24 comments/ 43127 views/ 27 favorites The Wild Ones Ch. 01 By: always_yes Well, hello again lovelies! This is my new series with all new characters in a whole new world! To everyone that followed me after reading Thalia's story I want to say thank you and express again how much your support and your feedback has meant to me. Anytime I'm ever at a loss for inspiration I read all your incredible comments and feel like I can do anything! My editor sometimes wishes I didn't have all that inspiration because I dropped this on their desk at the same time as the edits for Thalia's trilogy. However, with their gracious time commitment I was able to get this up quickly. I hope you all enjoy this opener! *heart* Jennifer Bene / always_yes ***** The Wild Ones Ch. 01 "Dannel, it's going to be okay." Zora said the words even though she didn't completely believe them. A growl rumbled in his chest, his fists tensed at his sides as his lungs rapidly worked air in and out. The dark ink of the wild one's mark in the center of his chest stretched and contracted with each breath. She knew her own chest bore a matching mark, a tree inside a thick circle, the thing that ensured they could never be mistaken for citizens. Not like her red hair wouldn't give that away instantly. For a moment she wondered what he thought of her. Dannel looked so different from the boy she had known. He had been slight, with long brown hair, always quick to laugh. Now his hair was shorter, he looked tall, strong, muscular, and there was no smile on his lips. He was fighting the drug with everything he had, fighting to stay in full control, his muscles trembling, but she knew control wasn't possible with the drug they'd given him. It was never possible. He stood up suddenly and she froze in place a few paces from him. The male facing her wasn't Dannel. Not the Dannel she remembered. She was close enough to see the panic that flitted over his features for a moment before lust replaced it. His eyes devoured her as he physically held himself back against the wall. He was terrified he'd hurt her, that was clear. Terrified he'd get punished for damaging her, one of the twins, and probably even more terrified to have to tell Zane he'd been the one to hurt her. Zora could see the sweat breaking out on his skin, the erection straining the front of his pants, the cords of muscle in his neck and shoulders as he fought the drug. Swallowing her nerves she took another step forward and he held up his hand, "Zora, stop." "I'm here for your use." The long practiced phrase rolled off her tongue easily, and she reached down and pulled the dress off in a fluid motion. Then she took slow, measured steps towards him, slowly closing the gap. Never run. That was rule one. Running kicked off their urge to hunt, to take down. She had to move towards him, to signal her submission, but despite all of her training it was harder than she had thought it would be to approach him. Because this wasn't the boy she'd laughed with when they were younger, played tag with, wrestled with, counted ceiling tiles with to learn their numbers. This was a male under the influence of the primal drug. His voice was a painful ache when he spoke again, his control straining, "Don't." She ignored him. She had to. For both their sakes, she had to ignore his warnings because they both had to perform well in this test or they would be ranked poorly. A poor ranking meant not serving in a house. It meant staying in the government's breeding program, or if it was bad enough being sold to one of the less reputable public breeding houses in the great city. She closed the gap between them and reached out to touch his arm, to calm him. He reacted violently. His large hands grabbed her shoulders and shoved her away from him with enough force that she tripped over her own feet and hit the floor hard. Zora winced as she scrambled up and back from him, ignoring the stinging of her knee where she'd skinned it on the carpet. When she looked back at him his eyes were on her. So dark. The black of his pupils were absorbing the light ring of green around the edges, and he was stalking towards her. No amount of training had prepared her for this. The intensity of facing a male fully under the weight of BC-426. Fear crept like icy fingertips up her spine. This wasn't Dannel. This was a male that would actually hurt her. Zora panicked, her lungs seizing and trapping the air. Then she did the stupidest thing she could have done - she ran. The room was relatively large, and beautifully furnished. Nothing like their dormitories. Zora darted behind a large chair that was poised in front of an unlit fireplace, and when she turned back around Dannel was already on the other side of it. His eyes flashed, and when he moved to the left, she countered. A growl rumbled in his chest, and his lips parted revealing the white of his teeth. "Please... Dannel?" Zora's voice wavered as she tried to reach him, but there was no more recognition in his eyes. Just hunger. He lunged for her around one side of the chair and she leapt away, backing up quickly as he rounded it and came towards her with heavy strides. She whimpered, and glanced behind her to see the huge bed and the wall. Zora tried to shift her angle so she wouldn't be trapped, but Dannel rushed her and tackled her to the floor with a grunt. She cried out as she landed on her side and tried to shove him away on instinct, trying to get him to look at her again, to see her, but he only grabbed her and slammed her onto her back. Her head cracked against the floor hard enough to make lights dance behind her eyes as he pushed her thighs apart with his knees. Her head swam for a moment, and then she was looking up at him, at Dannel, and her training kicked in. Rule two? Never fight. She'd already fucked up. She'd run from him, she'd tried to fight - she'd basically done everything she had been told not to do with a male under BC-426. His hips were grinding against hers, his erection straining the thin fabric of his pants as he rubbed himself against her. Dannel's arms were braced on either side of her head and he was watching her, waiting to see if his prey would try and run again. Don't fight. She had to let him know she wasn't going to fight or he'd hurt her. "I'm here for your use, Dannel." Zora spoke the words softly, and their meaning rang true inside her as she slid her hands into his hair, pulled him down, and kissed him. He was still tense against her for a moment, waiting for her to fight again, but she spread her legs further and wrapped them around his hips. He pressed her into the floor with a groan, his cock rubbing against her clit until she was squirming and growing wet. Dannel broke the kiss first and moved down her neck, breathing in against her skin before biting into her shoulder sharply. She winced, but stayed still, keeping her touch gentle as she held him to her. He sat up and ripped her hands out of his hair, pinning them above her head with one of his. Then he shifted his pants down and she lifted her hips, wordlessly urging him to take her. His eyes were fierce for a moment before he returned his mouth to her neck, nipping until he sank his teeth deep into the place where her shoulder began. The pain was a sparkling heat that rushed down her spine and it made her lift her hips hard against him. The rumble of his growl against her skin made her moan, and then there was a sharp thrust as his cock finally filled her, stretched her. She gasped and moaned, and he relaxed his bite. "Gods, yes..." she groaned and arched her back as he pulled back and thrust again. When she tightened her pussy around him he moaned, grinding his hips against hers until her pleasure amplified and built. It was an incredible friction, a rising heat that always filled her, and made her whimper and moan. Dannel had received the same training they all did, and it was too ingrained for the drug to override. He started to alternate between hard thrusts and sinful rolls of his hips that had her gasping underneath him. Low sounds of pleasure were coming from him now too, his lips parting as he breathed hard above her. His weight dropped over her wrists, crushing them to the floor as he ran his other hand up her side to cup her breast firmly. Dannel's fingers rolled her nipple to send zings of pleasure through her, colliding with the electric pulse from between her thighs. She lifted her chest into his touch, squirming underneath him, wanting more. He pinched her nipple, gently at first, and then harder, the ache turning sharper until her eyes were squeezed tight and she was whimpering. It hurt, but pain was part of the training too, and she tried to focus on accepting it even as her eyes teared. Just as the pain was about to make her plead with him to stop, he released the bud and the rush of pleasure that came as the pain disappeared made her dizzy. She was suddenly, gloriously, on the edge and she moaned his name. He thrust hard inside her in response, pinning her to the floor with his weight, and the orgasm crashed over her with a blaze of heat. Her skin flushed, and she arched against him, her nails digging into her palms as the tingling pleasure ran through her nerves like a wildfire. Zora tugged on his grip at her wrists, the fine bones grinding against each other under his weight. "Dannel, please, my wrists. I promise I won't fight, please let them go." She pleaded with him softly, whimpering as he just gripped harder and brought his hips back to thrust again. This time his mouth found her breast, and his bite was sharp and she cried out in pain, struggling against his grip, which only made him bite harder. The pain was a confusing rush inside her, colliding with the lingering flickers of her orgasm until she wasn't sure if she was moaning from pain or pleasure. She'd always received high marks in receiving erotic pain, as if her body was wired for it. Even when she cried from it, her body reacted, and right now she was slick with how wet she was. Dannel continued to move inside her, the tension coiling again until all she could do was lift her hips to meet his, making his thrusts sharper. Then he stilled on top of her as his cock kicked deep inside her. His body shuddered, and he breathed out against her neck, the hot weight of him covering her. "Dannel..." She whispered and nuzzled against his neck, pressing a kiss to his skin as she tugged gently at her wrists. He finally let them go and she sighed in relief, wrapping her arms around him. They lay like that for several minutes, the only sound in the room was their heavy breathing as they calmed down. Zora realized he was still hard inside her, the BC-426, and she shifted her hips under him feeling the rumble of his groan in his chest. Now was her chance to make up for all of her mistakes early in the test, she could demonstrate her own training, she could save her score. Zora reached for his shoulders and tilted her hips to roll him to his back, but he must have thought she was pushing him away because his hand was around her throat before she could explain. His grip tightened until she coughed when she tried to breathe and her eyes watered. She shook her head, her hands touching his fingers but not pulling at him. As if she could stop him anyway. "Please -" she choked out as she felt her throat bruising. Her pulse pounded behind her eyes and his eyes on her were dark, intense, and roaring a possessiveness as he stared down at her. There was no way to explain when she couldn't speak; she had to show him she wasn't trying to get away from him. With an effort, she ignored the urge to breathe and relaxed under him. Rule three? When in doubt, submit. Her vision was getting fuzzy on the edges, her lungs screaming, her body urging her to fight for air. Zora forced herself to stillness even as the panic surged inside her. Finally, he eased his grip and she dragged air in harshly, and coughed, and gasped again. "Dannel..." she whispered and laid her hand gently on his cheek as she swallowed and winced, "Let me please you." Some part of what she'd said must have gotten through to him because he rolled with her when she tried to turn him over again. She ended up straddling his hips, and she rocked on top of him as she sat up. His eyes devoured her and she tossed her hair back, slowly starting to move up and down, riding him until each down stroke brushed that bundle of nerves inside her that had her shivering. Dannel's hands found her hips and he set the pace with his firm grip, and she met each upward thrust of his hips. He sat up and captured her nipple in his mouth, his warm mouth drawing it in until she was moaning with the pleasure of it. The nip of his teeth across it had her shuddering into a second orgasm on top of him and his strong arms wrapped around her back to keep her moving atop him. Her body was shaking with the after effects, and Dannel simply adjusted her on his hips and stood up with her wrapped around him. He moved quickly, and then the soft bed met her back and he fucked her like that until he came again. Zora lost track of every position he put her in, of how many orgasms she'd had, and she had no idea how long they'd been in the room. Finally, Dannel was wrapped around her, his skin too hot against hers, but she knew better than to try and move away. The last time she'd tried to get some breathing space, he'd yanked her back against his front and entered her from behind. Now, they were drowsy from their efforts, and his cock had finally given up and he was soft against her ass. She squirmed, and a murmur rumbled in his chest. "Be still..." His voice was low and rough, but he'd spoken to her. It was the first words she'd heard from him since he'd tried to get her to stay back from him. "Okay," she whispered to him and he buried his face in her hair, his arm tightening around her waist. It wasn't painful though, it was almost like he was hugging her against his front. His breath blew out over her shoulder, and his touch gentled gradually, his fingers tracing little patterns over her waist. Then his hand stilled against her. "Zora... are you - did I -" "I'm fine, Dannel, I promise." She turned in his arms so she could see his face, and his green eyes were back, the pupils a more normal size. His expression was pained and full of fear as he came back to himself. "I tried to tell you I wasn't in control. They gave me the shot right before they brought you in. And..." He shook his head, his eyes not meeting hers. "What was it like?" Her curiosity was too strong, and she blurted out the question in a hushed voice. Dannel winced like even remembering it hurt. "It was horrible, Zora. I felt - fuck - the second they threw you in here I wanted to take you. It was impossible to fight, I tried, especially when I saw it was you, and it was like who I am just went away. It was just this drive, and I knew you weren't strong enough to stop me, and -" She wrapped her arms around him and he laid his head on her chest as he groaned, his cheek almost perfectly aligned with the mark of the wild ones over her sternum. "It's okay. I promise, I'm fine. You didn't hurt me." "That's bullshit. I remember everything I did, I remember everything, and I'm sorry. Is your throat okay?" Dannel lifted his eyes, running his fingers over the place where she imagined there would be bruises soon if they weren't there already. She wrapped her hand around his and kissed his forehead. "Dannel, I've taken a lot worse than that and you know it. You can tell Zane that I told you I was just fine. Tell him I came more times than I could count." She said the last bit with a smile and he laughed and leaned over her. His lips met hers and she kissed him, and this time it was gentle and soothing. "Well, I was here for your use too. I'm glad that -" Dannel was smiling down at her, mid-sentence, when the door opened and four guards entered. "Get the female." One of the men ordered. The guard that had brought her moved towards her, but Dannel was on the side of the bed closest to the door and he sat up between them. The man paused in front of the bed, and Zora could see the tension in Dannel's shoulders as he stared him down. "Male, you do not want to do this. Move." "Just give us ten minutes to talk, sir." Dannel's voice was low, and when the guard rolled his eyes and moved forward Dannel growled at him and pushed her further behind him as she sat up. Two of the other guards moved forward, and with a flick of their hands the electric batons were out. "Dannel, it's okay." She wrapped her arms around him and he jerked under her touch before relaxing slightly. Zora buried her face against his neck, whispering against his skin so the guards couldn't hear her as they approached, "The test is over, Dannel. Don't fight or they'll mark you down. Please, Dannel, please." The three guards were watching, their eyes evaluating the situation. Then Dannel slowly raised his hands and Zora leaned back as he clasped them behind his neck. The first guard moved forward fast and yanked him off the bed violently. "Stop! He's not fighting!" Zora screamed as one of them pressed the end of the baton against Dannel's side and he jerked as the electric buzz clicked on. When they finally stopped, he was curled on his side, groaning. Zora was furious, "He didn't fight! Why did you do that?!" "Shut up, female." The first guard grabbed her by the hair and pulled her off the bed, and she stumbled as he dragged her past Dannel's still form. "The males always have to be restrained after the test. They're too possessive, this is part of their lesson after the BC-426. They don't get to feel possessive, they are property." Zora flinched, clenching her fists at her sides to fight the urge to grab her hair and ease the strain. He pushed the back of her knee and shoved her into a kneel in front of the man who had never left the doorway. "Alright, wild one, here are the questions. Just answer them and don't piss me off. Do you need a doctor?" The man's voice sounded bored, and she noticed that his uniform was different from the others, nicer. She'd never seen him before. "No, sir." Zora mumbled and dropped her eyes to the floor, even though she wanted to turn and check on Dannel. "Did you receive any injuries during the test that would prevent you from providing pleasure services for any length of time?" "No, sir." "Do you need water or food before you're returned to the female dormitory?" His words made her stomach growl, but it felt like a trick. They were never fed outside of the specified times, and it had never mattered before why they had missed a meal time. Zora bit the inside of her cheek as she debated whether or not to answer honestly. "Female, did you understand the question?" "Yes, sir, and if it's allowed I would like water and food." He sighed and snapped his fingers and the first guard grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. The man spoke again, "Take her by the hall on the way back, they've got plates for the ones testing today." "Thank you, sir." Zora said. "Last question, do you need to relieve yourself?" The man was taller than her, and she looked up at him before dropping her eyes again. "No, sir, but I would like to shower." "Obviously. Make sure the female goes to the showers before you return her to her room. Now leave." With that he stepped past her and she heard Dannel groaning on the floor behind her. She turned as the first guard started to drag her out of the room and she saw the man standing over Dannel. His strong body curved in on itself, his hair catching the muted light of the room, and the two other guards standing with batons ready if he chose to fight. Please don't fight. Just as they started down the hall she heard the man speak again, "Okay male, don't make this difficult, just answer the questions. Do you need a doctor?" - "You should smile, darling, from what I understand you scored very well on the final test! With all the interest you'll probably go to one of the larger houses of Mirelia. A single family to serve. That's such a blessing." Amabel was one of their caretakers, like Torren. She was older, in her late forties and past breeding age, but still a wild one. The mark on her chest made that unquestionable. Her words still grated on Zora's temper though, and she felt her teeth clench as the woman finished setting out fresh sheets on one of the four beds in her assigned room. None of the other females had come back to the room yet. The Wild Ones Ch. 01 "I can't see any of this as a blessing, Amabel. They're going to take me from Zane." Zora felt the tears threatening and she fought them back as she crossed her legs on the bed. It had been hours since the test had finished, and that was the idea that had shredded her since she'd been deposited back in her room by the guard. Zora and Zane. Zane and Zora. They had been together since conception. A random chance of genetics, a fluke. Twins. Two true children of the wild ones. Born to the government's breeding program, and watched since birth. As far as she knew, they were the only wild ones alive who even knew the name of a sibling since the government kept parentage files and didn't ever share them with the wild ones themselves. It made it all the more painful to face the idea of losing her brother. "Zora," Amabel grabbed her chin and made her look at her, "Do you know how many children of the wild ones would kill to even have hope of going to one of the great houses? And you! You have red hair! If it weren't for Zane they wouldn't have even put you in the auction. You'd be on your back in the breeding program as soon as you graduated. So, you should smile, and be grateful for the opportunity to serve in a house." "I'd rather stay here with you." Zora mumbled it and Amabel slapped her. It wasn't hard, but Zora gasped anyway. "Don't you dare say that." "Why not? I'll be bred either way! At least then I'd be with you, and Torren, and everyone else!" Zora cupped her cheek, and Amabel glared down at her. Hazel eyes boring into hers. "You think this life is easy? That this is somehow better than serving in a house?" Amabel was whispering at her, her voice harsh as she pointed at the door, "There are almost forty guards on the grounds, and all of them have access to us. All of them, Zora. Before I was twenty five I'd born six children, I've had three since then, and you know what?" Zora looked away from her, but Amabel grabbed her chin again. "It's a game to them, Zora. Once we've had enough wild ones, they let the guards have us for free. They don't have to pay a breeding fee. They make bets as to who will be the father when we're fertile, and five or six of them will take us to their rooms. As soon as they can test it, run the paternity, the winning man takes the pot. Then when you're unable to breed any longer, you're just used for fun." Amabel shoved her face aside and Zora winced. "You think that is better than serving a family? Than serving two or three men for your breeding years? Or lying with another wild one to create a true child? You know nothing." "I'm sorry, Amabel." Zora dropped her eyes to the floor and Amabel made a noise in her throat as she grabbed the basket of laundry. Zora had known that the wild ones who worked at the facility were part of the breeding program, but she had never asked what that actually meant - and that had obviously been an ignorant mistake. Amabel, Torren, Paliope - they had always been smiling when they watched over them, she had just assumed they were happy in the government's training facility. Zora had often dreamed of staying with them, of helping the young ones. She'd never imagined the things Amabel described. "You should be sorry. I don't want to ever hear you say that again." Amabel was angry, Zora could hear it in her voice, but she didn't want to agree with her. No matter what happened, if she could go to back to her room at night with other wild ones, if she could spend her days with them, it had to be better. It had to be better than being a slave to one of the houses. It had to be better than being alone with citizens who saw her as nothing more than chattel. It had to be. "Yes, ma'am." Zora mumbled and Amabel sighed. "Torren arranged a visitor for you tonight. I think you already know who that is. He should be here soon, and I brought fresh sheets so you can push two of the beds together and talk more easily." Amabel stepped closer to her and gently traced the cheek she'd slapped, "I just want you to know, darling, that we are going to miss you when you leave. You've always been such an inspiration to the young ones, we're going to miss your spirit, your strength. But it is exactly that which will carry you through whatever awaits you after the auction. Just remember that." "Thank you, Amabel." Her voice cracked with the emotion in it, and Amabel wrapped her in an embrace. A soft series of knocks came at the door and they leaned back from each other. Amabel was wiping her cheeks as she moved to open the door, and in the empty frame was the broad shouldered form of her brother. Zora launched herself off the bed and they collided halfway across the room, his weight made her stumble backwards but their arms were tight around each other. They held each other like that, as tightly as they had when they were children and had been upset, and Zora felt the tears tracing her cheeks. Minutes passed with them both in silence, nothing but the sound of their soft breathing and the beat of their hearts between them. Finally, Zane leaned back and she marveled at seeing him up close. His cheeks held a shadow of facial hair, and his light brown hair was a mess and too long, the strands almost in his eyes as he looked down at her. He had the same blue eyes that she did, that so many of the wild ones did, and there were tears in his eyes too, but he brushed them away quickly. "Hi." Zane's voice almost sent her into tears again, so much lower than when they were young but the same timbre. She laughed a little with the overwhelming joy of just being near him again, of not being ripped away from him like they had so many times when they had passed in the halls and reached out for each other. "Hi." Zora smiled and he hugged her tighter. "Gods, I can't believe this is real. I thought for sure I'd never see you again. I've spent the last two weeks trying to remember the last time I'd seen you, trying to remember every detail I could." He pressed his cheek to her hair and she held on to him, not even wanting to imagine the auction, and what it would be like to know he was out there in the city somewhere, but knowing she would never have a chance to see him again. "But here you are." He suddenly leaned back and started to look her over. She was back in the thin gray dress all of the females wore, but he ran his hands down her arms as his eyes traced her critically. "Zane?" "Are you alright? I know you completed the test with Dannel, he said you were okay, but -" "I'm alright, I swear. Who did you get partnered with?" Zora laid a hand on his arm, and he seemed to be appeased by what he saw. "Cadalie." Zane wasn't looking at her anymore and she grabbed his face, forcing his piercing blue eyes back to hers. "What happened?" The question came out with more accusation than she'd meant it to and he turned away from her, walking across the room. His back was bare, not even a hint of a lash mark, which meant he'd behaved in recent weeks. Zora might get into trouble because of her mouth sometimes, but from what she'd heard it was much more common with Zane. "Brother, tell me. Please?" Zora realized that Torren must have moved Liear and Pilah to another room for the night so that she could be alone with Zane. She sent up a silent prayer to the gods in thanks. He didn't turn around, but he spoke quietly, "She's fine. I think she's fine. When I came out of it she was crying, and when I first touched her she flinched. Cadalie has never been afraid of me, Zora, I've never given her a reason to be afraid of me - but for a moment she was." His tone said how much that bothered him, but Zora didn't know what she could tell him, after all, she'd been afraid of Dannel. "And then?" "And then she realized I was back and she held on to me, practically wrapped herself around me, and she just cried. I was still trying to comfort her, trying to figure out if she was okay, trying to remember everything I'd done, when the guards came for us." His voice was rough, and she wanted to comfort him, to hug him, but she could tell by the tense lines of his shoulders he didn't want to be touched. So, instead, she started to make the second bed. "Did you fight them?" "No. I'm not an idiot. I was aware of myself by then, and this close to the auction I didn't want to risk it. Niro had mentioned that if I did well they were going to try and get us time together. I've spent the last day and a half terrified that I'd screwed up, that I'd hurt Cadalie, and that I'd be labeled too dangerous for auction." He turned around then and moved towards her, helping her to drag the bed in place next to hers. "I was terrified I'd never get to see you again, Zora." "I was terrified of that too, but just so you know, Cadalie is fine. I saw her this morning before my test, she was laughing with a young one. If you'd really hurt her, she'd be in the infirmary." She smiled a little and cupped his cheek as he relaxed, some of the tension leaving him. She was still a little surprised that he was actually there, but the familiar anxiety that they'd be torn apart at any moment wasn't going to fade. "Bless Mirel for that." He hugged her again and then they both climbed on the beds, laying at the very edge of each so they were barely inches apart. When they had been children, sleeping in the same bed, it was how they had slept every night. Almost nose-to-nose, their hands clasped together between them so that even if one of them rolled away in the night, they always knew the other was there. As if Zane had been thinking along the same lines, he reached for her hand and their fingers intertwined. Silence descended over them again, and Zora took her free hand and started to trace his face. She'd seen him from afar, but it was strange to see how the features he'd had as a boy had transformed into the face of a man. His jaw was a sharper line, accented by the shadow of facial hair. His cheek bones and his straight nose made him look almost pretty, but his eyes were serious, and his brows not delicate enough to maintain the illusion of boyish innocence. Zane was a fully-grown male now. The strength in his shoulders, in the muscles of his chest and stomach and arms, it all screamed male. She bit her cheek and he tilted his head at her. "What are you thinking Ra-ra?" His use of the name he'd called her when they were very young made her break into a smile despite the dark feeling of foreboding in her chest. "I hate that I didn't get to see you grow up, I hate that I wasn't there with you, to talk to you about everything we've been through these last years." She sighed and felt the inkling of tears burning the edges of her eyes, "You've changed so much, and it's just hard to realize that this is all we'll have. Just a few hours to try and remember you forever." "You've changed too, you know." He pushed her copper waves back over her shoulder and cupped her cheek. "You used to be this little waif, so thin, but you were still such a fierce young one. You earned the term wild one constantly when we were kids, and I always wondered as we were apart how you could ever look like one of the females -" He jerked back when she slapped his shoulder and they both laughed. "Listen, Zeeny -" Zora grinned as she used his old nickname and he started tickling her, her laughter was too loud and she tried to stifle it as she squirmed away from him, shoving at his hands. His strength was an illustrative reminder of their changed bodies, and she pleaded through giggles, "Zane! Stop it, stop, I'm sorry I called you Zeeny!" He relented and dropped back to his bed, both of them breathing heavy and grinning at each other in the dim light of the room. "I've missed you, Ra-ra, and you can always call me Zeeny." "Well, just so you know, Zeeny, I'm surprised by you too. I could tell you'd grown tall when I saw you from afar, but you're just so much bigger than you were when we were in the young ones' dorm." Zora grinned as they clasped hands again, old habits returning like they hadn't been separated at all. "The other females have told me about you though. It was all very complimentary." When she looked up at him again she actually saw a blush in his cheeks, and she brushed her thumb across the reddening skin, reveling in his embarrassment. The familiar urge to tease her brother was bittersweet. Zane spoke again, "Well, all the males knew if they were with you that I wanted to know how you were, that I wanted a message if you'd sent one. Eventually I didn't even have to track them down, they sought me out, and they told me about you. About how brave you are, how beautiful, how - talented." "You're blushing, Zane." Zora grinned and he turned his head to stare at the ceiling. Her mind jumped to the awkward conversations she'd had with the females who'd been with Zane as they passed messages from him. From the moment they'd started learning pleasure acts, there had been a thread of concern that somehow Zane's group would cross with her group and they'd end up in the same class. But it had never happened. The citizens who ran the facility always wrote up the approved pairings, and they had obviously ensured the twins would never even be in the same room. It hadn't meant that she hadn't heard whispers. Even though the wild ones never got to choose their breeding partners, it didn't stop the fantasies, and apparently her brother starred in quite a few of the females' dreams. In an odd way she was proud, because if he had performed as well as she thought he had, then he might also make it into a great house. Better than being tied to a breeding bed in one of the citizen's public pleasure houses and given BC-426 until he lost his mind or ceased to function. A shudder moved through her at that idea and she shifted closer to him. "Do you know how well you did on the final test?" "Apparently well enough to get to spend tonight with you, Ra-ra, anything beyond that I have no idea." Zane shrugged and looked over at her, and she wanted to rewind time until they were kids again, before their bodies had changed, before their age group had been split into the male and female dorms, before they had been ripped apart. Kept apart. And now they'd be ripped apart again. The auction was two days away. "I love you, Zane, and I always will. They can separate us, sell us, but they can't make you not my brother." The words rushed out of her, and he turned on his side until his body mirrored hers, their knees touching and his fingers gripped hers tighter. "I love you too, Zora. Forever and ever. It won't matter where we are, or who we serve, or what happens to us - because we'll always have each other. Somewhere, we will always have each other, and you will always be my sister." He kissed her forehead, and she gripped his hand tightly. "Forever and ever." "And ever and ever." Zane whispered back at her and then he reached down and pulled the covers over them before scooting closer until their foreheads were touching. The narrow beds were metal, and the lip of the bed dug into her shoulder, but Zora didn't care. If she was only going to have a few more precious hours with her brother, she wanted to be as close to him as possible. She wanted to have his hand in hers so that even if she rolled onto her back in her sleep, she would know he was there. She didn't want to miss a single beat of his pulse, a single breath from his lungs. He slid into sleep before she did, and she heard a soft, rumbling snore rise out of him and she smiled. No, she didn't even want to miss a single irritating noise. Because he was her brother. Her other half. Forever and ever. And no auction, no citizen, no master, was going to change that. ***** I know, it's new and different from my last series on Lit! But as usual I'd still love to know what you think, and what you're imagining! Please rate, comment, and send me feedback! The more comments, the more inspired I'm sure I'll be! So glad to be able to start something new with all of you. ^_^ The Wild Ones Ch. 02 I am so glad that everyone seems to be enjoying my new story! It completely made my day that you guys felt as connected to Zane and Zora as I do. Their story has been running around in my head for a bit. Major thanks to my editor for getting this back to me so fast, because I was distracted with getting Thalia's story out and this chapter took me longer than I planned! Hope you all love it! ***** "Get the hell up!" The shout exploded above Zora just before she was ripped out of sleep by a sharp jerk on her arm. Next to her Zane snapped awake instantly, his hand tightening on hers, and then she saw them. Five guards around the beds, a sixth by the door with Torren, and Torren had a bloody lip. Fuck. When she didn't respond to the command the guard yanked her hard backwards, but Zane didn't let go. Wouldn't let go. He pulled her back towards him, and she watched panic flit over his face as he realized their situation. Some part of her knew they should be pleading, begging for forgiveness for breaking the rules, but that part was buried under the memory of the years spent without her brother. Her shoulder wrenched when the guard tried to drag her off the bed and away from Zane. It was a painful tug of war, but as a rush of anger pushed back the fog of sleep Zora turned and kicked the guard away from her. "Shit!" The guard shouted as he fell back. Shock showed on the face of the other man on her side of the bed. For a moment everyone was still, surprised by her violence when she had been well-behaved for so long. The silence lasted for a strange, suspended moment - then all hell broke loose. "Zora!" Zane's voice broke as he called out for her and pulled her hard towards him again. She tried to get to him, to hold on to him, but as she crawled forward one of the guards grabbed her leg and he slammed her onto her stomach as he pulled it out from under her. "Fucking wild ones! Separate them!" One of the guards roared, and she watched as another wrapped an arm around Zane's throat and tried to pull him away from her. It was the day they'd first torn them apart all over again, only now when Zane twisted and threw a punch the other man hit the floor. A surge of pride swept through her, but Zora realized he'd let go of her hand. "ZANE!" She cried out, and he turned and lunged for her. Just as he grabbed on to her a guard snapped out an electric baton and the pain as the current traveled through Zane and into her skin was a harsh reminder of their power over them. It was agony, but she didn't let go. She refused even when the white-hot buzzing finally cut off and she was sobbing and fighting to breathe. Zane's blue eyes lifted and met hers, and for a moment they were barely inches apart, their knuckles white as they held on. They could fight. They had fought many times before. But two against five was never going to work. It never worked. "The damn male punched me! Hit him again!" The voice was rough with rage, and then the blinding pain of the electric current was back. When it ended this time, Zora couldn't catch her breath and the tug backwards was too fast. Her muscles wouldn't respond, her grip on Zane's hand slipped, and then she was being pressed into the thin mattress by too much weight, too much strength. There were three men holding Zane now, his arms twisted behind his back, his face pinched with pain. "ZORA! ZANE! Stop fighting, please, stop! They'll only -" Torren's voice was cut short with a cry, and Zora tried to lift her head enough to see her, but she couldn't. Zane was struggling, cursing, straining against the guards, and then Zora felt her dress pulled up from behind. One of the guards was running his hand over her ass, and she flinched. They'd never touched her like this; they'd never been allowed to touch her like this. The hands pressed her harder into the bed, one of them gripping her neck, and she winced, the tears blurring her vision as she struggled and screamed in frustration. "Male! Either stop fighting now, or I'm going to make your sister show me what got her such a high ranking yesterday." The guard's comment was accompanied by the hard press of his hips against her, and his cock was hard inside his pants. She felt Zane's struggles instantly still on the other bed. "Okay, okay..." Zane's quiet response was broken by his harsh breaths, and she wanted to be able to see him, to let him know that no matter what they