8. Anders

Chapter eight

Anders

I hated her. She hadn't done anything directly to me, but still, she made me furious. Something about her big innocent eyes and her timid mannerisms made me want to dig into her and draw out some real, genuine emotions. She'd been in the basement for over a day now, and Erik, of course, had gotten bored when he realized she was not going to try to rip us to pieces and fucked off to do god knows what. Jesse wandered down every few hours, always with a different excuse, asking if we were hungry or checking if I needed a break. But, really, he was checking up on the girl, it was written all over his pretty, dumb face. I sat in my chair, my laptop propped up on my legs, watching her and making notes as she slept in her bed.

Her abilities were much less impressive than the rumors had led us to believe. Even I had been expecting more than… this, based on how her father and her brother kept her locked away for themselves. Evidently, she was more of a prized trinket than an actual useful tool, which was very disappointing. I was impressed that she used her power on us at all—or at least tried to.

From the few bits of anecdotal evidence I had obtained, powered individuals didn't affect each other the same way they affected regular people, although it varied to a certain degree. Her power wasn't as effective on us, clearly. I had felt it on the edges of my consciousness, just a gentle little glimmer of power, asking to be let in. Fuck, even her abilities were timid.

I scowled up at the window, studying the rise and fall of her chest as she slept, feeling the thrum of her blood like a steady presence in my mind. My power was indiscriminate, but it was more difficult to use on the freaks with powers, and it took a greater toll on me physically. If I wanted to kill someone like Douglas, he'd have to be standing right in front of me. I was working on that, but of course, I didn't have a lot of options for practice.

Another presence pushed in along the periphery of my mind, and I sighed in mild annoyance, shutting my laptop briskly. "I know you're there, Levy," I announced coolly, glancing around the empty room. I smirked and stood, closing my eyes so I could focus on my surroundings. If I concentrated, I could see the low pulse of his blood, radiating from the far corner of the basement. I opened my eyes and stalked forward, aiming for the area just to the left of where I knew him to be.

"I know you've been watching her too," I told him, swinging my arm out in front of me lazily, all the while his presence radiated off to my right. "I'm surprised you aren't in there right now, stroking her hair while you watch her sleep."

A spike of heat and blood rushed upward, telling me that his cheeks were turning red. He might be invisible, but his blood couldn't lie to me. I spun and lunged while he was distracted, wrapping my arms around a body that my eyes insisted wasn't there. "Caught you, Ghost." I smirked, shoving him backward into the wall. I pinned him with my hand, and he stopped struggling immediately, his chest rising and falling as his breathing hitched. We were eye to eye, height-wise, but he outweighed me by at least fifty pounds of muscle. And still, he was wonderfully pliable in my hands. "Are you bored and looking for me? Or are you just perving on our captive?" I asked, holding him against the wall.

"I'm not perving," he muttered, his heart pounding faster under my hand. I smirked, catching him in the lie.

"It's alright, you can watch her, I don't mind." I grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the window, shoving him in front of it. I caught Levy by the hips as he tried to move away, forcing him to still, facing into the room. The girl's face was poking out of the covers, her lips parted as she slept.

"Did you like it when she had the ball gag in?" I asked, sensing as his blood rushed lower, surging below his waist.

"It wasn't right, she's harmless," he replied softly, and I slid my hand around his waist, feeling his dick growing hard under the sweatpants he was wearing.

"Oh, I see. So you didn't like how I tied her arms up then?" I taunted, and he shifted against me, groaning as I stroked him. "Would it rather have been you?" I murmured. He slumped forward, his hands hitting the wall as he braced himself, relaxing into me and letting out a soft moan. We'd been so busy planning this stupid stunt that I hadn't gotten to play with him in a while. I slipped my hand under his waistband and ran a thumb over his head, smirking as he hissed out a breath through his teeth.

"That would be fun," I mused, giving his balls a rough squeeze. "I could tie you up down here and edge you for hours while you watch her sleep."

"Anders, please," Levy begged, the sound music to my ears. I pushed more blood into his groin, and he swore, pushing back against me.

"Good boy," I murmured, stroking him from base to tip. His control was wavering, and flickers of him shimmered in front of me—his buzzed-short hair, the pale blue of his tee shirt, the thick muscles of his shoulders as he tensed in front of me—before disappearing once more. I gave his balls another light tug, and he groaned desperately. I looked through the window and saw the girl shift on her bed, her eyes blinking open in the dark room.

"Uh, oh, looks like we woke her up." I smirked, letting go of Levy as he sagged against the window frame. He liked to be left aching, desperate for more. Sometimes, I'd torture him for days before I'd give him a release, it was something of a hobby of mine.

I grabbed a plate that I'd set aside for her. On it I'd put a sliced apple with a little cinnamon, some Greek yogurt, honey, my homemade granola, and a multivitamin. She felt… sickly, weak. I didn't like it. It bothered me almost as much as her delicate manners. "Take this in to her," I told Levy, holding it out in his general direction. I watched the blond slip of a thing climb out of bed, her nose wrinkling when she looked down at the state of her dress. I'd left a pile of clothes in the bathroom for her to change into, while she'd been asleep. If she didn't get the hint and used the fucking shower soon, I'd make her. She was starting to make me itchy just looking at her.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Levy muttered, and I rolled my eyes, thrusting the plate out once more, until I felt him grab it.

"Erik will make you. sooner or later, you know that. And if you do it for me, I might be inclined to reward you for it later." I smirked. The edges of the plate disappeared as he gripped the sides, and it appeared to float through the air toward the door.

Finally, now this should be interesting to watch.