Page 65 of The Sterling Acquisition (Manufactured Mates #1)
“You want to know what your precious Dante really thinks of you?” Leo’s free hand yanked at Orion’s shirt, tearing fabric. “He called you a ‘test subject’ in his reports. A ‘high-value asset.’ Just another piece of corporate property to be collected and catalogued.”
Orion tried to buck him off, but Leo’s weight and the chokehold made him weak, desperate.
His lungs burned for air that wouldn’t come.
Somewhere in the distance, he could hear gunfire—Dante engaging the remaining corporate forces.
A surge of panic rose in him—not just for himself, but for Dante fighting alone while Orion struggled beneath Leo’s weight.
“It doesn’t matter that he took your virginity,” Leo snarled, his hand moving to Orion’s belt, fumbling with the buckle. “It doesn’t count when it’s manipulation. When it’s corporate conditioning designed to make you compliant.”
Terror flooded through Orion as Leo’s intentions became crystal clear. He clawed at the forearm crushing his windpipe, leaving bloody scratches, but Leo was beyond pain now, beyond reason.
“I’m going to take you home,” Leo continued, his voice taking on an almost sing-song quality as he struggled with Orion’s pants. “And I’m going to cut off your fucking legs if I have to. Chain you to the bed. Keep you there until you understand what I was offering you. Until you appreciate—”
Orion’s vision was graying out, his struggles growing weaker. But through the haze of oxygen deprivation, his fingers found the rock again—jagged, heavy, slick with his blood.
“You did this to me!” Leo’s voice broke, tears streaming down his face. “You made me do this! I never wanted to hurt you, but you wouldn’t listen! You wouldn’t—”
Orion brought the rock up with everything he had left.
The impact made a wet, meaty sound. Leo’s forearm jerked away from his throat as he screamed, blood pouring from his shattered nose.
Air rushed back into Orion’s lungs in painful gasps, but he didn’t stop to recover. He rolled Leo off him with desperate strength, scrambling on top of the bleeding Alpha’s chest, the bloody rock still clutched in his fist.
“You never wanted to hurt me?” Orion’s voice was a ruined rasp, but the words carried clearly in the sudden quiet. “You bought me like a fucking pet!”
He brought the rock down again. Leo’s hands came up to protect his face, but Orion smashed through them, crushing fingers, splitting knuckles.
“You chained me up!” Crack. The rock connected with Leo’s temple. “You starved me!” Crack. His cheekbone caved in. “You beat me for sport!”
Leo was blubbering, begging, but Orion couldn’t hear him over the roar of his own blood. A year of helpless rage poured out through his arm, through the rock, turning Leo’s face into hamburger meat .
“And you thought—” Crack. ”—you could—” Crack. ”—fucking—” Crack. ”—rape me?!”
The rock kept falling. Leo’s pleas dissolved into wet gurgles, then silence, but Orion didn’t stop. Couldn’t stop. Not until Leo’s skull cracked like an eggshell and gray matter spilled out onto the rocks beneath him.
He raised the rock again, vision tunneling, when strong hands caught his wrists.
“Baby, it’s okay.” Dante’s voice, calm and steady despite the gunfire still echoing across the valley. “He’s dead.”
Orion looked down at what remained of Leo’s face—or what had been his face. The rock tumbled from his numb fingers as Dante pulled him into a fierce embrace, one hand cradling the back of his head.
“It’s okay,” Dante murmured against his hair. “You’re safe. I got you.”
Orion pressed his face against Dante’s neck, leaning up to scent him and breathe in the comfort of black tea and cherries and sweat that smelled like safety. A wave of relief washed over him, so powerful it made his knees weak.
“I couldn’t stop,” he whispered, voice muffled against Dante’s neck. “I wanted to keep hitting him until there was nothing left.”
“I know, baby. I know.” Dante’s hand stroked his hair, gentle despite the blood coating both of them.
They held each other in the sudden quiet, the distant gunfire fading as the last corporate operatives fell or fled. Then Dante pulled back, glancing down at Leo’s mangled corpse.
“Well,” he said conversationally, “at least he’s finally useful for something. The carrion birds will appreciate the easy meal.”
Orion laughed—a broken, hysterical sound that turned into something closer to a sob. “You’re terrible. ”
“I’m practical.” Dante’s thumb brushed across his cheek, wiping away blood and tears. “And you’re magnificent.”
For one perfect moment, they were the only two people in the world. No corporations, no contracts, no one trying to own or break or use them. Just Dante’s steady presence and the knowledge that Leo would never touch him again.
From the corner of his eye, Orion caught a flash of movement on the ridge. The Regulator with the spotting scope shifted position, now aiming something longer, sleeker toward their position. The realization hit him a fraction of a second too late.
Not a spotter.
The crack of a high-powered rifle echoed across the valley.
Dante’s expression went blank with shock. He looked down at the spreading red stain across his chest, then back up at Orion with something like surprise.
“Well,” he said mildly. “That’s unfortunate.”
Then he toppled to the side and hit the ground like a felled tree.
“Dante!” Orion dropped to his knees beside him, hands pressing against the wound. Blood welled between his fingers, hot and slick and far too much of it. Terror gripped him as he felt Dante’s life slipping away beneath his hands. “Dante, stay with me!”
Gray eyes found his, already going unfocused. “Sniper,” Dante whispered. “Gensyn. Left ridge. You need to—”
“I need to stop this bleeding!” Orion’s voice cracked. “Don’t you dare die on me, you corporate asshole!”
Footsteps crunched on gravel. Orion looked up to see six figures in Gensyn tactical gear approaching, rifles trained on both of them. Their leader—a severe woman with dead eyes—spoke into her radio.
“Package secured. Subject is wounded but stable. Request immediate extraction.”