did she'd be fine. "You stupid bitch." A low voice growled in her ear, and she felt the weight of the man settle over her as he leaned forward, grinding himself against her. "Did you think we wouldn't figure this out? That we wouldn't notice the male missing from his dormitory?" "Leave her alone!" Zane roared and she heard him grunt as the meaty sound of a fist impacting his skin echoed in the room. "Oh no, I don't think I'm going to do that. You two have been the golden ones, but not even the council can ignore this kind of defiance. I'm just going to give this female a taste of what's waiting for her when the council yanks her from the auction and hands her over to us." His hand slid between her thighs and Zora tried not to whimper. She was wet, her body was too well trained to be otherwise, and his fingers pressed inside her easily, making her squirm. A couple of the guards laughed and she buried her face harder into the sheet as a blush heated her skin. "Wait! You can't, they're due for the auction. Someone will probably check them to see if they've been used." The guard who spoke from the other side of the bed sounded nervous. "Yeah, come on, we'll just toss them in solitary. If you're right we'll have them both for fun in a few days." A different one, obviously one who'd been laughing as he was still chuckling. "She has been used, you saw the video of what the male did with her. They'd never -" "I'll tell them!" Torren shouted and then yelped when the guard next to her struck her. Her whimpering cry had Zora struggling again, and Zane jerked against the hands that held him down. "Shut that female up, dammit!" The man on top of her growled and then ran his tongue down her neck and she shuddered. His fingers moved inside her, pressing deeper, curving until her hips bucked. "You like that, don't you? You wild ones are always ready for it." His voice was sinister, and she tried to shake her head, to deny the warm rush of arousal that washed over her. It was just the training, only the training. Zora wanted to scream, to fight, to get away from these guards. She wanted everything to go back to the way it had been before the final test. Before she knew the truth of this place. Why had she ever thought she wanted to stay at the facility? Why had she ever been that naïve? And now her desperation to see her brother had probably ruined everything. A moment later the man stood up and his fingers slid from her. She relaxed against the bedding until the two guards holding her down hauled her off the bed and she finally saw Zane again. He was twisted so that he could look up at her even with one of the guards pressing him to the bed with a knee in his back. She could see Torren too, she was curled on her side by the door with a bloody nose and mouth and her hands bound behind her. It was insane. All of this because they'd stolen time together? Just because they'd wanted to see each other one last time? "You guys are right." The main guard spoke next to her, and she felt a brief flare of relief. "We'll have enough time to play with them, but this female isn't leaving without making it up to me. She fucking kicked me, and she's going to make it all better." He shoved her hard to her knees, and she heard his belt being removed before she lifted her eyes to see him opening his pants. "Please -" Zora started to beg but the other guard stepped behind her and yanked her hair back. They couldn't do this; the guards weren't allowed to touch them. Wild ones were off limits until the council decided their fates - weren't they? "Sir, please, we're sorry, we just wanted to see each other once before the auction!" Zane's voice was harsh with the emotion she felt squeezing her chest, but Zora was too afraid to speak again, to make it worse. He had said what she would have anyway. "If the male speaks again put something in his mouth to keep him silent." A round of laughs sounded, and the man grabbed her head and dragged her forward. He pulled his cock from his pants and she wanted to beg him not to make her, not like this. This was nothing like their training classes where the other wild ones were gentle, and playful. Everyone enjoying themselves as they learned new skills and tried to perfect others; this wasn't what they'd been told it would be like with citizens. Why hadn't anyone told them? The guard shook her and her attention snapped back, "What are you supposed to say, female?" Zora looked up at him, his dark brown eyes were without pity and promised more punishment for all of them if she refused. All of their actions had likely ruined their chances at the auction, but if she pleased him it might make them kinder. She swallowed and licked her lips, tasting the salt of her tears as she spoke, "I'm here for your use, sir." "That's right, female, you are. Open." He pressed his cock to her mouth and she let him in, licking her tongue over the head, and sucking him deeper. The long groan above her let her know he was enjoying it as she focused on pleasing him. He let her be in control for a few minutes, not saying anything as she wrapped her fingers around the base of his cock and squeezed. He moaned in response and her confidence grew. She knew how to give pleasure, how to bring him to the edge, and then let him slide back, so that every new crescendo was even more intense. If she closed her eyes she could almost imagine it was Dannel, or Fiore, or any of the wild ones who would grin down at her as she tasted them during their training, promising to return the favor with a laugh. The guard growled above her, breaking her daydream, and his fist tightened in her hair before he thrust into her throat. She choked, unprepared for the sudden lack of air. Her lungs burned and she tried to pull back, but his grip didn't give at all. Zora clenched her fists at her sides, fighting the urge to bite and scratch as her head swam and her body jerked with another silent plea for breath. "Stop!" Zane shouted off to her right, and her vision started to fuzz, a buzzing filling her ears. "Please, sir, let her breathe! It was my idea to come over here, punish me, please, just punish me, use me, and let her up!" "We know everyone involved in this little adventure, male. We know the ones that helped you two, and everyone will be punished accordingly." The guard laughed and finally pulled his cock from her throat, her first breath was harsh, but it was short lived before he thrust forward again. He picked up a rhythm that had tears running down her cheeks, and her nails digging into her palms as she stole brief gasps that kept the blackness from taking over. He suddenly stilled and his cock kicked in her throat, forcing her to swallow fast in her urge to breathe. When he pulled out she slumped forward, dragging air in and coughing as she wiped the saliva from her mouth and chin. "Zora -" Zane sounded upset as he started to talk again, but one of the guards holding him down wrapped an arm around his throat to cut him off. "Please, don't hurt him! I did what you asked, sir, please!" Her throat was sore when she spoke, looking up at the guard again, but he just laughed as he tucked himself away. "Oh yes, you did a good job, female. But it wouldn't be fair if my friends didn't get some of this gratitude as well. Especially after all the trouble you all have caused." The other guards were looking at her, and she bit her cheek to stop the tears that burned the edges of her eyes. She just nodded, and then she heard Zane cough as he was able to breathe again. "Wait! I'll do it!" He shouted, and Zora looked over at him. He was struggling against the guards holding him down, and she was about to argue when Torren spoke up. "I'm here for your use, sirs, please, let me pleasure you." Torren was kneeling once more by the door; the guard next to her had his thumbs hooked into the pockets of his pants as he glanced down at her. All of them looked back at the guard who had fucked her throat, waiting for his approval. "You all do whatever you want, let's just get it done so we can put them in solitary and report the incident." The main guard stepped back and leaned against the wall, and the one behind her moved and took his place in front of her. She watched Zane get dragged off the bed and pushed to his knees on the other side. "I know you haven't had as much practice, male, but let's see if you can keep up with your sister." The guard in front of Zane spoke with a voice that made her shiver, and then there was a hand in her hair and another cock at her lips. They all took their turns, and by the end of it Zora's lips were sore, her throat ached, and she couldn't stop sniffling. She kept her eyes on the floor when the third guard finished, and she tried to tune out the comments from the other men as they put themselves away. This time she didn't look at Zane, she just tried to catch her breath and stop the shaking. Why had she ever thought that the guards were protecting them? Why had she ever thought the facility was a safe place? Why, why, why... "Get them up." The leader snapped his fingers and she and Zane were quickly dragged to their feet. Torren needed more help with her arms bound behind her back, and she only met Zora's eyes for a moment before she dropped them again. In her peripheral vision Zora could see Zane looking at her, and she knew he wanted her to look back. She knew he wanted them to talk, but Zora didn't want to make any of it worse. The man pointed at Torren, "Bring that female over here." She stumbled as they moved her, but when she got to the leader he bent her over the end of the bed. Zora struggled against the man holding her, tears slipping out again. She didn't want to watch him fuck Torren like he'd threatened to do with her. She was about to beg him, but in an instant his belt was out and he was laying hard stripes across Torren's ass and thighs. She screamed and cried out, begging for mercy as he continued. It was a vicious punishment, the bright red welts appearing quickly and then overlapping until bruises started to blossom. Too much, too many. "Please, stop, sir! Please stop. Torren did this for me, please, it's my fault, it's all my fault!" Zora screamed and the man holding her tightened his grip on her arm and hissed in her ear to shut up, but the leader surprised her. He paused his belt in the air. The room was filled with Torren's sobs as she squirmed on the bed, and Zora knew that fiery heat. She knew that stinging ache that you wanted to rub away, but Torren's hands were bound. The man was smiling when he finally lowered the belt to his side and spoke. "Why are you being punished, female?" Torren whined, obviously in pain, but her voice was clear, "I broke the rules on male and female separation. I arranged for Zane to come to this side. Please, sir, I am sorry, don't punish them for my decision." "All of you wild ones must love the punishments as much as the fucking, because you're each practically begging to take it for the others." The leader laughed and started to thread his belt through the loops again. "Don't worry though, as soon as the council hears about this you'll all get yours. As far as you, female," he brushed Torren's hair from her face, "you'll spend the night with me, while the golden twins spend their last night before the council's decision in separate cells." "No!" Zane broke free of the guard holding his shoulder, and he was leaping over the bed and wrapping his arms tight around her before the others could react. Zora held on to him, and the tears rushed down her cheeks. The guards were shouting, she felt fingers digging into her arm and tightening in her hair. Zane's body swayed as the others pulled at his shoulders and arms, but they only gripped each other harder. "I love you, Zora, I love you, forever and ever." His words were fast against her hair, and she felt a sob break in her chest. This was what Torren had put herself at risk for. "I love you too, Zane, forever and ever and ever." She spoke through the tears, and then came the sharp pain of the electric batons. One wave and then another and her legs went out from under her. They dragged them apart, flipping them both to their stomachs to pull their arms behind their backs and cuff them. "Forever, Zora, no matter what!" Zane shouted as they hauled him up and towards the door, but he fought them, making the three men work to move him out as they told him to shut up. Zora screamed back, twisting on the floor to be able to see him. "NO MATTER WHAT, ZANE!" She cried as he disappeared through the door, and when they dragged her up off the floor she tried to pull away from the guards but they only held on tighter. The leader raised an eyebrow at her, shaking his head slowly. "You're going to regret that little outburst, female. You're only making it worse for yourselves." "Just let me stay with my brother, please, I'll do whatever you want." Zora pleaded, and he just laughed again. "Once you're assigned here, you'll do whatever we want anyway. As for tonight, I've already got a female to keep me company." The leader lifted Torren off the bed by her hair, and Zora's heart broke at the pain in Torren's eyes. It was all because of them, all to give them time together. Zora shook her head, forcing the tears to stop and her voice to steady, "I'm sorry, Torren, I'm so sorry." "It was worth it." Torren gave a small smile, but the leader turned her and slapped her hard enough to knock her off balance. "Shut up, female. Both of you." He sighed and gestured to Zora, "Go put her in solitary, I'll go file the report of where we found them and make my recommendations." "Yes, sir." The guard next to her spoke quickly and pushed her towards the door. She didn't fight. The fight had simply left her and she let him walk her down the long halls, and down the stairs into the solitary area. She knew Zane was in the male's wing, so there was no reason to call out, to shout. When the door locked behind her she just curled up on the floor, and let the events of the morning replay over and over. Occasionally she thought of the auction, about whether or not they'd even be in the auction anymore, and what the guards would do if they were made to stay. -- Hours had passed in the cold and the dark of the solitary cells under the facility. Zane rolled to his back, hissing through his teeth when he realized he'd fallen asleep on his shoulder on the concrete floor and now it was aching. That could have also been from how hard the guards had pulled his arm up behind his back. He could still feel the tender spots where the electric baton had made contact, a bruise forming on his ribs from the punch - and for a second he was only worried that he wouldn't present well at the auction. Fucking ridiculous. There was no way they'd let them in the auction now. Not him, and not Zora. He'd prayed for so many years to Mirel, to Beyna, to any god who felt like listening that somehow he'd be back with Zora. Be careful what you wish for. He was an idiot. For agreeing to sneak into the female dorm, for fighting the guards, for generally being such a selfish bastard that he didn't even think of what they'd do to Niro or Torren for helping them. He hoped that they had just dumped Zora in a cell like they had with him. That they hadn't taken advantage of the silence in the basement of the facility to do anything else with her. He had wanted to be able to protect her, to fight for her - he always wanted to fight for her - but he couldn't. Not against all the guards of the facility, not against the government. The Wild Ones Ch. 02 He had tried to protect Cadalie too, he'd lied to Zora about that. She'd been crying against his chest, and he'd felt the guilt eating him alive inside as he'd remembered pinning her to the bed, and then the guards had come in and she'd stiffened with fear. Not fear of him, but of the guards. He'd had no choice but to tighten his arms around her, to growl when the guards got close. They had called for others, ripped them apart like they had with him and Zora. Shouted at him that he didn't get to feel possessive, that he was property, and so was Cadalie, and they had to behave. He hadn't fought any more, hadn't tried to hit any of them as Niro's offer echoed in his ears, a chance to see Zora. The guards had used the batons on him anyway. Cadalie hadn't stopped crying, even as the government man asked his questions and one of the guards took her away. Afterwards he was sure he had hurt Cadalie, he'd convinced himself he'd done something horrible in the haze of BC-426, but Zora had said she was fine. Zora had also claimed to be fine, but those pale bruises on her throat told him that her final test hadn't been easy either. That even though both she and Dannel had said it went well, it wasn't the whole truth. Zane hadn't been able to protect her then either. Hadn't been able to do anything other than beg the other males to be careful with her, to try and keep it together. But now he knew that had been an impossible request, the full dose of BC-426 had been like pouring fire into his veins. A fire that burned out all rational thought, destroyed who he was, and left him with only lust and a drive to claim the female in the room. Bruises were the least of his worries now, and he was glad he hadn't actually hit Cadalie in his effort to pin her, to control her. She'd submitted quickly though, thank the gods, and he guessed that Zora must have as well or she would have looked much worse. The females were so damn fragile. Zora. His ribs ached as he held in the shout that he wanted to release. He felt the burn in his eyes that meant the tears were back and he pressed the heels of his hands against them. The same blue as Zora's, but hers always looked so much more vibrant against the copper red of her hair. She really was beautiful now. He hadn't been able to articulate it when they'd been curled up on the beds like when they were children, but she was. She was a matured female, and the interest the other males had expressed in her wasn't just friendly anymore. It was whispered hopes that they'd be paired with her in training, and bragging taunts when they were. Those usually silenced when they realized Zane was listening, then they'd mumble apologies, but he only ever wanted to know if she'd sent him a message. If the male had been able to pass his along. So many messages passed from her over the years, but all the same. I love you. I miss you, brother. Behave, brother, don't earn more punishments. I love you forever. Forever and ever and ever. The shout tore from his throat and he kicked out uselessly, wiping the tears from his eyes and sitting up to brace his elbows on his knees. It was such a waste for them to have been kept apart these last years, such a useless cruelty. What would it have mattered had they been able to eat a meal at the same table or even in the same room? What terrible thing would have occurred had they been allowed to hug each other when they passed in the halls? "Zane?" The rough voice came from another cell, and he leapt to his feet straining to hear more through the door. When he heard nothing else, he realized he'd recognized the voice. "Niro? Niro! Are you okay?" Zane leaned up to shout through the rectangle at the top of the door that let air in from the hall. "Don't be so loud, boy. I can hear you, and I'd rather if the guards didn't have a reason to come back." Niro's voice sounded pained, and Zane pressed his forehead against the metal as he imagined what they'd done to Niro for helping him see Zora. "So, how is she? Did you two get any time to talk?" "She's well, Niro. She's - gods, she's all grown up, and I'm glad I got to see her." Zane swallowed the ache in his chest, "Thank you for that, for the time we had, and I'm sorry for whatever they did to you in punishment." "Torren and I knew what we were doing, Zane. We knew what they'd do to us if they figured it out, and we did it anyway." Niro coughed and groaned; the damp air in the cells was getting to Zane as well. "Twins. You know, they called you two a miracle, a gift of the gods - they called you and Zora blessed. Yes... you were blessed by the gods to know a family member, which so many of us crave, but, really, you two were cursed from birth to suffer. Having seen the way you both tear yourselves apart wanting to be near the other, I almost think it is more of a blessing not to know which of the wild ones I share blood with. Which ones are siblings, which ones are now my children - why would I ever want to have that knowledge and never be allowed near them? Never be allowed to love them?" "Niro..." Zane felt the words cut deep inside him, making the ache so sharp he thought he should be bleeding. Pain shouldn't be felt this keenly without a wound to show for it. He'd take a whip before he'd volunteer to feel like this, to feel the pain of being separated from Zora forever. It was a hollow place in his chest filled with knives and teeth. "I'm sorry, boy, I'm rambling. They don't feed us down here, and I never made it to dinner last night. A little off kilter, that's all. I just want you to know that we all cared for you two, we all hated the pain you were in, and if this was the only thing we could do for you both... then there's no consequence not worth it. Alright?" Niro's voice had an edge to it, one that made Zane unsure of his ability to respond. They had taken care of them, protected them, helped them one last time. Zane's stomach growled and he felt his abs tighten against the emptiness. He had no idea how long he'd been in the cell, and there were no windows to give the time of day, but he had to assume that the only thing waiting for him was either the auction, or the decision to keep them in the facility. And if the council chose the facility, he and Zora would be in the hands of the guards by tomorrow night. "Zane?" Niro called out to him and he cleared his throat so he could respond without his voice wavering. "I'm here. I'm just thinking about the auction, about what will happen if we're put in, and what will happen if they don't put us in." "Ah, boy... I'm not sure what those guards told you, but there's no way they'll keep you two out of the auction. Half the city is showing up from what I've heard. The whole facility has been crawling with government members talking about you two. Watching you two." Niro laughed low, but it dissolved into a cough again. "They had to run the feed on your final tests into a larger room because so many of them wanted to watch." "At least I did well..." Zane slid down the door, leaning back against it. "Like hell you did! You were so damned aggressive under the primal drug I thought they'd have to intervene. I saw a bit of your test when I was serving the observers, and I swear, Zane, if you weren't one of the twins they would have labeled you for controlled breeding at the facility at best, or more likely put you in one of the public houses." "What?" Zane twisted to look up at the gray rectangle at the top of the door, disbelief shaking him along with a fresh wave of concern for Cadalie. Had Zora lied to protect him? "Did you really think the government was going to miss an opportunity to auction you two? Both of you fucked up in your final tests, but both of you officially have a nine out of ten on the scale. They were never going to release the real numbers, they want the great families of Mirelia clamoring for you both. They want a bidding war, and they're going to get one." "Did - did I hurt her, Niro? Did I hurt Cadalie? Tell me, tell me what I fucking did!" Zane felt sick, worse than when he'd first started to come out from under the effects of the BC-426, worse than when he'd found her curled on her side and crying, worse than when she'd flinched away from him. The memory was hazy, but he was sure he'd never hit her - wasn't he? "She had some nasty bruises, and she's flagged as needing recovery in the auction, but she'll be fine in a week or so." Niro's words were a fresh wound in Zane's chest. He cradled his head in his hands and fear slid like ice down his back. Fear of himself and what he was capable of. "And whoever buys me... they won't know." "No, they won't know." "What if I hurt one of the citizens? What if they give me the primal drug and I do something terrible?" Zane looked up at the gray rectangle at the top of the door, the only faint light in the whole space. "Then, well, at least Zora will never know about it." Niro's voice was solemn, and Zane dropped his head back . For some reason that was a comfort, even though Niro had artfully avoided telling Zane the consequences of a male damaging a citizen. He probably didn't want the answer anyway, and hopefully Zora would never know if it did happen. "Right. At least there's that." "Sleep, boy, it'll make the hunger hurt less and you'll need your rest if you're going to stand up at the auction. You still need to look decent." Niro had adopted the voice he always used with the males in the dorm. The voice of a patient, wise, teacher - even though he was only fifteen years older than him. It had never mattered though, Niro knew better, Niro knew the truth, and Niro was right that he needed to sleep. It was the only thing he could do for now. -- The clang of the lock opening made Zora sit up, and she flinched when the flashlight hit her eyes. Too many hours in the dark. Too many hours of silence. Too many hours of nothing. "I don't know how the fuck you're so lucky." It was the leader's voice, the one who'd been in the dorm. He growled and stalked forward as Zora tried to move away, fear rushing down her back in a wave. The cell was too small though, and he easily caught her and shoved her onto her back. Then he was on top of her, the flashlight rolling away to light up the wall. She tried to push him off, but he had her hands above her head in an instant and she let out a scream of frustration. Lucky? He called this lucky? "Please, sir, I'm sorry about yesterday, just please don't..." Zora whimpered as he drove her thighs apart with his knees. "Shut up, and don't struggle. We can't have you all marked up with the auction in a few hours." His voice was a low growl as he started to undo his pants, and she wanted to focus on the sound of his belt opening, of his zipper, of his pants moving down - but her mind was stuck on the auction. "Auction? I'm in the auction?" Her voice shook as he pressed her wrists harder into the floor, but she ignored the pain. Ignored the way he adjusted himself, the way her dress slid up around her hips as he lined up between her thighs. "Yes, female, but I'm going to be the first citizen to have you. I deserve that, not some rich asshole from one of the great families. Me. " He pushed her legs farther apart and she twisted, trying to pull her wrists out of his grip as his cock brushed against the lips of her pussy. It snapped her attention back; they were supposed to be untouched by citizens until the council decided their futures. If she had a chance at the auction she couldn't let him do this. "DON'T! Please don't, sir, please!" Her screams echoed in the small room and he released her wrists to clap a hand over her mouth, hissing against her cheek. "Shut up, cunt! What did I tell you?" His grip on her face was painful, but then there was a shout in the hallway and the sounds of boots rushing across the concrete. He started to press inside her and she whimpered against his hand. "CALVIN! What the fuck! Get off of her, she's in the damn auction!" There were two guards, and they grabbed him, pulling him away as he cursed and shouted at them. "She's just a wild one! A redhead with a bad behavior record! She should be ours, dammit! We should get her!" Calvin growled and shoved one of the guards back, but when he tried to move towards her again the other guard stepped between them. This one grabbed Calvin's shoulders and pushed. "It doesn't matter, the council said she goes to auction. Do you know how many people are watching her?! She's one of the fucking twins. You won't get away with it, just let it go." Zora was shaking as she scrambled to press herself against the back wall. Calvin gave her one more look as he tucked himself away, and then he stormed out. She took a shuddering breath and looked up at the guard who'd stopped him. "Thank you, sir, thank you -" "Save it, female. If you weren't some precious commodity we'd all be taking a turn with you. I only stopped him so he wouldn't lose his fucking job." The guard spit on the floor in front of her, "Personally, I hope whatever family buys you today beats some obedience into you. If you were mine? I'd make sure you learned your place the hard way." The tears burned her eyes and she bit her cheek to suppress the urge to cry as she wrapped her arms around her legs. What had she done to make them hate her this much? She'd been well-behaved for the past year, not a single punishment until she had given in to her urge to see her brother one last time. 'It was worth it', her mind whispered to her, 'to see Zeeny, it was worth it'. It had been worth it, more than worth it to hold his hand in her sleep again. It had been the best sleep she'd had in years, and no matter what happened now - it had been worth it. She gritted her teeth as the man spoke again. "You take her up to the prep hall, if I'm around her any longer I'll be tempted to take out my belt." The angry guard grabbed the errant flashlight from the floor and stomped out after Calvin. The last guard looked at her in silence for a moment, and she waited for him to shout some vulgarity, threaten her, anything. Instead, he sighed and crouched down in front of her. "Hey... are you okay?" His voice was gentle, and it surprised her. When she didn't respond he reached into his pocket and took something out. It was a rectangle wrapped in plain paper, and he held it out to her. He sounded patient as he spoke again, "My name is Malcolm. This is chocolate, have you ever had it?" Zora shook her head, looking between the small object and his face. Calm, open, framed with dark brown hair. He tore the wrapping and bit into the bar before holding it out again. "It's a sweet. I know they don't let you guys have stuff like this, but it's really good. It will make you feel better, go on." He inched forward and she hesitated before she finally took it from him. Zora smelled it first, and Malcolm laughed quietly at her. It was a nice sound, not cruel, "I promise it's delicious. Just try it." She bit into it and the dark bar broke and a burst of sweetness flooded her tongue. Better than any fruit she'd tasted, but so much more, too complex to describe. A moan slipped from her lips as the chocolate began to melt on her tongue, coating it as she swallowed. Malcolm smiled, and she wanted to smile back, but she was wary that his kindness could be a trick, some way to get her to break another rule. She looked down at the chocolate in her hand and realized she'd likely already broken a rule. They weren't allowed to eat anything outside of the hall, taking food from the hall had a severe punishment, and being caught with it meant ten lashes minimum. Why did she keep making mistakes? His voice made her jump, "Told you it was good. So, I heard about yesterday morning... can you tell me if you need medical attention?" Zora licked her lips, tasting the residue of the chocolate, and shook her head. "No, sir, I don't." "Did Calvin - did he -" His stumbling was surprising, and she looked up at him, wrapping the chocolate back in its wrapper to end the temptation to devour it as her stomach growled. "Did he fuck me? No, sir. You both arrived before he did." She held out the rest of the bar and he looked shocked. "That's, um, that's good. You can finish it, Zora. I know they didn't feed you yesterday." He smiled at her again, but this time she felt heat burning in her cheeks. He'd used her name. Citizens didn't use their names. Citizens could barely keep their names straight. The wild ones were always called female, or bitch, cunt, slut, if they were in trouble. She tried to think if a citizen had ever said her name and couldn't remember a time when they had. The hair stood up on the back of her neck as she moved her eyes back to his. "Who are you? Why are you doing this? Why are you being kind to me?" Her voice came across angrier than she meant for it to, and his back straightened as he jerked back like she'd slapped him. Guilt tugged at her instantly, and his voice was quiet when he spoke again. "I -... Look, it doesn't matter. Come on, finish the chocolate so I can take you to the prep hall. They have to get you ready for the auction, and they may not have any food left upstairs." His tone had lost some of its warmth and he stood up in front of her. Zora dropped her eyes from him, making herself eat the little bar in a few bites even though she would have preferred to savor its unique sweetness. When she was done he stepped forward and took the wrapper, tucking it into his pocket before he pulled her to her feet. He smiled again when he looked at her hand, a sweet smile that filled her with butterflies. His fingers traced her hand, and then he lifted it up to her mouth. "Lick the chocolate from your fingers so we don't have to explain it." The command was a surprise, but Zora obeyed and opened her mouth. Malcolm slowly slid one of her fingers between her lips, the sweetness of the errant chocolate melting on her tongue as he kept his hold on her hand, directing her. His eyes were focused intently on her mouth as he withdrew the clean digit from her lips and replaced it with another. When his eyes flicked up to hers the look he gave her was hungry, and she found her pulse racing, her skin warming in a wave that rolled out from the link of his hand on hers. A low groan came from him when she sucked her finger into her mouth, his knuckle brushing her lips, and she had the sudden urge to kiss him. To thank him for giving her a fleeting glimpse of kindness, to apologize for being so rude, but he released her and stepped back before she could even try. "Fuck, um, we should go upstairs - to the hall, for the auction." Malcolm was flustered as he turned away from her and she saw him adjust himself in his pants. The blush in her cheeks was burning. She dropped her eyes and wiped the last of the chocolate from her palm with her thumb, wanting to ask him a hundred questions. Zora wanted to take advantage of his kindness, she wanted to know everything he could tell her about the auction, about what awaited her, but his back was stiff and he had moved to the door. The moment passed before she'd really had the opportunity to seize it, so she simply brushed her dress off and blew out a breath. "Yes, sir," she mumbled and he glanced back at her, nodding before he started walking out of the solitary cells. She followed him, expecting him to say more gentle words, but he didn't speak as they took the long walk towards the hall. Malcolm only broke his silence when he paused in front of Aldorie, one of the oldest females in the facility. Aldorie looked frustrated, her arms crossed as her hard blue eyes met Zora's with condemnation. "This female is in the auction as well, she needs to be prepped, and if you have food left from breakfast she hasn't eaten." The Wild Ones Ch. 02 "I know she's in the auction, sir, I know all about this one. Thank you, I have her." Aldorie's voice made Zora want to roll her eyes, but she couldn't resist turning around to look for Zane even though the hall seemed to only have the females. He wasn't there, and she felt a heaviness settle in her chest as the realization that she really might not see him again hit her hard. When she turned back, Malcolm was walking away and she wanted to call out and tell him thank you - but that would have raised too many questions. So she stayed silent, and allowed Aldorie to begin scolding her for acting out, for being foolish enough to meet her brother, for getting Niro and Torren in trouble with her, for putting her chance in the auction at risk. All of that was true, and as Aldorie shoved her towards the washing bowls near the left side of the room Zora couldn't help but wonder if Beyna, the goddess of fate, was mocking her. Why else would she have finally gotten her wish to see Zane again, only to have everything she thought to be true about the facility shattered? She'd thought they were cared for, protected, by the council. They weren't. She'd thought the guards didn't want to hurt them. They did. She'd always been afraid of being sent out to serve a citizen family, of being sold in the auction, but it was clear now that there was no difference between staying inside the walls of the facility or leaving them. She was a wild one, and she was meant to serve, to exist for the use of citizens, and that was all she'd ever be. If the gods watched mortals the way the stories said they did, then surely they were laughing at her foolishness right now, because only a fool would have been this blind for this long. Only a fool would still be glancing at the doors to the hall with hope of seeing Zane one more time, and only a colossal idiot would still be praying under her breath for a miracle as Aldorie applied make-up. -- "GATHER UP! NOW!" The booming voice of a guard made everyone fall quiet, and Zora turned away from Cadalie to find the man near the doors of the hall. With a smile and a squeeze of her hand Cadalie stood up and moved toward the doors. The sheer golden dresses they were all wearing hung on Cadalie's curves in the most beautiful way, and it almost made Zora wish there was a mirror in the room so she could see what she looked like in it. They had been talking for the last hour or so, and Zora had filled her in on what had happened. Rumors had been flying through the other wild ones about what Zane and Zora had done. Someone had claimed that Zane had stabbed a guard with a fork he'd stolen from dinner. There was another rumor saying Zora had been the one to stab a guard after she'd failed the final test. Another had said they had both been found trying to climb the fence that lined the field outside and were in solitary while the council decided which public houses they'd serve in. The stories had been insane, and some had stopped by to find out the truth while other females had stopped by to give Zora a hug and tell her they were happy she was still in the auction. Some had even checked on Zane, and thinking of him made her have to choke back tears. Regardless, they had all wished her luck. Luck. The word was beginning to feel ironic, but she said it back to each of them, forcing a smile to her lips. The crowd of females formed up in front of the guard as he waited impatiently, clearly irritated. "Listen up, females, if you're here you've been chosen by the council to appear in this quarter's auction. This means your scores were good enough for you to be here, but if you fuck up and embarrass the council you'll be in a public house so fast your heads will spin. Any questions?" His eyes scanned them all, and the room was so silent that the beep of the device in his hand made several girls jump. "Good. Now, we generally run the auction with the highest scores first, but this time we have a special circumstance. Where's the twin?" The crowd turned towards her, so many bright eyes and beautiful faces filled with interest or jealousy or concern. Gradually the space around her widened until there was a clear path from her to the guard. He arched an eyebrow and snapped his fingers before pointing to the floor in front of him. "Well, get over here, female. I don't have all morning." His eyes dropped to the strange object in his hands. It was large and rectangular, with an odd looking glass attachment at the bottom, and it beeped quietly as he tapped his fingers across it. Zora moved towards him, and the anxiety made her skin buzz. It didn't help that some of the girls were glaring at her, while others were watching her with such obvious pity that it was clear the true story of her and Zane's actions had circulated. She dropped to her knees in front of the guard, and he ignored her as the steady beeping assured her he was still working on the little machine. It reminded her of some of the things the doctors used in the infirmary, and she wondered if the glass component along the bottom was going to do some kind of test. "You're first up in the auction since half the fucking city is showing up to bid on you, but..." he laughed, "Looks like the precious twin only scored a nine out of ten." A few laughs bubbled up behind her and Zora hated that she blushed, hated that she even felt embarrassed by the score. Why did she care about the score anymore? She knew the truth. She knew that the pride she'd felt in how well she could serve was ridiculous. Yet, some part of her still hated that she'd fucked up during the