath.

“Oh dear, oh dear!” Dr. TOo-loo wrung his hands in obvious distress. His dark purple skin had gone blotchy with agitation. “T’linga told me what happened! What a dreadful mistake—absolutely dreadful! I’m so terribly sorry, Dr. Brandt. I swear this kind of thing is most uncommon—”

“Just tell me how to help her,” Brandt cut him off, his deep voice rough with command. He sat on the edge of the bed, one massive hand still stroking Lexi’s hair. His golden eyes blazed with controlled fury. “They put some kind of metal device inside her, and it’s stuck. She’s in a lot of pain.”

Dr. TOo-loo’s four eyes widened in dismay.

“Oh dear…they used a officer on her, did they?” He leaned closer, his face drawn with sympathy. “Oh, I’m so sorry, my dear.”

Lexi swallowed hard, nodding miserably. She was afraid if she answered him, she would start crying again and this time she wouldn’t be able to stop.

“It’s got some kind of metal nubs on it,” Dr. Brandt said, his voice still choked with fury. “I can see them all around the base and I’m pretty sure they cover the whole fucking thing.”

“Yes, yes.” Dr. TOo-loo shook his head sadly.

“I’ve seen this kind of thing before. The nubs on the outside of the device are treated with a substance that forms temporary chemical bonds with the inner skin of the victim.

Painful bonds, you understand—designed not to break when the punishment ends so that the device must be torn out. That’s part of the cruelty.”

“Fucking barbaric!” Brandt snarled, his chest heaving. The bed shifted under Lexi as his big body tensed.

T’linga laid a trembling hand on her mate’s arm.

“Isn’t there something we can do to help her?” she pleaded. “Lexi is my friend—it hurts my heart to see her pain.”

Dr. TOo-loo’s expression turned thoughtful.

“You know…actually, yes. I do have something. A kind of solvent I’ve been working on, carried by the very Bacillus Aurum we study. Wait here—I’ll bring it to you at once.”

He hurried from the room, the ends of his white toga flaring behind him. Lexi lay stiffly, listening to her own ragged breathing, every pulse of her body reminding her of the awful thing still inside her.

Please, Gods, please let him have something that works, she prayed. There didn’t seem to be any kind of Emergency Room here—no doctors standing by to help her with this kind of situation.

Her eyes burned with tears. She wanted the damn thing out of her but couldn’t take any more pain. Not now.

Moments later, Dr. TOo-loo returned, a small vial clutched in one purple hand. The liquid inside glowed faintly blue, like liquid moonlight.

“Here we are!” His voice was high and triumphant. “This ought to do the trick.”

Brandt rose from the bed at once and crossed the room to meet him. The two men bent their heads together, speaking in low tones. Their voices rumbled too quietly for Lexi to make out the words, though she strained desperately to hear. Every nerve screamed for relief.

Her heart pounded as she watched the vial of blue liquid change hands.

Please let it help. Please, anything to get this thing out of me!

At last, Brandt straightened and turned back to the bed. His massive body filled her vision, but this time the look in his eyes wasn’t only fury. It was grim determination.

“Thank you,” he rumbled over his shoulder to Dr. TOo-loo and T’linga. “We’ll let you know if we need anything else. But for now, what we most need is privacy.”

“Of course, of course,” Dr. TOo-loo agreed quickly. “Come, T’linga—let’s leave them alone.”

The two of them slipped from the room, the door sliding shut behind them.

Brandt came back to her side, sitting heavily on the bed. He cupped the back of her head in one big palm and showed her the vial. The blue liquid shimmered under the lamplight.

“All right now, sweetheart,” he rumbled, his voice low and reassuring. “I think we have something here that’s really going to help you.”

Lexi’s eyes widened. Relief surged through her chest so fast she almost sobbed.

“Oh thank God,” she whispered, reaching for it with a trembling hand.

But instead of pouring it on her or pressing it to her lips, Brandt uncorked the vial—and lifted it to his own mouth.

Lexi froze, her hand suspended in the air, as she watched him tip back his head…and drink the glowing blue liquid down in three long swallows.