The Sect (17 page)

I never thought I’d miss something I didn’t think I cared about.

My flower had long wilted in the windowsill and so did the disease of hope I once had. It cured itself to make way for depression.

I’d never see my parents or Jeff again.
 

I would die in this place. The place that slowly dug its nails into the soul I thought I’d lost and almost succeeded in extracting it from my body.

I
COUNTED
thirty sunsets of isolation. I couldn’t count the chef—who wouldn’t speak to me and only served the tray, taking it away when I was done—as company. I showered twice, sometimes three times a day. I’d been forced to read The Doctrine over and over again to entertain myself. Television would’ve made what I felt worse. Eventually, the mantras in the book began to make sense:

We were born sexual beings.
Agree.
Society oppresses our sexuality when it should be explored proudly and openly.
Beginning to agree.

The quiet creak of the door pulled me out of my daze. I’d fingered invisible music notes to a melody that was stuck inside my head into the duvet cover of my bed. The low hum in my throat sung quietly along, putting a voice to the song developing inside my mind.

“Get up, princess,” barked Noah’s familiar, gruff voice.

My body remained still, only my eyes darted up to him as he stood in the doorframe. His cold gaze shocked my brain with the memory of what he forced me to endure. He wanted me to fear and crave him all at once. Regardless of my battle to never fall prey to what he wanted, over thirty days’ time, my body had other ideas. The closer he walked toward me, the more my body trembled in remembrance. I ejected off the bed and drew my legs together with my hands resting in front of my pelvis, preventing a view of one of the two things that were aroused by him.

He fought with a smirk and drew his hand down his face to wipe away the expression. “Reven would like to have dinner with you.” His voice was clinical and just as cold as his face had suddenly become. It wasn’t daunting or threatening, giving me a slight indication that dinner wouldn’t be just dinner. “Have you showered?”

Nodding, I smoothed my hands over the wrinkles in my red silk dress. The painful pit in my stomach pulled me deeper into the dark abyss, and I had no idea how to get out. I just knew one thing. The dinner wouldn’t serve as a time to redeem myself, instead, it was highly likely they wished to dig their fingers into my mind and make me give up the one thing that still belonged to me.

I wasn’t sure what I expected, but I definitely didn’t expect dinner by candlelight in the dining room. Jayme was in attendance, as was Adam. One woman and two men, who were strangers to me, were also there. Noah walked around the table, pulling out my chair, and directing me to sit between Jayme and another woman.
 

I sat down tentatively.
 

“Nadine,” said the woman next to me without offering her hand. She was a beautiful, dark-haired woman, dressed in a white silk dress the same style and cut as the one I wore. Her shoulder length midnight-black hair was styled in voluminous curls, draping perfectly around the alabaster skin of her shoulders and face. Her large round blue eyes regarded me coldly in contradiction to the smile that crossed her thick, dark rose lips.
 

Reven arrived and took a seat at the head of the table. “I’m glad you could join us, Keaton. I don’t believe you’ve met the other men. May I introduce you to Sander and Radley.”

I looked at the men across the table who gave me a nod. Sander was ruggedly handsome with closely cropped dark hair and dark features to compliment his copper skin tone.
 

Radley’s beauty was almost feminine, and he could nearly pass for androgynous had it not been for his broad jaw and even broader form. He was very fair skinned, with shoulder-length light chestnut hair and pale blue eyes.
 

The cook appeared—with two other women of the same age and build as she—behind her. They served Reven first before providing the rest of the table with food. Noah remained standing at the far side of the room and he wasn’t alone. The two men who accompanied him when he found me in the forest stood a few feet away from him.
 

When a bowl was placed in front of me, I thought nothing of it until I looked around the table. I was served broth while my fellow diners had plates of various foods. A burger and fries, a slice of pizza, or linguine. I assumed from the disorganized selection of foods that everyone was provided with their favorite meals.

“You haven’t met Nadine, have you?” Reven smiled with pride. “She’s been quite busy. The dress color she’s wearing is earned. She’s very close to becoming a prophet for Rebirth, a recruiter for our cause. She’s absolutely stunning, isn’t she, Keaton? I’m not sure I’ll make it through dinner without the need to fuck her on the table.” His lascivious gaze worked its way down her body, making her blush and thank him for his attention.
 

The grip Jayme held on her fork became white knuckled. Her face reddened, showcasing her anger.

“Jayme, I notice you are having issues with your food.” Reven barely looked her way when he addressed her. Instead, he continued to gaze at Nadine with adoration. “If memory serves me correctly, coconut shrimp is your favorite. You know it displeases me to see food wasted, especially when said meal is a gift you don’t deserve.”

Jayme dropped her fork and smiled timidly. “No, Reven. I’m very grateful for my meal.” Using her fingers, she stuffed a piece of shrimp in her mouth.
 

I had to wonder if her mistreatment was due to my failed escape attempt. I looked down at my bowl, noting that I was only given a fork. I picked up the bowl, ready to slurp it down.

Startling me, Reven ejected from his seat and marched over to me. He swept his arm across the table, sending my broth flying to the floor and doused the side of my lap with the hot soup in the process. “Disobedience at every turn. If I give you a fork to eat soup with, you will eat it with a fork. Now you will eat your meal with a fork from off the floor.”

I looked from him to the pool of soup on the dark hardwood floor, questioning the seriousness of his request. He grabbed me by the hair, lifting me out of my seat and shoved me down to the floor.
 