test. She was always one of the best; it was why some of the girls didn't like her. That twisted competition they all felt to perform perfectly, whether in pleasure or pain. "Alright, verify your name for the records, female." He looked down at her and she swallowed against the urge to turn and shout at one of the girls she could hear whispering about her ruining Dannel's test as well. There was no way she'd done so badly that Dannel would suffer for it as well. Zora pushed the buzz of the other wild ones' whispers away and straightened her back. "Zora, sir." "Good. You've been flagged for auction by the council as a breeding and household service slave. Your identification number will be 422713. Learn it." He stepped around her and she tried to understand what he meant by identification number when she felt the cold press of the glass against her shoulder blade. An instant later pain seared her, it felt like a hot blade carving her skin in fast strokes, and then he lifted it. She'd barely had time to cry out before it was over, and she went to reach over her shoulder to touch the tender skin but the guard slapped her hand away. "Don't touch it, it needs to heal. Now go sit against the wall, female." Zora moved where he pointed, sitting against the wall, but she leaned forward to keep her shoulder off of it. It wasn't until the next girl, Houna, a golden haired blonde with vibrant turquoise eyes, sat down by her, that she saw what was now on her skin. Dark numbers were on the girl's shoulder, and she just smiled haughtily at Zora, casually brushing her hair to the side to keep it off the fresh mark. "I got a ten out of ten." Houna patted the makeup around her eyes, trying to keep the liner from smudging from the brief tears the device had caused. "I should really be first, you understand that, right?" "Take it up with the guard, Houna." Zora sighed and turned to watch the other females being catalogued and marked. "You don't even get it, do you?" Houna pinched Zora's arm and she jerked it away from her. The girl hissed at her, "I'm better than you. I've always been better than you. I'm more obedient, I haven't been punished since my fourteenth year, I'm better at the arts of pleasure, and I can take pain as well as you can." Zora glared at the girl. She didn't want to talk to her, didn't want to listen to her, in fact, Zora really just wanted to hit her. But that would be a terrible idea, because if she fucked up again she'd likely end up being handed over to the guards before being relegated to a public house. "I can, Zora, you're not the only one who is good at accepting erotic pain - and I didn't run around earning punishments for extra practice." The sneer in Houna's voice set Zora's teeth on edge. "You think I earned punishments for practice? Are you kidding me, Houna?" "Oh, you did it for attention too. As if the attention of the entire fucking facility wasn't enough. All I've heard about since we were infants has been the twins. Oh, the twins are here, Mirel blessed the city with twins again, the twins, the twins, the fucking twins." She leaned close and Zora wanted to spit in her face because Houna had no idea how horrible it was to have someone who knew you perfectly, who was part of you, and then have them ripped away from you. "You know I fucked Zane once, and he was okay, I mean, really, not even that okay. I doubt a performance like what I experienced is going to land him in one of the great families. He wasn't even gracious, or graceful. Even without the BC-426 he was like an animal, all he did was mumble and growl at the guards, and then he just fucked me like I was some random female." "You don't deserve to even be in the same room as my brother, and you are some random female." Zora spoke through gritted teeth, and Houna looked shocked. "I have a ten out of ten, Zora. I am going to end up in one of the great families, I'll carry the next generation of citizens that will really mean something to Mirelia." She sneered at her, "You and your vicious brother are going to be lucky if you're not put down after one of the second or third tier families gets tired of your shit -" All of the stress from the last few days had reached a boiling point and Zora felt something snap inside her. She tackled Houna backwards, twining her fingers into those golden tresses until she had a firm grip. Zora straddled her and then slammed the female's head back against the floor. Once, twice, three times. "ZORA!" There were screams, high-pitched and female. Shouts from a guard, but they weren't close enough. Zora wrenched her hand free of Houna's hair and pulled her arm back to hit her in the face. See if any of the great families want you with a bloody lip you stupid - Someone grabbed her arm in the air as she tried to bring her fist down. Houna was screaming now, mostly incomprehensible gibberish about Zora being insane, and at the moment she didn't exactly feel like arguing the accusation. Then there were more hands, dragging her back and off of her. Zora kicked out as she got up and caught Houna in the ribs. The female was crying and Zora felt a giddy laugh rising up that she'd probably smudge her makeup. Then there was the electric snap of a baton and her body went rigid with pain, when it cut off she was gasping for breath, and the sound of thirty or so screaming and shouting females flooded back in. Her head pounded, and then another jolt of white-hot pain cut through her system, a scream frozen in her throat. "By the gods, you are one stupid cunt." It was the guard who had been cataloguing them, and she groaned against the floor as he rolled her to her stomach. "Bring me some fucking restraints, the council says she's in the auction no matter what, but it doesn't mean we let her do whatever the hell she wants. She can go up in cuffs so everyone knows what they're spending their fortunes on." "She's insane! You can't let her in the auction, sir, she hasn't earned it!" Houna's whiny crying made the sharp ache in Zora's head even worse. "Shut up and sit down, ALL of you. SIT THE FUCK DOWN!" The guard roared above her and the room fell silent again. A moment later there were boots in her vision, and leather cuffs were being wrapped around her wrists. She felt the guard messing with them, and she knew he'd removed a link between the cuffs by the way her shoulders were pulled back. Her body ached already, but she kept her mouth shut against the urge to make a noise. "If you think being a twin is going to continue to protect you once you're sold, you're wrong, female. When wild ones act up in the city, they're punished severely. The great families won't let an embarrassment like that go unpunished." Zora couldn't stifle the bitter laugh that slipped from her lips. "You really think one of the great families will buy me? After all this?" The guard twisted his hand in her hair viciously and craned her neck back so she was looking at him, "They won't know about any of this, and regardless, they don't want you, female, they want what's between your legs. They want the heirs you can give them, and the money they can make off the pure wild ones you can produce. And since you apparently won the genetic lottery and were born a twin, you'll go to the highest fucking bidder because they all want to be the family that owns a twin." "Lucky me." Zora muttered, and the guard dropped her head. She tensed in time to keep her face from hitting the floor, and she heard him grumble above her. Then he went back to calling females, and she closed her eyes against the whispers and the stares. She could only hope that Zane was handling all of this better than she was, because he deserved to be somewhere good. -- "What the fuck was all that?" Dannel was sitting on the floor next to Zane, and they were both staring at the wall where they'd heard the females screaming. Half the room was on high-alert, listening intently for more screams. A few of the males were pacing in front of the wall, wound up and stressed by their concern for the females in the other hall. Most of the males were battling various degrees of guilt over the final test, while some didn't seem concerned at all. Those assholes were sitting against the far wall laughing, and their discussion had barely skipped a beat when the screams had erupted next door. "I'm not sure," Zane muttered, but something inside him knew it was Zora. It had to be Zora. She'd been doing so well for so long. She had been the one sending him messages urging him to just behave, to obey, to follow the rules, to act nice, to perform well. He had been the one who had struggled with it, while according to the other males she had excelled. She had received high marks in all categories, but then she'd run from Dannel during the test - and then she'd fought when the guards came for them. It had been years since he'd seen that feisty side of her, the brave girl he'd grown up with who had shouted and screamed and bit and kicked. The girl that, when they were very young, had punched a male in the birth year ahead of them for taking some of Zane's dinner and then she'd made the male apologize. That hollow ache in his chest wasn't fading, the edges were just becoming more defined. It was the place that would hold every memory of Zora. "Oh shit..." Dannel's voice brought Zane back to reality, and they all turned to see a citizen in a black suit enter the room surrounded by guards. All of the guards already had their electric batons out. The quiet in the room was a palpable tension. The males who had been pacing stopped, and the conversations ended abruptly. "I want to make something very clear, wild ones. Poor behavior will not be tolerated. We have spent far too much money raising you, training you, and preparing you, for you to fail us at the last minute. You've all graduated, and those of you in here are fortunate enough to be in this quarter's auction." The man in the suit cleared his voice, and then returned his hands behind his back. "However, as a member of the council I would like to make it known that you are never beyond our reach, and if you disappoint us we have ways of rectifying the situation." Twenty-six pairs of eyes were locked on the member of the council, the mysterious group that had run the facility they had all lived in since birth. Zane felt a chill run over his skin, and he wanted to find Zora, to check on her. Now the sudden absence of screams next door seemed sinister. "I promise you that if you behave, your lives will be much easier. You may even enjoy your service." The councilman's smile was practiced, "The females will be auctioned first, then you. Any acts of defiance will be dealt with swiftly, so let's keep this civil." A pair of guards entered the room carrying large devices in their hands, and Zane pushed back the urge to rush the doors and try and find Zora. It would only make everything worse. The idea that had been running through his mind since he woke up was how things may have been different if he had refused to see Zora, refused to break the rules, refused to let Niro and Torren break the rules for them. How much pain would have been avoided? And how much less would it hurt right now if he hadn't seen her again? "Males, the auction will start in twenty minutes. Your portion of the auction should start in approximately one hour." The councilman turned to one of the guards with a device, "Start with the twin. Contact me when you're done." The man turned and left, and gradually the attention of the room shifted until all eyes were on him. Zane sighed, stood up, and walked toward the guards. As he moved to his knees he sent up a prayer to the gods that they would look out for Zora since he couldn't, he didn't care what happened to him as long as she was safe. Just keep her safe. "Verify your name for the record, male." The guard sounded bored, and Zane kept his eyes on the floor between the man's boots. "Zane, sir, twin brother of Zora." ***** Ahhh, don't you just want to hug the two of them? I do. The auction is up next and I've already started writing it! Until then, please comment and rate! I'd love to know what you all are thinking of this world and of Zane and Zora. Let me hear it, lovelies! *heart* The Wild Ones Ch. 03 Hello, lovelies! I'm excited about this chapter because we finally meet some very devious and interesting characters, and there are oh so many things I wish I could spoil for you! Instead I'll have to just write them. Is it ridiculous how impatient I am to write this? I'm just lucky my editor is so quick to turn these around so you all don't have to wait! Enough with my rambling, let's find out what happens with Zane and Zora. --- Zora was doing her best to block out the whispers and taunts from Houna and her friends, but it was hard. Stuck on her stomach, with her arms bound painfully behind her back by the cuffs, the hard floor bruising her ribs -- to say the day was not going well was an understatement. She shouldn't have attacked Houna, no matter how much the haughty bitch deserved it. After spending a night in the cells of the facility, Zora should have been trying to behave. She should have been doing her best to stay off the guards' radar, but then Houna had insulted Zane; had said they would both be put down. Even remembering the words made Zora angry all over again, but there wasn't much her rage could accomplish from the floor. "I bet she gets dumped in a public house after the first time she's bred and doesn't produce a set of twins. That's the only reason she's even in the auction..." It was Elori talking quietly. Houna's best friend, the one with the same golden blonde hair, the same false smile. "As if she's ever going to, I heard the last set of twins never produced any." Houna's snide whispers slid like oil into Zora's ears no matter how hard she tried to ignore her. "She'll just be another red-headed whore in a year, and all her special treatment will be forgotten when the regular citizens get to breed her." Zora pressed her forehead against the floor and gritted her teeth to stay silent. She didn't want the words to affect her, but the tears stinging the corners of her eyes wouldn't let her deny it. She'd tried so hard over the past year to be perfect. To master every technique to provide pleasure, to learn to slip into that mental state where even the pain turned into pure sensation. She had obeyed. She hadn't argued. She hadn't fought back. She hadn't tried to see Zane. An entire year of no incidents, and in the last few days, the most crucial few days, she had broken more rules than she had in the last several years. "I heard she fucked up so bad that Dannel may not even be in the auction. For that alone she should be punished. He's hot. I'm sure one of the great families would have bought him if he hadn't been cursed to bed her for his final test." Another girl's voice behind her that she couldn't place. Irritation and embarrassment made the tears burn in Zora's eyes and she jerked at the cuffs on her wrists, trying to turn and see them, to shout at them, but a boot landed between her shoulder blades and pressed her hard into the floor. "Oh, no, female. The auction is starting and you're going to be a good little show slave, aren't you?" The man's voice above her grated her nerves and she growled in frustration, unable to pull in a full breath with the pressure on her back. "What do you say?" "Yes, sir," Zora mumbled into the floor, and he dug the heel of his boot into the bare skin of her back making her wince. "That doesn't sound very sincere. Try it again." There was amusement in the man's voice, and Zora bit her tongue to stop the caustic response she wanted to give. Instead, she relaxed against the floor, easing the pressure on her wrists, and spoke calmly. "Yes, sir. I will behave." "Good. Time to put on a smile for the masses." His boot lifted from her back, but his hand quickly gripped her arm and hauled her to her feet without much consideration for her shoulder or her wrists. She bit back the yelp, not wanting to give him or the girls the satisfaction of seeing her in pain. He turned toward the group and shouted, "All of you, get up and line up based on your numbers. The list is posted over there." He moved her towards the door and Zora flinched when he shoved her the last step, making her stumble into the wall when she was unable to stop herself. Houna's quiet giggle behind her was like salt in a wound, but there wasn't even enough time to dignify her with a response. The doors opened and there were rows of guards, all armed with electric batons. The sharp comment froze in Zora's mouth as the first pair of men stepped forward towards her. "Come on, twin, you're the star of the show today." One of them spoke as they each moved to either side of her, gripping her arms in painfully tight fingers. "Why the hell is she in cuffs?" The other guard asked, his voice full of irritation. "Bitch decided to attack one of the other females, feel free to announce that to the great families when you take her on stage." The gruff response resulted in an eye roll from the guard who'd asked and a series of tittering giggles behind her. When Zora turned to glare at them she saw Cadalie had stepped out of line. The anger bled out of her as she focused on Cadalie's sad smile while a few of the girls Zora had been friends with raised their hands to say goodbye. Liear and Pilah jumped out of line too, and she saw that Pilah was crying openly. "I won't forget you, Zora!" Pilah called out, and the guard in charge of them turned and shouted at her to shut up. The words still filled her up, and reminded her of the good that had existed before she knew the truth of the Mirelian Facility for Wild One Development. Zora just nodded at them, swallowing the tears back as she was yanked out of the room. They'd had most of the morning to say their goodbyes, their well-wishes, and whisper words of encouragement, but that last call had meant the most. The walk was long and silent, and she was moved through locked doors and down corridors she had never seen before. Suddenly she was pushed through a pair of wooden doors and she was in a huge open space, covered in smooth stone. The center of the room was embedded with the seal of the city in a huge circle ten feet across. Mirel's open hands, holding a bushel of thyme leaves with a flame behind it all. The gold that formed it caught the bright sunlight streaming in through the front doors and for a moment Zora was entranced by the image. She didn't want to tear her eyes from the intricate design as the guards walked her over it, but then the doors opened and a wall of sound hit her and took her breath away. There were so many people. Citizens. The roar of a thousand voices chattering in the massive courtyard was deafening, and the sunlight momentarily blinded her as Zora was handed off to another guard. She dropped her head, shielding her eyes with her hair, completely disoriented by the intensity of it all. The smooth cobbles under her feet were warm and made of a pale stone that only seemed to make the glare of the sun worse. Too little time outdoors had made her eyes sensitive, but the sheer golden dress seemed to absorb the light and glow against her pale skin. "I can't believe they were going to send you up there in cuffs." The voice next to her was familiar and she forced her eyes open against the light to see him. Malcolm. It was the nice guard, the one that had given her chocolate, called her by name, shown her kindness. "Sir --" Zora started to speak but he pressed his fingers over her lips and shook his head before moving behind her. The cuffs were removed quickly, his hands rubbing her wrists as he whispered. "You're about to go up. They're going to play a video from your final test, just ignore it and stay calm and quiet. There's no need to preen, they're all here for you. Just don't act out, don't react, no matter what they say about you." Malcolm spoke fast, and Zora nodded slightly as music began to play at an impossible volume. She could feel the notes in her chest as massive speakers on the stage came to life playing the Dorasian national anthem. The roar of the crowd stuttered and she could hear the shuffling of thousands of feet moving as the citizens stood for it. Zora's head was swimming, her heart pounding a furious beat against her ribs, and she wanted to run. She wanted to run back inside the facility, where at least she knew people, even if half the guards were waiting to take their turns with her. The distant rooflines of too many buildings, the overwhelming number of people gathered within the square before the facility, the impossible scale of the city of Mirelia -- was all suddenly terrifying. She wanted to go back inside. The known would be better. Even if it were horrible, the known would be better. She spun around in a panic, her hands clutching at Malcolm's uniform as tears streaked her cheeks, "Please don't make me, please don't make me go up there. I can't, I can't do this, I'll be a terrible slave. You know I'll be terrible --" "Be quiet!" Malcolm covered her mouth, his dark eyes wide as he looked past her and then into her face again, "You have to calm down. You are going up there, Zora. They're going to auction you, and I guarantee someone is going to buy you. You have to be brave. Think of all the young ones you've coached, think of them, and be the example. Or, hell, do it for you, do it so you go somewhere decent. Do it so you get out of this place." "Is the female ready?" A citizen in a nice suit was standing at the stairs to the stage, a man in an all black uniform just to his right. A cold flash of recognition hit her, it was the same man who had arrived at the end of her test to ask her the questions. His face was just as implacable and unreadable as before. Malcolm reacted faster than she did, his features schooled into a passive boredom as he dropped a heavy hand on her shoulder. "Yeah, she's ready. Just telling her she needs to behave on the stage, not embarrass us." Malcolm's voice was completely different, absent of the warmth she'd seen in him, and she knew he was keeping her facing away from the citizen so she could collect herself. She wiped her cheeks as she took a breath and he spun her around and pushed her forward towards them. "Ah, I wish they had cleaned her up a bit. The makeup around her eyes is smudged." The suited man made a tsking sound as he quickly tilted her chin up and then side to side. "At least she's pretty. It would have been a nightmare if the twin had been ugly. I do wish they'd dyed her hair though, at least for the presentation, the red hair is going to reduce the bidding a bit." Malcolm's grip on her shoulder tightened, but it was the only outward display of his reaction to the comments. "We weren't told that we were allowed to alter her appearance beyond the usual makeup." "Of course we're not allowed to. The whole 'honesty in commerce' ruling makes that a crime, but it would have been convenient if someone had, oh, I don't know, forgotten that she was meant for the auction and taken care of it." The man sighed and waved his hands as the anthem drew to a close. "Bah, it doesn't matter, no more time. The Chancellor wants her on stage for his opening remarks." The man in the black uniform took her elbow and followed the man in the suit. He led her up the stairs, and as the sea of citizens came into full view Zora's knees went weak. The last drumbeats of the anthem stopped and their echoes bounced across the courtyard, but the pounding of her heart continued the staccato rhythm inside her head until she was sure she would faint on the spot. "Citizens of Mirelia!" The Chancellor spoke cheerfully, and a roar of cheers responded. "Welcome to the third quarterly auction of the year. The Mirelian Facility for Wild One Development thanks you for your attendance today. I've been told we have a record number of bidders today, and I believe we all know why that is." The Chancellor's voice carried through the speakers as Zora was moved to the center of the stage and pushed to her knees. It didn't matter that she knelt, because she was easily eight feet off the ground, and a series of cameras were positioned at the front of the stage. Some aimed at her, and others aimed at the Chancellor. "This is wild one number 422713, but I believe you all know this one as the female twin!" The thunder of applause that followed that statement made Zora tremble. It was the hunger. The same hunger she'd heard in the voice of so many when they discussed her and Zane, but it was multiplied a hundred fold. For a moment she caught her reflection in the lens of the camera. Wide eyes, an expression of fear, her lower lip trembling as she fought the panic and the tears. Malcolm's voice replayed in her head reminding her to be brave and she forced a breath, looking down at the wood of the stage under her knees until she felt her features relax behind the curtain of her hair. "Head up!" A voice hissed from in front of her, and she looked over the lip of the stage to see the man in the suit making rapid gestures under his chin. "Head up, female! Now!" She lifted her head, and then tuned back into the Chancellor's rambling speech, "...always a treat to have such well-trained wild ones to bring to the stage, and this one puts on quite the show. Let's watch." The Chancellor turned to look behind him and Zora glanced over her shoulder to see a massive screen, easily over a story tall, and a moment later it was filled with an image of her. Naked, on top of Dannel, riding him slowly. As if on a delay, the soft moans and cries she was making on the video filtered out through the speakers a moment later. A furious blush burned her cheeks, but she tried to suppress it. The image changed and she was bent over the side of the bed with Dannel behind her. Then she was on her knees in front of him, his fist tangled in her copper waves as he thrust into her throat. She closed her eyes against it for a moment, and reminded herself that she'd always been watched. Never like this though, her mind answered. Just as she opened her eyes again the video faded to black and polite applause followed, the murmur of a thousand voices becoming a hum in her ears. Then, the screen changed. The Chancellor was in the top left, smiling at the crowd. The bottom left corner was a camera feed that showed her profile as she looked back at the screen. The sheer golden dress clung to every curve, pooling between her thighs as if to accentuate the nakedness underneath, and her nipples were hard against the fabric in the air. The right side of the screen was blank accept for a title: 'Current Bids'. Zora turned to face the front and focused on the point of a building in the distance, high above the heads of the gathered citizens. High above the head of the one that would be her master soon enough. She may have to kneel on the stage, but she didn't have to participate -- she didn't have to smile for the masses. "Shall we start the bidding at five thousand?" The Chancellor had glee in his voice when he spoke, and a groan rose from the crowd. He laughed, "Did you think she would start at the normal price? Come now... and look, we already have bids!" His cheery voice continued as the price rose steadily, and she tried to block it out. She tried to block all of it out. There was shouting in the crowd, angry voices, a disagreement that had guards moving amidst the seated rows of citizens. Zora tried to think of Zane, every tiny feature that she had done her best to memorize, the timbre of his voice, the way it felt to sleep with her hand in his again. To know that for one brief moment she was safe, and loved, and with her brother. Family. It was a word that was nothing more than fiction to every other wild one, but to Zora it meant Zane, and he was somewhere in the massive facility behind her waiting to be auctioned. Like this. A sharp rise in the tone of the Chancellor tore her from her thoughts and her head whipped around to see what had him so happy. There were only three names on the board now, and the numbers next to each name made her eyes widen. It had to be a lot of money. She'd never had money, but she'd heard the guards bitching enough to know it mattered and they never had enough of it. This was probably enough. No number with that many digits could be easily spent. Calder. Perlen. Whittaker. As she watched and listened, Calder disappeared from the screen and the numbers climbed higher. Then the number next to Perlen jumped even higher, and there was a collective gasp from the crowd that rushed like a chill up Zora's spine. A chuckle came from the Chancellor's podium and silence fell over the crowd. "Well, well, well... going once? Twice? Sold." An oddly peppy little chime came over the speakers, and Zora's heart stilled in her chest. It couldn't be over, it couldn't be, but then Malcolm was standing next to her. In the reflection of the camera lens in front of her, she saw her wide eyes before she felt the rush of fear inside her. He helped her to her feet on shaky legs, and for a moment she was sure she was going to collapse as her head swam. Somewhere in that crowd was the Perlen family, and they had just bought her. Whoever they were. "Don't freak out yet. Wait." Malcolm dragged her across the stage quickly, and she stumbled once before they got to the stairs, but he supported her. Just as she was walking down them, she heard the Chancellor introduce the real auctioneer, and that voice announced the next girl. A perfect ten. Houna. Malcolm pushed her through a set of doors and down a hallway as the next auction started, but her ears were buzzing so loudly she couldn't hear the words. Then he led her through another door and she was in a small white room. As soon as she realized they were alone she jerked out of his grip and sank to the floor, trying to breathe against the constriction tightening her chest. "No, no, no, no -" "Zora, this is what you're meant for. You're going to one of the most prestigious of the great families. You did well, much better than anyone believed I'm sure." He sighed, shoving a hand into his hair as he stepped back from her to lean against the wall. She rocked forward, curling over her knees as she wrapped her arms around her ribs. She wanted to run, to scream and kick and rage. She wanted out of this room. She wanted to find Zane and escape the facility and climb the back fence and, and, -- and nothing. She couldn't run. She didn't even know where she was in the damn facility. They'd have her in cuffs and sedated before she got anywhere near Zane. What she wanted didn't matter. It didn't matter. It couldn't matter anymore, because her future was decided for her. The council, the fucking Mirelian Facility for Wild One Development, had decided. "I don't want to leave!" The tears came again as soon as she voiced it, choking off the end of her plea. Malcolm sighed from the wall, but didn't approach. "You have to go, he bought you. It's done. Henry Perlen is signing the paperwork down the hall right now." She could hear tension in his voice, but it just made her angry. Zora turned around, glaring at him and clenching her hands into fists. "Why were you nice to me?! Why were you even nice to me this morning?!" She was shouting and he looked shocked, but she couldn't stop the torrent from her lips. "They're going to take me away from everything I know, everyone I know, everyone I love, and you're acting like I should be fucking grateful to go to their beds because they're one of the great families?!" Zora laughed bitterly and turned away from him, shoving the heels of her hands against her eyes to wipe the tears away. Her palms came back streaked black with liner and mascara and she had the sudden urge to smear it down her cheeks. To make herself as undesirable as possible. The Wild Ones Ch. 03 Malcolm must have seen her move her hands toward the fragile gold fabric because he was crouched in front of her in a second, grabbing her wrists with a gruff sigh. "Dammit, Zora..." He pulled the end of his shirtsleeve over his hand and started to rub the black marks away. "Stop! I don't want to look nice for him! I don't want to look good for any of them!" She tried to jerk her arm back but his grip became a vice. "Zora! Just stop it!" He finished scrubbing her hands and then grabbed her face, his thumbs traced under her eyes, cleaning up the mess she'd made of her eye makeup, and then their faces were inches apart. She was breathing hard, her anger fueling her lungs, returning her heartbeat behind her ribs with a pounding rhythm, and his eyes were on her lips for a moment before they jumped to her eyes. He suddenly spoke with an intensity she hadn't expected, "I was nice to you because I've watched you. Really watched you. You take care of the others, dammit! You're so fucking strong, and you're not afraid to do what has to be done, and I expected you to hold on to that through this! This is the hard part, the part where you have to actually do what those bastards trained you for! I didn't expect you to be grateful, but I did expect you to be brave!" She opened her mouth to speak, but then Malcolm kissed her. It shocked her enough to short-circuit the rant she had been about to launch into. His lips were warm and soft against hers, and he tasted sweet, like the chocolate, or something else. His tongue slipped between her lips and she relaxed against his hands, reaching forward to tentatively move her hands to his sides. Malcolm leaned her backwards until she lay out on the cool floor, and then his body covered hers and she didn't care about the chill. He kept one of his hands along her jaw, holding her lips to his, but the other slid down until his fingers caressed her breast. A groan came from inside his chest and she arched her back into his touch, encouraging him to continue as all the heat from her anger moved somewhere much lower. He nipped her lower lip and she felt his knees moving between her own so she parted her thighs to let him in. Malcolm's hips dropped and Zora felt how hard his cock was as he ground himself against her. They both moaned and she gasped, breaking the kiss when he pinched her nipple lightly. Then his hand stilled, his mouth hovering over hers, and she squirmed trying to kiss him again but he dodged her lips. "Fuck, I can't -- I shouldn't..." Malcolm looked down at her, his eyes even darker as his pupils grew in his arousal. Zora knew she wanted this, wanted his kindness, wanted his touch, wanted him before whatever came next. Lifting her hips she stroked herself against the hard shaft inside his pants, and reveled in the growl that rumbled from his throat. He closed his eyes and his jaw clenched as he fought to control himself, but she didn't let up. Tracing her hands up his sides, she laid one hand against the side of his neck, gently pulling him down towards her. "Please... please fuck me?" The soft plea came out and Malcolm's brows came together a moment before his lips met hers again and the rest of his body followed, pressing her into the floor beneath his weight. It felt good, and she rolled her hips beneath him in encouragement. Each tiny movement she made resulted in low rumbles in his chest that made her even wetter as she urged him on. His lips traced down her neck, and then the flimsy, sheer, gold fabric was moved out of the way and he drew the bud of her nipple into his mouth. She moaned, biting down on her hand to muffle it as pleasure thrummed from the scrape of his teeth across the sensitive skin. When he bit down a zing of heat hit her and her hips bucked against his. The hand behind his neck tightened and he growled and snagged her wrists, pinning them sharply above her head. His lips were swollen, the elegant angle of his cheekbones catching the light, which revealed that his hair had golden and copper threads amidst the dark brown. "Are you sure, Zora?" His voice sounded strained, and she ignored the ache of his weight on her wrists. Lifting her head up to his lips she kissed him softly and he returned it. "I'm here for your --" "No! Don't..." He shook his head as he cut her off, "Not like that. Don't say that. You don't have to serve me, gods, I never should have --" Malcolm started to sit up, and as he released her hands she grabbed on to his shirt to pull him back on top of her. "I'm sorry, wait, please, I -- I want this, you. I mean I want you." She rubbed against him for good measure and he tilted his head, his eyes closing for a moment. When they returned to her they were ablaze with lust and the heat inside her answered in a swell that made her shiver underneath him. "Fuck it." Malcolm lifted himself off her to dig in a pocket, and then she heard the sound of his belt coming off. He shifted his pants down and she helped as much as she could, hooking her feet into the fabric to push it down. He laughed when he realized and gave her a wicked grin as he tore a wrapper between his teeth, then reached between them to slide the item up the thick shaft of his cock. Before she could ask what it was he lined up and thrust inside her. She winced at the initial stretch, and he moaned against her shoulder, pressing his lips to the skin over her collarbone. Zora recovered quickly, enjoying the way he felt buried between her thighs, filling her. When he pulled back and thrust again she bit down against her own moan. The shirt of his uniform was harsh even through the sheer dress, but she reveled in the way it scraped against her skin. Wrapping her legs around his hips she pulled hers up to meet his on the next thrust and he buried his face against her neck, in her hair. Each thrust pushed her closer and closer, the tension of the day leaving her on edge and glad to be losing herself in pleasure to someone she chose, to someone good. He pulled back and kissed her, fighting to keep contact with her lips as he drove them both towards bliss. A warm buzzing wrapped around her spine, and she found herself letting out little gasps and moans whenever the kiss broke. One of his hands glided up her side, caressing her curves until he brushed her breast and squeezed. His thumb flicked across her nipple, then he pinched gently, sending a shock of shivers through her that almost tumbled her into an orgasm. Malcolm's thrusts slowed, his hips circling until he was grinding mercilessly against her clit. Her body started to shake, and she arched her back up off the floor, reaching for release. "Please, sir, please -" "Malcolm. Call me Malcolm, Zora." His voice was rough against her ear and she nodded. A moan slipped from her lips and she tried to push back the edge as he found the perfect spot, brushing his cock against it over and over, "Malcolm, please... please, Malcolm." "Come whenever you want, Zora. This is for us, no one else." He returned to the hard thrusts, and each time he filled her she felt herself rising higher and higher, a crackling tension building inside her. He kissed down her jaw line, and his teeth grazed her skin but he seemed to stop himself from actually biting and returned to kisses. He stilled, grinding himself against her again and the pleasure shattered, scattering pieces of her fear and tension and anxiety like ashes on the wind. He was heavy on top of her, braced on one elbow, his other hand holding her hips still as the last pulses of her orgasm gripped his cock. Malcolm suddenly kissed her fiercely, his hand twisting in her hair and she tried to return it with the same intensity, but it was like he was trying to say things that she couldn't begin to guess at. When he pulled back, slipping from her to leave her thighs wet, she smiled up at him and he returned it vibrantly. His grin reminded her of being outside when the sun finally broke through the clouds. An instant warmth, a glow that went bone deep. "Wow... that was..." "Amazing." Malcolm kissed her again and then sat up, sliding the thin layer of material from his cock to tie it off. Then he then shoved it into his pocket as he pulled his pants into place. "What is that?" Zora finally pointed and he looked up at her, confused for a moment and then recognition hit him. "That was a condom, all the citizens are required to use them with each other. Makes sure we don't breed, and it's likely the only thing that's going to keep anyone from finding out about -- what we -- what I just did." Malcolm dropped his head back, sighing as he finished buckling his belt, his shoulders tense. "By the gods, I am a terrible idiot, Zora. Shit. I put you at risk." He shoved his fingers through his hair a few times, and then he leaned forward and started adjusting her dress. Once more he was wiping her face with his shirtsleeve, and then he was finger combing her copper waves. Zora stayed still while he took care of her, smiling at him as random facts they'd been