Chapter Twelve （Land of the Living）

CHAPTER TWELVE (LAND OF THE LIVING)

HAZEL

I woke up crushed in the corner of white padded walls. My eyes closed again—dying was exhausting. My fingers flinched and I looked down, seeing the straitjacket was gone. The sound of pen across paper was the only sound in the room.

Zero was crowding me into the corner, looming above me as he wrote in a notebook.

"Welcome back," he said. With me sitting and him standing, my line of sight was in a very interesting spot. I turned my face, pressing my hot cheek against the padded wall. Across the room, I saw the mattress. It was burnt to a crisp from when I reincarnated.

I could almost feel the weight of his body on mine still. Almost taste his lips between whispered words of warning. I swallowed thickly.

"Why are you so close?" I asked.

"In case you needed to be subdued but you're very calm. Did my therapy work?" I pulled my knees tighter to my chest and hid my face in them.

"I'm not calm. Your cock is in my face and I don't know what you plan to do to me next." I could feel the blush creeping up to my ears. The sound of pen moving across paper stopped.

"Is there something you'd like for me to do?" He asked. I curled my toes and fiddled with the edge of my skirt. Yes . I couldn't make the words come out.

"We could work on your touch starved issue," he said. My eyes widened.

"Who told you I was touch starved?" I asked forcefully, looking up at him. My chin was inches from the bulge in his pants. I recalled he said he read Orson's file. "How would Orson know that?" Zero looked down at me trapped in the corner. My favorite part of his eyes was the bottom lashes. They were long and thick, sometimes clinging together.

"Orson didn't tell me," he said, dropping the notebook on the ground. His hand reached out, pressing to the top of my head.

"What are you doing?" I asked quickly as his fingers slid down the back of my head. He pulled me closer. I felt lightheaded as my cheek rested against his pants. I could feel him through the cloth.

"Is this therapy?" I asked.

"Touch therapy is a thing."

"Is this touch therapy?" I asked quietly. Was he blurring lines? Was I? When I moved my mouth to speak I could feel him hardening.

"Yes, this is therapy. Rub against me," he said.

"What?" I asked incredulously. "Why here ?"

"Why not?" He asked, holding me in place. "Like a cat," he commented in humor. The inflection in his voice spurred me on. I rubbed my cheek across him. His fingers twitched on the back of my head.

"Keep going," he said while moving his hand away. I nibbled my lip and rubbed my cheek across his cock again. His fingers brushed my face softly. I had the sudden urge to press my lips against his pants and kiss. I pulled away sharply, shocked at myself.

"Five minutes, Hazel. Keep going until I say to stop." He pushed his hand in my hair, letting the red strands wrap around his fingers. "You want me to continue your therapy from now on, right?" I blew out a breath. I did. I really did. I moved onto my knees and let him guide my head back to his body.

"What did Orson say in my file?" I asked. It was either talk or fidget. I felt vulnerable and flustered.

"That you have anger issues."

"Anger issues!" I seethed while running my cheek across him.

"Yes." Did his voice sound breathier than before?

"What else did he say?"

"There was mention of a particular type of necrophilia." Fair . "PTSD—"

"PTSD!" I felt outraged. I realized I'd stopped moving when Zero's palm cradled my jaw. He pressed his hips forward and I realized he was painfully hard. It was difficult to breathe for a moment. I wanted more.

"Five minutes, Hazel," he repeated. The man in charge of the asylum was making one of his patients rub against his cock like a cat in one of the padded rooms.

This was fucked up.

What if he pulled himself out? What if he told me to put him in my mouth, feel him heavy on my tongue? Make him come… Was that still touch therapy?

"He suggested a psychopathy scale test, listed sadism, masochism, implied erotic fixations surrounding death—" I closed my eyes and ran my cheek across the swell of him.

"I talked to him for ten minutes," I whispered.

"He's very thorough in looking up patient history," he whispered back. All I could hear was our breathing as I finally gave in, pressing my lips to the outline of his cock. My tongue flicked out, dragging up his pants. I was still only doing what he asked. I looked up, watching him.

Intensity was behind his eyes—a coiled energy in the depth of his gaze. His body was tight, the muscles all strained. It felt like something wanted out but was trapped, unable to break through. I wanted to liberate it. I wanted to see what the cool, apathetic Doctor Stein would do if the control snapped.

"Well, well, well," Gonzo said. I tried to pull away from Zero, but he gripped the back of my head, keeping me exactly where I was. Suddenly Gonzo draped himself across Zero's shoulders, twirling a key ring around his finger. He grabbed the spinning key in his fist and smiled down at me.

