The Sect (11 page)

I pushed the strap of my backpack farther up on my shoulders. “Jeff, please. I can’t go home. I won’t get in your way. I promise. I’m fast and…I’ve been told I have a soft touch. I can help. I just want to help. I won’t get in your way. Honest.” I choked up, sending my gaze to the ground as large tears welled up in my eyes. “Please let me stay.”

Standing up straight, he chewed pensively on the toothpick dangling from his lips. “I heard a couple of the white collars talking a while back. When I didn’t see you around here for a bit, I thought two plus two equaled four. Was he your guy?”

I nodded.

“And the guy who got off is the one who did him in, huh? Is he coming for you?”

Through the clouds of my tears, I peered back at him. “He will never stop.”

He looked around in moderate paranoia. Satisfied that no one was paying attention to us, he nodded at me. “Go on and cut that crying out before someone sees you.” He toyed with his toothpick, his eyes softening. “Well”—looking around the park, his frown turned less extreme—“it’s lunch time and the greedy guts in the park have taken the prime pickings. You said you had good hands, huh? Let’s see. I’m going to teach you how to pickpocket.”

S
ITTING
ON
the fainting couch, I hugged my knees to my chest and stared out of the window I had discovered was nailed shut. There wasn’t a clock or a calendar to be found in the room. I happened upon The Rebirth Doctrine in a nightstand drawer and read it as the days’ sunsets came and went.
 

It was as I suspected. Everything sacred was related to sex in some shape or form. The key scripture The Doctrine was derived from contained passages from Song of Songs. One verse was highlighted, the verse where Solomon professes to be a shepherd when he is, in fact, a king.

Later passages detailed the beliefs of the members of Rebirth: The human body was for pleasure. Pleasure served as a vessel for good. The sharing and inflicting of pleasure upon others exalted a worshipper’s status. The more they engaged in carnal pleasure, the better their blessings and roles inside the house. There was talk of the church/theater on the property, a vessel for their purpose.

I had ideas as to what occurred there, but they all seemed unfathomable. It was made very clear in what I read that Reven and his selected “right hands” were exempted from any and all principles contained in The Doctrine. He was for all intents and purposes above the laws he created.

Day by day, I wished it were all just a twisted nightmare I’d someday wake up from.

I counted the sunsets—seven—that poured through my window. Food was brought to my room by the silent chef I had encountered my first day here. It was a delectable smorgasbord, somehow neatly confined to a plate. While the food was appetizing, I lacked the appetite to eat much of it.
 

I caved on the third sunset, only because I had to. It was a little difficult to eat with two of my back teeth missing. The sutures had long since dissolved, but I found myself having to adjust the way I ate. When I did eat, I made sure to leave more than I took in when the cook returned to retrieve the plate.
 

Jayme came to see me once, but after giving her the silent treatment and blocking out her chatter about how venerable Reven was, she eventually left.

I was going out of mind. Aching for fresh air and true human interaction from someone real. Someone outside of Reven’s influence.

As I dug my nails into the bedpost, I continuously flipped through channels with the other hand. I sang to the rhythm of the chaotic voices—and sometimes moans—emitting from the television. The door opened and I immediately stopped singing my nonsensical song about what I saw on the flat-screen.
 

Never moving from my stomach down position, I looked over my shoulder, catching the sight of Noah. I blinked, thinking he was just an apparition due in part to the slippery grip I had on my mind.

He carried a tray of food and placed it on top of my bed. After seeing the tray of the same type of food I’d been served for days, I turned my gaze back to the screen.

As he walked by the mantle, he turned off the television. Striding toward the overstuffed chair in the corner of the room, he turned around to face me and I could see the glint of his white teeth in my peripheral vision. “You peg me as self-indulgent, princess. Am I wrong?”
 

I dropped the remote on the bed, watching him as he sat down in the chair. Every move the man made was filled with confidence, a tinge of wickedness, and an overwhelming amount of sensual prowess. It was a swagger I had never encountered in person, and it continued to provoke sensations inside of me that I couldn’t suppress.

 
He crossed his ankle over his knee, staring at me. I pretended he didn’t exist by returning my gaze to the black screen of the television until I heard the rattling of paper, calling my attention back to him.
 

With a skewed smirk, he unwrapped a piece of chocolate and shoved it in his mouth. Groaning, he closed his eyes and rubbed his stomach. He slid his hands into the pockets of his pants as he slouched back in the chair. The motion made the broad muscles in his shoulders and chest press against the material of his white button-down. He was well shaven and smelled like the crisp clean scent that he always wore.

