“I will get us free,” I snarl.
Breaking from their grasp, she grips my face and kisses me quickly. “No, I will. “Trust me, Akuji. Stay alive.”
She is torn from me and dragged out of the room as I roar her name. My heart breaks at the determination I see in her eyes, knowing she is going to get herself killed for me.
For my people.
THIRTY-FOUR
ARIA
Ileave my heart with Akuji, feeling his eyes boring into me as his roar follows me down the corridor. At the end, I buck in their arms. Talia turns to me with fear in her eyes as she’s dragged down the left corridor.
“Hold on! I will get us out of here!” I shout after her.
“I’m sorry!” she yells back before she is gone and I’m alone with them—alone with the humans whom I’m beginning to hate. At least with monsters, what you see is what you get. If they are mad at you, they will tell you. If they hate you or want you dead, you’ll know and they will act on it. There are no sly games, minced words, or ulterior motives with the monsters.
They are brutal but honourable.
In contrast, the sick, twisted humans take what they want and do whatever they want without consequence. They let our own people starve while they experiment on them, hurting anything or anyone they want without repercussions.
For now.
They will soon learn that they messed with the wrong street kid, because I have something to lose now, something to love, and they want to take it away from me. I won’t let them take him away from me.
I’m led into one of the labs beyond the corner. Luckily, there are no dead monsters in here, just an empty, sterile table I am forced to lie down on. I listen to them for now, playing the long game. I won’t escape without my whole family.
That means playing it smart and doing as I am told…for now at least. I grit my teeth as they draw blood, take my fingerprints, and complete eye scans. My body is placed in a machine, and my heart is checked. They even inspect my teeth. Each and every single inch of me is poked and prodded.
When it’s over, I’m exhausted but also pissed. They treated me like cattle, like something lesser than them, and I memorise their faces as they work around me, barely sparing me a look. They will be the first ones to die. Hell, I might even let Akuji rip them to pieces for touching me.
Hours later, I’m led away again, but down the left hallway instead of the right. There are more metal cells down here, but I can’t hear or see into them. A cell door stands open at the end with guards outside, and I’m pushed inside. I whirl to shout at them before I spot Akuji. He’s chained to the wall and going crazy, but when he sees me, he stops and settles down, the black bleeding back into his eyes. The door slams shut, and a minute later, the chains unlock. Akuji springs free, uncaring of his injury, throws me over his shoulder, and rushes to a darkened corner of the cell, where he curls around me with his back to the door as he hides me from everyone. His hands touch every inch of me, and his tail wraps around me like he’s worried they will take me again.
“I’m here, shh, I’m here. I’m okay,” I tell him over and over, stroking his face, horns, and chest as I try to calm him. His growls turn into a low purr, and he buries his head into my neck, breathing me in. His claws tighten on me to the point of pain, but it’s better than the cold prodding touches of the scientists, so I soak it up.
“I could have lost you,” he finally whispers after a while. I tighten my hold on him and close my eyes.
“But you didn’t.” Pulling back, I grip his face. “And you never will, but we need to play this smart, Red. We need to get out of here and take everyone with us. They have monsters here in every cell, being hurt and used and much worse… Even kids.” A snarl sounds, and I nod. “We have to get free, but we have to use our brains. Wait for now, and let’s determine the best way out. We all go or none at all.”
“Spoken like a true leader,” he says, rolling us so I’m beneath him. His tail snakes between my thighs and pushes them apart as he strokes my pussy through my jeans. I drop my head back with a gasp.
“We can’t, that’s playing into what they want,” I protest, even as I lift my hips to give him better access. He nips my lip and then my neck, biting deep until I buck beneath him.
“I need my mate.” His voice is gravelly. “I need to feel you beneath me to know you’re okay. Fuck what they want. Let them watch if they want to. I’ll kill them all before we leave, but you’re mine and I need you.”
It’s the desperate quality to his voice that has me relaxing. He’s right—I need him too. They can watch, I don’t care. I’m not ashamed of my need for this man, this monster.
“I can’t be soft, Aria, not this time. Not when I came so close to losing you. I need to feel you wrapped around me and hear you screaming my name,” he snarls, biting my neck. His eyes illuminate the room in a red glow, indicating how close he is to the edge.
I welcome him with open arms and legs, holding him tight. “Then fuck me, Akuji, because I need that too.”
I need to feel him to know he’s alive and to feel our connection while our future is adrift.
Kissing me softly despite his words, he rolls back and rips off my jeans before tossing them away. His claws grip my shirt, but I warn him with narrow eyes, and with a growl, he tugs it up rather than cutting it. Instead, he creates a choker with it, tightening it around my arms and throat before he flips me. Panting, I struggle to draw in a breath from the restriction of my shirt.
For a moment, I feel embarrassed that they are watching this, but when I feel his talented tongue circling my clit, I soon forget. He strokes me with it before dipping it inside me, finding me pulsing and wet. His tongue drags out of my pussy and slides higher, and then my eyes widen and I stop breathing.
His forked tongue flicks at my asshole.