"What do we have here?" He rested his chin on Zero. "Don't stop on my account."

"Someone gave you a key," Zero said.

"No. I'm an excellent pickpocket. I'm a criminal after all. Doctor Stein, you wouldn't happen to be taking advantage of a patient, would you?" Gonzo asked. He looked very pleased with himself. Zero looked away from me and dropped his hand.

"I said, don't stop on my account." Gonzo's words had an edge to them.

"He's not taking advantage," I said after finally finding my voice.

"Well then…" Gonzo grabbed the front of the doctor's pants and opened them up. Zero's eyes widened as Gonzo reached in and fisted his cock, pulling it out.

"I didn't know cocks could be pretty," Gonzo laughed, gripping the base in a tight hold. Zero winced.

"I wasn't going to go this far," Zero said.

"I find that hard to believe," Gonzo responded. "Hazel," he looked down at me from Zero's shoulder.

"Yes?" I asked, my eyes latched on to the cock in front of me. It was long and smooth. Yet, its size was cruel—cold and unrelenting just like the man himself. And it was so hard. I'd made him that way.

"Is this against your rules, Hazel?" Gonzo asked. I looked up at both of them. Two pairs of brown eyes, one darker than the other. My mouth watered as they looked at my lips. This was touch therapy, I told myself.

"No," I whispered. Gonzo raised an eyebrow as a new smile spread across his face.

"Have you ever sucked a cock before?" He asked. I shook my head, looking down at my knees. Only a second passed before my eyes were dragged back up to theirs. I was addicted to the view of them looking down at me. Zero was breathing heavier even though his face was still stone. He reached out and brushed his fingers over my cheek.

"A first. You should be honored, doctor." He was still gripping Zero's cock, holding it up right in front of me. Gonzo pressed his hips against Zero's, making him thrust forward.

"Did you lock the door back?" Zero asked. His eyes wouldn't leave me.

"Afraid of getting caught? We haven't even done anything yet."

"Did you—"

"Yes," Gonzo replied with a sigh. "Open up, Hazel. I've got something I want you to try." I nibbled my bottom lip then did as he asked, opening my mouth. Gonzo's eyes softened, a lusty haze taking over his expression.

"Just like that, princess," Gonzo rasped, pressing his hips against the doctor's, moving him towards me. The tip of Zero's cock pressed against my tongue. He sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes widening again. I'd never seen so much expression on his face. It was addicting, I wanted to see more. I closed my lips around the head of his cock.

Right beside Zero's face was Gonzo's, staring down at me slack-jawed and breathing heavily as if it were his cock in my mouth.

"Such a good girl," he groaned as I leaned forward. I felt Zero's cock fill my mouth, sliding down the length of my tongue. I pressed my lips tightly around him and sucked. "Fuck, princess," Gonzo groaned. I almost believed he could feel it himself.

Zero's expression was downright feral. The intensity I saw before was spilling over. When my tongue began to move against him he sucked in a sharp breath. I couldn't look away from his eyes, even as I worked my way back up and down his smooth, long cock.

The irises wavered, didn't they? It looked like they were growing but that wasn't how eyes worked. I remembered my dream when I first woke up here—how Zero's eyes had split in two.

"It feels good, doesn't it?" Gonzo asked him with a smirk. "It better, since it's going to get you fired."

Zero shoved himself back in his pants and ripped himself away. Gonzo responded in full, tackling the doctor to the padded floor with ease. Gonzo laughed.

"Where's your drugs now, doctor? You ain't shit without a syringe." Gonzo was pinning him to the floor. He was a brawny shifter using his unnatural strength. I could see the corded muscles in his arms as he tightened his hold on the doctor's neck. Zero started shaking and Gonzo looked practically giddy, his smile stretching wide across his face.

"Is Doctor Stein scared?" He asked, his eyes starting to glow gold. His teeth were sharp in his mouth. "I like trembling," he growled.

Zero wasn't trembling though. The laugh slithered out and raised the hairs on my arms. I gasped and Gonzo reeled back, his eyes widening. Dread filled my stomach and my heart beat faster. I couldn't explain the physical response, but I wasn't alone in it. Gonzo was trying to get distance, quickly scrambling back on the ground to get away.

The laughter stopped. Gonzo was breathing heavily. His eyes flipped to me, scanning my body as if checking to make sure I was okay.

"Tricksters seem determined to risk death or punishment. One has to wonder if they want it. Is that what you want, Gonzo? Do you want to be punished?" Zero turned his head. Through the long strands of hair that broke free from the band, you could see his eyes. They felt like they were sucking you in. The glasses were gone, lost on the floor somewhere in the fight.