My tongue moistened my bottom lip, remembering the intoxicating taste of chocolate and wanting it badly. My reaction made his deviant smile deepen.

Adjusting in the seat, he reached behind him, dug in his back pocket, and held out a piece of wrapped chocolate.

My heart thumped in my throat, straining my ability to swallow. I knew taking it would mean something I wasn’t ready to convey. I searched his eyes, wondering if he was an individual whose pocket I could pick. I studied him in an attempt to determine if I could. Instead, all I received was disappointment. Submitting to him in the moment wouldn’t garner his loyalty; it would garner something I didn’t want.

“I watched you with him.” He tossed his leg down and stood with fluid and few movements. He trudged toward the bed at a heart-stopping, slow pace.
 

I quickly bolted off the bed to stand on the other side.

It didn’t deter him as he rounded the bed, continuing to walk toward me as my steps moved backward. “You didn’t suck his cock like someone doing it for the first time. You did it like someone who’s had more than their share of cum parties in their mouth.” Keeping me locked in his gaze, he held out the piece of chocolate I silently declined earlier. “I also noticed something else. The disgust on your face. Not because it was forced on you, but something else. Some other reason. The look on your face was the look I usually see on the people who I leave bleeding and trembling, begging me to stop hurting them. I think I know the secret to breaking you, and it isn’t with pain.” He eyed the sudden trembling of my hands, his face drew full of self-satisfaction. “I’m sure you want to keep that a secret, don’t you?” He quirked a brow, his smile tempering. “Don’t you want that, princess?”

I looked from the chocolate he extended to me, back to him, and shook my head. My footsteps receded until my back met the bordering wall. The realization of being alone with a man who could easily overpower me and knew the secret to breaking me sent the panic coursing through my veins, choking me with its debilitating effects.
 

In slow motion, he shrugged, unwrapped the piece, and stuck it in his mouth. He chewed purposefully; his eyes trained on me, studying me.
 

He rushed forward with such haste that I jumped. He locked me against the wall, his simper making me shake just a tad bit more. “You think you’re revolted by the idea of sex, but the problem is, you’ve met too many selfish assholes. How different would it be if you’d met a man who made your body do things you didn’t know were possible? It’s not too late for you to experience that, princess. You know how I know that?

“You couldn’t keep your eyes off me when we first met. Your thighs clenched together the moment I introduced myself. You had drool dripping from the corner of your mouth when I smiled at you. How easy would it be, me, the man you pretend you don’t want, to make your body respond to me?”
 

Lunging forward, I pushed my chest against his but barely moved him. My purpose was to find something and it was quickly preempted. He was faster than I thought humanly possible. His hands wrapped around my wrists before I could withdraw, keeping them locked inside his back pockets. “If you wanted to touch my ass, you should’ve begged first.” His grip strengthened as he began to chomp his teeth while grinning at me. His lips slowly parted and showed me the key I was looking for, lodged underneath his tongue.
 

My jaw unhinged, staring at him in awe.

“Are you wondering how I did that? I’m a magician…or maybe I’m just really talented with my tongue.” He closed his mouth again, making it disappear. “If you want it, come and get it.”

I moved my arms to try to get away, but he was so strong, it only served to make my wrists burn from the pain of his harsh grip.

He wrapped one massive hand around the back of my neck. I waved my arms around in protest, trying aimlessly to make him stop touching me. My fight did very little to discourage him as he sent me to my knees.
 

Stomach down, he forced my upper half flat onto the bed. The more I writhed and struggled, the tighter his grip became. The pads of his fingers felt like acid against the delicate skin on my neck.
 

His body neared me, towering over me, commanding me to be still. He spit and the key landed right beside my head. I stared at it with my palms clutching the mattress, unable to move. Knowing what he wanted, and that no matter what I said or didn’t say, he was going to take it from me, I gave up my fight. I choked back a sob, straining to keep quiet and avoid giving him any further encouragement.

A throaty, short laugh resounded throughout the room. “Submit but don’t break so easily, princess. We just got started.” He crouched over my body, keeping a firm hand on the back of my neck. “The way you behave reflects on me, and I have very little patience for your bratty behavior. Do you understand what I expect of you, Keaton?”

Silence served as my defiance because my body was too exhausted to continue the battle.

The back of my dress was yanked up to my hips. I barely projected a “No” before a harsh and hard slap was heard when it hit the curve of my behind. It was brutal and forceful. The pain pervaded my body, forcing my mind to quiet.