told about the citizens flicked through her mind. That they couldn't breed with each other, that it was important they only bred with the wild ones. It was the whole reason the wild ones had even been allowed inside the great city centuries before. To let the population grow. The wild ones gained safety, food, protection; and Mirelia was able to grow stronger children, because the wild ones had always been taller, larger, stronger than the citizens. If they had been weaker, the city likely would have never let them in. She'd always wondered if that meant the citizens never touched each other -- but that had been foolish. Of course they had a method to avoid breeding while still sharing beds. When Malcolm seemed satisfied, Zora couldn't hide the smile on her lips. "How do I look?" She tilted her head, and he laughed low. "Like I just fucked you, hopefully no one notices." He shook his head and stole another kiss from her lips before he stood up. "If anyone asks you why you look like this, just tell them you were upset. Your lips are swollen, and your nose is still a little red from the crying, we just have to cross our fingers no one pays attention." "To the fact that I'm soaking wet?" Zora grinned and he tried to stifle his own smile but failed miserably. "Speaking of that... I'm pretty sure this room smells like sex. I need to get us out of here." Malcolm lifted the sleeve of his shirt to check his watch. "We can wait in the hall, I can say I was impatient to get the next wild one from the auction stage." "What would happen if they found out?" Zora hated that a little tendril of fear burrowed its way into her post-orgasmic bliss, but it did, and once it appeared it was impossible to ignore. "Honestly? Your new master would likely have me killed discreetly, and you'd be punished in ways I don't even want to think about." All the humor had left Malcolm's face, and imagining horrific torture was a quick way to get a blush to leave her cheeks. "So why risk it?" The words tumbled from her mouth before she could think about it, but Malcolm just leaned against the wall and sighed. "I don't agree with everything that happens here, Zora, but I thought that if I worked here I could make a difference. I could help the wild ones a little." He shook his head, staring down at his shoes. "It hasn't quite worked out that way, I really have no power here and I can't speak up against the other guys because I'd lose the job. I just have to do what I can, when I can. But you, you're like this vibrant flame. The way everyone talks about how hard you and Zane have fought to be together? I'd kill to have family that cared about me half as much, and you two risk everything to see each other. Your group became my favorite assignment. The way you talk to the young ones when you see them, the way you support the new ones in the female wing. Comfort them, make them calm and confident. Hell, the way you comfort the males you have training with -- you're incredible, Zora. And while it was literally the stupidest thing I've ever done, I am really glad I got to bed you. I just wish we'd had a bed." He forced a little grin, and she smiled back at him. "I've never thought of any of it like that, to be honest. I mean, it's just what we do for each other. We only have each other, so I want the others to do well. We have to do well or --" "You end up in a public house, or you stay in the facility." Malcolm shook his head and checked his watch again. "I know you don't want to leave, Zora, and I understand. It's new and it's terrifying, but the things the others have said, the things they want to do to you..." He swallowed and looked away from her. "I'm glad you're leaving. I'm glad you're going to live on one of those massive estates I'll probably never see the inside of." "I'm afraid." Zora stared at the floor as she said it, embarrassed to admit it after all of his talk of her bravery, her strength. She didn't feel like those words, she didn't feel like she'd made much of a difference to anyone. Sure, Pilah had been a skittish little thing when her birth year had arrived. She'd spent a week in some other room before Torren had moved her into Zora's room with the comment that Zora would answer all of her questions -- and the tiny girl had started talking, and once she'd started she'd never stopped. Questions all of the time. On techniques, on managing and accepting pain, talking about males, and the females who felt they were part of an elite group. Pilah had been two years behind her, but it had felt like a huge gap in age and maturity. Now that she thought about it, Liear had been terrified of touching a male until Zora had stayed up all night telling her about their bodies, what they liked and what they didn't. The various things that may work for different males. Liear had been the highest performer in her birth year for months, and it had given her a brazen self-confidence that was as attractive as her bright green eyes and light brown hair. All of that was true. There were others, so many others who had talked to her at meals, and at night, and during their outside time. Males that had been nervous, terrified to hurt her, or mess up, or be laughed at -- and she had simply shrugged and made a game of it. So many names she'd never remember them all. A blur of faces. A blur of wild ones that she already felt she was forgetting, and that scared her as much as the future did. As much as the idea of some man named Henry Perlen signing documents to claim her like a piece of property. "I wish you weren't afraid, Zora. I wish I had words to guarantee that you wouldn't need to be, but I won't lie to you." Malcolm sighed and stepped forward, offering his hand to help her up, but he didn't let go once she was standing. "I don't know what they'll do with you, but you performed exceptionally in your training when you tried. Remember it, remember all of it -- and remember to be brave." He brushed her cheek and kissed her softly. It was a kiss she could savor. Slow, and warm, and soft. Malcolm cradled her cheek and sent a flood of warmth through her with just a touch. I wish I could stay with him. The urge hit her like a punch to the stomach, and the realization that she couldn't stay made her break the kiss in bitter surprise. Stupid idea, stupid to even think it for a moment when it was impossible. Malcolm swallowed and leaned his forehead against hers, breathing slowly, and then he seemed to force himself to back away and release her hand. "Let's wait in the hall, okay?" He tried to smile, but it came across false as he opened the door and let her out. It was clear he wanted to hand her over to someone else about as much as she wanted to be handed over to someone, but they were back in their roles and their stolen time was over. "Kneel next to me so it doesn't look so odd." Zora slid to her knees, and casually used the thin dress to dry her thighs, trying to straighten it, and her hair as she knelt in silence. Time dragged on, and she wanted to keep talking to him. She wanted to learn more about him. She wanted more good memories to take with her, more kind words. When she looked up at him he shook his head, "Don't. They'll be here any minute." Her mouth clapped shut and she nodded. From down the hall the boom of laughter came, and she heard heavy footsteps moving toward them. Malcolm's fingers found their way into her hair for a just a moment, his nails running along her scalp and down to her neck before he folded his hands behind his back to wait. "Here she is, Mr. Perlen." A deep voice came from a few feet away and Zora lifted her head. The man in the all black uniform was standing next to a good-looking older man in a tailored suit. Mr. Perlen. Henry Perlen. Her new master. "May I have the case?" Smooth, cool voice. It matched the look of him, so put together and neat. The silver hair at his temples bled into almost black hair, and the gray suit seemed to swallow the light that touched it. His shoes, though, they were shiny -- perfect. The man in black lifted a case and opened it. Henry Perlen took out a thick metal collar, and Zora's mouth went dry. "Is that the new model?" "Yes, Captain, it is." Perlen gave a small smile and turned the dull metal over in his hands, "This one has the perimeter limits programmed to my estate... at least once they're activated." "And it has the upgraded punishment function?" For once the man in black, the Captain, didn't sound bored; he sounded excited. Punishment function. Panic burst open inside her like an overripe fruit. Adrenaline flooded her and sweat broke out across her back, making her simultaneously hot and cold. Her new master stepped closer to her and she jumped when his voice started again. Cold. Quiet. "It does have the newest software for punishments." "You'll want it with this one." The Captain sneered at her, but Perlen just neatly lifted his eyebrow in reaction. "We'll see about that." He did something and the collar hinged open, but she was terrified of having it around her neck, terrified of what it could do. Zora tried to get up, to get away from him, but then Malcolm grabbed her shoulder and shoved her back to her knees. "Stay down, female." His voice was blank of emotion, but the way his fingers dug into her shoulder were a silent plea to not misbehave. If only she could think straight. If only the fear wasn't an impossible wave crashing over her, drowning her reason. "Please, please don't let him take me. I'll stay here, I'll be good, I swear." She turned to look at Malcolm and she saw the tic in his jaw, felt the grip on her shoulder turn painful. When he didn't react she looked up into the face of her new master. "Sir, you don't want me! I swear -" The slap he delivered was hard, and effectively stopped her pleading. She gasped as pain starburst on her cheek, covering her face as tears burned her eyes. Malcolm had released her shoulder when she buckled forward, but Henry Perlen jerked her head back up by her hair. "You will refer to me as Master, wild one. Say it." "Yes, Master." Her voice shook and she hated it. Hated the way the tingling sting of his grip on her hair made the tears brim over and slip down her cheeks. She hated even more that Malcolm was standing by her to watch this. "We can restrain her until you can get her home, sir." The Captain said it in such a way that it was clear he'd enjoy getting to bind her. "That won't be necessary. I'm attending the second half of the auction, and she's not going to misbehave anymore. Are you, slave?" He spoke softly, as if he hadn't just slapped her. Zora shook her head slightly against his grip on her hair and he released it, patting her head. "Good girl. Lift your chin." The Wild Ones Ch. 03 She did and he slipped the collar around her neck. It clicked shut with an ominous sound, and a small grinding sound came from the collar as it locked. "Now, be honest. Have you had behavioral issues during your time here at the facility?" His words made her blush and she kept her eyes on the floor as the heat flushed up her chest. "Not many, Master." She spoke quietly, wanting to adjust the strange weight of the collar around her neck. It already made her feel claustrophobic, but that didn't matter because an instant later an electric shock hit her like several batons bunched together. A mute scream was caught in her throat when it finally ended, and she was heaving with sobbing breaths in a ball on the floor. Pain skittered across her nerve endings in response, and a full-body ache took up residence in her bones. "I want to make sure we start out on the right foot, female. I'm already well versed in your behavior issues here. You will not lie, and you will not disrespect any member of my household, especially me, with any kind of disobedience or dishonesty. If you do, my household will not hesitate to punish you, and the collar is only one way to do that. Do you understand?" "Yes, sir." Her voice cracked when she spoke, and then the pain returned. Not as intense as the first time, or maybe it was her body adjusting to the white hot current that seemed to scald her nerves and light up her brain with multi-colored waves of pain. This time when it stopped, she couldn't catch her breath through the sobs. A keening whine slipped from between her gritted teeth, and he nudged her with his shoe until she rolled to her side. The shiny, black loafer traced up her stomach, between her breasts, and caught the underside of her chin to lift it until she was forced to look at him. "I am your Master, and you need to remember that. My three sons will also be Master to you, and my two daughters you will call Mistress. Punishments get more serious with each error that has to be corrected. Do you understand?" He was cold, calm, as he towered over her. "Yes, Master." Zora forced the words out as her pulse pounded inside her skin. "Sir, I'd be happy to escort her back to your seats so that you don't miss the beginning of the second half of the auction." Malcolm moved forward until he was so close to her she could feel the brush of his pants against her shoulder. "Fine, yes. If I miss the start of the second half my girls won't let me hear the end of it, they're relentless." Henry Perlen tucked his phone into his pocket and turned to go back down the hall. The Captain laughed and walked away with him as she curled up and tried to wipe the tears from her cheeks. Malcolm crouched down to help her off the floor, his touch as gentle as possible, but it only made her cry harder. Everything hurt, and her joints ached as he pulled her to her feet. "Come on, you have to pull yourself together." Malcolm was clenching his jaw as he brushed his thumbs across her cheeks to brush away the tears, but she grabbed on to his wrists, stilling him. "But he's horrible, Malcolm... he's horrible." She whispered quietly but he still flinched and looked around them to see if she'd been overheard. "That's how it is, Zora. The great families take a lot of pride in owning well-trained wild ones, and if you mess up it directly reflects on Henry Perlen and his heirs. You have to be perfect, you have to behave --" "I can't! He's going to put me in a public house, or kill me! You know my record!" Zora pleaded, tightening her fingers on his wrists until he broke her grip and grabbed her shoulders. "I also know you've been fantastic for the last year. I know what you're capable of, and I know how strong you can be. You're just scared right now. Be brave." He sighed and squeezed her shoulders gently, "Be brave, hold on, and -- and maybe I'll be able to see you again. I can work on it, but you have to take care of yourself." Hope flared inside her, viciously joyful for a second no matter how foolish it was. "You... really?" "Big estates like the Perlen's hire security, I can work on getting a job there, but it won't be quickly. You have to be good, for your own sake, Zora. Now we have to hurry or he's going to complain to the Captain. Come on." He started walking forward, moving her with him, and she nodded and forced one foot in front of the other. They caught up to the Captain and her new Master at the edge of the massive crowd of citizens, all discussing the female on stage. Henry Perlen turned and snapped his fingers, pointing next to him. "Here, girl. Time to take my seat again." He sounded impatient, and she tried to be brave, be strong, as she stepped forward. His hand landed on the back of her neck, above the thick collar. "Have a good day, Mr. Perlen. Good luck in the auction." The Captain nodded at him and then quickly led Malcolm away as her master pushed her down the aisle he'd been standing by. "Has she been crying?" A young man with dark, curly hair and striking green eyes stood up as she approached, his face etched with concern. To address Henry Perlen so directly, he had to be one of his sons. Her new master tightened his grip on the back of her neck and pushed her into a kneel at his feet as he took his seat. "She misbehaved, and she was punished." The matter-of-fact response was met with a few giggles from the two beautiful brunettes that sat to one side of him, and a grin from a man with sandy brown hair directly to his left. "That won't last long when she's home with us, we'll get her into shape, and who the fuck cares? We have one of the twins! A twin!" That son huffed out a laugh and the one she assumed was the third son, a man with short, dark hair and darker eyes, turned and high fived his brother with a small smile. "Now you have to get us the other twin, daddy!" The young woman to Henry Perlen's right pouted childishly and he sighed heavily. Zora's ears perked up as they discussed Zane, her head tilting as she listened and the panic inside her abated a bit. "Yes! It's only fair! The boys got her and you can't get a wild one for them and not for us!" The second young woman, obviously the last of the Perlen family and the youngest, leaned forward to whine to her father. "Colette, Francesca, I already told you two that I'd think about bringing a male into the house. The female we can at least breed with another wild one and then sell the pure wild ones back to the facility for profit, and she'll also carry the heirs for your brothers." He patted the knee of the daughter next to him, "We can always find you a wild one at another house when you want a child." "No! I want the other twin, daddy!" "Francesca --" "You always give Brice everything he wants. Just because he's the oldest!" Francesca sat back in the seat next to her father and crossed her arms. She was beautiful, with delicate, prim features. Her dark hair was wavy and part of it was drawn back in a beautiful clip. She huffed and then sneered when she noticed Zora's stare. "What are you looking at?" Zora dropped her eyes as Colette mimicked her older sister and sat back with a pout as well, "At least we know what he really thinks of us, Francesca. We'll just get the cast-offs from the other families, won't that make us popular at the next party." "Girls, we had this discussion. I said I would think it over, and I'm not sure either of you are ready to take on controlling a male. Francesca, you're barely twenty-one, and Colette only turned nineteen this summer. Perhaps next year." Henry Perlen sounded exhausted, but Zora kept her eyes on his shoes. They were shiny enough to catch the shadow she cast over them, and she psychotically wanted to second the two bratty women; to encourage the purchase of her brother. "By the gods, father, just give them a male. Maybe it'll keep that nauseating Timothy Marlowe from our house for a few weeks while Francesca spends her time riding the wild one over and over." One of the brothers had spoken, the one who had been excited to punish her. "Shut up, Brice!" Francesca snapped and leaned across her father. "Both of you be silent. The second half of the auction is about to start." Henry Perlen didn't seem to be disturbed by any of their antics. He maintained the same calm composure he'd had since she first saw him. "Honestly, father, it would be quite fun to have both the twins under our roof. Just think of how the other great families would seethe with envy." This was the son she hadn't heard yet, the one with the short dark hair. "Darren is right, daddy," Colette spoke sweetly. "Just imagine how the Whittakers would react if we took both twins from them!" "That's enough. Listen to the Chancellor, he's about to start the males' auction." Henry had a surprising number of children -- loud, opinionated children. Zora knew enough about Mirelian culture to know that children were a way to display wealth since, if you didn't own a wild one, you had to pay for breeding rights. She really had gone to one of the largest of the great houses in the auction, but it just didn't seem to mean much based on how he'd already hurt her. Not that any of it mattered -- she was sold. If it meant Zane could be with her, then it would all be okay. They could survive anything if they were together. Zora shifted until she could see between the shoulders of the citizens in front of her to the massive screen on the stage. Her breath caught and she couldn't pay attention to the Chancellor's voice as Zane was led out. She almost screamed his name, but she was able to control the urge by literally biting her tongue. He scanned the crowd, not a hint of fear on his face as he kept his chin up and his shoulders back. He looked proud, defiant, and it made her bite harder so she wouldn't smile. Of course he'd handle this better than she had. Then his video came on, and she dropped her gaze to the cobblestones under her knees. She'd caught sight of his strong muscular back and ass on the screen. Cadalie's legs had been wrapped around his hips as he drove himself inside her. The audio was filled with his groans, Cadalie's moans, a low growl from him, and then her seductive cry as she reached orgasm. Feminine gasps and quiet murmurs filled the crowd around her, and then the auction started. "Oh! Daddy! Really?! You're bidding! Thank you, thank you so much!" Francesca's voice was syrupy sweet, and Zora's head snapped up in shock. Henry Perlen was actually bidding on Zane? For his house? The idea that she might be able to spend the rest of her life in the same house as Zane was impossibly perfect. Zora clasped her hands together in her lap and prayed harder than she had in her entire life. To Beyna, Lithey, Mirel. She vaulted her prayers to the heavens, lifting her eyes to the blue sky high above her. Please let me stay with Zane, I can survive anything with him there. Please keep us together, gods, please don't tear us apart. "I think the Whittakers are frustrated, father." Brice chuckled behind her, and she leaned to the side again so she could see the screen. The names and numbers shuffled so quickly it was hard to keep up, but he was right. Whittaker kept hopping back to the top, but then Perlen was first, then Calder, Williams, back to Whittaker, back to Perlen. Time passed slowly, and Zora dug her nails into her palms. Williams shot to the top, and there were shouts in the crowd, and a huff of breath from Henry Perlen above her. "Daddy! Bid! Fast, they're going to win!" This time it was Colette. "I am not spending so much on that wild one. We already have a twin in the house, if you want to bed him so badly I'll contact Brandon Williams and arrange it. Now, all of you stop complaining or I'll cut all of your allowances by half." His voice had a cold edge, but Zora's chest already felt like it was filled with ice. She leaned up, ignoring the pain of the stone under her knees, as the other names disappeared and only Williams was left. Another large sum to the right. "Sold!" The Chancellor's voice was giddy, and Zane stood gracefully, moving towards the right side of the stage. He was sold. Sold to a different family. Zora pushed herself to her feet and screamed as loudly as she could across the seated crowd, "ZANE!" His head whipped around and the guard next to him grabbed his shoulder to stop him, but Zane brushed him off and rushed towards the edge of the stage. "ZORA!" He called back, and the whole crowd went quiet as they looked between the two of them. Zane shielded his eyes from the sun, trying to see her, and she wanted to call out to him again, to say so many things, but emotion choked her and then the searing pain of the collar brought her to her knees. "Stupid, stupid, female..." Henry leaned over her, craning her back by her hair as she tried to catch her breath through the sobs as the shock of the collar ebbed. "Embarrass me like that again and I'll take the cane to you worse than you've ever had it in this so-called training facility." "I'll handle her when we get home, father. Don't worry. I do still get her first?" Brice leaned forward, and she whimpered. "Yes, you can have her, but she will be punished for this outburst, you will make sure of it. Get up. Now. We're leaving." Henry Perlen pulled her to her feet by her hair and she submitted, shaking as he led her out amongst the chattering voices of his heirs, and the muffled complaining by his daughters. It didn't matter what they did to her, because Zane was really gone. He was really lost to her. Nothing they did to her could hurt worse than this. --- Cuffs had been slipped over her wrists as a numb state descended inside her. She was tethered to the floor of the large vehicle and she wasn't even able to marvel at actually riding inside an automobile as reality settled over her. Zane was gone. She was sold. She was only property now. Property of the Perlen family. This jabbering, whining, cruel group of citizens from one of the so-called great families. The roll of the car made her nauseous as she stared at the floor and it turned through the streets. Occasionally the son called Brice reached out and touched her, gripping a fist in her hair until the sting rushed like a tingle down her spine, but then he'd stop. He never spoke to her, never acknowledged her. She stayed silent and they otherwise acted as if she wasn't there. Invisible. It was a strange comfort, because she wanted to be left alone. She wanted to actually be alone so she could cry and think of Zane, but that wasn't meant to be. The vehicle jerked to a stop and the family continued chatting about some party they were going to hold to show off their latest purchase. Her. The two young women climbed out first, then the curly haired son who glanced back once before slamming the door he'd stepped out of. Fear surfaced under the numbness as Henry Perlen leaned forward to grip her throat, squeezing just enough to make her cough and threaten her airway. "You're going to go with Brice now, and you're going to be a good girl for him, aren't you?" "Yes, Master." She choked out the words and he let go of her so she could drag air in again, the tingling in her head as blood returned making her dizzy. "Good. Brice, make sure your phone is programmed to the collar so you can discipline her if necessary. I don't want to hear a single word about it if she's disobedient. You said you were ready for a wild one, so do not make me regret this." "As if I need the fucking collar to control a female, father. I have my own plans." Brice laughed and scooted forward on the seat as Henry Perlen opened the door next to him. "She's owed a punishment, don't forget that. If I have to deliver it myself I'll be irritated with you, boy." The patriarch of the family sounded as cold as ever, as if it would actually be an inconvenience to torture her. Zora wanted to try and explain her outburst, she wanted to try and make them understand that it was her brother that had been sold to some other family. It was her other half. 'It doesn't matter', her mind reminded her and the truth of that thought was painful. "I have a plan, father, if you'll allow me?" Brice's voice was sinister and sent a chill down her back as Henry Perlen laughed low. "Do whatever you want, just make sure she's still usable for your brothers. She's an investment, and we need to breed her. She's not some toy for you to break, Brice." "Of course." "Enjoy yourself then." Henry Perlen climbed out of the vehicle, followed by the last brother who had listened to the exchange in silence. Then she was alone with Brice and Zora's stomach clenched with fear. "Come on, female." He unhooked her cuffs from the floorboard and grabbed her by the collar. The pressure against her throat made her scramble after him quickly as he climbed out of the car. Brice pushed her over the gravel drive, the small stones uncomfortable under her bare feet as she tried to take in the massive home in front of her. Too soon she was through the front doors and plush carpet replaced the sharp, hot stones. Zora did her best to look around, but it was a maze of staircases, hallways, and too many closed doors. They continued along the ground floor and seemed to pass through the house and out the back of it, through a beautiful set of glass doors and out onto a tiled patio. A few more steps and she was standing on soft, lush grass. Green spread out as far as the eye could see ahead of her, with manicured flowerbeds and a massive line of hedges ahead of her. Brice pushed her to her knees and she obeyed without argument, her eyes devouring the scenery. It was hard to imagine anything terrible happening in such an incredibly beautiful setting. There were colors in the flowers to her right that she'd never seen outside of books. Purples and pinks and oranges bursting from the ends of pale green stems. The sunlight, the colors, the wide open space -- it was all overwhelming in a way that left her awestruck for a moment. Then, the eldest son of Henry Perlen began to speak. "Are you ready, female?" Confusion at the question made her stumble over her answer, "F- for what, sir -- I mean, Master?" "Master. That's correct. I am your Master, and you should remember that." He took a deep breath, his broad chest expanding under the buttoned shirt as he slipped off his jacket and folded it to lay it over a small wall that bordered the patio. "We're going to play a little game." "A game?" Something about the way he said it made her shiver, and she glanced up at him again in the bright light. "Yes. It's one of my favorite games that I so rarely get to play. Would you like to know the rules?" His voice was sinister. A warning. She already knew, whatever he had planned, it was not a game she wanted to play -- but what choice did she have? "Yes, Master." Zora spoke softly, trying to ignore the way the sun prickled her skin and sweat broke out across her back. Her mouth was suddenly dry, but she licked her lips anyway in an attempt to fix it. "Father has decided you're owed a punishment. Right now, you'll receive fifty strokes from the crop." The severity of the punishment made her stomach twist, and tears pricked her eyes as the fear of that much pain hit her hard. "But, you have a chance to reduce that number." "How, Master? What do I need to do?" She straightened her back, correcting her form in the kneel. Ready to make whatever deal was necessary to not take fifty lashes from a riding crop that would leave her bruised and welted for days. "Oh, you just have to play my little game." His fingers twined in her hair, tightening painfully as he angled her head and she squinted her eyes against the sun. "See those hedges? They're the border of a hedge maze and the entrance is right over there by the stone columns." The Wild Ones Ch. 03 Her eyes tracked to the beautiful columns, covered in ivy, and she nodded. "You're going to run the maze, and I'm going to hunt you." A whimper slipped from her lips as he spoke and he laughed softly, "Now, don't worry, you'll get a bit of a head start. I'm not unreasonable. For every minute you manage to evade me, I'll take one lash from your punishment, and if you make it out the other side of the hedge maze before I catch you -- your punishment will be erased." Zora focused on the wall of hedges before her, and her veins already seemed to be thrumming with adrenaline as he described his game. She had no idea how big the maze was, and she had no experience in running it -- but she had a feeling that Brice knew the maze very well. This was not a game she was meant to win. "The game ends when I have you underneath me, when I get my prize, so feel free to fight as hard as you like, female. I like to work for it." He leaned down next to her, his lips brushing her hair, "But, just so you know, I've never played this game where I wasn't fucking the female in less than ten minutes. However, considering the punishment that will happen after you may want to evade me a little longer than that." "Master, please -" She whimpered, unsure if she'd even be able to run from him for that long, but he cut her off. "You have fifty lashes right now female." Brice released her hair and she turned to see him checking his watch. His dark blue eyes landed on hers, and a small, cruel smile curved the edges of his mouth. "You should start running." "What?" Disbelief choked her as panic simultaneously urged her to do exactly as he said. "Run, female. Your head start is already ticking away." He laughed as she pushed herself to her feet, watching as she took a few tentative steps towards the entrance to the hedge maze. "Run, slave!" His voice was like a slap, snapping her out of her frozen fear as she sprinted into the maze, the walls of dark green leaves surrounding her, enveloping her. From outside the entrance she heard him laughing, and taunting again. "Run, female! Trust me, you do not want me to catch you." Zora ran as hard as she could, catching herself against the leaves of the hedges before turning a corner. Endless small pathways, endless corners, dead-ends that had her doubling back in panic. Her arms were already covered in little scratches, the gossamer gold of the dress was catching on the walls of the maze and she felt like a rabbit being hunted as she heard him call out from somewhere behind her. He was coming into the maze, and there was no time to think of Zane, or of her situation, or of the myriad things that could come next. There was no time for anything. She had to run. --- I KNOW! A cliffhanger. I'm horrible. But I'm starting the next chapter and can't wait to hear what you all think of Malcolm and the Perlens and everything! Please rate, leave a comment, and send me feedback! I really hope you're all enjoying this, things are about to get dark. The Wild Ones Ch. 04 Hey lovelies! I wish I'd been able to get this chapter out more quickly but I attended a writing conference this month with several author friends, and that meant a lot less time for writing! I am super excited for you to see what's happening at the Perlen house with Zora, and getting an update on Zane. Luckily this coincided well with some traveling my editor was doing and we both came together in the nick of time! Without further ado, here you go! ***** Run. The word echoed in her head as she caught herself trying to turn down another dead end. Spinning around she scrambled back towards another break in the hedges and dashed through it. From somewhere to her left she heard his voice. "Here I come, female!" His laughter after sent a chill down her back and made her stomach twist. She tried to run faster but just as she'd pick up speed she'd have to stop suddenly at turns in the maze and the effort was only making her side ache and her lungs burn. Tears stung the edges of her eyes and she wiped at them, the dark swipe of mascara and eyeliner an insidious reminder of how painted she was from the auction. The sheer gold fabric of the dress was shredding against the prickly branches and leaves, and the scraps were sticking to her sweat dampened skin. The whole thing was starting to itch and she ripped what was left of it over her head in a fury and threw it to the ground. What the fuck was she doing? It was suddenly too hard to breathe, her lungs were tight as she walked forward in the maze, and she wrapped her fingers around the collar at her neck and pulled until the back of her neck felt bruised. Alone, and hunted. Alone, and waiting for her punishment. Alone, and waiting to be bred by the Perlens. Zora bit down on the scream that tried to escape her lips, and in her effort to stay silent it just dissolved into tears. The collar wasn't budging. It was a solid, heavy weight around her throat and the effort of tugging was only making her fingers hurt. The next turn and she stumbled into a huge open space. The shock of it made her drop her hands to her side and spin in a slow circle. Stone benches lined the edges, a high stone table sat to one side, and iron latticework formed a ceiling over the center where hanging lamps waited to provide light at night. It looked like a beautiful place to spend time. Peaceful, relaxing. And Brice Perlen used this place to hunt females for fun? Zora wanted to tear down the pretty glass orbs and smash them over the grass. She wanted to curse the perfect blue sky, the golden sunlight sparkling over every surface, the soft scent of flowers from the garden outside the tall hedge walls. She wanted to scream to the gods that it wasn't fair. None of it was fair. She'd been good. For so long, she'd been good. She'd tried to live up to the citizens' expectations, to do her part to earn a place in their city, to do her part to earn the wild ones' place in Mirelia. She had tried so fucking hard to be perfect in everything, but she'd never thought it would be like this. Cruel punishments for small mistakes, cruel games for their entertainment. No one had told them the truth, and no matter how often she'd dreamed about it - the reality of losing Zane was even worse than the idea had been. Her chest had been ripped open and laid bare, raw to the elements, and Brice's taunting calls over the tops of the hedges were salting the wound. Zora couldn't stand being in the little oasis in their maze anymore and forced herself through the opening on the other side. She started to walk faster, and then even faster, and then she was running again. Catching herself on the walls, letting the branches scratch her arms and her chest and her sides until the sharp bite of a cramp in her side and the heavy wheezing in her chest forced her to stumble to a halt. She'd run so hard she couldn't even tell if she was moving in the right direction. Scanning the tops of the hedges there was nothing but perfect sky to fill the space above her. The rows were too tall to orient herself with a landmark. "Female! Giving up yet? You should just lay down where you are, no use spending all your fight on the maze! You haven't even fought me yet!" He laughed when he finished and Zora gritted her teeth as she pressed her hand to her side, trying to suppress the sharp pain as her lungs cramped against the effort she'd put them through. She hated that his offer sounded tempting. She hated that a part of her was tempted to just sit down on the soft grass and wait for him to find her. Not much time had passed, she was sure of that, but at least it wouldn't be fifty lashes. It was possible to just give in, let him do what he wanted with her, and then maybe he'd leave her alone to mourn losing Zane. Zeeny. Her brother's wild grin filled her mind from when they had joked, holding hands in the dim light of her room. She thought of the proud way he'd stared out at all of those citizens without an ounce of fear showing. He was always so brave. Strong. He had once told her in a message, 'The worst thing that can happen to any of us is to give up who we are.' She had been asking him to stop arguing with the guards, and his response had been to tell her not to give up. She couldn't just give up. If she gave in to Brice he'd destroy her, erase her, and if she ever saw Zane again his sister wouldn't exist anymore. And what if Malcolm really was able to get work at the Perlen house? She'd barely even had the chance to glimpse the kindness in him, barely been able to wrap herself in his warmth for an hour. Would she want him to find her weak and broken? No. Zora shook herself, wiped her cheeks and tried to think of what she could do to run down the clock some more. She still hadn't caught her breath, and her ribs felt like they were trying to squeeze her lungs in punishment for her running, and so she needed somewhere to sit and rest and think. The solution hit her like a lightning strike and she dashed backwards through the maze, silently pleading that she wasn't about to run into Brice Perlen's chest, and then she found it. A tiny dead end at the far end of a path. There would be no reason for him to check there unless he thought she was there, and it was worth the risk. She tucked herself against the hedge wall inside and sat down. She tried to be silent but the pain wasn't receding from her lungs as the cramp in her side tightened, and the wheezing wouldn't quiet down. She was being too loud. He was going to hear her, and he had to be close. Covering her mouth she tried to listen for him, tried to zero in on where he was, but the pounding of her heart in her ears was too loud. She swallowed against her dry throat and tried to count in her head to calm down. One. Two. Three. Four... Just as her pulse started to settle Brice's footsteps sounded on the path just on the other side of the hedge and her breath froze in her lungs. Please don't hear me. Please don't see me. Please don't find me. Not yet. Not yet. Not yet. Her pulse skyrocketed again as he moved close to the entrance of the little alcove she was hidden in. She was shaking, the adrenaline and the fear urging her to run, but she had literally backed herself into a corner, which no longer seemed as clever as it had before. Idiot. There was a moment of silence, a tentative beat where she waited to see him turn the corner, and then he started whistling. A bright tune, eerily peppy considering the circumstances. It made her want to scream at him, to curse him, but then the whistling was moving away at a steady pace. He was heading away, towards the other end of the maze, towards the exit. What now, Zora? Her mind seemed to be tapping its foot, arching an eyebrow at her as if to call attention to the reality of her situation. She hadn't won yet, she was still in the maze and still being hunted, and she didn't have many options. She could stay in the little alcove and wait for him to find her, which would help run the clock down, but there was no telling how quickly he might come back. She could try and run back through the maze, but she was pretty sure that leaving the maze through the entrance wouldn't count for anything, and she might be punished further for disobeying the command to run the maze. Last, she could try and make it out of the maze, the right way, which would mean no lashes at all. With him off whistling like the privileged asshole of a citizen he was, she could follow him. She could try and figure out the maze, and she could try to get out. A tiny voice that sounded strangely like Zane inside her head suddenly urged her to win, to beat him at his fucking game and finish the maze. Even if it meant that she had to race Brice to the end. Even if it meant that he'd have her on her back as soon as she was outside. It would mean she would have won - regardless of what happened after. That's what she wanted to do. She wanted to win, or at least try to win. She wanted to show him she wasn't going to be a scared little mouse in his house - super charged pain collar or not. With a deep breath she moved to the entrance of her hiding place and began walking carefully towards the distant sound of his whistling. Fortunately, Brice was cocky. Overconfident. He alternated between mocking shouts, taunting her to come out and play, and more of that infernal whistling. The good thing about him being so loud was it was easy to make sure he was out of a pathway before she continued forward; and the clock was ticking away. Zora felt pretty smart as she followed him slowly, and she couldn't stop her grin when Brice's next shout was much more irritated, "Female! Are you fucking hiding? I thought you were braver than this with all your disobedience. It's no fun if you're not running. Just come on out and maybe I'll go easy on you!" Bullshit. She rolled her eyes as she continued stalking behind him, walking carefully to make as little noise as possible. Each time she came to the next opening in the hedges she froze and waited until she was sure he had moved on, listening to his grumbles, his heavy footsteps, and his fucking whistling. The end of the maze had to be soon, there was no way it could go on forever. Just as she was trying to figure out what she'd do when she knew where the exit was a shadow passed overhead. She looked up to see clouds piling up against each other, lighting up from within as they blocked the sun. Each little facet was visible, the clouds turning gold and changing shape and form so high in the heavens. It was mesmerizing, a sight she'd never been able to enjoy - and then she tripped. "Shit!" The word was out of her mouth before she could stop it because she was too busy catching herself on her hands and knees in the grass. When she lifted her eyes Brice Perlen was stepping out of the next opening in the hedges, a slow smile spreading across his lips. