Chapter Eleven

Tallulah

X avier manhandles me in the dungeons. He's got me pressed with my back against the bars, holding my arms behind me, his breath hot against my ear as he taunts me. I can feel how wet I am, my arousal leaking through my panties and coating my thighs.

"Xavier, please," I whimper, wriggling my hips.

"What is it, angel?" he whispers, soft but dangerous.

"Fuck me," I whisper.

"Do you deserve it?" He laughs against the shell of my ear. "I don't think so. At least not yet."

"Please," I beg, my voice catching.

"Beg."

"I'm begging, please. Fuck me."

He chuckles, releasing his grip on my arms, but pressing his cock harder against my backside.

"You'll have to wait," he whispers.

"Xavier," I groan, pushing back to feel his hard length against me. "I can't wait anymore. I need your cock now."

His fingers brush through my hair, toying with it, pulling it. His teeth bite down on the shell of my ear.

"Then touch yourself," he orders. "Let me watch you play with that pretty little cunt. Make yourself cum."

"Yes, Master," I whimper, slipping my hand between my legs and feeling how wet and needy I am.

I'm about to dip a finger inside, but Xavier grabs my wrist and stops me with a dark grin. "No fingers."

"Then how..."

He smirks and pushes his foot between the bars. He's wearing lace-up, black leather boots. "Get on it."

I obey wordlessly, like the mindless toy he's turned me into.

"You'll fuck my boot," he whispers. "Until you cum."

"Yes, Master," I gasp.

I start to move my hips, slowly riding his shoe, and I can't stop moaning as his hands slip underneath my dress and play with my tits.

"Master," I whimper.

"That's it, angel," he whispers. "Polish my boots with your cunt. Get them nice and clean."

I cry out, and my knees go weak, but Xavier holds me up, forcing me to keep riding.

"You can take more," he orders. "Until I say stop."

"Yes, Master," I groan, grinding on his foot until the waves of pleasure take over and I lose track of time, lost in a sea of ecstasy.

Moans rip themselves from my lips, and I keep going.

"Please, can I come?"

"Not yet," he growls, his nails scraping against the skin of my nipple.

"It's too much," I moan. "I can't take it!"

"It's not enough," he laughs. "Edge for me instead. Do not come."

"Yes, Master," I gasp, the waves crashing over me, so hard, so intense. I can feel the orgasm building, and my whole body is tense, ready to snap.

"Don't come," he hisses.

I try, and I fail. I come, screaming his name, and it's like a bomb going off, exploding through me, tearing me apart, sending my brain into orbit.

"For fuck's sake," Xavier hisses, taking his foot away and letting me collapse against the bars. "You didn't listen."

"I'm sorry," I whimper.

"Oh, you will be," he promises.

***

My eyes flutter open. I'm no longer in the dungeons, and the sun is setting.

I sit up and stretch, glancing around. I'm back in my childhood bedroom. I have no idea how they forced me up here, or how I managed to fall asleep. My last memory is drinking some golden milk, then the dream.

The dogs aren't here, and I remember they stayed in the dungeons with Xavier. I run to the door and try the handle. Predictably, it's locked. I let out a scream and bang my fists on the wood, hoping the sound will draw attention.

It does.

The lock clicks, and the door opens. My mother steps inside. She's dressed in a tight red dress, her hair and makeup done perfectly. She smiles at me, a sinister twist of her lips.

"Where's Xavier?"

"In the dungeon, where you left him," she smiles.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, backing away.

"I'm just the messenger," she shrugs. "Don't blame me."

"Then tell me," I snap.

"Xavier has been punished," she says simply. "For what he did to you."

"Punished?" I hiss. "What the hell do you mean, Mom?"

"His eye," she says. "His eye has been removed. As his wife, it will be your duty to take care of him, and his wounds."

"What?" I roar.

"He'll have a glass eye, so you can't see the difference," she adds. "But it's gone. And that's the punishment he was given."

I stare at her, and then, I fly at her.

"You bitch," I snarl, but my mother is a small, lithe woman.

She steps to the side and my momentum carries me into the wall. Pain flares up in my head and my shoulder, and she grabs me, pulling me back.

"You will not disrespect me, Tallulah," she hisses. "Especially not over the man who hurt you."

"He didn't hurt me," I hiss.

"Oh?" She arches an eyebrow.

"He saved me. From this. From you."

"You don't mean that," she says. "He's brainwashed you. He's made you his little sex slave. I will not let that stand."

"I don't give a fuck," I snarl.

"Oh, honey. You should."

"What else are you going to do? Kill him?"

She shrugs, and I realize the answer is yes. "I'm your mother. Your loyalty is to me, not him."

"I'll never choose you," I hiss.

"That's a shame. But you don't have to. The decision has already been made."

She smiles, softly touching my cheek. I grimace and force her palm off me.

"Worse things will happen if you disobey," she says, her smile cruel. "Xavier is the example. And it's working. You're being very well behaved. I'm proud of you, Tallulah."

I turn away. I can't stand to see her face, let alone look her in the eyes.

"I'm glad you're on the right path," she whispers. "If you cooperate, your life can be a very good one."

"It can't be," I spit.

"Oh, why not?" she asks, genuinely curious.

"Because," I growl. "As long as Xavier is suffering, my life is a living hell."

She nods. "Well. Then it's a good thing he's going to die, isn't it?"

I stare at her, horrified.