Gonzo shook his head.

"I've seen your dreams," Zero said. Gonzo blanched. Zero's eyes slid to me and he smiled wider. "I've seen yours too." I sucked in a sharp breath. What ?

Zero closed his eyes and relaxed. The tension in the room suddenly lightened. Gonzo and I didn't move an inch, staring at him with bugging eyes. Zero sighed, grabbed his glasses, and slipped them back on as he stood. Then he walked over to his doctor's bag. There was a box next to it that I'd noticed earlier. Gonzo looked over at me with a big what-the-fuck expression that I mirrored. We both stood up.

"Here," Stein said and suddenly something fuzzy and alive was thrust into my arms. An orange cat looked up at me with enormous pupils, its tail flicking about.

"Uh…" The cat sank its claws into me and meowed loudly.

"Shit," I hissed, loosening my grip on it. It continued to glare at me but settled down in my arms. I grimaced.

"I read cats were good for stress," Zero commented.

"Stress?" I asked, staring at him. This had to be a joke. "You want me to be in charge of a small, helpless animal inside an insane asylum filled with predators?"

"Petting them is what helps the most." He reached out and the cat hissed. That didn't stop him. He dropped his hand on its head while it bit and scratched him.

"Yeah, that looks relaxing," I said sarcastically, eyeing his mangled hand as he pulled it back, seemingly satisfied with the result. "You do know cats don't normally do that when they get a pet, right?"

"Not true. They do it every time. You'll get used to it." I looked around for a camera to see if this could be a prank. There was no camera in here. Probably for the best, considering what just happened… My face burned.

Gonzo had had enough of watching the exchange.

"What game are you playing?" Gonzo asked.

"You're the one playing games," Zero said. Gonzo scoffed.

"Bullshit. You…" He ate his words, shooting a look over at me. I sighed in frustration.

"You two aren't saying something and I'm right in the middle of it, aren't I?" Gonzo and Zero glared at one another, neither admitting anything.

"I'm leaving," I said, dropping the cat on the ground. It ran back into its box. Zero touched my arm.

"Don't tell anyone what happened here." He looked over at Gonzo, including him.

"Afraid to lose your job, doctor?" Gonzo asked with a smile. Zero reached out and grabbed us both. I sucked in a sharp breath as his hands gripped our jaws, pushing us into the corner. The room felt like it was spinning, I wasn't sure how I kept my feet on the ground. Then suddenly everything else in the room dropped away as I looked at his eyes.

"Two little animals caught in my grasp," he said. His half-lidded eyes were endless.

I had no will to fight against him, none at all. Gonzo at least looked like he wanted to fight. His teeth were gritted and his hands were at his sides, balled into fists.

"Don't tell anyone about what happened in this room. Especially the sex acts." The doctor's thumb brushed over my mouth. He looked like he wanted to lean in and kiss me again.

"Why do I give a shit?" Gonzo hissed.

"Because your plan is flawed. They won't fire me. I'll still be in here with you but I'll be angry."

"And I won't like you when you're angry?" Gonzo joked.

"You really do want to be punished," Zero said.

"Fuck you," Gonzo hissed. Still, he didn't push Zero off. Could he? Could I? He wasn't particularly strong. Gonzo was much stronger. Yet we both just stood there, letting him press us into the corner.

"If you tell them I kissed anyone. If you tell them you did something sexual with me. They'll kill you."

"I didn't do anything," Gonzo insisted. I did though. Did he not care?

Zero let go of me and gripped Gonzo's throat, leaning forward.

"Then let's make sure you have just as much to lose," he said. Gonzo sucked in a sharp breath of shock and then their mouths met. Zero shoved two fingers into Gonzo's mouth, forcing it open as his tongue made its way in. Gonzo pushed on his chest and tried to bite his fingers off but it didn't work. I saw his tongue against Zero's, kissing him back even though he looked pissed. His furious eyes were glaring at the other man as he was pushed against the wall.

"Now," Zero said, pulling back. "On your knees."

"What?" Gonzo asked in shock.

"Get on your knees and open your mouth. I've got something I want you to try," Zero said with a small smirk, parroting Gonzo's words to me earlier. He gripped Gonzo's shoulder and something snapped in Gonzo. He tackled Zero to the ground in an instant, pinning him belly down on the ground in anger. His hips ground into Zero's ass for a startling moment and then he ripped himself away with a furious growl. He stomped over to me, grabbed my hand, and pulled me to the door. When it opened the orange cat fled down the hall.