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Zora shoved herself to her feet, silently cursing herself and her stupidity and the impossible fact that she had fucking tripped and made him notice her. "There you are." He took a step towards her and she moved back which only made him laugh. "Got behind me somehow, didn't you? Did you find a place to hide, little rabbit?" He raised his hand and crooked a finger at her, "Come here, female." She swallowed and shook her head slowly. Like hell she was just going to surrender after all the effort she'd put in to avoid him all this time. His face changed instantly, clouding with barely contained rage. "That was a command. Come here now, female." He pointed at the ground in front of him and she pointedly took another step back from him, inching towards the next opening in the hedges. "No." Her voice came out quietly, and she was proud that it didn't shake even though the rest of her body was trembling noticeably. He growled and lunged for her, but she took off through the opening in the hedges. She almost stumbled, but regained her balance as she ran through the maze. It wasn't about winning now, it was about the clock. Time, just a little more time. Brice shouted after her - threats and promises of what he'd do with her when he caught her - but she just ran harder. She pushed herself, her lungs quickly burning again as exhaustion caught up. Too little food, too little sleep. He was gaining on her. His legs were longer, he probably ran this damn maze for fun, and the heavy thuds of his shoes behind her were getting incredibly close. Just as she tried to turn a corner he caught her by the hair and her neck snapped back painfully. Her hands immediately reached for his to ease the strain, but Brice simply tightened his grip and twisted her around. "No! Nonono -" His fist slammed into her stomach, and the rest of the air in her lungs burst out as she buckled forward. The pain was a sharp ache that dulled and spread as he let go of her hair and she hit the ground hard. Zora wanted to get up, she wanted to keep running, she wanted to be feisty and brave - instead she only coughed and curled up as he towered above her. "Stupid bitch. Do you think you're allowed to say 'no' to me? Is that what that fucking facility taught you?" Brice was breathing heavy, and she tried to push herself away from him but he just scoffed and climbed on top of her. She tried to push his hands away as he grabbed her shoulders and pressed her onto her back, but he straddled her hips and ignored her as he settled his knees on either side of her. Zora tried harder to push him off her, hitting his chest, and trying to twist her hips to give her room to move away from him. "Stop it!" He snapped and grabbed both of her hands in a tight grip. His cheeks were flushed from their run and his mouth contorted with frustration as he growled and slammed her wrists down above her head. "Answer me, female! Do you actually think you're allowed to tell me 'no'?" She yanked on her arms and tried to arch off the ground, eventually huffing out a breath as she realized she couldn't move. His grip bordered on painful, but she ignored it and made herself process the question. Zora couldn't fight the grin that formed over her mouth. Maybe she was insane, but she knew Zane would be proud of her if only he could see Brice's face as she answered him honestly with the one word he didn't want to hear, "No, Master." The resounding slap that collided with her cheek was a starburst of pain, and tears burned the edges of her eyes even as she fought the urge to laugh at him and make it worse. This wasn't funny, and she knew it wasn't funny, but he had framed the question terribly and now she couldn't stop thinking of how much Zane would have loved just how angry it made her new master. My feisty sister, he'd laugh, and she'd grin with pride. Brice grabbed her face hard and forced her to look at him, snapping her back to reality. "Listen, cunt, I can make your life here hell. Do you understand that?" He was fuming above her, his arrogant exterior cracking under the strain of his own rules. All she'd done was answer him honestly. All she'd done was play his game. She was still playing his game. He had said it didn't end until he fucked her, and he wasn't inside her yet. As far as the running, she'd just done what she was told. Zora couldn't resist pointing it out; she'd never been able to keep her mouth shut when she needed to. "I thought you told me to run, Master." She spoke evenly and he let out a single laugh, punctuated by a vicious twist of her nipple that had her biting her lip to suppress a whimper as she arched her back to ease the pain. "I did tell you to run, female, and now that I've caught you I want you to open your legs." Brice looked down her body and she contemplated spitting in his face, just for the hell of it, but that would be too far. She wasn't sure what he might do, and she'd already pushed him. It was clear he was used to being obeyed, used to having someone instantly bow to his will, but Henry Perlen had bought her. He hadn't bought someone like Houna who would have parted her thighs at the mere hint of a great house. No. He had bought Zora. The feisty one, the mouthy one, the one who had only had a good record at the facility for the last year. The one who had fucked up her final test by running from a male on BC-426, the one who had illegally seen her brother, fought against the guards, and spent her last night at the facility in a solitary cell. He hadn't wanted an obedient wild one, he had wanted one of the twins, and that's what he got. Zora pressed her thighs together and shook her head slowly. She wasn't going to open her legs. The game wasn't over until he was inside her, and she was going to put it off for as long as she could. A slow smile crept over his lips and he dragged his fingertips slowly down her arm, over her collarbone, until he cupped her breast and traced his thumb across a nipple that was taut in the air. "That's fine. You want to run out the clock a little more? After your little hide and seek game?" Her stomach twisted with fear. His sudden calm was eerie, but she nodded anyway. She'd expected a slap, and instead he was leisurely stroking her breast, sending a blur of pleasure against the lingering ache in her cheek. The words broke as she asked the only question that had been haunting her since she'd entered the maze, "H- how long?" "How long have you run?" He arched an eyebrow at her, and when she nodded he leaned up a bit to check his watch on the arm holding her wrists down. "Twenty-six minutes so far. Longer than any other girl I've put in the maze. Of course, none of them tried to hide from me. They all just ran and tried to make it out. Are you sure you don't want to just give up now?" Zora swallowed, but she shook her head. Twenty-six minutes. That was still twenty-four lashes with the crop. "Okay, well, you just spread your legs for me whenever you're ready to give up." His words confused her until his free hand wrapped around her throat and squeezed. Hard. She couldn't breathe. Her body bowed and she jerked against his grip on her wrists, trying to plead with him to let go. No sound came out though, and an instant later he released her hands and his other hand joined the first so he could grip her throat harder. Pressure built inside her head, pounding behind her eyes. She was able to push out a cough as her body fought to drag in air, but it was impossible. Zora grabbed onto his wrists, pulling as hard as she could. She dug her short nails in, trying to pry his fingers back, but he didn't budge. Everything was starting to tingle, a buzzing forming in her ears from the blood rushing around and around in her head. By the gods, she wanted to breathe. It was the worst thought to have, because once she'd had it the lack of air was excruciating. Her whole body bucked with the effort to draw in a breath, her heels digging into the grass, but he simply chuckled above her and dropped his weight across her hips so she couldn't move. A small sound deep in her chest was all that she could make as her eyes watered, and her vision started to fuzz. Brice tilted his head above her, his blue eyes watching her face with an almost disturbing fascination, patiently waiting for her to give in. She didn't want to. She wished she were brave enough to let the blackness creeping in from the edges of her eyes completely cover them - but the panic was too strong and before she passed out she released her hands from his and spread her knees wide. He grinned down at her for a second longer, not letting go, making sure she saw that he had won. Making sure she felt the sinking feeling that came from submitting, the release of self as she slipped under his control. When his hands released her throat the first breath of air made her cough, but it filled her body with a rush of oxygen that made her instantly dizzy. It was the kind of rush that almost felt orgasmic on its own, euphoric. The tingles rushing over her skin as every point on her body screamed with the joy that the air brought. She covered her neck with her own hand and focused on breathing, barely aware of him moving between her open thighs, of the shift of fabric as he moved his pants down. Brice grabbed her hair in one fist, bracing his elbow on the ground as he leaned over her to make sure he had her attention, "Who do you belong to, female?" The Wild Ones Ch. 04 She chewed the inside of her cheek for a moment, wanting to relish the fact that she could breathe for a moment longer, but his fist tightened painfully and the threat was inherent. Keep stalling, and she'd regret it. Zora swallowed against the bruised feeling in her throat and spoke softly, "You, Master." "That's right." His voice was all cocky victory as he thrust inside her, and her back arched. He was long, and when he bottomed out it was a sharp ache inside her. Brice let out a low groan as he held himself deep, and then he glanced at his watch with a grin, "Look at that, I'll be gracious and count it as a twenty-eight minute run." Zora knew he wanted a response, but she didn't care. She closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to look at him, and waited for her body to catch up after the lack of air. He thrust hard again and she winced, but he just laughed. The grass tickled her back, her arms, her legs; the sun was warm on her skin, and she was already slick with sweat from running. It made his movements easy, and she was glad to drop into the physical. Where all she had to pay attention to was his body against hers, and not the game he wanted to play, or the Perlen's rules. She didn't even have to think about the facility, or its rules, at all anymore. His mouth trailed over her shoulder, biting gently at first, then sharp enough to make her cry out, then gently again. As he moved inside her she grew wet, the rhythm of his movements waking her body up in totally different ways. It was bittersweet when she felt the first thrill of pleasure strum up her spine. The pleasure made it easier to relax under the weight of him, it made it easier to lift her hips to meet each thrust, to let him drive himself deeper - it made it easier to listen to her own moans as they escaped her lips. However, there was a nagging voice in the back of her mind that told her that it wasn't right. A little voice that told her she should fight, that she shouldn't give herself up to Brice, to the Perlens. A tiny, screaming, stomping version of herself that demanded she tell her new master 'no' one more time, screw the consequences. That voice was incredibly stupid. So, Zora pushed it away. She drowned herself in the pleasure, squeezing Brice's cock inside her until he rubbed against that spot that caused her to arch off the grass with a moan. When he bit down on the tender flesh at the top of her breast, the pain simply coiled itself in with the impending orgasm until she was gasping, and begging, and pleading for him to let her come. "Please, Master, please?" "All that running and now you're begging for it. All you really needed was your first citizen cock, hmm? This is what you females really need at the facility." He brushed his lips against her neck, "You're going to be such a good little slave for me, aren't you?" His words came out in huffs and growls against her neck and she was grateful that he couldn't see the small smile that curved the edges of her lips. If he knew he wasn't the first citizen to touch her, if he knew about Malcolm, they'd all suffer for it - but that tiny voice buried in the back of her mind was laughing madly with the knowledge that Brice Perlen was not her first citizen. That was Malcolm. In an instant it was his hands she was imagining on her, his lips that traced down her neck, his teeth that sank into her skin. Each thrust inside her was driving her higher and higher, and it was Malcolm she imagined fucking her, his cock moving deep enough to make her wince before the pleasure crashed back in. Zora twisted her hands into the grass at her sides, letting the pleasure build and crest until it was almost painful to hold herself on the edge there. It took a moment to realize Brice had no plans to give her a command to come, and her head was spinning, her body shivering with the urge to fall over. It was a precarious tension, a delicious ache that was finally, gloriously snapped when a hard thrust sent her gasping into an orgasm that lit her up like sparks. "Yes!" She cried out and it was Brice's chuckle that made her eyes open. Sandy brown hair above her, blue eyes. Not Malcolm's close-cut brown waves and dark eyes. Brice came a moment later, his body stilling on top of hers as he spilled himself inside her. Zora had pressed her fingers into the shirt on his back and she hated that she'd held him to her as he fucked her. He wasn't a wild one. They weren't fucking each other in some fun little practice session. No, she belonged to him and he'd used her like the property she was. I'm here for your use. The words took on a whole new weight inside her mind as he propped himself on his elbows, his warm breath moving against her shoulder. "Well... that was worth the chase." Brice chuckled as he slid from her and sat back. As he sat there catching his breath he unbuttoned his shirt and tore it off, using it to wipe across the back of his neck. It was hard not to stare as he stretched, his tanned skin glowing in the sun. He was fit, but he didn't have the same muscle tone or bulk that the wild ones had. Instead he looked controlled, contained. When her eyes made it up the plane of his chest to his face she found him staring back at her with a smile, "You can look, female. After all, you're going to service me often. I'd rather you be well acquainted with what I look like." He snapped his fingers and gestured towards his softening cock, "Clean me off." She tried to hide the flinch his words brought to her, but it was difficult. Servicing. That's what she was doing. Leaning up she moved forward to take him into her mouth, tasting the mixture of the two of them on her tongue as she sucked gently. She was careful with the sensitive head of his cock, her tongue flicking across it, his hips jerking with each movement. Her own thighs were sticky, and now that the sparkling after-effects of the orgasm were fading she could feel the bruises from his bites forming. He hadn't mentioned her orgasm, and she was relieved to know he didn't care because she'd always been terrible at orgasm control. As she gave his cock long, slow licks her neck ached and a wave of exhaustion wanted to claim her, but that was when he twisted his fingers in her hair and pulled her off him. "That's enough. It's time for your punishment, slut." He grinned and she whimpered. Twenty-two lashes with the crop. She was so tired. Too much had happened in the last few days, too much to handle or process. Part of her wanted to cry and beg him not to do it, but that was weak. She would submit, and she would service him, and she would be in this house for his use - but she wouldn't be weak. Zane had never been weak, and she wouldn't give up now. It was just a crop. She could handle it. She could. She had to. -- Zane paced the little room he'd been in for what felt like hours. It was small, and white, and brightly lit, and only held a table against one wall. He had been sold, yes, but no one had come back into the room since the guard that had originally escorted him from the stage had left. He had stayed on his knees, waiting, but as time ticked by he'd grown impatient and uncomfortable. At first he'd only stretched his legs out on the floor, prepared to shift back into position if he had to, but then he'd grown bolder. He'd lain down for a bit, trying his best to fall asleep with one arm over his eyes, but sleep wouldn't come regardless of how few hours he'd had the night before. He just kept replaying the sound of Zora's voice in his head. The tortured way she had sounded as she'd screamed his name across the crowd, hidden somewhere among all those citizens. Somewhere with the ones that had purchased her. He had tried desperately to see her, but he hadn't been able to find her in the crowd, and then he'd been forced off the stage by the guard. It was likely the last time he'd ever hear her voice, and he'd done the only thing he could have - he'd shouted back to her over the heads of the gawking rabble. As loudly as he possibly could. It wasn't fair. None of it was fair. They had never had enough time. Never enough time to say everything he felt like they needed to - and now? Well, now there was no more time. The realization made him want to punch the wall. Having Zora somewhere that he couldn't even try to protect her was a whole new level of torture. He wouldn't even get updates, or little messages, or quick stories about her. What trouble would she get into when she wasn't trying to behave for him? She'd always been wild, feisty, and sometimes completely insane when it came to the things she said and did. Even thinking about the stuff she'd done inside the facility as they were growing up made him start pacing again. Fights with other wild ones, screaming and fighting with guards, hunger strikes when a female was in solitary. So many things. Six steps down one wall, eight steps the other. How long had he been in this damn room? The door opened and his heart slammed against his chest as he dropped to his knees and prayed silently that they wouldn't use the batons for finding him standing. He tried to breathe calmly through his teeth, to still himself so he wouldn't give his guilt away if they hadn't seen. When there was only silence after the door closed he tilted his head up to find a guard about his age leaning against the wall. "Sir?" Zane risked the single word; unnerved by the way the man stared at him, intent and focused. When the guard still didn't respond Zane dropped his head in resignation. If the guards were going to use him, at least he knew Zora was already with her new household. They could take all their anger out on him for the rules they'd broken, he could handle it, it wouldn't change who he was. "Well?" The man spoke calmly, and Zane tried to figure out what the guard was waiting for. Well what? Zane gritted his teeth against the urge to shout at him, and instead focused on tightening and relaxing muscles across his body. It was an old trick that Niro had taught him to defuse aggression, and it worked most of the time. It gave an outlet to the tension, and let him release it in small waves until the urge to fight faded. As he relaxed he could think more clearly. There was only one thing the guard could be waiting for, so he took a breath and tried to say the words without a hint of the hatred he felt for them. "I'm here for your use." The laugh that came from the other side of the room wasn't vicious, or mocking, and Zane's head snapped up in response. The guard was rubbing the back of his neck, "Wow, I did not expect that." "Just tell me what you want." Zane couldn't even hide the growl in his voice anymore, and the guard lifted his hands and looked at him with amused, dark eyes. "Listen, I'm just here to update you and then take you downstairs, but it's weird how much you're like your sister." The guard shook his head a bit, still laughing, but Zane couldn't handle the man mentioning Zora. Not now, not when he'd just lost her. Not when he'd just spent the last hours trying to remember her so he wouldn't forget a single thing about her. "What do you know about Zora, sir? You bastards don't know anything about us." Zane had to clench his fists hard so he would stay on his knees. He wanted to get in the guard's face, but he'd been hit by the batons enough times in the last few days - and the bruises on his sides were reminders enough to behave. "I know a lot about Zora, actually. I know she's beautiful, and brave. I know she's probably one of the strongest females to pass through here in years, and that even though being taken from you is one of the most painful things she's ever experienced - she'll survive, Zane." The man's words shocked him. The guard, a citizen, had used their names and he'd spoken with what almost sounded like affection. He agreed with the guy, he'd always seen strength in Zora, he'd always loved it, been proud of her. Such a tiny female, not afraid of anything. But why the fuck did this - No. "You said her name like you know her." "I do know her." The guy was staring at the floor as he said it, but Zane saw the color hit his cheeks and rage washed up out of the submission he was trying so fucking hard to maintain. "What did you do to my sister?" The question came out like a growl and it was satisfying to see the man's head jerk up and his eyes go wide. "Whoa, I didn't do anything to Zora, that's not what happened -" "You bastard! You fucked my sister didn't you?!" Zane stood up and immediately realized he had a good four inches on the man by the door, and probably outweighed him by about forty pounds. If he kept the guy from getting to his baton he could do a lot of damage before other guards showed up. He could do this for Zora. "Wait, Zane." The guard was trying to slip on the controlling voice they always ordered them around in, but that wasn't going to work. "Let me guess, you went in the fucking solitary cell with her last night? Or was it this morning before the auction? Did you share her with your friends? Make a game of it before you sold her off to one of your great houses?" Zane walked towards him and the other man shifted quickly to the other side of the room, trying to keep space between the two of them. Every ounce of him wanted to tear the guy apart, wanted to leave him a bloody heap on the floor, damn the consequences. "That is not what happened!" "Did you fuck my sister or not?!" He shouted it and the guy reached for the baton on his hip, and Zane just sneered. "Go ahead, sir, punish me for speaking out of turn, but you'll have to get a lot closer to me to use that. Come on over." The guard lifted his hand from the baton and shoved both hands in his hair, grabbing it in his fists as he leaned back against the wall on the other side of the room. "Yes." The man nodded, and Zane was surprised to hear strain in his voice, "Yes, I slept with your sister. I bedded her, but I swear on Mirel herself that I did not force myself on her. I care about Zora, I'm - by the gods, she's just amazing, I would never hurt her like that. I kissed her first, yeah, but she kissed me back. I tried not to go through with it, and she asked me, she begged me to -" "Stop. I really don't need the details." Zane's stomach twisted and he turned away, trying to figure out if the man was lying or not. The visuals in his head made him want to throw up the little bit of bread Dannel had snuck him. "I do know her, Zane. I was assigned to the female wing, have been for the last few years. She's always a brat before she showers in the morning, she'll even snap at her friends, and she'll shout at a guard like she has the right to. But after her shower she's like a different person, she's bright - she's fucking radiant - and she draws people to her like a flame. She helps people, she helps anyone she can help, even the males. Her favorite side dish is cauliflower, and whenever the hall served it she'd double up on it and sneak pieces from the other females. She always sleeps on her right side. She loves to braid hair, but never braids her own, and when she's reading or thinking she pulls and pinches her bottom lip until it looks like she's going to hurt herself." The guy spread his arms and laughed, obvious emotion threading through him as he rubbed his face. "I care about her, and I risked everything to tell her that today, and then I made a move on her and she actually wanted me. I would never have forced her, Zane, you have to believe me, you just..." The guard trailed off and Zane tried to ignore the pain in his chest from the little observations that the man had revealed. When Zora had been with him in the youth's wing she had preferred the proteins over the veggies, and had complained constantly about them. She'd run around with her hair in a wild cloud around her head, completely uninterested in braids on herself or others. But she'd always slept on her right side, just like he always slept on his left, so they could hold hands across the beds. She'd always grabbed her lip when she focused, she'd always tried to help people. Zane rubbed his breastbone, trying to ease the ache that seemed to be a constant companion underneath it. It was almost worse that so many things could be different, that she could be so different, and yet she was still his sister. "I never planned to bed her, Zane." The guard moved forward slowly, but then he dropped a hand on his shoulder and Zane reacted by delivering a hard punch to the man's ribs. The guard doubled over and groaned as he coughed. Zane prepared for the punishment to come, but instead the man pushed himself back to standing and nodded despite the wince he gave, "Okay, I deserved that." "Yeah, you did." "I'm Malcolm, by the way." The guard held out his hand and Zane shook it. It was weird because it was the first time any citizen had shown him respect of any kind. The fact that he'd taken the punch and still offered his hand was surreal. Malcolm rubbed the back of his neck again and shrugged a shoulder, "I know you're worried about her, about what happened during her auction, and -" he sighed, "Zora is with the Perlen family. They're one of the largest of the great families, very well known, very prestigious. She couldn't have done much better." "How will they treat her?" Zane made sure he was watching Malcolm's face when he asked, and he saw the shadow of pain move across it. "She's strong, Zane." "That's not an answer, and that's exactly what I'm worried about. It's what I've always been worried about. She acts like she's unbreakable, but she's so - gods, so fucking fragile." The weight of her future settled on his shoulders and he sat down on the floor. For some reason, even though he really just wanted to sit and think, he felt himself speaking out loud, "When I think of what I could have done to Cadalie if she'd really fought me on the BC-426, when I think about what I'm capable of doing to one of the females - it wrecks me. I don't want to hurt them, any of them, all I want to do is protect them. But other males don't feel the same, and if there's one thing Zora is good at doing, she's good at getting under people's skin. She's good at pissing them off when she tries." "I told her to behave. I had to hand her over to them, Zane. Me. After we - I had to fucking stand there while he put a collar on her, while he tested it. I had to stand there and watch it happen and I couldn't do a thing about it." Malcolm let out a curse and slid down the wall across from him, propping his elbows on his knees. "But I told her to behave. I told her to keep herself safe, and I'm going to do everything in my power to get into that house as a guard so I can watch over her. I don't know if I'll be able to do a fucking thing for her, hell, if the Perlens realize I'm trying to help her at all they'll probably just kill me and bury me in a dark hole somewhere, but it might help even if all I can do is be there." "I - ... I just -" There weren't words for what he was feeling, so he settled for the minimum. "Thank you." Zane looked up at him, and Malcolm sighed. "You have to behave too, you know. If she ever heard about something happening to you... that would break her." The words rang true inside him, and Zane hated that this citizen, this guard of the facility, knew his sister so well. Knew their relationship so well. He made himself nod, and tried not to think about what behaving would entail, about what he'd have to do. "Alright, so why am I still in this room?" With that question the tension in the room eased a bit and Malcolm shrugged. "I wish I had more information for you, Zane. All I know is that there's an issue with your sale, and until it's resolved the council refuses to turn you over to the family that purchased you." The Wild Ones Ch. 04 "So, what does that mean?" Zane knew the answer before Malcolm spoke, but he needed to hear it so he could accept it. "It means I'm putting you back in the cells in solitary, and, for what it's worth, I'm going to be sleeping outside your cell. If I can do anything to protect you tonight, I will." Zane nodded, swallowing as he forced himself to stand. "Thanks, Malcolm. For all of it. I just hope Zora is listening to your advice." "Me too, I really hope so too." Malcolm stood up as well and stepped to his side to drop a hand on Zane's shoulder. This time he let him keep it there and secretly hoped he'd get food in the cells this time, and that his stay in solitary would remain solitary. -- The line of fire landed across the backs of her thighs again, and Zora couldn't bite back the scream this time. She danced on her toes, her fingers tingling with how hard she gripped the ropes wrapped around her wrists. What number was that? Brice's laugh behind her was the only warning before another lash from the crop struck her ass. The pain spiked, followed by heat, and she twisted trying to avoid him. "They don't count if you don't count, female. We're still at eighteen." "Eighteen!" She screamed it, and arched her back as the welts burned into her skin. They were back in the center of the maze, and Brice had tied her to the iron latticework that formed a kind of ceiling in the space. There was still enough light to see by, but at the rate she was remembering to count he'd need to light the lamps before they were done. He had given her way more than eighteen lashes so far, way more than the twenty-two she'd earned. She hadn't been prepared for how hard he was going to use the crop, and he hadn't warmed her skin up at all. And she'd always sucked at counting out a punishment. "We're getting some nice bruises out of these little mistakes. Getting the hang of it yet, slut?" Another snap of the crop across her too-sensitive skin and she whimpered. "Nineteen! Master, please!" Zora had stopped caring about the urge to plead ten lashes ago, and if she'd actually kept counting then she'd be done already. She would have been done way before now, but the counting was hard. It was her instinct to slip into that place where the pain blurred and lost all of its sharp edges. She would breathe deep, acknowledge it, and let it move through her. It was how she'd always handled the pain - and she absolutely, unequivocally, could not do that when she had to focus on the pain and count each burning lash. "There you go." His voice was mocking, and the next lash landed high on her ass and made her jerk forward. The strain on her arms increased and it forced her to step back towards him. A whine of frustration came out of her, and she shifted her weight back and forth on her feet. "Female..." "Twenty! Twenty, Master, twentytwentytwen-" "Too late." Brice put even more force into the next one as it landed across the crease where her ass met her thighs. Already bruised, already so sensitive. She tried to swallow the cry as he spoke again, "Now you can say twenty." "Twenty." Zora dropped her chin to her chest, trying to breathe through the ache in her shoulders, the strain in her back, and the burning down her backside. "Look at that, just two more. Would you like a break?" "No, Master." She said it softly, forcing air into her lungs and back out, taking the moment to try and let the pain blur so she could prepare for the last two. The last time he'd offered her a break, she had foolishly said yes. He had untied the ropes, pushed her to her knees, mercilessly fucked her throat, and then held his cock in her throat until she'd started to black out. That's when he'd come and it had taken every ounce of focus she had been capable of to swallow so she could breathe again. She'd only missed the count twice before that, after her break she could barely keep track. "Pity. Two more then. Stay still, female, and count loud." She heard the crop cut the air just before it landed on her ass in a vicious line of fire that had her lifting on to her toes as she fought the urge to dance forward away from him. "Twenty-one! Twenty-one, please, it hurts..." Zora blinked away the tears at the edges of her eyes, staring up through the latticework where the rough rope was looped. The sky was a kaleidoscope of pinks and oranges, violently lit by the setting sun as if it were trying to set the fading blue on fire. The snap of the last lash landed along her crease again, and her knees buckled for a moment. She caught herself by her hands and half-screamed from the pain of the lash and the sudden ache in her wrists. "Twenty-two! Master, that's twenty-two! I counted, I counted -" "Yes, unfortunately you did." Brice stepped in front of her and she wished she could wipe her face so he couldn't see how the pain had affected her. He trailed the crop between her breasts, slowly moving it down her stomach and she felt her muscles tense as it traced her skin. The chill in the air made her skin prickle and suddenly she was covered in the tiny bumps that made her shiver. "I guess we're done for the day then. Unless you'd like to play some more?" "I -" her words were cut off as he slid the crop between her thighs, the leather slipping between her still wet pussy lips, and he stepped closer. Zora bit her cheek, unsure of which answer would let her rest, and which one would result in more punishment. He grabbed her chin and made her look at him, his dark blue eyes were intently focused on her own. Brice's tongue moved along his lower lip, and then he smiled. It was bright, and made him look too handsome to be the same man who had chased her, fucked her, and punished her so harshly. "That was a joke, slut. If you're actually hungry for more cock, I know Darren doesn't mind a few marks on his female. Would you like to go see Darren?" He tilted his head, enjoying the torment he was putting her through. She twisted her wrists in the ropes, trying to figure out what to say. Anything that might mean she could get away from him, from all of them for a little bit. "I - no - no, thank you, Master." She swallowed and he let go of her chin with a grin. "Good. After all, you've still got one hole I want for myself before my brothers get to touch you." He laughed to himself as he stepped behind her again and landed a particularly vicious spank across the fresh welts. Zora whimpered as the sting made her arch away, but his hands were on her again before it started to settle. His palms slid over her waist, and then up her ribs to cup her breasts. He kneaded them gently for a moment, and then his fingers tightened like vices over the pebbles of her nipples. She yelped, and then fought to stay still. "There's a good girl, just accept it. Everything will be easier if you accept your place." "Yes, Master." The words slipped out as he pressed his bare chest against her back, grinding his hips against her ass. The fabric of his pants was rough against the raw skin on her ass and thighs, but she tried to keep herself from making a sound - from giving him the satisfaction of knowing he was continuing to cause her pain. One of his hands abandoned a breast and trailed lower, dipping over her hip and between her thighs to find her clit. Her hips bucked backwards, and the slow heat that had been simmering inside her during the punishment flared to life. "Please..." "Please, what? Changed your mind about asking for more cock?" His fingers delved inside her, and he laughed low against her neck as she fought the urge to grind against his hand and seek some pleasure after all the pain. "You're still very wet, slut. Just beg me for it and I'll call Darren out here." "No!" She jerked her hips away from him, pressing her thighs together and tightening her grip on the ropes around her wrists to leverage some distance between them. The movement had caused him to release her breast as well, and then she felt the fiery strike of the crop across her front. He'd brought it down across the tops of her thighs and the searing ache spread slowly. "What did I say about telling me 'no', female? Seems like you're not quite tame yet, but we'll get you there." He moved in front of her again and leaned