"Don't worry," she says. "I'm sure Xander will make it quick. I only wish I could be there to see it."

I fly at her again, and this time, her reflexes are too slow. She falls on her ass and I pounce, my fist hitting her face. She screams, and I keep going, punching her again and again, my blood pounding.

I'm not stopping. Not this time. I'm going to kill her.

But suddenly, I'm being pulled away. Liberato holds me against the wall, and two other guards pick my mother up.

"Are you alright?" Liberato asks my mother.

"Fine." She picks herself up, swiping at the scratches I've left on her skin. Her fingers come away bloody, and she glares at me. "I suppose I deserved that."

"You fucking did," I hiss.

"Lock her back in here," she orders. "Restrain her if you have to."

"Wait," I snap. "I want to see my husband, please. Mom... I love him. I can't help it."

Mom's features soften.

"You've done so well, Tallulah," she says, nodding. "Alright. Let her go, boys. But keep an eye on her."

"You won't regret this," I say.

"Oh, I already do." She turns to the guard. "Take her to her husband."

He nods and gestures for me to follow. I walk out, and Liberato takes me down the stairs and into the dungeon. The other guard stays outside, and the door is locked behind us. I rip myself out of his grasp and run down the now familiar hallway, screeching my husband's name. But when I come to the cage, I find it empty. My father sits in front of it, holding a glass jar.

"Is that..."

"His eye," he nods, turning the jar slightly and letting the blood-stained orb roll inside.

I swallow the bile that rises up in my throat. "Where is he?"

"We didn't torture him," Dad says.

"What?"

"We didn't torture him," Dad repeats. "He decided to do it himself."

"Why?"

Dad shrugs. "Because he's fucking crazy."

"He's not."

"I disagree," he smirks. "He cut out his own eye, Tallulah."

"You forced him to," I scream. "Where is he? Where's my husband?"

Dad puts the glass jar down and approaches me, gently laying his palms on my shoulders. "It's too late now, mija."

"What?"

"Xavier will not survive the night. Not where he's going."

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Xander," he mutters. "He left with two hundred of my men, as agreed. Not long now until we hear back. If we do. Xander might just kill him on the spot."

"You monster," I hiss.

"This was all your doing, Tallulah," he says. "I had no part in any of it."

"Liar!"

"No," he snaps. "I'm not a liar. If you had never been born, none of this would have ever happened."

"Then why have a child?" I manage brokenly. "Why submit an innocent kid to an already decided fate? You made a deal with the devil, Dad, and you know it. You promised me to Xavier before I was even born, for fuck's sake!"

Dad groans, running his hands through his hair.

"You never should have had me," I whisper. "But that was your choice, not mine. To condemn me for your own sins."

"Tallulah, stop," he says.

"No! Why? So you can keep pretending you're the victim here?"

"Stop, for fuck's sake!" Dad presses his palms against his ears. "It doesn't matter."

"Of course it does," I spit.

"Not to anyone except you and me," he hisses.

"And what about Xavier? Does it matter to him?"

"Fuck, no. He would have done it all anyway. For fun."

"You're wrong," I whisper.

"Why?"

"Because, he loves me."

Dad scoffs. "Don't kid yourself. He's just as ruthless as I am. He'll do whatever it takes to get the job done."

"You're so wrong."

"I'm not. You don't even know him."

"And you do?"

"I know him better than anyone," Dad growls. "Better than his own brother, even better than his wife. Don't you fucking forget that."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means," Dad says. "He's still just a pawn. We all are. Pawns in a game."

"Whose game?" I demand, shaking him by the shoulders to wake him up from this hazed trance he's in.

"Xander's," he mutters. "It was always his game."

"Stop rambling, you lunatic," I growl.

"It's the truth. He's been playing us all. He's the real king, Tallulah. He was born for it. But his crown is stained with blood. Just like his hands. He'll kill us all if he has to."

"He wouldn't," I argue.

"He would. If he could get away with it. Which he can." Dad groans, pacing the hallway. "We're all fucking doomed now."

"No, we're not," I say resolutely.

"How can you say that?" Dad growls. "I can't put my faith in Xavier, he's stabbed me in the back too many times."

"Then don't," I hiss, raising my head proudly. "Put your faith in me."

"What?" Dad looks up. "Are you mad?"

"Probably," I shrug. "But I can't lose hope. Not yet. We need a plan. We have to save Xavier."

"No," Dad snaps.

"I'm doing this with or without you, Dad," I hiss.

"Tallulah, don't be foolish," he snaps. "Xavier is a lost cause. Even if he gets back alive, and that's a big fucking if, there's no coming back from what he did."

"What's that?" I hiss.

"He took Xander's... life," he mutters.

"Xander's still alive and well, from what I know."

"You don't get it," Dad growls. "You don't get it at all."

"Then fucking explain," I snap.

"I can't. You wouldn't understand. All I can tell you is... Xander won't stop tormenting any of us until his brother is dead. Xavier is his target. That's a fact. Nothing can change his mind."

"Well," I whisper. "We'll have to try."

"Why?" he asks bitterly.

"For our family."

Dad laughs, a sad little sound. "What family?"

I take his hand and fight the urge to dig my nails into his skin. "You. Mom. Mathilda. Me."

"Tallulah, stop. It's too late." He shakes his head. "I'm sorry, mija, but it really is too late."

"Not until I'm dead," I say. "Even if it means I have to kill Xander myself."