The Sect (12 page)

He leaned forward, his breath flittering around the fine hairs behind my ear. “Keaton,” he cooed. Grabbing my hair, he wrapped it around his fist and lifted it from the back of my neck. His soft, warm lips kissed the area between my shoulder blades.

I clenched the fist, grabbing handfuls of the sheets, fighting against the warm tingling sensation between my thighs.

His lips moved up, making me shudder when they reached the nape of my neck, kissing me there and allowing me to feel the tip of his tongue between his kiss. He exhaled sharply, increasing the tremors of my body. “I’m as talented with making a woman scream, cry, and beg for me while she’s squirming around in pain as I am with making her do those things through pleasure. I’ve got your number, princess. Fucking you, touching you—anything I do to your body that will make you come—will break you. We’ll keep that little secret between us. But…if you’d like to prevent me from testing out my theory, you should probably listen. Because if Reven wants me to hurt you to make you obedient, I’ll give into it. I’ll make sure every inch of your body is decorated in beautiful marks.
 

“When you’re all tucked in bed, unable to fall asleep because you can’t close your eyes without thinking about me and getting wet, I’ll come into your room and make you fall on your fucking knees and beg me to fuck you. And when you get to that point, Keaton, I’ll make your pussy mine.” His hand cupped my ass and slid to my slit. I froze immediately as he discovered another secret. Ashamed and embarrassed, unfettered tears streamed down my cheeks. His lips brushed against the nape of my neck, kissing me there again.
 

“Shh,” he whispered heatedly against my skin. Slipping one finger inside me, he allowed his teeth to sink into my flesh as he groaned. His fingers slowly entered and exited me, making me feel a foreign sensation. Something that made me clutch the sheets like my life depended on it and moan softly. My body felt like it was singing an impossible note.

My wet sex made sloppy and noisy sounds as he rocked his fingers at a teasing pace inside me. Aroused and wanting more, my hips moved, rocking against the motion of his fingers. “You’re too easy, princess. You’re already dripping wet and ready to come for me.” After withdrawing his fingers, he pushed down on my spine; the bed to protested and bounced back, forcing me onto the floor when he released me.

He retrieved the key from the bed and winked at me prior to making his way out of the bedroom.

When the click of the door and the sound of the lock announced his departure, I finally exhaled.

Feeling dirty and disgusting, I ran to the bathroom and turned on the shower. Instead of the hot water, I forced my body to sit in the cool, pelting stream, soaking my dress and making it cling to my body. I stood there, punishing myself until the heat he’d left on my skin began to cool. I didn’t feel compelled to wash the places he touched me, I just wanted the feeling he invoked to go away.
 

Returning to the bedroom, freezing and dripping wet in my dress, I stared at the food that was slightly disarrayed on the tray. Sweeping the tears from my cheeks, I stepped closer, spying something next to the plate of filet mignon and scalloped potatoes that was difficult to miss. Reaching down, I fingered the brightest and most beautiful pair of red and yellow rosebuds, bound together by their stems.
 

I sat gently back on the bed with my gaze cast to the door as if Noah still stood there. I churned through my thoughts, trying to make sense of the reason for the flowers and how he was able to get them out of season.
 

Either Noah was picking my pocket, or someone else took pity on me, wanting to make sure I maintained my determination.

I took the bottle of water from the tray and walked over to the window. Propping it atop the windowsill, I placed the stem of the flowers inside.

As I stared at the true piece of beauty, the hope began to return. I would escape no matter what portion of myself I had to sacrifice to reach that escape. They could do whatever they wanted to do with my body. My mind had detached itself from it a long time ago. They would never dissolve my spirit or devour my mind. Noah knew my secret and it was only a matter of time before he used it. If I was to escape, I had to do it correctly and make sure I would never be caught.

T
HE
P
AST

I’d spent weeks on the street and training myself not to speak, even when spoken to. I understood the scope of what Jeff tried to teach me when I had a near miss with a drunken lunatic who groped me. Jeff’s military training came in handy and while I wanted to stop him, I didn’t; I knew better. The look in his eyes was that of a predator, focused on his prey and nothing would stop him. His restraint made sure neither of us wound up in jail. Since that night, I followed everything Jeff told me to do. It was just as important to his survival as it was to mine.