up to release her wrists, "However, I am done with you for the night, so I'm taking you inside." As soon as the rope went slack, her hands slipped through and she would have buckled to the ground if he hadn't caught her around the waist. He eased her to the ground, much more gently than she'd expected, before he stood to pull the rope down and gather it with the crop to store in a bench to one side. Her wrists were red and raw, the bright red stripe across the tops of her thighs stood out vibrant in the last bit of light the sky was giving off, and exhaustion was coming on too fast. She was almost tempted to curl up on the soft grass and sleep. It could be nice to sleep under the open sky, in this lush garden, but there was no way he'd leave her out here. "Up, female." His voice was stern and she looked up to see his arms crossed. There was no more energy inside her to fight him, and there was no point when he'd already said he was done with her for the night. With a burst of effort she pushed herself to her feet and let him lead her out of the maze without argument, his fingers tight around her upper arm. The inside of the house was lit up brightly, and light spilled out onto the patio as Brice stepped around her and pushed open the door. He immediately released her and suddenly called out loudly, "Kinsey! Here, now!" Brice grumbled as he moved forward into the hallway in front of them. He wasn't yelling at her so she took the opportunity to look around. A long bench sat to her left, various shoes shoved underneath it and large coats hung on racks across from it. There was a small sink, and Zora licked her dry lips as she imagined sneaking a drink of water. Her throat ached from the thirst, and she tried not to think of the last time she'd had access to food or water, because that just made her stomach hurt too. "KINSEY!" His voice boomed again and it made her jump and abandon the thought of going for the faucet. Just as his voice finished echoing down the hallway, the curly haired brother stepped around the end. "What the fuck, Brice? Why are you -" the man stopped short when he saw her, and he shoved Brice to the side as he walked around him towards her. "By Mirel, Brice! It's her first fucking day!" "She's fine, Adam, and she'd earned a punishment, remember? All I did was deliver it. Now, where is Kinsey? Stupid bitch is never where she's supposed to be." Brice seemed irritated, but the curly haired brother turned back to her with a deep crease between his brows. His green eyes were bright when they met hers, and he spoke back over his shoulder at his brother. "How am I supposed to know where she is? She's yours, as you're always reminding everyone." Adam rolled his eyes and smiled a bit at her as he mocked his brother. He lowered his voice as Brice stomped off down the hall away from them. "Ignore him. Tell me the truth, are you okay? Do you need a doctor?" "No, Master, I'm fine." Zora shook her head slowly and he huffed out a breath like he didn't believe her. He looked young, maybe even a year younger than her. It was hard to tell with his boyish look and the fact that he was only an inch taller than her. "I doubt you'd tell me even if you did. You don't have any reason to trust me, at least not yet." He sighed and looked back down the hall. "He had you outside this whole time, didn't he?" She nodded and he muttered under his breath as he stepped away from her and she almost cheered when she saw him grab a cup from inside a cabinet and fill it at the little sink. When he came back and handed it to her, tears threatened to spill over. "Th- thank you, Master." "You're our responsibility. That means making sure you don't die of dehydration in your first week at the very least." He smiled, but it was obvious that his heart wasn't in it. "Go on, drink it before he gets back with Kinsey." The urge to ask about the name Brice had been yelling was strong, but not as strong as her urge to take a sip from the cup. The water was incredible. Cool, crisp, and it eased the strain in her throat from when he'd choked her - and from all her screaming. She'd finished it almost before she realized how small the cup was. Adam smirked and took the cup back to refill it, but just as he was returning to her with it there was a scuffle at the end of the hall. "I'm sorry, Master! I am! I didn't hear -" a girl was being dragged down the hall by Brice. His fist was in her hair and he threw her to the floor when he got close to them. She yelped as she caught herself. "Do you think I care about your excuses? What is your job, girl?" Brice's voice was hard as stone, and it made a chill rush down her spine. "No, Master, of course not, Master. I am to be whatever you need, whenever you need me." The girl was small framed, her dark hair chopped in a straight line near her jaw which made the collar at her neck easy to see. She formed into a kneel with her head bowed at his feet, bruises standing out in contrast all over her pale skin. "Were you where I needed you to be just now?" Brice towered over the girl, and as usual Zora wanted to interfere. It was what used to get her in trouble most often in the facility. Whenever one of the guards would pick on a female, Zora would do something stupid to attract their attention. It wasn't because she liked pain, which was what Houna and her friends always said, it was just because Zora could handle it. She'd always been able to, and even though her backside was burning with recent welts, the instinctive desire to throw herself between Brice and this girl was hard to fight. "No, Master, I am sorry, Master." The girl shook her head hard enough to send her hair flaring out to either side, and he just growled. "I'll punish you later, I want to grab dinner." He snapped his fingers and gestured for Zora to come to him. "This is the wild one we purchased today, it is your job to explain my expectations and to make sure she has somewhere to sleep when she's not servicing one of us. Do you understand, Kinsey?" "Yes, Master." The girl didn't even attempt to lift her head, and the tension in her body under the thin fabric of her dress telegraphed her fear as well as any begging or crying would have. "What's with the water, Adam?" Brice asked. Adam glanced at the cup in his hand with a shrug, "I was thirsty." "So you weren't, oh, I don't know... giving water to the wild one while she's under punishment rules?" Brice sounded annoyed, and Zora swallowed as quietly as she could, unsure if she should stay standing or slip into a kneel. Adam seemed unfazed by his brother's comments. "I wanted water, asshole. If you're going to give me hell for it, I'll go back upstairs. You know, the place where I was pleasantly reading before you started shouting your head off down here?" Adam walked past him without a backwards glance and Brice scoffed. "Father will have you whipped if he catches you doing that shit! You know the rules!" Brice called after him, and Zora caught the silhouette of Adam flipping him off before he rounded the corner. When his blue eyes moved back to glare at her Zora dropped her gaze to the floor. "I'm not even going to ask you whether or not he gave you water. I don't have the energy for it. Kinsey, deal with her." With that he walked off down the hall, muttering to himself, and Zora tried not to let her nerves overwhelm her. So close to another punishment. Over a cup of fucking water. "Did he give you water?" Kinsey was looking at her as she rose to her feet gracefully. She had large, brown eyes in a small face. Dark circles crowded under them, and there was no color in her cheeks. She was beautiful, but it was clear that she was exhausted. When Zora didn't answer immediately, Kinsey sighed and spoke again, "Let me rephrase, are you thirsty?" "Yes, I'm thirsty." Zora bit her cheek, unsure as to why the girl seemed to be frustrated with her. "Hungry?" She asked, and Zora nodded. "Okay, follow me. If you see any of the family, get on your knees fast and keep your eyes on the floor. Got it?" The girl was short with her, but Zora was just grateful to be getting some direction on the rules so she nodded. Kinsey seemed satisfied and moved down the hall and back towards the front of the house. Zora followed and an awkward silence descended between them. There were open doors that they passed, rooms filled with furniture and soft carpets - but no other people. She had so many questions for the girl that her head was spinning, but every time she opened her mouth to speak she couldn't. She was just too tired, and after several minutes of walking in silence Kinsey stopped at a door. The girl pushed it open and leaned back against the doorframe so that Zora could see inside. It was a small room, with a bed shoved in one corner and a wooden crate in another that served as a little table for a lamp with a dented shade. "Is this -" "Stay here, I'll be right back." Kinsey cut her off and walked down the hall to another door. She glanced back before she went inside and Zora tried to resist the urge to follow her so she wasn't alone. Her ass and her thighs ached, and she could feel her muscles shivering with the urge to give out, her body begging her to just lie down on the bed and forget the day. Forget the auction. Forget the glimpse of goodness with Malcolm. Forget the maze, and Brice, and the crop. Just forget everything so she could think about Zane, and cry, and sleep. Then movement caught her eye and she turned to see Kinsey walking back towards her with a bowl in one arm filled with fruit, and a cup in her free hand. "So, how long did you run?" The girl asked as she handed her the water, and Zora took it gladly. She forced herself to sip it this time, even though she wanted to drink the entire glass and ask for more. "Twenty-eight minutes." Kinsey huffed out a laugh and shifted the bowl to her side, "Wow. Then why the hell is your ass covered in so many welts?" "The count started at fifty lashes." "That looks like way more than twenty-two." Kinsey ran her fingers through her hair with a slight smirk and Zora felt herself bristle. The girl had attitude, Zane would have called her feisty, but her comments were just making her defensive. When the other girl had been around Brice she had been completely submissive, but in this hidden corner of the house she was different. Zora finished the water in a gulp and shrugged a shoulder. "I kept forgetting to count." Kinsey started laughing, a pretty sound that seemed to fill the hallway and run like chills over her skin. "You forgot to count?" Her laughter grew louder, "I thought you wild ones were supposed to be these perfectly trained little sex dolls! Isn't that why you're so special? Why you cost so much money?" "What?" Zora stared at her, her eyebrows pulling together as the girl's laughter faded. Perfectly trained little sex dolls. The words were like sharp things inside her, twisting and cutting. Memories of the day slammed into her head and she clenched her jaw tight so she wouldn't react, but she couldn't forget shaking on the stage as citizens bid on her. Kneeling in front of Henry Perlen as he locked the collar around her neck. The shocking pain of it when she didn't call him Master. Brice's grin as she ran from him in the maze, playing his game to entertain him. Moaning under him because she'd been trained to, because it was her body's natural reaction now. The Wild Ones Ch. 04 'Is that all I am?' The phrase was a weight in her chest. Wild One. Twin. Imperfectly trained little sex doll. Just one more label. "I heard Colette and Francesca talking about you, about how much the Master of the house spent on you, and you can't even count properly during a punishment? When it's just a crop?" Kinsey sneered at her, "You won't last." She spat the last words out and leaned down to leave the bowl of fruit on the floor. Zora held out the cup, but Kinsey didn't reach for it because she was already turning around. "I won't give up." Zora said it quietly, but Kinsey stopped and looked back. "What?" "I said I won't give up." She spoke louder this time and Kinsey's eyebrows lifted. "Oh really... you think you won't give up. Tell me, did you beg him to stop today? When you were out in the maze?" "No." She thought of how many times she'd fucked up and missed a count. Thought of how often she'd whimpered and yelped and screamed in frustration. She may have babbled please over and over, but she had never asked him to stop. It would have been pointless to anyway. Zora straightened her shoulders and looked at the girl again, "I never begged him to stop." "Did he choke you?" Kinsey turned to face her completely. "Yes." "Fuck your throat until you thought you were going to pass out?" "Yes." "Then you know most of Brice's tricks." She looked back towards the center of the house, "Darren is worse, but in different ways. Avoid being around him if you can, and if he takes you just - just try to be somewhere else. In your head. Adam is nice as long as he isn't around his father. Francesca and Colette will only mess with you if they're feeling particularly cruel, which isn't too often. The Master of the house hands out the serious punishments, but as long as you don't fuck up too bad in public he won't even pay attention to you." "Okay." Zora's head spun with the information, trying to match the names to the faces from the day. "What about you? Who are you?" Kinsey turned back to her, "Me? I'm no one. I don't even exist." There was a bittersweet smile on her lips as she raised her hand and pointed at the cup. "That's yours to keep, and that's your room. I'll get you in the morning to help with breakfast." She took a few steps backward towards her door. "You don't - Wait, this is my room? Just mine?" Zora had never had a room to herself in her entire life. "It is now." "Who did it belong to before I got here?" Zora looked into the room and saw a folded pile of dresses on the floor, a few sets of flat shoes, and a book just to the side of the bed. Kinsey's face when she looked back was dark and devoid of the boisterous attitude she'd displayed for the last few minutes. She sounded numb when she finally spoke, "Someone who didn't last." "What do you -" "Goodnight, wild one." Kinsey didn't even let her finish speaking before she was down the hall. The click of the door shutting was final. With a sigh Zora grabbed the bowl of fruit and stepped into her room. Her room. The idea was strange, and only made weirder by the fact that the things in the room obviously belonged to someone else. Someone who didn't last. Zora sat down on the edge of the bed and hissed through her teeth when the welts sent a bolt of pain through her. She should know better by now. Grabbing an apple from the bowl she took a bite and swallowed as she let the faces and names of the day wash over her. She still didn't exactly know who Kinsey was, except that she was a slave, but she wasn't a wild one. Which didn't make sense. Citizens weren't slaves, were they? Zora lay back on the bed, doing her best to move carefully with the welts as she tried to review the information Kinsey had given her. Brice. Adam. Darren. Her masters. Her owners. Her fingers subconsciously traced the metal against her throat. A collar. She was wearing a collar. Forcing herself to take another bite of apple, she chewed slowly, savoring the puckering sweetness that did little to calm the ache in her belly. She eventually gave up on trying to get her brain into gear and finally focused on the one thing she didn't want to think about or admit to herself. Zane was gone. Really and truly gone. Not just in another wing of the facility. There was no chance of passing him in the halls. No way to whisper a message to him in the ear of another wild one. No chance of hearing his words from the lips of someone else. Gone. She let the tears come, covering her mouth so she wouldn't make a noise. She was alone in a tiny room. There would be no sounds of others tossing and turning, mumbling or crying in the night. Just silence. Zora put the bowl on the floor by the cup and curled up on her right side trying to breathe through the emptiness in her chest. She prayed silently to each of the gods she could remember that Zane was alright, that he had found a good place, and that he would be okay. There was no answer in the dark of the room, and finally the exhaustion overwhelmed the sadness and the hunger and she slept. ***** Ahhh, there's so much I want to say! I do hope to get another chapter out soon, but I am traveling abroad for almost 2 weeks in June, and so I'm being honest that the next chapter will likely come out in July. Until then though, please stick with me! As usual, I can't wait to hear what you think so please comment, rate, and even send me feedback! I love to hear from you guys! ^_^ *heart* Jennifer Bene / always_yes The Wild Ones Ch. 05 Well, hello again lovelies. It has been way too fucking long. Let's just be honest that I screwed up and over-committed myself to other writing endeavors over the summer and it kept me away from Zora and Zane for too long. For those of you who don't want to go back and re-read the first four chapters, let me catch you up real quick. The 'Wild Ones' are a race that have been enslaved by the citizens of this world in order to allow them to breed without the risk of passing on a dangerous genetic flaw. However, this fact is not so widely known any more. Zora and Zane are twins, a rarity in this world, and it makes them very valuable since they can produce more than a single offspring at a birth. They were each sold at an auction at the Mirelian Facility for Wild One Development to different families - Zora to the Perlens, and Zane to the Williams. Zora went home with the Perlens and Brice (the eldest) made her run their hedge maze in a devious game. Zane is still at the Facility waiting for the Williams to take him away. And now you're all caught up! But if you wanted to catch up by reading the first four, that's fun too. I want to apologize for the extended gap this story took, and I sincerely hope it doesn't happen again. I am not going to abandon The Wild Ones, and I appreciate everyone that continued to message me and ask about them! If there's ever a gap again, I do put updates on my profile, so please check there! Many snuggles to each of you. *heart* always_yes / Jennifer Bene --- "You can't go in there." The hard voice outside the cell door shook Zane from sleep and he quickly rolled over and pushed himself to put his back to the wall. His pulse was out of control as panic rushed in, and he tried to focus on the voices. The pounding of his heart behind his ribs was dizzying – or that could be the hunger. Either way, someone was outside his cell. "Who the fuck do you think you are? He's in the cells, that means -" "He's been sold to one of the families, he's just being held here." That was Malcolm's voice. Zane clenched his jaw because he was pretty sure the other voice had been the leader of the group of guards that had come for him and Zora. "Seems to me like the Williams changed their minds. Why else would he be here?" The sneer in the voice made Zane's stomach drop. "Just move out of the way and go get yourself some breakfast. Take your time. I'll be gone before you get back." "I can't do that, Calvin. I was assigned to him, and I'm not going to get fired because I let you damage one of the great families' slaves." Malcolm had a cold edge to his voice that hadn't appeared the evening before, and Zane tried to suppress the sour turning of his stomach. "Fuck off and get out of my way. I didn't get his sister, but -" "You're not getting the male either. He's sold, Calvin. That means he's not staying here and he's off limits." "Move, Malcolm." There was a hard thump against the door to the cell and then a grunt. "Back the fuck off or I'll report this to the council. The Williams are a great family, they -" "They won't know if you keep your fucking mouth shut!" Calvin growled out the words, and then there was another thump against the door followed by the sound of two men struggling. Curses slipping out between hard breaths, and Zane clenched his fists uselessly. "I am not letting you in there!" Malcolm shouted and then growled. There was more shuffling, and then the clear sound of a punch and someone groaned in pain. "Really, asshole? You're going to hit me to protect one of them?" Zane heard someone spit, and then Calvin laughed low. "I'm going to remember this. Trust me on that. And once he's here for real you won't be able to do shit to protect your little boy toy." "Whatever you say, just leave before I knock you on your ass." Malcolm was breathing hard, and Calvin sounded farther away when he spoke again. "You wish. Just remember, no one's sleeping outside your room protecting you." Calvin laughed, and then shouted one last time down the hall. "Have a good night's sleep, asshole. See you soon." The silence was tense, and Zane couldn't believe what had just happened. Malcolm had actually kept his promise. He'd stayed. He'd hit another citizen to keep him safe for at least one more night. But Calvin was right, if the Williams family had really bought him – why was he still here? "You awake, Zane?" Malcolm's voice was quiet, and Zane pushed himself to his feet to move to the door. "Yeah, I am." "So you heard that?" "Yeah." "I'm not going back to sleep, but you should. Still a few more hours until we'll hear anything." He sighed. "I was going to go get you some breakfast, but I don't want to risk leaving now. How hungry are you?" Zane's stomach clenched at the mention of food, but he ignored it. "I'll be fine." "Okay, try and get some rest. I'm sure Brandon Williams will be back this morning and all of this will be resolved." "Right, I'm sure it will." Or I'll be turned over to the facility and the guards and this will have been for nothing. Zane sighed, trying not to think about what was waiting for this guard who had put everything on the line for him. A wild one. A slave. "Hey, Malcolm?" "Yeah?" "Thanks." There was a moment of silence, but then Malcolm grunted and he heard him settle against the door to his cell. "It's nothing. Calvin is an asshole to everyone. Go ahead and sleep. I'll be here." Zane looked up at the pale gray square of light at the top of the door and wished he knew better words to acknowledge what had just happened. What Malcolm had done, but he didn't have any. "Okay. Sorry if I snore or anything." Malcolm laughed. "You've been snoring all night." "Well then, guess you'll just have to deal with it." Zane laughed too as he settled on the concrete and leaned back into the corner of the cell, trying to get comfortable. "Guess I will. I'll wake you when Williams shows up." "If he does." Zane corrected him, and Malcolm didn't respond because they both knew it was possible. They both knew what was waiting for him if the Williams family backed out of the deal. The council would never want to acknowledge that one of the twins was too dangerous, that a family had declined to take him. They'd already messed with his scores and lied to the great families – this kind of embarrassment would probably be buried deep. Zane would probably end up buried deep somewhere. That is, after the guards did whatever they wanted. He leaned his head back against the wall and tried to remember Zora's smile. Her wild copper hair. The way everything felt okay when they were together. That's what he tried to focus on, and with every ounce of strength he had left he prayed that she would be treated as well as possible, and that she knew he loved her. Forever and ever. --- "Come on, wild one, time to get up." Zora flinched as the lamp in her room clicked on and she rolled to her side. The bruises on her backside woke up and she groaned as she opened her eyes to see Kinsey standing near the wall with her arms crossed. "My name is Zora," she mumbled and the girl snorted. "Sure, whatever. Get up and get dressed. We have work to do." She winced as the welts on the backs of her thighs pressed into the lip of the bed and it urged her to her feet faster than she had thought she'd be capable. Exhaustion clung to her worse than her grief. Zora had woken too many times in the night. Reaching out for Zane's hand in some futile dream that turned into a nightmare the moment she awoke and realized he wasn't there and never would be again. Even thinking about it was like picking at the still raw wound inside her. "Hey. Wild one. Get a move on, will you?" Kinsey was giving her a look that clearly questioned her sanity, and Zora sighed and forced herself to walk over to the small stack of dresses. Snagging the top one she pulled it over her naked frame and was irritated when it stopped high on her thighs and squeezed tight across her modest chest. The girl laughed a little. "Yeah, the last girl was smaller than you. All of you wild ones are so big." "I'm not big," she muttered. "And I told you, my name is Zora." "Uh huh." Kinsey pointed at the shoes. "See if those fit." They didn't. Zora shrugged. "I'm fine. You said we have work to do?" "Yep. A lot of it. No more lounging around the facility for you. You belong to the Perlens now." She turned and walked out the door, not even glancing back to see if Zora was following her. "Come on." Rolling her eyes, Zora caught up to her and fell into step just behind her. "We never lounged around in the facility. I can promise you that." "I really don't care. Can you cook?" Kinsey took a sharp turn down a hall and Zora had to jerk to a stop to follow. "Yes. They trained us in household service," she answered as soon as she was next to her. "Household service," the small girl mocked her and Zora felt a blush rush her cheeks. "At least you won't be useless." Zora's lips parted to question her about what the fuck her problem was, but then she was stunned as they stepped into a huge kitchen. It gleamed with dark wood cabinets and beautiful, steel cooking stations. Two of the burners were already on full blast, the flickering light of flames underneath large skillets being manned by an older woman in a simple, flattering dress. A thick metal collar lay around her neck, marking her as another slave. "Morning, Nymah. You're up early." Kinsey stepped up next to her at the stove and peeked into the pans before turning to the large island where a pile of fruit lay half cut. "Master had a call this morning so he sent me downstairs." Her voice was soft and when she turned away Zora caught the edge of some numbers peeking from under the dress on her left shoulder. "You're a wild one!" Zora's voice made the woman jump and she spun on her heel, the dark tree that marked all of the wild ones prevalent on her chest. Her blue eyes were wide, and then her brows pulled together and her jaw went tight. "Oh yeah, this is Zara." Kinsey spoke over her shoulder, cutting up a ripe peach into neat little slices. "Zora," she corrected, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from the other wild one's face. For a moment she almost seemed like she was about to cry, but then the look faded like it had never existed and she turned back to the stove. "Welcome to the household of the great Perlen family, Zora." "I thought I was the only wild one -" "Nymah belongs to the master of the house. She's been here forever, so make sure you listen to her." Kinsey brushed the back of her arm across her forehead to push the hair out of her eyes. "Are you going to help or not?" "I -" Zora sighed. "What do you need me to do?" "Grab another knife from the block and help me cut up the fruit and those mushrooms. Trust me, you do not want to be late with breakfast." Kinsey pointed to one of the long counters, and Zora grabbed one and joined her at the center island to help with breakfast. The smell of all of the food cooking made her stomach growl, and the sticky sweetness of the apple she was cutting tempted her to take just one bite. Before she could think about it she was holding one of the neat little slices, but Kinsey stopped cutting up the pepper in front of her. "Don't even think about it." "Huh?" Zora looked up and Kinsey shook her head, muttering to herself. "If you think we get to eat before the family, you're an idiot. Put it down and finish cutting." "I wasn't going to -" "Sure you weren't. Just get back to work. The sooner this is over, the sooner we can eat." Kinsey's knife started moving again and Zora set the sweet fruit back on the cutting board, pushing away her own hunger. A little over half an hour later there were six plates on the counter and Zora hadn't learned another thing about Nymah. Other than she could cook fast and knew everything about the family Zora was now serving. Darren liked eggs and toast, and he'd only eat meat at breakfast if it was a certain kind of sausage, which they didn't have at the moment. Brice wanted pancakes, no larger than palm-sized, and sliced fruit – all of which had to be arranged just so. Francesca and Colette took turns trying to outdo each other on healthy eating, so both were getting egg whites with mushrooms and peppers, and exactly five apple slices each. Adam never cared what was brought to him so today he was getting eggs, toast, peach slices, and a slice of ham. The last plate held egg whites, a slice of ham, apple slices, and a single piece of toast. For Henry Perlen, the master of the house. "Nymah, didn't he tell us not to make him egg whites anymore?" Kinsey was standing in front of all the plates with her hands on her hips, and the older woman shrugged delicately. "The doctor said if he wanted eggs they could only be the whites." "Yeah, well, the doctor isn't going to get shocked to shit for bringing him a breakfast he didn't order." Kinsey crossed her arms. "By Mirel's grace, watch your language, Kinsey. It will be fine. He knows it is for his health." Nymah spoke in a chiding tone and stepped forward, sliding a cover over the plate, and then another over Adam's breakfast. "I will take it to him myself, and I'll take Master Adam's to him." "Fine. It's your ass. I've got Master Brice and Mistress Francesca's. I'll show Zara where Mistress Colette and Master Darren's rooms are." Kinsey clapped covers over the last plates. Nymah brought over trays and two plates went onto each tray, followed by napkins, glasses of juice, water, and/or cups of coffee. Zora felt useless as they bustled around the kitchen with the kind of familiarity only developed in working together for years. "I wish you both a good day." Nymah bowed her head a little, but her eyes didn't meet either of them as she lifted her tray and exited the other side of the kitchen. Zora started to walk after her, desperate to speak to her for just a moment about anything, but Kinsey snagged the back of her dress. "Whoa, now, wild one. We have to bring our masters and mistresses their breakfast." "Please, I just want to -" "I know exactly what you want to do, but she isn't going to tell you anything. Don't bother Nymah, okay?" Kinsey turned back to the trays but Zora stayed near the exit to the kitchen, looking out into the hallway where the other woman had disappeared. "But she's like me." The hunger in her own voice surprised her. Nymah's presence had reminded her so keenly of Torren that the bitter absence of the patchwork family she had created at the facility felt like a new blow inside her. She hadn't just lost Zane the day before, she'd lost everyone. Everyone she had ever known. And Nymah understood that. Kinsey snorted. "Oh, that's right. You're both wild ones. I wouldn't know a thing about being a slave." Zora turned to her and saw the flash of pain on the girl's face before her bitter anger replaced it. She fumbled to correct herself. "I didn't say that, I just wanted -" "No. It's fine. I get it. I'm nobody." Kinsey grabbed her tray off the counter, the dark curtain of her short hair obscuring her profile as she lifted it. "I didn't say that!" Kinsey's brown eyes snapped up to hers. "You didn't have to." She walked past her towards the exit. "Grab your tray." Futile frustration was at war inside Zora along with the nagging reminder of her own pain and loss. There was too much she wanted to say, too many questions she wanted to ask, but it was clear Kinsey didn't want to speak with her. The girl wouldn't even say her name right. Tears burned the edges of her eyes, but she wiped them away before they could budge and bit her tongue. Then she grabbed the tray and followed Kinsey towards the stairs. "We always deliver to our mistresses first. Leave the plate and the glass of water on the desk in Mistress Colette's room, and be quiet about it. If she isn't awake before you are ready to take the tray to Master Darren then stand at the door with your head bowed and politely try to wake her by speaking to her." Kinsey was carrying the tray with little strain it seemed, but Zora's arms were already aching. The full glasses, the cup of coffee, and the plates made it heavy. "What do I say?" "I usually go with 'Mistress, are you awake? '." The sarcastic response made a blush tint Zora's cheeks, and she was glad Kinsey was ahead of her and couldn't see it. "The juice and coffee is for Master Darren, and you'll do the same in his room. Just leave the whole tray on his desk." "And should I try and wake him?" Zora asked. Kinsey laughed a little as they moved down a long hallway full of closed doors. "Yes. And good luck with that." She stopped at a door, and Zora felt her stomach twist. "This is Mistress Francesca's room. Mistress Colette's is over there, directly across. Two doors down on that side is Master Darren's room." Kinsey twisted and used her elbow to press down the door handle, pushing her back against the door to ease it open, but Zora's pulse skyrocketed as anxiety filled her. The glasses rattled on the tray she was holding. "I – I don't know -" "Just do it. I'll meet you at the bottom of the stairs," Kinsey whispered. With a roll of her eyes she pushed the door open the rest of the way and disappeared inside the room. Zora was left in the hallway, the empty darkness of Francesca's room absorbing Kinsey. She tried to take a deep breath to suppress the trembling of her muscles, but it only seemed to increase as she took the few steps to Colette's door. Mimicking Kinsey she tried to press the handle down but the tray almost tilted and she had to stand quickly again to right it. "Come on, Zora," she mumbled under her breath and closed her eyes to take another deep breath and steady her shaking hands. In her mind she thought back to the household service classes at the facility. The barely contained laughter on the faces of the other wild ones as each got to take turns playing the citizen while one of the others served them. A bittersweet smile slipped over her lips when she remembered Cadalie snapping her fingers, a haughty look lifting her auburn brows high on her forehead. Hurry up now, I'm positively starving! Cadalie had declared in a dramatic voice, and half the girls had dissolved into laughter until Paliope, the head of that class, had clapped her hands and told them all to take it seriously – but even she had been fighting a smile. The pang of her loss was still like a cluster of sharp things inside her, but all of those memories were also a source of strength. She had been trained for this. Exactly this. She had been trained so she could do what all of the wild ones had done for centuries – earn their place in Mirelia. Earn their place and the protection behind the high, white walls of the great city. And no matter how much she wanted to run and hide, to go back to her tiny room and cry until she felt hollow and numb, she had to be strong. Zane wouldn't want her to be anything else. He would expect her to be the same feisty wild one she had been their entire lives. Malcolm's brown eyes popped into her head, along with some of the last words he'd said to her, 'Remember to be brave.' Zora blew out a breath and stared down at the neatly arranged tray, keeping it steady as she pressed the lever down on the door and moved into the room. Once her eyes adjusted to the faint light peeking from behind the thick curtains it was easy to find the desk and move to set the tray down. Being as quiet as possible she lifted the lid to check which plate to leave, and then set the water next to it. Shifting the other plate to the center of the tray she lifted it and moved back to the door. The Wild Ones Ch. 05 She swallowed, and spoke softly as she bowed her head, "Mistress, are you awake?" When there was no response Zora shifted her weight from foot to foot and cleared her throat to speak a little louder. "Mistress? I've brought breakfast." A groan came from the shape on the bed, but then Colette stilled again. "Mistress, I have your breakfast on your desk for when you're ready. Are you awake?" "By the gods, would you shut up?!" Colette sat up, her hair a frizzy halo around her head. "Yes, Mistress." She had to bite her cheek to stifle the smile at the childish response, unsure if she should leave the room or not. The girl threw the covers back with a huff, and then she stopped. "You can go now!" Her voice was a high-pitched whine that grated on Zora's nerves, but she just bowed her head a little deeper and slipped back out the door. As she moved to Darren's door she saw that the door to Brice's room was already open, and it made her pick up the pace. Zora slipped into Darren's room as quietly as possible, but it was even darker than Colette's and she struggled to wait for her eyes to adjust. When she could finally make out the desk against the wall she walked towards it quietly, happy to finally be able to set down the heavy tray. She leaned over to place it on the desk, trying not to let the coffee cup clatter. "Where the fuck is Kinsey?" A gruff voice came from close behind her and Zora jumped, dropping the tray the last inch onto the desktop. The coffee sloshed out and she turned around to find Darren only a few feet away. Her heartbeat was pounding in her ears as she scrambled for a response. "I'm sorry, Master, I didn't know you were awake. Kinsey is delivering breakfast to -" "Brice, I'm sure. Move." He waved a hand at her and she shuffled backwards, finding herself stuck near the corner of his room with him between her and the door. He lifted the lid off the plate and the smell hit her like a punch to the stomach. A loud growl rose up from her belly, and Darren turned towards her as she pressed her hand over it. "Hungry, female?" "I'm fine, Master. Is there anything else I can bring you?" Zora tried to keep the tremor out of her voice as his dark eyes zeroed in on her. He had a cold kind of beauty, his dark hair was cut short, but it seemed to only accentuate the strong angles of his face created by the shadows in the room. "Are you sure you're not hungry?" Darren picked up a slice of toast, dangling it between his fingers. Somehow the offer felt threatening, and she nodded her head quickly. "Yes, Master. I'm fine." The edge of his mouth lifted, "If you say so." The hint of a smile left his lips, and he turned away from her. "Now, get out of my room." "Yes, Master." Zora bowed slightly and then scrambled past him. When she got to the door he called after her. "Just remember, if you ever want to earn some extra food, all you have to do is come to me." There was a dark undertone to his words that she didn't want to analyze. Kinsey had already told her to avoid him, and Zora was pretty sure she would never be hungry enough to go to him for anything. "Thank you, Master." The words tumbled from her lips as she escaped into the hallway, but as she moved back towards the stairs she noticed that Brice's door was shut again where the doors to Colette's and Francesca's rooms were still open. Zora tried to shake off the chill that her interaction with Darren had created and moved silently down the stairs. When she got to the bottom she looked around for Kinsey, but she was nowhere to be found. Zora looked back up the long staircase to the dimly lit top floor and an uneasy feeling crept up her spine. The house was strangely silent, but as Zora sat down on the bottom step she could have sworn she heard a distant cry from up the stairs. Wrapping her arms around her legs she scooted until her back was against the wall, and she prepared to wait for Kinsey. She just hoped Kinsey was okay when she finally came down. --- A door slammed somewhere in the house and Zora jerked her head up so fast she hit the back of it on the wall. Hissing through her teeth she rubbed it, realizing she had fallen asleep sitting on the stairs. In the Perlen's house. How long would it take for that to sink in? She heard sniffling at the top of the stairs and looked up to see Kinsey rushing down them, her hand wiping under her nose. Zora got to her feet just as the girl saw her, and there was no question something