Page 172 of Scavenger's Oath

He notices.Of course he does.

“Oh… look at that,” he murmurs, tone dark and delighted. “No more fight left in her. That’s good. That’s real good.”

His fingers find my clit too easily and roll in lazy circles that make my stomach clench involuntarily.

“She’s perfect,” he praises, as if evaluating Bennett’s work. “This is where she belongs. She just forgot for a while.”

He slides one hand around my throat, the support beam creaking from the added weight of him behind me. Derek’s bitewound oozes against my weeping back as he presses closer, a wet heat squelching.

Gagging, I pray the bile clawing up my throat will make it. Pain and nausea ripple through me in cold sweats before fire consumes me again.

Then his fingers dip lower, invading my entrance. I try to twist away, but I barely swing the rope.

A broken, pitiful sound escapes me, and he just laughs.

“There it is. Still got that little fire, huh?” he hisses, voice hot against my ear. “That’s cute. I like it when they fight a little. It usually never lasts.”

He starts thrusting his fingers as his other hand releases my throat to fumble with his pants. “You remember this, don’t you Ivy?” he whispers at my ear, breath hot and foul. “The way it felt this morning before you got stupid. This is where you belong. Not with them. Withme.”

My body droops in the bindings, legs weak, the strain in my arms distant now, like it’s someone else’s pain.

Then his fingers yank out of me, the head of his cock lining up.

I brace for it, but the moment stretches thin.

“I waited for this,” he growls, leaning into my ear. “All those nights you slept under our roof, thinking you were better than us. Look at you now. Rope-broke and marked up. I own you.”

“No… y-you don’t,” I rasp, voice a hoarse whisper. “You… n-never will.”

“Shut the fuck up!” Derek roars. “You’reruiningmy moment!”

He grabs me by the hips, lifting my feet off the ground as he pulls me like I’m just hanging meat. My wrists scream with the entirety of my weight as Derek drives into me.

The speed and dryness knock the breath out of me as myinsides burn. I think something tears. Fingers spasming, the cord tightens around my wrists.

For half a heartbeat I see Zane’s eyes, feel his gentle hands at my shoulders. But his eyes narrow, lip curling in disgust as he wipes my blood off his fingers. Then he turns and walks away like I’m already dead.

I almost whisper Zane’s name. But the sound curdles before it leaves my throat.

He won’t come. Not for me. Not after this.

Derek groans low in his throat, yanking me back into the present. “Such a tight little thing. There. She. Is. So warm.”

The pain is so sharp I think I black out for a second. Then a strangled scream rips through my shredded throat, half from pain, half in hope that someone will hear me.

But there’s no one left to hear the cries of a stranger.

Myles appears next, looming at the barn door, eyes blazing like they did the night he found me.

Relief swells—then shatters as he laughs, a low cruel sound, and spits at my feet before turning away. “Filthy,” he mutters.

Any hope for rescue is a foolish fantasy. All I can pray for is a quick death and if I keep pushing them, they might just grant me that.

“She still thinks they’ll come,” Bennett mutters, pacing back into view. “Those dogs. The ones that stole her and hid her away. She thinks they’re going to save her.”

“Nah, she realised it this morning. Should’ve seen the way she cried. It was embarrassing,” Derek laughs as he drives into me again. “They’re probably dead already. Or maybe they’re fuckin’ some other whore in that safehouse of theirs.”

Each thrust is violent, punishing. He grips my hips hard enough to bruise, spitting curses into myear.