He returned to his chair and commenced to eating his dinner as though nothing was out of the ordinary. I was left on my knees to watch them all dine on their food while making a big deal of how delicious it all was.
 

I looked between Reven and Noah. It wasn’t that I expected Noah to help me, but I wanted a reaction. He was glaring at Reven from his position in the corner of the room; Reven responded by casting an equally intense look back at Noah. When the two men noticed I’d caught them, they both broke their gazes, staring at something other than each other.

The searing fire of hatred began to course through my veins. I faced mistreatment and was expected to be grateful for every little tiny bit of kindness he offered me. I didn’t care enough to be jealous. How could I ever worship someone who gave me absolutely nothing to feed my soul, my mind, or my body? Reven was a heretic, a lunatic, and an imposter. He took and he took without giving anything in return. He wasn’t worthy of anything he had. The people at the table were manipulated and no longer able to realize the truth of it all—or possibly, they were so frightened by the two most powerful men in the room, they’d given up fighting.

My hands shook as I planted my hand in the liquid, smearing it around the floor. “It won’t work,” I said, my voice throaty and harsh. “Being adored by you—being favored by you—isn’t something I would ever want. I. Hate. You.”

Gasps resounded from various people at the table. Jayme’s head snapped toward me, she shook it, warning me to back down with fear circling inside her green eyes.

I couldn’t care less about what his punishment would’ve been. He and Noah had done the worst; what more could they have done to hurt me?

Reven slowly stood from his chair and buttoned a single button of his suit jacket. He tsked me while ambling toward my position. He snapped his fingers, calling for two men standing in the opposite corners of the room to move from their position. One of the men grabbed a chair from the table, while the other wielded a few yards of rope. The moment their hands touched me, I screamed and struggled. Overpowered, I was held down and tied to the chair. My hands were bound behind my back and my ankles were tied to the legs of the chair, forcing my legs apart. A dinner napkin was stuffed in my mouth, silencing my screams.

A flicker of rage swirled around in Reven’s eyes. “Your physical punishment will come later, but for now…” Leaving his threat unfinished, a taunting smile pressed against the corner of his mouth. With his hazel eyes trained on my face, studying me, he said, “My plans have changed. Noah, I want you to fuck Jayme.” Smiling derisively, his attention darted to Noah.

A glimmer in Jayme’s eyes told that she was hurt and far from pleased with Reven’s request.

Reven tilted his head to the side, a coldness crossing his eyes as he continued to regard Noah. “Do you feel it is beneath you to atone for your sins? You’ve failed to make this one see that our way of life is the only way. That pleasing me and adhering to The Doctrine are her primary and only purposes. If it’s an issue for you, we can always resort to our old ways of reprimanding a herald of my word who has lost his way. You aren’t above the law, Noah. Not anymore. Only I am.”

“No, Reven,” Noah responded through a clenched jaw. “It’s not a fucking problem.”

Reven rubbed his chin, watching as Noah approached Jayme. She gave him no resistance. Instead, she grabbed his head and kissed him hard and fervently. Noah reciprocated, wrapping his arms around her body and kissing her with a wanton passion. The sight left me feeling suffocated.

Noah lifted her on top of the table, moving dishes along her path. He lifted her dress to her waist and unzipped his pants, pulling out his erection. His harsh and almost biting kisses moved down her neck. His hard thickness disappeared inside her.
 

 
“Enough,” Reven barked. “Fuck her,” he demanded, his words curt and cold.

Gripping her so strongly the skin became discolored, he flexed his hips, plunging inside her. Her neck weakened as she called his name as if he was her savior. I shut my eyes, stuck strongly between emotions I wasn’t comfortable with, desire for him and hatred for her.

Reven marched toward me. He grabbed the back of my head and forced me to watch. “Open your eyes or I will have a harbinger glue them open.”
 

With his eyes closed, Noah drove into her violently with hard and fast slams, making the table jerk, the dishware shudder, and provoking her to moan in pleasure. Her hands slid down his body, grabbing his ass through the material of his slacks. “Noah, you feel so good. Ugh!”

I tried to look away; Reven’s grip on my head strengthened, sending a painful throb to my temples. The diners were enamored with what they saw, some touching themselves, others simply enjoying the view. I was forced to watch as Noah plunged into her repeatedly; his movements were increasingly hurried with need. My thoughts toward anger at the scene began to wane. I began to imagine it was I on the table, my legs spread and cradling Noah’s body, the receiver of his penetrating thrusts. I felt it deep inside my core. A burn. An ache that was scorching with heat.

I tried to push my knees together, but couldn’t due to the way I was tied. The sounds of their passionate sex intensified the burn and the sinking pit in my stomach. I couldn’t decipher what it was, nor could I make it go away.
 

What I was sure of was the sight of a man I wanted to hate, having sex with someone else, evoked more sins inside me than I wanted to admit. I envied her. I wanted to be her in that moment. I wanted to know the pleasure she felt, pleasure that should’ve been mine.
 

At one point, I tried to convince myself she was faking it, but I knew better. I knew how skilled Noah was with his fingers and his mouth. His cock couldn’t have been any different. If anything, it had to be better.
 

My need to convince myself of things to abate feelings I couldn’t control were all put to rest when her body trembled with her climax.
 

“Good. Give your gift to Keaton,” Reven requested of Noah.