had happened. Kinsey's cheeks and nose were red, and she was still wiping tears from her cheeks. "Kinsey -" "Don't." Walking past her, Kinsey didn't even stop as she stormed back to the end of the first floor that Zora had started to think of as the slaves' area. Zora rushed to follow, and she saw the wide red stripes and dark little bruises along the backs of Kinsey's thighs that she knew had come from a belt or a strap. If the girl had been another of the wild ones Zora would have insisted she curl up on her bed, and she would have brushed and braided her hair. She would have talked to her about what had caused the punishment, comforted her. They would have figured out ways to avoid it in the future. But Kinsey wouldn't even look at her. As the girl tried to turn another corner, Zora reached forward and grabbed her arm. "Would you just stop for a second?" She jerked her arm out of Zora's hand and turned to face her, rubbing at her tear marked cheeks in vicious swipes. "What do you want?" "I just want to know if you're okay." "I'm great," Kinsey snapped and turned to walk away again, but then she stopped and spun on her heel. "You think just because you're a wild one that you're better than me? That because you were born to be someone's breeding whore that you've got this?" Zora flinched back at the harsh words, but Kinsey kept ranting. "I've been here for years. I've belonged to Brice for years. You have no idea what it's like to be a slave in this house!" She was shaking with rage as she hissed at her, and Zora was frozen for a moment. Zora's voice was quiet as she dropped her eyes from the girl and spoke, "No, I don't." "No. You fucking don't." Kinsey turned around again and stomped down the hall. Zora felt her stomach twisting, her eyes glued to the carpet running down the middle of the hall. A dark mix of reds and greens and blues in a never-ending pattern that wove in on itself. Breeding whore? Her mind echoed the girl's words and Zora rubbed her hand against the mark on her sternum that lay just above the hollow ache in her chest fueled by all her grief. Wild one. Sex doll. Breeding whore. Slut. Cunt. What other words did the citizens have for her? Zora gritted her teeth and took a deep breath. Whether Kinsey hated her or not, she was here, and being here meant she had to stay busy with something, because laying in her room waiting for Brice to summon her as he had promised would drive her mad. Lifting her head she followed the direction the other girl had gone, peeking into rooms as she tried to find her. The banging of cabinets caught Zora's attention just as she was about to turn down a different hall, and she followed the sound. Kinsey was sniffling and muttering curses as she stuffed clothes into a washer and poured laundry powder over the top before slamming the metal lid with a clap. A moment later the washer kicked on and she walked over to a large pile of laundry under an open chute high in the ceiling. "What can I do to help?" Kinsey turned around, her dark hair flaring out before she huffed and crouched down in front of the pile of laundry. "Did your household service training teach you how to do laundry?" The urge to shout at the girl rose up, but Zora bit her tongue again and forced out a simple, "Yes." "Good. Then take over, there's other work to do." Kinsey threw down the clothes in her hands and brushed past her without more than a passing glance, tinged with disgust. "Dresses and nice clothes get washed on cold and hung up. Don't fuck it up." "Kinsey!" Zora turned and the girl stopped in the hall, but didn't turn around. "Stop saying my name like you know me, wild one. We aren't friends." The cold, hollow tone of the girl's voice was like a slap. "Why not? Why can't we be -" "I don't want to be your friend." With that Kinsey moved down the hall at a steady pace, and Zora stood with her mouth open in shock. She was alone. Kinsey hated her. Nymah was apparently off-limits. What she had seen of the Perlens had given her little hope. Not even the nice one, Adam, had been able to do much in the presence of Brice. Turning to the laundry she started to sort the pile, and then she threw the clothes down and crumpled to her knees, and the tears finally came. Deep, wracking sobs that she hadn't had the energy for the night before. She was hungry, and tired, and she couldn't remember where the kitchen was, or where her room sat in relation to the laundry. Zora screamed in frustration through her teeth, muffling it as best she could in the fabric of a towel from the floor. The crying emptied her until all that was left was a fuzzy numb feeling that permeated her entire body. After a few minutes of hiccupped breathing, the crying slowed and then stopped, and she rubbed at the dull ache in her chest and tried not to think of anyone as she threw the clothes into piles. --- "Zora?" Zane snapped awake to a dark room. A cell. Solitary. "Hey. She isn't here, remember?" Malcolm's voice came through the pale gray space at the top of the door, and Zane relaxed back against the wall. The chill had long ago seeped into his bones, leaving him sore and aching. "Yeah. I remember." He swallowed, but his throat was dry and it was a pointless exercise. His stomach was in knots from hunger, and he felt dizzy as he tried to stand so he gave up and sank back against the concrete. "Have you heard anything?" Malcolm was silent for a minute on the other side of the door, and Zane rubbed a hand over his face knowing the answer. Then the man spoke, his voice tense, "No. I'm sorry." "It's fine. I'm not surprised." "I really am sorry, Zane." Malcolm apologized again, and Zane just blew out a breath. He still didn't quite understand why the guy was putting himself at risk for him, and as every hour ticked by it only seemed to be more foolish. "Have you eaten yet?" "No. Haven't left." "You should go eat. Go get some food, I'll be fine." Zane rolled his shoulders and tried to decide if he'd be more comfortable laid out on the floor. "I'm not leaving you down here alone." "We both know it's pointless. Just go. Maybe they'll drop their issue with you." "It's not pointless, Brandon Williams will show up. He outbid everyone at the -" "He's not coming, sir. I have no idea what time it is, but I'm sure it's been longer than would make sense if he was still taking me to his house." "I asked you to call me Malcolm." His voice suddenly seemed louder, and Zane could see the top of his head in the gray square. "Don't give up now, Zane. Come on. For Zora." "I'll be fine." He clenched his jaw, trying not to think about what would happen the moment the other guards saw Malcolm upstairs. Maybe they'd at least feed him when they were done with him. "No!" Malcolm's fist banged against the door, and he muttered a stream of curses on the other side of it. "I'm going to figure something out, Zane. I swear." "Okay, Malcolm." Zane smiled bitterly. At least if he was going to suffer, if he was going to get buried in some dark hole, he knew someone was thinking of Zora. "Zane, I swear to fucking Mirel herself, if you do something stupid -" "I'm not going to hurt myself. There's nothing in here to do it with, and I'm not going out like that." He chuckled, trying to be as brave as he knew he should be. "If they want to take me out, they're going to have to work for it." "I'm coming back." "Thanks, Malcolm." Zane replied, and a muffled curse came from the other side of the door, and then his footsteps led away. A fuzzy feeling filled his head and he turned and lay his back out on the cold floor, wondering how long until he heard footsteps returning – and who they would belong to. --- Zora sat on the floor folding clothes as the washers and dryers whirred against one wall. She had hung up shirts and dresses along rails around the room and the steady dwindling mountain of dirty laundry at least made her feel like she was doing something right. The muffled buzz of one of the dryers interrupted her thoughts. As she turned to push herself up from the floor she caught sight of a shape in the doorway and yelped. It was Darren. Leaning against the doorframe, holding a strange strip of metal in his hands, his dark eyes were locked onto hers and she felt her heart slamming against the inside of her chest. She waited for him to speak, to say something, but he just stared at her and slowly turned the object over and over. "M- may I help you, Master?" She hated that her voice shook and she dug her nails into her palms. "Actually, you can. Follow me, female." Darren gave her one last look and then stepped back into the hall, leaving her frozen in the center of the laundry room. Fear crept up her back like icy tendrils because Kinsey had been clear. Avoid Darren. But how was she supposed to avoid a master in the house? Avoid a direct command when he'd come to her? Zora forced her feet to move and found him waiting for her in the hall. She wasn't sure if she should kneel, like the guards had required of them in the facility, or approach him. Her thoughts whirred as she shifted uncomfortably under his stare, but then he broke his gaze from her and started walking away. He walked through the twisting, narrow halls of the servant area of the house with a surprising confidence, and shortly they were back in the large foyer of the house. There were the grand stairs arching their way to the upper floor, the massive front doors, and the long hall that Brice had dragged her down the day before that led outside. Darren turned down that same hall and Zora's stomach dropped. Did he want her to run the maze as well? There was no way. She was too tired, too hungry, too weak. If he told her to run the maze, she wouldn't fight him. Couldn't fight him. Maybe if she submitted to him he'd be kinder, and whatever darkness in him that Kinsey seemed to be afraid of wouldn't show itself. A small voice inside her mocked that idea as she followed him, but then he turned down a side hall that passed underneath the stairs. Instead of leading her outside, he led her deeper into the house and she tried to keep track of all of the turns they had taken. The building seemed like a maze itself, with all the carpets matching, the walls all the same color. Random paintings filled spaces on the walls and Zora wanted to stop and stare at them, memorize them so she could figure out a map of the house. Some were beautiful scenes of men and women dancing, eating, or lounging in extravagant rooms. Others were of animals, or forests, and her eyes tried to devour each of them as she kept up with Darren's quick, measured strides. She turned to face front just in time to stop short of running into him. He arched an eyebrow at her, but didn't speak as he drew a key from his pocket and slipped it into the door in front of them. A loud click resounded and made her empty stomach clench around nothing. Darren pushed the door open soundlessly and Zora swallowed when he walked in ahead of her. Rule three. When in doubt, submit. And she was prepared to submit, she was prepared to submit to anything he had for her, but she hadn't expected what was inside the room. It instantly reminded Zora of the punishment room at the facility. Dark walls with a variety of implements hanging on hooks. A St. Andrew's cross. A large worktable covered in things, which was where Darren moved immediately to lay down the strange strip of metal. A modest bed. All of it familiar. All of it reminding her that the welts on her backside hadn't even begun to heal. However, none of it was what kept her attention. To her right were large, hulking objects with sheets thrown over them, and part of her wanted to know what was hidden under them – but the larger, smarter side of herself assured her that she didn't. "Shut the door." Zora looked up at him, but there was no help in his expression. There was nothing there. He seemed to be cold, detached, and there was no room for argument. "Yes, Master," she whispered and turned slowly to push the door closed, dreading the final click of it snapping shut. An eerie silence descended on the room, and for a moment she almost missed the bravado of Brice's taunts and whistling. At least he had talked to her. Been clear about his plans for her, clear about what he wanted from her. As loud and brash as his older brother was, Darren was the opposite. Quiet, brooding... intimidating. His dark eyes watched her, and it was clear he was thinking, but there wasn't a change in his face to signal what was going on in his head. With a jerk he reanimated, moving across the room and past her. Past the first hulking object beneath a sheet, and he stopped at the second one. Tremors rushed through her as he grabbed the sheet and yanked it off in a single pull. It looked like a long padded table, covered in straps, with a huge black box attached to one side. "Strip, and get on the table." Darren turned away from it, moving to a small cabinet against the wall, but she felt glued to the spot. When he looked back at her a moment later his jaw ticked. "Did you hear me, female?" "Yes, Master." "Then get on the table." His voice was like iron, and even though it made her tremble she took small steps forward. It resembled the infirmary tables from the facility, and the smooth texture of it felt the same. The dress came off easily, but her skin tingled when the chill air of the room met it. As soon as she hopped up onto the table, Darren moved to her side and pushed her down by her shoulder until she lay back. The touch was strangely gentle, when he could have just as easily yanked her back by her hair like his brother would have. He almost seemed distracted as he reached over her and pulled the first strap across her waist, cinching it tight until it pressed into her skin. Another went across her shoulders, just above her breasts, and then he slid her wrist through a restraint on the side. Her lips parted to ask him what he was going to do to her, but his silence was oppressive. It seemed to suck the words away as soon as she wanted to speak them, and she couldn't explain the fear that settled deep inside her. He was being gentle now, but that meant nothing. Darren moved around the table, a look of focus causing a wrinkle to appear between his brows. Then her other wrist was bound and she unconsciously pressed her thighs together, but Darren already had his hand on her knee. "Open." "Master –" His fingers tightened like a vice on the flesh above her knee causing a sharp twinge of pain, and it silenced her with the unspoken threat. Zora groaned in dread and frustration and dropped her head back against the table. What was the point in arguing, or asking questions? It was useless. He was going to do what he wanted. She bit her lip to stay silent and let her legs fall open, and Darren instantly relaxed his grip. Her ankles and thighs were quickly strapped to the table - she was exposed, vulnerable, as dread pooled in her chest. Then he opened the black box next to her. Wires. So many wires and clear round things that he attached to the ends. Leaning over her again his eyes never found hers, but his gaze traced over her bare skin. He peeled paper off the bottom of the round things and began to press them to her skin. Two on her chest, one against her ribs, the other low on her belly. Then he tilted her head to the side, pressing her cheek against the smooth, cool surface, and she felt him attaching more wires to the collar around her neck. The Wild Ones Ch. 05 Darren took a deep breath and stepped back, his eyes roaming over her – evaluating. "Okay, female, this is very simple. You are here to test this machine out for me." Test the machine? What machine? "Master?" She lifted her head to look down the plane of her body as he moved to the end of the table. He ducked under it for a moment and she heard loud clicks, and then a huge portion of the table slid out from between her legs, and she could feel the round of her ass peeking over the edge. Then there was another set of clicks and the sections holding her thighs and ankles moved farther apart, spreading her open for him. Digging her nails into her palms she tried to distract herself so she wouldn't think of what was going to come next, but as he stood another black box rose with him and filled the space between her thighs. "Master, what –" "Don't speak, female." His eyes were focused on the box, and hers were too as she bit her tongue to stay quiet. It was strange. Odd metal protrusions on the front, a display unfolding on the top as he lifted it. None of it made sense, until he turned away and returned with a large dildo in his hands and slid it onto a metal protrusion and the others retracted with the press of a button. Oh, gods. "The sensors on your skin are monitoring your heart rate, muscle contractions, and body temperature." The black box slid forward, and Darren applied a small amount of lube to the shaft of it before shifting it forward another few inches until the dildo brushed against the lips of her pussy. Zora tugged against the restraints, wishing they weren't so tight on her skin so that she could at least shift back a bit. "It's actually a very simple concept. The machine is going to fuck you, and you do not have permission to orgasm. If you do, the sensors will pick it up, and you'll receive... encouragement not to do so again." Panic instantly filled her, and she leaned her head up to plead with him. "Master, please, no, I'm terrible at orgasm control. You don't understand, I -" Darren pinched the inside of her thigh hard, and she gritted her teeth against the cry that tried to escape as he tortured the sensitive flesh. "Did I say you could speak, female?" Zora shook her head, and took a breath as he released her. This was impossible. She was too sensitive, too hard wired to ride the pleasure. It had been the only aspect of her training at the facility where she had consistently failed. Houna had loved to mock her for it. The punishments for failing to control her orgasms had grown more vicious as time passed, but she'd never developed much of a talent for it. She was hopeless, and she knew he was going to hurt her when she failed. He shifted to the other black box attached to the side of the table, and then a soft whirring sound came from the place where the wires seemed to spring. "You know the rules, what happens is up to you." With that comment Darren passed by the end of the bed and pressed the display, and the dildo moved forward slowly. The lube meant that it entered her without much effort, slowly stretching her and filling her as she groaned and tightened her hands into fists. Fuck. He stood by the end of the table and watched as the piston pulled back and then drove forward a little faster, a little harder. Then again, and she whimpered as the machine began to do its devious work. Each thrust grew stronger until her body jerked against the restraints with each forward pulse. It was impossible to ignore the pleasure that started to thrum through her. Rhythmic waves rushing up her spine as the device forced its way inside her over and over again. "Please..." Zora pleaded, pressing her eyes closed as her body started to respond. She was growing wet, her body waking up through the fear and the tension of Darren's cold presence. It was only doing what the facility had trained it to do. Respond to pleasure. Respond to the way the straps cut into her skin holding her in place with each involuntary jerk. Respond to the pinpricks of pain from her nails pressing into her palms. Darren walked slowly around her, tightening the strap over her shoulders, pressing the sensors more firmly to her skin. Her eyes opened and she hated his cold beauty, the detached way his gaze moved over her as if she wasn't even there. As if she wasn't alive. As if she wasn't real. He spoke quietly, "Don't beg, it's distracting." She clenched her teeth against the caustic response that had bubbled up inside her. He was distracted? She was tied to a table being fucked by a machine he had built, and she was supposed to hold back an orgasm that she already felt the beginnings of. He gave her one last glance – and then walked away. Zora was in disbelief as she watched him move over to the large worktable against the wall. He picked up the strange piece of metal he'd brought into the room and pulled a chair over to sit down. He wasn't even going to watch her? A second lamp clicked on at the table, directly above where he was working, and he bent forward, the sound of metal on metal competing with the rhythmic pulsing of the machine working inside her. She jerked her gaze away from him and stared at the ceiling, trying to ignore the incredible feeling of the dildo filling her, and dragging back over every sensitive place inside her, only to thrust hard once more. No matter what she thought in the moment – of Darren, of the machine, of her hopeless situation – there was no denying the effect the constant attention was having on her. Tingles rushed over her skin as her thigh muscles tightened, her belly tensing as she struggled to ignore the warm pleasure of each deep thrust. What the fuck was the point of this? If he wasn't going to watch her, if he wasn't even going to touch himself while he let this machine torment her, then what was the point? Was this all just some twisted warm-up to when he fucked her himself? A moan escaped her lips and she tried to swallow it. Her body wanted to arch off the table, but the restraints stopped her. She both wanted to push herself harder against the invading apparatus, and simultaneously wanted to pull away as the machine started to rotate as it thrusted, adding a whole new level of torment. "By the gods..." she whispered, closing her eyes against the sight of the dark ceiling, and then she foolishly let herself sink into the pleasure. It was dumb, it was the stupidest thing she could have done, but it was an escape from her new reality. The pleasure was an inescapable wall, a thrumming rush of energy beneath her skin that had her panting and squirming against the restraints. It was suddenly too much, and she tried to pull back, but the restraints held her fast. Then the orgasm crashed over her, sending her head reeling for a moment as she moaned and cried out, tensing in glorious release – and then there was pain. Her entire body locked up, choking off the scream that had tried to escape as every nerve ending lit up in white-hot agony. When it finally stopped she was crying, futilely pulling at the restraints around her wrists. "Ma – master, please. Please, make it stop." He appeared next to her and she whimpered as he checked the box against the side of the table. "I thought I told you not to orgasm, female." "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm -" "Hush." Darren moved to the end of the table and the pace of the thrusting increased as he tapped on the display. Zora whined, because she was brutally sensitive, and as the pain disappeared, pleasure rushed to fill the space inside her. But she had no room for it, no room to risk another consequence. "Hold it back and you'll be fine." He checked one more thing on the display, tapping it once more before he walked back to his workstation as if she was just another piece of furniture. She gave a small scream of frustration, and Darren called over his shoulder, "Quiet." Gritting her teeth she dropped her head back hard against the table. This was impossible. This was not a game she was meant to win. Just like the maze. A different brother, a different set of rules – but the same results. And she really didn't want to feel the shock that she was sure had come from both the collar and the sensors simultaneously. The pain had done what it always did, filled her with agony, and then as it disappeared her mind filled in the empty space with warm pleasure. A rush of endorphins that had her swimming, and the consistent thrusting of the machine inside her was going to push her over again soon. Zora dug her heels into the table and tried to shift back, to make it so the dildo didn't thrust so deep inside her, to make it so it didn't brush against every inch of her pussy with each forward and back motion. The straps on her thighs held tight, and she only succeeded in bruising herself as she struggled against the machine. By Mirel's grace, please don't let me come. It was futile. She was too sensitive, her body was ready and waiting for the next orgasm and it was rising like a tide inside her. The dildo paused and rotated, brushing her g-spot over and over and over and then it was thrusting again and she felt her thighs shaking as she tried to hold it back. A keening whine slipped from her lips and then it was too much, and her body lit up like fireworks. She cried out as the orgasm washed over, so lost in the wash of pleasure for a moment that she forgot why she had fought against the delicious tremors shaking her from her core. But then the fireworks went out, and pain took over like a detonation. Zora screamed, her throat tight as every muscle tried to lift her away from the agony – but there was no escaping it when each wire attached to her was broadcasting the punishment directly to her nerve endings. When it finally stopped she was sobbing, unable to catch her breath as she begged, "Please, Master, please... please." Darren's voice was monotonous and bored as he spoke from across the room. "I told you not to come." "I can't help it!" she screamed, jerking hard against the restraints to no avail. "Shut up, I'm trying to work." His flippant response had her screaming in frustration, and then there was nothing but pain for a brief instant. A sharp flood of pain that surged and receded in a moment, leaving her shuddering on the table. It was a nightmare when her body finally started to process the pleasure again. The constant thrusting of the device inside her was wicked, and the machine seemed to know exactly when she was able to adjust to one technique and it would switch. Thrusting fast and hard, then changing to shallow, swirling movements that managed to brush against that bundle of nerves inside her. Somehow in the lull of exhaustion from the previous orgasms, from the pain, she remembered what it had been like when they were teaching orgasm control. Devious tongues brushing against her clit, another wild one between her thighs as their skilled fingers sought out every place inside her that urged her to fall over the edge – and then a voice. Breathe. Count. Relax and push through. Zora gasped and the oxygen in her lungs was a welcome respite from the shuddering, clenched teeth tension she had been trapped in since the last punishing zap. She forced another deep breath and the precipice of her next orgasm moved back. One, two, three, four... The counting distracted her, just like it was supposed to, and Zora silently cursed herself for not using her training earlier in Darren's test. The constant, shivering movement of the dildo inside her was there. The random shifts in tempo and method of torture continued, but with each pending rise of the next orgasm she made her body relax instead of tense. She made herself breathe. She made herself count. Twenty five, twenty six, twenty seven... She was proud of herself as her body started to shake, throwing her headlong towards another drop into pleasure that would only result in pain, because she held back. She refused the temptation to let go, and then it passed. The wave receded, and she was building again towards another crest, but inside she knew she could handle it, she could stop. "Figured out how to behave?" Darren's voice pulled her out of the headspace she'd developed and she opened her eyes to see him looking down at her with a slight wrinkle between his brows. When his dark eyes met hers the wrinkle faded and he once again resumed a passive expression. "Sounds like you're ready for stage two." "Master?" Zora whimpered. He ignored her as he moved to the box between her thighs and began tapping at the panel. The dildo froze and her entire body trembled with the absence of stimulation. It was an oasis of peace, and Zora took deep breaths taking advantage of the opportunity to push back the precipice of her next orgasm as far as possible. Then she felt straps moving around her thighs and she lifted her head to see him pressing a round pad between her thighs. More straps wrapped around the restraint at her waist on either side, and Darren glanced up at her for a moment. "Same rules apply, female. If you orgasm, you'll receive the same consequences." "Master, what is -" Her words were cut short as the pad began to vibrate viciously, directly against her clit. The two orgasms before had made it ultra sensitive, but with no contact she'd been able to blissfully ignore the precarious state of her body – but now it was impossible. When the dildo began to move again, twisting and swirling against her most sensitive places, the battle was lost. "Please, please, please!" The orgasm shattered the shaky peace she'd built up and she pulled hard against the restraints as pleasure pulsed through her like lightning bouncing through her nerve-endings. Her gasping moan filled the room, and then the pain followed like thunder. It felt like fire rushing over her skin, scalding every inch of her as she begged wordlessly for it to end, sobbing as the taut anguish finally slowed. Zora opened her eyes to find Darren watching her closely, but then the pleasure filled her again, and she was too sensitive, too raw, and even as she tried to form enough thoughts to count – another orgasm hit. Less powerful than the last, an aftershock, but the machine didn't care. The pain exploded inside her, and she was screaming, pleading, begging for it to end. And he didn't move. There was nothing but the ebb and flow of pleasure and pain, the torturous rise and fall as she lost all connection with the room around her. The table didn't exist. The machine was nothing more than a dream, or a nightmare, as she floated inside herself. Lost on a sea of lightning strikes of pain, and warm dips below the surface into suffocating pleasure. She couldn't breathe, there wasn't enough time above the surface, and then there was only darkness. Sweet, soft darkness. --- "ZORA!" The sharp slap to her cheek woke her up and she whimpered and turned to her side, curling up into a ball. Her mind was clouded, foggy, and she couldn't remember where she was. "Zora, I need you to get up." Kinsey's voice bled through the fuzzy sensations in her head, but she was only able to groan. The girl gripped her arm and she felt the tug, but she was too heavy for the girl to lift. "Dammit, Zora, get up. Please." Kinsey. The Perlens. Darren. The machine. She forced her eyes open and rolled to her stomach so she could push herself up. Kinsey wrapped an arm around her as she moved to stand, but Zora's legs almost gave out and it was only the wall that kept her from hitting the floor again. "Please, Zora, I need you to come with me." The girl's quiet pleading finally registered and Zora tried to pull away from her. "Leave me alone." "By the gods, just let me help you to the kitchen." Kinsey hissed close to her ear, and at the mention of the kitchen Zora shifted so the girl could help her walk. She was weak, and beyond exhausted, and her body ached like she'd run a hundred miles. But one foot landed in front of the next as the other slave led her through the foyer, back into the servant's area, and then down a short hall into the kitchen. "Sit down." The girl pushed her towards a chair and Zora grabbed onto it and sat down, her body shaking as she suddenly felt cold and damp with sweat at the same time. "Fuck. Did you eat at all today?" Zora growled under her breath as she finally lifted her eyes to the girl. "No. You left me in the laundry and I didn't want to leave." "I came to look for you –" "Master Darren found me first." She muttered, bracing her elbows on the table to cradle her head. The sound of pots and pans being moved around made her head pound. "I noticed." Kinsey said curtly, working at the stove as the sound of the burners lighting drew her attention. "Are you... alright?" "Do you care?" There was no hiding the bitterness in her voice, and she saw Kinsey's back go rigid. Both of them were silent for a moment and Zora shook her head and looked back at the table. "I'm making you lunch." "Do you want me to say thank you?" Zora stared at her back, and she watched as Kinsey's shoulders tensed, her hold on the spoon in her hand growing tight. "You don't have to say shit." Slapping her hand on the table, Zora raised her voice, "What is your problem with me? I haven't done a thing to you! We're in the same situation, why -" "We are not in the same situation." Kinsey snapped the spoon in her hand against the side of the pot in front of her, but she didn't turn around. "Really? Because it seems to me like we are." "Well, you're wrong." "Fuck off, Kinsey," Zora spat. Her body ached, but her hunger and her exhaustion kept her glued to the chair even when she really wanted to just find her way back to her room to sleep for a few days. "You know what? You fuck off, Zora. You don't know a thing about me." Zora laughed. "Oh, so you know my name now?" "Nevermind." Kinsey stirred the pot in front of her, and Zora hated that the smell of some kind of soup or stew was filling the kitchen and making her stomach tighten into knots of vicious hunger. "Fine." She rested her head back in her hands, trying to quell the spinning. Then her anger spiked again, and she couldn't keep her mouth shut as everything Darren had done to her registered. "Why in the name of Mirel did you even help me? How did you even know I was there?" "I heard you screaming." "You didn't answer both questions." Zora looked back at the girl and found her fuming with anger. "I knew he'd leave you in the hall. That's what he does." Kinsey grabbed another container off the counter and pried it open, slamming the lid down next to it. "But why help me? Why even come for me? Why do you care if he leaves me in a hallway? If we're not the same, if you're not in the same situation?" "We aren't in the same situation!" Kinsey practically shouted, and then she spun back towards the stove, dumping something else into a pot out of a container. "We're both slaves!" "You're a wild one!" The girl turned around and threw the empty container back onto the counter. "Your family didn't sell you off to be a servant, you don't even have a family!" The words felt like a punch to the stomach, and Zora wished she felt strong enough to stand. "I have a brother." "Funny. I had a brother too. Looks like neither of us have family now." Kinsey scooped up the empty containers and moved to drop them in the sink. Zora tried to think straight through the fog in her head, but it was hard. She just wanted a bowl of whatever Kinsey was heating up so she could calm the growling of her stomach long enough to – wait. The Wild Ones Ch. 05 "Your family sold you?" "Yes." There was a rush of water as Kinsey started to wash dishes, and Zora turned around in the chair to stare at her. "But you're a citizen." "I'm a citizen slave." "And that means?" Zora finally asked the question she'd wanted to since she first saw the girl, and despite the hunger and the exhaustion she wanted the answer more than anything else. Kinsey tensed, her shoulders taut as she leaned on the sink. "It means my family wanted to be able to afford a child for my brother, so they sold me to have the money to pay for breeding rights with a wild one." Her mouth fell open as she watched the dark haired girl scrub at the containers in the sink, setting them to the side to dry. "But why?" "Don't you know this? Citizens can't have children together. The council says it's not healthy, or whatever, and so they all have to wait for a wild one, but there aren't enough of you." Kinsey muttered to herself as she walked back to the stove, stirring the pots again. "And you're all so fucking expensive. Even the ones in the public houses. And my parents wanted my brother to carry on the family, so they needed the money to get him access to a wild one." "And they sold you." "Yes." "But you're a citizen, the Perlens still can't breed with you." Zora wished her head wasn't so fuzzy, but her mouth watered as Kinsey started to ladle soup into big bowls, adding a generous scoop of veggies into each. The girl froze for a moment, but then she finished and left the ladle in the pot to bring the bowls over to the table. "No. They can't breed with me," she said softly, and then turned around to grab spoons from a drawer. Stomach growling, she accepted the utensil from the girl, but as hungry as she was she didn't dip her spoon into the bowl even when Kinsey sat down next to her. "So, why you? Why have a citizen slave?" Kinsey sighed, staring at her bowl. "Because having a servant, any servant, is still better than not having one at all." She dug her spoon into the soup and brought it up to blow on it, "And like I said, there aren't enough of you." "That's why you hate me. Because I'm a wild one." Zora stirred her soup, watching wisps of steam rise up. "I never said I hated you, Zora. I just said I didn't want to be your friend." "Because I'm a wild one." Kinsey raised her gaze to meet hers. Wide brown eyes in a small face, framed in dark hair. "Yes, because you're a wild one. Because you'll always be more important than the rest of us. Than me. No matter what." The girl swallowed the first spoonful of soup, going back for more. She gestured at Zora's untouched bowl. "Eat your lunch." Zora made herself try it, and it was hard not to moan at how delicious it was. She was several mouthfuls in when she paused for a second, blowing on the spoon so she didn't scald her tongue any further. Kinsey was staring down at hers, eating with a single-minded focus, and Zora wanted the girl to understand that no matter what she'd said – they were still the same. They were both in this house, both at the mercy of their masters and mistresses. Both slaves regardless of their unlucky births. Zora – a wild one. Kinsey – a selfish, uncaring family. "We could still be friends," Zora mumbled, before devouring another spoonful. "Whatever you say, wild one. Just eat so you don't pass out." Kinsey pointed a spoon at her. "We'll have dinner to make later, and it would be nice if you were upright." Zora nodded and really started to eat. They mostly ignored each other, but Kinsey did refill her bowl again and she gratefully accepted it. Her stomach felt full and warm for the first time in days, and although she still wanted to sleep, Zora felt stable again. They were cleaning up the kitchen in silence when a melodic ringing sounded through the house, and Kinsey sighed. "That's the doorbell, come on." Zora followed, but before they'd even made it to the foyer the screeching of Francesca and Colette echoed towards them. "Oh, daddy!" "Daddy, I can't believe it!" As she and Kinsey stepped into the foyer, Zora saw two facility guards before the open front doors. Henry Perlen stood in front of his daughters, and next to him were Brice and Adam. "We just need you to sign for him, sir. All of the other purchase paperwork has been filed." One of the guards held out a board, and Henry Perlen signed quickly. When he moved she saw the form kneeling on the floor in front of him. Light brown hair that was just a little too long, dangling into his eyes. Eyes that she knew were as blue as hers. He lifted his face a little and she saw a bloody lip, a bruise over his cheekbone, but it was him – "ZANE!" Her voice exploded, and she rushed forward as his eyes found hers. His expression changed fast from pain to disbelief to joy, and he was off his knees just in time to catch her in his arms. "Zora? Zora, by the gods, Zora." Zane's face was buried in her hair as he squeezed her tight to him, and she hugged him back. Her brother. By the gods, it was a miracle. Somehow Henry Perlen had purchased her brother. --- WHAT? Zora and Zane together again?! I know, you're probably all tense being left there, but at least it's a good pause point! Hopefully this chapter has smoothed the pain of the gap in time a little bit (and I'm still very sorry for that). I definitely want to hear from each of you! Please comment, rate, send me feedback and let me know what you think! And remember, I adore you lovely people. Forever and ever. The Wild Ones Ch. 06 Well, lovelies, it's been another extended break and I have no better excuse for you than that I let my life get away from me, and stopped writing for a little bit. I could bore you with reasons, or I could just apologize (I'm sorry!) and give you Chapter Six as an early Christmas present. While this year's Christmas present isn't nearly as festive as last year's, it does continue Zora and Zane's story, and begins to reveal a couple of the many