Page 9 of Reflex

Spook already had his hand on the latch.

It took a moment when his face hit the metal panel for the impact to register.Then explosions went off right across his brain, while black holes danced in his field of vision.

“I said not happening, fuckwit.”

It seemed his legs would give out, but the heavy form that moulded itself to his back kept him upright.

There were hands pawing at him again, one around his throat, the other exploring the delineations of his abs.“Celibate, my arse.Like anyone over the age of twelve ever looked at you and believed it.”

The grip on his throat tightened, which created a static buzz in his ears.A trickle of blood ran down from his temple and blinded him in one eye.“I’ve seen the articles.That bitch Elspeth spilled it all for you, eh?Let the world know what you are.”

The hell what?

He managed to gulp down a breath, and the spike of oxygen in his lungs provided a few seconds of clarity.Whoever this guy was, he wasn’t security.No lammy.He’d probably just walked in off the streets.

God, he was fucked.

It was vital he didn’t pass out.

The pain through his skull felt like someone smashing pint glass after pint glass over his head.Static filled his ears.

“Get off me,” he slurred.He managed to jerk an elbow back into the guy’s ribs, but all that earned him was another kiss from the metal door.This one drove his teeth into his lip, so that he was now tasting blood as well as having his vision blurred by it.

“Don’t worry, Goldilocks, I’ll give you a good time.”

The hand on his throat tightened even as the one pawing his abs jerked down to encompass his cock.Revulsion boiled through his core.

“Oh, look at that.Is that for me?”

Despite everything, he was still sporting a semi.How the fuck did that work?

Why were the body’s fight and flight mechanisms so nonsensical?

“Like it rough, do you?Good.So do I.You’ll like what I’ve got for you.And we won’t be using lube.”

He fought with everything he had left in him.It wasn’t enough.The jerk was rubbing his cheek against Spook’s hair.Then, a set of teeth grazed his earlobe, setting off a cold trickle down the side of his neck that congealed in the hollow of his collar bone.The world began to collapse in on itself.

“You deserve this, you little piece of filth.You’re a fucking animal.After all you did… How’d you like being trussed up and fucking used?”

“Motherfucking hell!Get off him.”The explosion of sound sheered a pathway through the static.Simultaneously, the pressure on his throat eased, allowing his lungs to fill, and the support holding him vertical was removed.Spook’s knees buckled, dropping him like a satellite falling from orbit.

“I’m going to put you in the fucking ground.What the hell do you think you were doing to him, you sick bloody fuck?”

Spook rolled.Curled.He was still in the grimy corridor, which was even less salubrious now, thanks to some fresh blood splatter.A waterfall of green and purple appeared right before him.He blinked, unsure whether his vision was playing tricks on him, only for the colour explosion to reform into a familiar visage.

“Paul?”he croaked, through a throat full of thorns.

“Spooky-man.Right here.”He was treated to a shit-eating grin, before the big friendly giant laid his fists into the slug on the floor again.

A wall of boots arrived maybe a second later, then again, it might have been hours.

“That’ll be enough, Mr Reed.Security can handle this from here.”

“He’s masquerading as fucking security.”

“We said back off, now.”

“Do it, or I’ll have you locked up and processed too.”Yeah, Spook knew that voice.Their manager.And he would too.Graham Callahan was a bastard like that.