“Look at that pussy.”
Hearing the lust in the man’s voice churned bile in my stomach. I desperately tried to swallow as I shook my head from side to side. The blindfold wasn’t tied gently as Rett had done it before and after our meals. Each movement of my head pulled at my scalp as if my hair was tangled in the knot.
“Boss said no.”
Thank God.
Whoever the boss was, I was certain that it wasn’t Rett.
I knew somewhere deep in my convictions that he wouldn’t approve if I was naked. And if the boss these men mentioned was Kyle, if my brother—or the man raised as my brother—was truly alive, I wanted to speak to him, to ask him what this was all about.
I would assure him that I held no designs on New Orleans.
My body flinched as something cold and sharp touched my breast.
“Watch her nipples. The bitch wants one of us to fuck her.”
No, asshole. I’m scared, not turned on.
The sensation returned, this time to my other breast. Although I did my best to not react, laughter from both men bounced throughout the room.
“I’m fucking tired of watching and not touching. Take off the gag and make her suck us.”
“That might work. He didn’t say nothing about fucking her mouth.”
My head thrashed back and forth as one of them came closer. In my hyper state, the combined smell of body odor mixed with a sweet tobacco scent added to the revolt in my stomach.
I coughed as the gag was pulled from my mouth, leaving the spit-drenched material to fall around my neck like a disgusting necklace. After moving my jaw from side to side, I found my voice. “If either of you puts your dick in my mouth, I’m biting it off.”
My face moved quickly to the right as an open palm slapped me hard and more male laughter bounced off the walls. A grasp of my hair and my neck snapped upward.
“Bitch, if you bite me, I’ll pull those pretty teeth one at a time.”
“She’ll be real good at sucking then.”
“You’ll be busy mourning your manhood.” I brought my lips together, braced for another slap, as my hair was released.
A loud noise rattled through the room, sending a chill over me. I tried to make out what I was hearing. There were too many sounds. Commotion continued and was then accompanied by rapid-fire pops. That’s what they sounded like. It reminded me of the snap noisemakers I’d played with as a child.
My lips came together and my face inclined as warm liquid sprayed over me. Before that could register, something like a small blanket covered me.
“Rett?” I called into the abyss created by the blindfold.
Since I’d awakened tied to a chair, until this moment I hadn’t considered what Rett’s response might be. After all, this happened because I did what he’d told me not to do. “Rett?” I called a bit more apprehensively from behind the material covering my eyes.
Relief washed through me as warm lips met mine. They were familiar, firm, and strong. Though mine were bruised, I pushed back toward him, longing for a connection.
Strong hands framed my cheeks as he pulled away.
“Tell me they didn’t hurt you—rape you.”
Tears of relief flowed from my covered eyes as my head shook. “I was so scared.” I had been. I hadn’t faced that reality, but now with Rett’s hands on my cheeks, the fear flowed through me, inciting more tears. “How long? What time is it?”
A kiss came to my hair. I wasn’t certain why he continually did that, but the familiarity of it caused my body to tremble with relief.
“Too long, Emma, too long. It’s late.” His tone hardened with each sentence. “Decoys threw us off. You walked into a waiting trap, one we should have seen. More than those two men will die for what happened today.”
“You’re angry.”