“Him.” From across the park bench, he pointed his chin to a man sitting alone with a sandwich and tablet in his lap.

Sighing, I shifted my position to stand.

Jeff waved his hand at me, telling me to wait.

I fidgeted and rocked on my heels as if I had to urinate.

“What’s wrong with you, mute?” He looked over at me, examining me as if he was trying to find something wrong. “Go behind the tree.”

I shook my head, held my hands up in the air with a shrug, and pointed my gaze to the man.

“Why him, huh? I guess I can tell ya.” He fingered the dirty toothpick in his mouth and threw his arm back behind the backrest. The gesture usually inundated my nose with his revolting scent. Eventually, I became accustomed to his smell. The reason pointed to the fact I probably smelled as bad as he did. Cleanliness was important to prevent infection, but not a necessity. We cleaned when we could in the public bathrooms of the Metro Station, fountains, or at water pumps.

“His eyes,” Jeff finally spoke. “Thing about people around here, they have everything. Because they have everything, they can’t see us. They don’t want to see us. ‘Cause they can go home to their oversized houses and expensive cars, they can afford not to see us. Hell, and they wonder why their lives are so empty. Some people wonder why the rich can be so unhappy. I don’t. I know the secret. You see me here. You think I’m depressed? Hell no. This is the happiest I’ve ever been in my durn life.

“I know you don’t want to do this, mute. But see my buddy over there…” He pointed to the man under a tree. His hat was turned upside down as he held a sign:
‘Homeless Vet. Please help.’
“That man hasn’t made much of a dollar all week, but you know what? I go over there right now and tell him I’m hungry, he’ll give me his last fifty cents. That is happiness, mute, because that’s love.”
 

He scowled at the sight of the wells of moisture threatening to trickle down my cheeks. “Don’t get all teary-eyed on me now. Not all of us are that way. But some of us know how to appreciate the little things. Like the sky we sleep under, or finding a few pennies someone threw away. People like you, your family, they don’t see the little things. They want the bigger things, because they can’t appreciate the big things they already have.” He gestured toward the mark. “That man over there isn’t going to miss a single penny of what you take. I bet he has a hundred, and that hundred-dollar bill is going to buy lunch for every person who is hungry in this park. Sometimes you gotta do bad to do good, kid. Now, go on. Get. I got your back, and cut that crying out. Nobody wants to see that mess. You’re supposed to be a boy. Boys don’t cry and carry on.”

Nodding, I sniffed back my tears and pulled my baseball cap further down on my head.

He was right about everything. When my nimble fingers took the stranger’s wallet while he threw out his lunch, I found a few hundred dollars.

Jeff was ecstatic over my find. After shelving two hundred of the money for a reason he wouldn’t disclose, he tasked me with going to the local fast food restaurant to buy lunch.
 

Most of the employees turned their nose up at me. A single cashier agreed to service me. When I gave her the hundred-dollar bill, her eyes glinted with question. She quickly shrugged it away and promised she wouldn’t call the authorities on me.

She said she understood, because she could barely pay her rent with two jobs.

 
Jeff’s words of wisdom suddenly had a new meaning.
 

I slipped her twenty dollars from the money I stole. I hoped Jeff would understand, as I understood what he meant earlier.

I had to lose everything to gain something more valuable.

I
HAD
counted three sunsets before pessimism threatened my determination. It was so easy to hope for when there was so little to look forward to. On my fourth night of fitful sleep, it was abruptly disrupted.

A warm, soft hand went over my mouth. My first thought was to scream until I saw Jayme’s green eyes staring back at me. She pointed to her mouth and shook her head. She was dressed in white pants and a white parka with a fur-lined hood. She clasped my hand and helped me to sit on the edge of the bed. She placed a pair of sneakers—that were a size and a half too big—on my feet. I grabbed the parka she’d placed on the bed and slipped into it, zipping it up.

She offered me her hand again. Her eyes pleading with me without presuming whether or not I’d take it. With a nod, I slipped my hand into hers.

The dark of night gave us cover as we walked. The snow crunched underneath our feet as we rounded the palatial estate and headed for the stables. Our presence made the horses stir. I checked out the stalls, counting three black horses of the same breed. I peered out of the open barn door toward the dense forest packed with evergreen trees. The snow was an ethereal dark blue hue due to the full moon.