secrets lurking in this world. I do hope you'll stick around to learn the rest of them, and I promise I'll do my best to not be such a lazy, slacker author in the future. My editor deserves some major props on the turn-around time here, especially since they have holidays to prepare for as well. As always, I *heart* you all, and I hope you enjoy. ***** "Zora? Zora, by the gods, Zora." Zane buried his face in his sister's hair, disbelief coursing through him as she squeezed him tighter. "How? How are you here?!" Zora's questions came between the sniffling of her crying, but Zane just pulled her closer, ignoring the fact that she was naked. It didn't matter what had happened to him, nothing since the auction mattered, because somehow he was with her. A miracle. He breathed in the scent of her hair, the shock that she was really in his arms stunning him for a moment. "I -" "That's enough." Henry Perlen cut him off before he could explain what little he knew, and then the man snapped his fingers and his voice became a whip crack. "Female! Release him and step back." There was warning in his voice, but Zora only held on tighter. As much as Zane wanted to ignore the command, to spend just one minute reassuring her, he wouldn't risk losing her again. He released her, but it was only his firm press on her shoulders that finally got her to let go and step back. Zora stood a foot away from him, and she looked just as shocked as he felt. There was no hiding his concern at the dark circles that had already formed under her eyes. He wanted to ask her what had happened, to reach forward and calm the mess her copper hair had become, to take off his shirt and hand it to her to wear, but instead he forced his hands into fists at his sides and stayed silent. The two guards who had accompanied him were still close by and he didn't want to give them any reason to touch him again. A female voice suddenly broke the silence, exploding in a shrill scream behind Zora, "Daddy, you're the best! We're going to be the talk of Mirelia!" The woman with dark wavy hair was grinning broadly, and a man next to her mumbled something under his breath that made her reach over to smack his shoulder. Anger flashed on the man's face, "Hey, brat! I'm only telling the truth, it's not like you or Colette are going to have any idea what to do with this wild one. Your simpering boyfriend isn't -" "Shut up, Brice! No one asked -" "Quiet! All of you." Henry Perlen's voice boomed, and the younger of the two women crossed her arms in a huff. Steadying himself with a deep breath, Zane's new master turned to face the guards. "Thank you for bringing the male, but I will be sending a message to your captain about the -," he waved a hand in Zane's direction, "- state in which he arrived. If there's nothing else, you can go." "Yes, sir." Both of them grumbled before leaving and pulling the door closed behind them. It was hard to tell if he felt relief that the guards had left, or just a different kind of concern as he looked at the Perlen family in front of him. Their eyes were glued to him with a hunger that made him uncomfortable. The same look various guests to the Facility had worn when they had been introduced to one of the twins. Zane had an urge to grab Zora and pull them both to their knees so that perhaps the family would forget about them for a moment. Impossible. They hadn't had a moment in their lives where they weren't watched closely. "Father, should I call a doctor to check out -" A young, curly haired man stepped forward but Henry Perlen waved a hand at him. "The male is fine, aren't you?" Zora locked eyes with him, her brows pulled together tightly, but he forced a small smile for her through the exhausted ache in every inch of his body. Clearing his throat he lied quietly, "Yes, sir, I am." "That's Master now, male, and I assure you that you won't forget to say it once you wear a collar. Let me demonstrate." Pulling a phone from his pocket, he touched it and suddenly Zora was screaming in pain. She collapsed to her knees with a scream, and Zane panicked. "Wait, I'm sorry! Master! Master, please don't hurt her, I didn't mean -" He raised his voice, begging as he knelt to help her, only to receive a shock as he touched her skin. "Please! Don't hurt her, Master!" Zane looked up at the gathered faces, seeking hopelessly for one that would help as Zora's cries echoed off the tile floor. The family stood in a half circle around them, and each face offered less hope than the last. Henry Perlen's was blank as he stared down at Zora curled into a ball on the floor. The light haired son, Brice, was grinning broadly as he watched her scream, while the one with the dark curly hair just turned away. The two Perlen girls had matching looks of complete disinterest. No one was going to stop him. It was his fault. He'd barely been in the house ten minutes and he had already caused Zora pain. Rule one? Be obedient. Shifting into a proper kneel, he caught sight of another person farther away, near the doorway Zora had come from. She was small, in a simple dress, her dark hair cut sharply at her chin. Her hand was covering her mouth as she looked at the scene - and she wore a collar. As soon as the girl saw him staring she dropped her hand and her face went completely blank. Another slave? He tried to search for the wild one's mark, but Zora's sobs jerked his attention back. Tension made his body ache, but there was no fighting this as much as it sickened him to listen to her pain filled cries. Finally, her form stilled and Zane shifted forward to help her, to comfort her. "No. Be still, male. The female will get up on her own and both of you will join me in the study. I believe my children have things to do?" Henry Perlen arched an eyebrow at the group. "Looks like the good part of the show is over anyway," Brice laughed and turned away. Everyone else drifted off into the house, and although it was difficult Zane kept himself from helping Zora, but after a moment it was clear she didn't need it. She was up on her knees, her back straight, with only quiet sniffles to acknowledge what had just happened. Then Perlen snapped his fingers. "Follow me." "Yes, Master." Zora whispered, and Zane echoed it. As soon as the man turned away to lead them she smiled at him through tear-streaked cheeks and her fingers brushed his hand as he helped her stand. They stole the briefest touch, gripping each other's hands hard for a moment, and then they let go to follow him up the stairs. The walk to his new master's study was short once they were on the second floor, but the wealth of the great house was immediately obvious. Plush carpet, a large desk, a wall of books, and a set of windows overlooking a large, beautiful estate. "Kneel here, male." Perlen pointed to a spot in front of the desk, and then to another a few feet away. "And you over here, female." As Zane dropped to his knees their master walked around the desk and looked at them both in silence. Zane knew what the man saw, and it wasn't heartening. He could taste the blood from his lip, courtesy of Calvin, and he knew he was bruised all over - courtesy of the others. The thin shirt and pants he'd been provided likely hid most of it, but it couldn't hide his exhaustion or the fight he'd put up. He stole a glance to the side and saw that Zora looked tired too, with marks on her as if she'd been bound recently. What have they done to you, Ra-ra? "I want to make something clear to the both of you. I don't know what ridiculousness they allowed in the Facility, but here you two will not be allowed to fuck each other." Perlen's words made Zane's head snap back like he'd been slapped. "What?!" Zane gaped. "We've never -" Zora started to argue, but Perlen waved his hand. "Silence. You will not have sex with each other, that is the first rule. You're both worth far too much money to play around in my house. Second, you are both property of this family. Your sole purpose is now to serve my children in whatever way we choose. Any disobedience will be dealt with swiftly - as you saw earlier." He opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a box, opening it to remove a thick collar. Zane's stomach twisted at the sight of it, and the man's next words just made it knot tighter. "Male, raise your chin." His mind was still turning over the accusation that he'd touch Zora like some normal female as he forced his head up. He wanted to pull back as Henry Perlen clasped the collar around his neck, cold fingers brushing against his skin, but it would be a pointless defiance. A quiet grinding sound signaled that it had locked and the weight of it was immediately distracting. Perlen grabbed his chin painfully and forced him to look up into his eyes. "Did you understand me, male?" "Yes, Master." He forced the words out, but as soon as his chin was released the pain came anyway. It felt like the batons the guards at the Facility had used, only amplified. His entire body went tight with the force of it, and the pain rushed through him like a never-ending ocean of lightning. There was no way to pull in air once the first scream had ripped its way out of his lungs, and his skin felt like it was cracking as a buzzing filled his ears. When it finally ended he struggled to catch his breath, half on his side. Zane could only wonder how Zora had been able to get up so quickly, to be so composed. It took every ounce of his self-control not to lunge at the man for punishing him without reason. She'd always been the calm one, and much stronger than she seemed. "I just want us to be clear, very clear, about the rules in this house. I expect after feeling the consequences yourself that you don't have any questions." "No, Master." Zane pushed the words through gritted teeth, his fists tight at his sides as he righted himself. "Good. Now, be silent, I have an important call to make." A slow smile moved across Perlen's mouth as he slid back behind his desk and dialed. His dark eyes glittered and Zane stole a glance at Zora as they waited. Her copper waves flowed over her shoulders, not quite long enough to cover her breasts, and he wanted to know where her dress was. The other slave had worn one, and he hadn't missed the welts across Zora's backside, or the red marks on her wrists and ankles. It seemed the last days had not been kind to either of them. She caught his gaze then and mouthed silently - Are you okay? He smiled at her concern and nodded slightly, mouthing in return - Yes. You? Zora nodded, and Zane wanted to laugh because based on appearances they were both far from okay. He wanted to push and ask about the marks, but then Perlen's voice rose up. "This is Henry Perlen calling for Brandon Williams." A pause, and a quiet laugh. "Oh, I assure you he wants to speak with me. Tell him who's calling." Their new master leaned forward in his chair, locking his eyes on the two of them again as he waited for Brandon Williams to come to the phone. The same man Zane had spent two miserable days waiting for in solitary. "Why, good afternoon, Brandon." The smile on Perlen's face only grew wider. "Oh, it is a good afternoon, especially since I have both of the twins kneeling in front of me right now. I hear you had a bit of trouble with your funding for the male?" Zane's eyes went wide. Trouble with funding? He glanced over at Zora only to see the same surprise on her face. "Well, Williams, you should have known that you couldn't leverage future breeding profits for a loan to buy the wild one you're planning to use for the breeding! Did you really think you'd get away with that?" Perlen was practically glowing, and Zane's head spun. The Williams family had taken out a loan to buy him? "Calm down, Brandon, there's no need for theatrics. I'm not planning on telling anyone the truth... as long as you agree to help me the next time I need a favor. Your brother is still part of the constabulary, isn't he?" Perlen nodded and leaned back in his chair. "Wonderful. Then I'm sure we won't have any issues if Brice or Darren get into a bit of trouble again, will we?" Zane didn't miss Zora's flinch at the mention of the two names and he wanted to know what they'd done to her. Damn it all. He just wanted to keep her safe - an impossible and ridiculous instinct, but one that he couldn't let go of. "Yes, we will be having a party to celebrate the new additions to the household, and of course you will have an invitation." Another long pause, and even from in front of the desk a raised voice could be heard through the phone. Perlen only smiled again, glancing at some papers on his desk as if he were bored. "Ah, Williams, I do understand your predicament, and I appreciate your assurances about my sons. Let's just say that you... sold the male to me. After market." Perlen shrugged. "It's still a little underhanded, but everyone will just mark it up to my own greed, which doesn't bother me at all." A pause. "For your daughters? I haven't decided on breeding fees yet, and I'm not willing to discuss it yet. No. We will talk another time. Goodbye, Brandon." He hung up and silence ruled for a moment. Zane was still reeling from the revelations that it was only a fluke of finances that had resulted in him residing in the same house as Zora. Beyna's luck had to have played a part in this, and he lifted up a prayer of thanks to the Goddess as he closed his eyes, but Perlen's voice broke in. "Williams is a fool if he thinks everyone won't find out about this anyway. Those imbeciles that work at the Facility are worse gossips than old women. However, we will not be the source of that information so both of you are forbidden to speak of what you just heard. Understood?" "Yes, Master." Zane and Zora spoke almost simultaneously. "Good. Male, you will primarily serve my daughter Francesca and any others we choose to sell breeding rights to. My daughter Colette may be pleasured in other ways, but if she wants you to breed with her simply tell her you need my permission first. That should quiet her." Perlen waved his hand as if that would be an easy thing, but Zane knew that refusing a mistress could have painful consequences. However, that probably wasn't on his new master's list of concerns. The gloating smile that had taken up residence on the man's face suddenly faded into a serious expression. "And let me be clear, male, if you hurt either of my daughters I will make you regret the happenstance of your birth in the most brutal of fashions. Understood?" A tremor rushed through Zane as flashes of his time during the test with Cadalie washed up inside him like flotsam on the shore. He swallowed down the fresh surge of nausea. "Yes, Master." Perlen nodded and then turned to Zora. "From what I understand two of my sons have already acquainted themselves with you. Brice had you yesterday?" "Yes, Master." Zora mumbled, her eyes on the floor. "And Darren had you today?" Perlen's voice seemed bored as he asked, but Zane watched as she raised her eyes, her fingers twisting in her lap. Something's wrong. "I was with him today, Master, yes." Zora swallowed, and Perlen leaned forward on his desk. "Let me be more clear, did Darren fuck you today, female?" "Ah, not Master Darren exactly -" "Ridiculous." Henry Perlen growled and pulled his phone from his pocket, tapping at it before he raised it to his ear to wait, then he spoke coldly. "Darren, come to my study immediately. Now, boy!" Zora whimpered, and Zane felt helpless. Her cheeks were flushed as she bent forward to brace her hands on the floor beside her knees. The copper curtain of her hair hid her expression and it was torture to not be able to speak or comfort her because Henry Perlen's eyes were on them. After what felt like an hour under the man's cold, angry stare a knock came at the door, and he called out, "Enter." The door opened wide and in the doorway was a man Zane had not seen yet. Short, dark hair, and dark, bloodshot eyes. A strong scent came in with him that made Zane pull back, but it was answered in an instant when the young man took a drink from the amber colored liquid in his glass. "Darren." Perlen's rage was palpable, but his son didn't seem affected. "You called?" Darren raised an eyebrow and leaned against the doorframe casually. "The female tells me you didn't exactly fuck her today." Perlen clenched his jaw tight when Darren laughed. "Can you tell me what exactly you did with her today?" "She tested a machine for me." Darren slurred a little, the words softening in his mouth as he swirled the ice in his glass. "You had her test one of your fucking toys? She's here to be bred, boy!" Darren's cold laughter came again. "Why, yes, Father. She did test one of my fucking machines, and I found it worked exactly to plan. I already have a buyer -" "The female is not here to test your toys, and no one wants your foolish machines!" Perlen slammed his hand onto his desk and Zane saw Zora flinch. "Your friends seem to want them." Darren spoke calmly, and even through the slur of his voice the barb clearly hit home. "Enough! You will fuck this female, Darren, and you will expand this family -" "Or what? Brice is happy to give you as many heirs as you'll let him drag out of this wild one. Let him do it." Darren sloshed liquid out of his glass as he gestured towards Zora, and then he turned his hand to lick some of the drops from his fingers. "You will breed with the female. Brice may have the first child from her, but you will have a child as well and you will thank me for it!" Henry Perlen raised his voice, and Darren just laughed again, taunting his father. "Oh, really? Are you going to give me BC-426, father? Treat me like a wild one? Treat me like this cock you just bought for precious Francesca?" Darren tilted his drink up, finishing it in a few swallows. "Kindly, go fuck yourself, Henry." Darren turned to leave, but his father stormed around the desk after him, grabbing his arm to stop him. "Do you think I'm playing with you, boy?" "I didn't think you liked males, but if you want one, you just bought -" Henry Perlen backhanded Darren hard enough to send him stumbling to the side, but the young man just laughed when he straightened up. Perlen smoothed his shirt and spoke coldly, "Do not forget for an instant that I know exactly where Sophia is, and I can make sure she has an easy life - or a very, very difficult one." Darren's laughter stopped instantly, his face turning to stone as he faced off with his father. "Where is she?" "That's for me to know, boy. You just do your duty to this family and she'll remain safe." The shattering of glass made Zane jump, and in an instant Darren and Perlen were nose to nose. The younger man was a taller, more slender version of his father. Other than the high cheekbones on the son, they were very similar, and the tension between them hummed in the air. "I hate you," Darren whispered just loud enough for Zane to make out. "You're drunk, boy. Go to bed before you get hurt." The Wild Ones Ch. 06 "Want to hit me again?" Darren spread his arms out. "Go ahead." "I told you to go to bed. Do as your told." Henry Perlen turned away from him, and Darren glared after his father for a moment, then he turned his eyes to Zora and she whimpered. Zane felt a chill rush down his spine, wanting to place himself between her and Darren, but then the man turned away and stormed off into the house. Henry Perlen was breathing heavily in the doorway, his rage still a physical presence in the room, and then he shouted into the dim hall, "Nymah!" He waited for a moment and then shouted again as he walked away into the house, leaving them alone in his study. They were both silent for a while, waiting to hear him returning, but then Zane couldn't resist the opportunity to speak. "Zora..." Her eyes lifted to his, bright blue, and he could see the fear in them before she hid it all behind a slight smile. "Zane." "Are you really okay? He doesn't seem..." He searched for the words to describe the scene they had just witnessed, but as usual he fell short. "...stable." Zora let out a silent huff of a laugh and glanced at the doorway, keeping her voice to a quiet whisper, "You're probably right." "Are you really okay?" "I'll be fine." Her eyes lifted to his again, her brows pulling together. "What about you? Where have you been since the auction? What happened to you?" A sour taste filled his mouth and he had to swallow before he could speak. "I'm fine, too. I was in solitary all this time." "Liar." Zane snapped his head up. "I'm not lying. I've been in solitary." "I believe that, I don't believe you're fine. What happened, Zane?" Zora shifted a little closer to him, but then her eyes flicked to the doorway and she froze. With a sigh she looked across the expanse of carpet between them. "Please, we promised we'd always tell each other the truth." "Are you going to tell me what's happened here?" She dropped her eyes. "If you want to know, I'll tell you. No secrets. It's not like we're going to have a lot of secrets here anyway." "The Williams didn't pick me up after the auction." Zane shifted on his knees, keeping his voice low. "That's kind of obvious." Zane laughed quietly. "Yes, but I did get to spend a lot of time with one guard - Malcolm." At the mention of the man's name her cheeks went scarlet, a built-in lie detector. "Well, at least I know he didn't lie to me about you two." "About what?" She tried to feign ignorance, but her voice squeaked. Zane just leveled his gaze at her. "You had sex with him." "I - um - we -" She tried to talk through her darkening blush, but eventually she just dropped her face into her hands and he filled the growing silence. "I don't care that you did, Zora. I really don't, he's a good guy. I just don't know why." Zane tilted his head, leaning forward a bit to try and catch her eyes. "Did you two have something going on before -" "No!" She spoke louder than she should have, and her panic instantly shifted towards the doorway as they both waited for Henry Perlen to appear. When nothing happened after a minute she sighed, pushing her hands into her hair. Her voice returned even quieter than before, "I just... wanted to." "Okay." Zane shrugged, and she looked over at him with surprise. "Okay?" She stared at him in disbelief. "Okay." Zora looked at him for a long moment, and then she stared at her lap, her fingers twisting. "I know it sounds insane, and I don't know what he told you, or why he told you, but I just... I just wanted one decision to be mine." Those words struck home with him, and he understood that urge. If he'd had the opportunity with a female, even a citizen female, before he was auctioned - he may have taken it. If the female was as good a person as Malcolm clearly was. Zane felt a smile tilt his lips. "I get it, Zora. I really do, and he was a good choice." He took a deep breath, thinking back to how the man had sat outside his cell all night. "I spent some time with Malcolm, he's - he's a good man." "Did Malcolm..." Zora sputtered and Zane almost laughed aloud. "No, Ra-ra, he didn't want me. Trust me, he only has eyes for you. He said some nice things about you, and - he did his best to protect me." He felt his smile fade as she turned towards him a little more. "He protected you?" "He tried. He even hit one of the other guards. For me." Zane clenched his jaw tight, and tried to ignore the steadily increasing urge to evacuate his already empty stomach. "I hope, by Mirel's light, that he's okay." "Wait, you don't know? He wasn't there when this happened?" She hissed across the space at him, gesturing at the marks on his face and body. Zane flinched, putting up a wall in his mind between this place and those memories. "No, he wasn't there. I told him to leave me in solitary after the guard came by the first time and they fought." "There was a second time?" Zora asked quietly, and Zane ran a hand over his face. He couldn't say that stuff out loud, he couldn't broadcast his weakness, not to Zora. "You first, what's happened here?" Zora pushed out a breath and looked away from him. "I got in trouble for calling out to you at the auction. Brice, he's the oldest brother with the light hair, he made me run the hedge maze out back. I didn't make it out, but I hid for a while and it meant I took fewer strokes of the crop - or I was supposed to. I'm not great at counting during punishments." "The trick is to just focus on the next number, you know that right? I know you practiced in the Facility." "Yeah, I'll try to remember those lessons the next time I'm hanging in the middle of that hedge maze taking strokes of a crop after he's hunted me and fucked me." Her words were like a punch to the gut, and anger surged in him. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. They were supposed to be lucky to be in a great house. But, they'd already punished her? Chased her through some maze like an animal? Put her on some machine? How was this better than a public house? Or being trapped with those damned guards inside the Facility? His heart pounded in his chest and he clenched his fists, but Zora's voice broke through the red haze filling his mind. "Zane, I'm sorry, I didn't -" "No." He stopped her. "No apologies, honesty is best. At least I know where those welts came from. Are you really okay?" "I'm fine." Zora ran her palms down her thighs. "It's your turn. What happened, Zane?" She looked up and waited for him to speak, but he didn't know what to say. He didn't want to put words to the memories already in his head. There was silence for a moment, but Zora didn't fill it, and he knew she wouldn't. If she was going to be honest with him, it had to flow both ways. "Malcolm stayed outside my cell all night and all morning, but he had to leave to get something to eat. He didn't want to leave me, but it had been a long time and I told him to go. I knew as soon as the guards saw him upstairs they'd come. I think it had been a day since I'd eaten anything, more than that since I'd had more than the bread the morning of the auction." Zane stared at the floor in front of his knees, keeping his voice so quiet he could barely hear it. "Zane, you don't have to tell me." She was giving him an out, and he was going to take it. Mostly. "Calvin and his friends came to my cell. They were convinced no one was coming for me, that I was going to stay in the Facility. I tried to put up a fight, but I got lightheaded just standing up. It was - I was pathetic." There was a long minute where neither of them spoke, and he wondered what Zora was thinking. Just as he was about to build up the courage to look over at her, he heard her. "I love you, Zeeny." He almost laughed with how much better he felt just hearing those words, from her. From his other half, the sister he thought he'd never see again. When he looked over at her again she was staring right at him, not a bit of shame on her face. It was difficult to get the words out over the sudden lump in his throat, but he managed. "I love you too, Ra-ra." "You're not pathetic." She added, a small smile forming. "And you're much stronger than you look. Think they've figured that out yet?" She grinned broadly, a bit of the wild girl he'd grown up with showing beneath the exhaustion of her new role. "If they haven't yet, they will. They'll learn that about both of us." "Yes. They will." Zane grinned back at her, and then they both glanced to the door and readjusted their kneels to wait for their master's return. They were together, and together they could survive anything. -- Henry Perlen was fuming when he finally walked back in, and his eyes found them with a sneer. "Get out, both of you." "Yes, Master." Zora said, and she heard Zane echo it to her right. When she stood, her legs stiff from kneeling for so long, she was surprised to be face to face with Nymah. The older woman looked between the two of them, and then dropped her gaze to the floor. "Nymah, take them to the servant's quarters and then clean up the damn glass in the hall. Darren had a tantrum." The man dropped heavily into the chair behind his desk. "Of course, Master. Do you need anything else?" Nymah's voice was practiced grace, but he shook his head and waved her off. Zora felt greedy as she followed Nymah's quiet steps into the hall, hungry to be in the woman's presence, to learn anything about her. Just as the door shut, Zane stepped in front of her. "Ra-ra..." he whispered, "Here." He pulled his shirt off and handed it to her. The act alone made her want to cry. Such a simple kindness, but more than she'd received from any person since she had come to the great house of the Perlen family. The shirt dwarfed her, but that meant it came to her hips and she was grateful. As soon as she was covered he pulled her into a hug again. They stood there for a moment, a precious moment where none of the masters or mistresses of the house were near to tell them to stop. No guards to shout at them. Just the warmth of his arms cocooning her away from reality. The beat of his heart under her cheek was something she couldn't forget - she'd known it her entire life. Thump. Thump. Thump. Her brother. Her twin. Her other half. "I'm sorry, but I must take you to your rooms." Nymah's voice broke in, and Zora forced herself back from Zane. "I'm glad to meet you," Zane spoke quietly and extended a hand to her. Nymah smiled a little and shook it, before raising her eyes to them both. "So, you are the twins." She spoke quietly over her shoulder as she began to walk towards the stairs and they followed. "Yes." Zora answered. "I don't know if it is a blessing or a curse that you two have remained together." Zane laughed a little. "If you only knew how often someone has told me that." His hand wrapped around hers as they descended the steps, and she squeezed his hand tighter. "I'll wait to see what you decide on that." Nymah stayed quiet as they moved across the open foyer towards the small hall that led to the servant's wing. "You're a wild one, too." Zane said, and Zora watched the woman's back stiffen. "Yes." Zora was about to stop him, Kinsey's warnings echoing fresh in her mind from that morning, but Zane was already speaking again. "So, you had the Perlen heirs?" Nymah stopped in the hallway, but didn't turn to face them. "I carried Brice and Darren. Francesca and Colette were from Eloise, Master Perlen's wife. Adam is Master Perlen's, but I did not carry him." "What happened to Eloise?" The question had escaped her before Zora could stifle it, and at that moment Kinsey stepped around the end of the hall. "She died." Nymah said softly. "Ah, Kinsey. Could you show them to their rooms? Master Perlen needs me upstairs." "Of course." Kinsey's expression was difficult to read, but Zora could feel the blush burning in her own cheeks at being caught questioning the older wild one. Nymah turned around to face them, but her eyes only found Zane. "Welcome to the household of the great Perlen family, Zane." "Thank you." Zane bowed his head a little, and then Nymah moved past them leaving them alone with Kinsey. "I saw you earlier," he spoke up again and the girl tilted her head at him. "Yes, you did." She sighed, and tucked her hair behind her ear. "I'm Kinsey. Do you have any other questions?" Zora caught the sharp tone in the girl's voice, the hidden threat that other questions were not welcome, but if Zane noticed he ignored it. "Yes." He took a half step towards her, but Zora tugged him to a halt. "You're a slave here as well? How many do the Perlens have?" Kinsey hid her irritation even less as she glared at him, hooking a thumb under the collar at her neck. "Yes, I'm a slave. The Perlens have four, now. You two, Nymah, and me. Any other questions?" "No." Zane finally seemed subdued by her sharp tone, and Zora gripped his hand tightly. "Good. Come with me and I'll show you which room you can use." -- It took over half an hour of awkward silence to sweep or beat most of the dust off the things in Zane's new room. Kinsey had brought him fruit and they had all eaten, and even though Zora had not worked her way back to hunger after the soup in the kitchen - she wasn't foolish enough to turn it away. Soon, they were all done and there seemed to be nothing left to do. With all three of them standing in the room it felt crowded, but neither she nor Zane knew what to do next. Their eyes landed on Kinsey and she let out a heavy sigh. "We have maybe an hour before we need to start prep for dinner, tomorrow is Monday so the full staff will be back. Zora knows where the kitchen is, make sure you're there on time. I'm going to finish the laundry first so we all don't get whipped." Kinsey didn't make eye contact with either of them as she left, and Zora stifled a laugh. "Look at that, she said my name." She smiled, but Zane just looked over at her with a confused look. "Long story." "Full staff?" Zane asked, but Zora shrugged. "I have no idea." "Then why don't you tell me the long story while we have the time." He sat down on the bed and shifted until his back was against the wall. "Alright, and I'll get you up to speed on what I know about the house. But I'll warn you, it isn't much." She climbed onto the bed and sat up next to him, their hands naturally finding each other. Then she started to talk, and it was the first time in days she felt calm, whole. With Zane there was a center in the storm, and the Perlen house would not destroy that. She'd die first. -- The whole house felt different during the week. When Kinsey had mentioned a full staff, Zora had not been prepared for the small army that appeared during the day to clean, restock the pantries, cook the meals, and tend to the estate. They were required to help, and Zora got a crash course in the various Perlen family preferences for different things, but it quickly became clear that expecting four individuals to be both pleasure slaves and house slaves would have been ridiculous for an estate this size. There was simply too much to do. Unfortunately, the staff's presence also left plenty of time for Brice to find her. By Thursday he'd already had her five times, and her ass and the backs of her thighs were a kaleidoscope of bruises in various states of healing. He liked to bend her over the nearest surface and bring his belt down on her skin in a furious pattern until she was up on her toes, begging for him to stop. Only then would he fuck her, pinning her down, his fingers digging into her flesh - and she was always wet. Brice would hiss words into her ear about how she liked it, how she needed it, and she couldn't tell if it was just the training the Facility had given her, or if her body would have reacted that way regardless. It was impossible to know, and it was one more reason she didn't want to do what she'd been asked. "Please, don't make me take him the coffee, Kinsey." Zora stood at the edge of the kitchen, the two staff cooks busy bustling around, but the girl just shoved the tray into her hands. "It's your turn." "I took it yesterday!" "He's in the library, behind the parlor, not in his room." Kinsey rolled her eyes. "Just do it, I have to teach a new girl how to clean leather shoes." "I know how to clean leather shoes." Zora leveled her gaze at Kinsey, but the girl just smirked. "You also know how to carry a tray of coffee and serve it. Go." Kinsey pointed over her shoulder and then turned and walked away. Zora clenched her jaw, gripping the tray a little tighter as she tried to prepare herself for what she'd walk in to. When Brice had guests earlier in the week, he'd brought Zora in just to have her strip and stand with her arms behind her head so his friends could look at her and touch her as they wished. The moment she had broken position because one of them had pinched her inner thigh viciously, he had put her on her knees to pleasure each of them. And what will he have planned for me today? With a sigh she turned to walk to the front of the house and almost ran into Zane in the hall. "Shit!" He shouted and steadied her with a hand on her shoulder, and she was somehow able to keep the tray level. "I'm sorry, Zora. Is that for Master Brice?" "Yes." She grimaced and he gave her a quick look of pity. "It's fine. What are you doing down here?" "Mistress Francesca wants tea and an apple." He ran a hand over his face before stretching. He winced as he pulled one arm over his head, the muscles of his chest and stomach shifting as he did. "Does she still have you playing footstool for her?" Zora asked. "When she doesn't have my face between her thighs." Zane shook his head when she tried to stifle her grin. "Don't even comment. You'd think she'd never been licked before. At least she'll want to drink the tea without worrying about spilling it and my tongue will get a break." "Make it extra hot." She grinned and he grinned back, all wild beauty. It was no wonder that Francesca had kept him half-naked in her room day and night, but Zora had missed talking to him. "Sounds like a good plan. But you better hurry, I think Master Brice has others with him." Zane placed a kiss on the top of her head as he stepped past her into the kitchen, and she headed towards the library. There were three cups on the tray. Three cups, which meant there shouldn't be more than two with Brice. The carafe of coffee meant she didn't need to walk as slowly as normal, but it also meant she arrived outside the cracked doors to the library faster than she wanted. Just as she was going to ease the door open with her foot, Darren's voice came through. "Why does he want to do it so quickly though? A week to plan a party of that size? It will never be right." "Francesca and Colette have been harassing him. They've been on the phone all week telling everyone they know about the male," Brice huffed. "You've been inviting your friends over to see the female, it's not like you're much better." Adam's voice came through and Zora was surprised. The youngest of the Perlen family tended to avoid everyone, especially his brothers. "Shut up, Adam. Have you even spent five minutes with her? Or are you too afraid you won't be able to perform?" Brice's taunting was suddenly punctuated by Adam's shouting. "Give it back, Brice! You're going to lose my spot!" "Oh no, little Adam will forget what page he was on. Someone call the constable." Darren's voice was flat. "Here." The slap of a book hitting the table came, and then Brice laughed. "It wouldn't be bad for you to be seen with the female either, Darren. Have you had her this week yet?" The Wild Ones Ch. 06 A chill slid like ice down Zora's spine as the memory of the argument with Henry Perlen rose up. She wanted to open the door, but then Darren's voice came again. "If he's so interested in whether I breed her or not, I'll just fuck her in front of everyone at the party." Brice laughed. "That would make the party the talk of Mirelia." His voice became more dramatic as he continued, "Darren Perlen whips a wild one bloody and then fucks her in the most spectacular show of the year!" "Everyone is already talking about the party and father hasn't even announced it yet. We have both of the twins, neither of you need to do anything to her for people to talk about it," Adam muttered. "Not to mention I doubt the female can handle what Sophia used to." Brice was laughing, but he quickly slowed to a stop. "Darren, don't look at me like that. You just need to fuck the female, I promise you'll feel better. She does wonders for my mood after all." "Father said neither of you are allowed to give her any new marks before the party, he wants her to heal. He said if she earns a punishment you have to talk -" Adam's voice was cut off by Brice's loud groan. "By all the gods, Adam, could you stop being you for ten minutes. I thought you'd -" Zora couldn't handle eavesdropping anymore, so she pushed the door open with her toe. Letting it swing wide so that the conversation halted as she stepped forward with the tray. "Masters, you asked for coffee?" Brice grinned at her, while Adam and Darren stared at a book and out of a window respectively. "I did ask for coffee, come set it down and serve us, female." "Yes, Master." Zora knelt at the edge of the small table positioned in between two couches. Two large chairs capped the end of the arrangement and Darren and Adam had claimed those, while Brice was stretched out along one sofa. As she poured the coffee they each gave their orders and she prepared each cup, kneeling to offer it to them in turn. Brice gripped her hair sharply when she delivered his, but otherwise left her alone. Their conversation turned away from the pending party and on to discussions of their friends. She zoned out, turning inward as she waited to be sent away, but then she felt the itch of someone's stare. Lifting her eyes she met Darren's across the table. He was sitting casually in the chair, but his dark eyes were intent on her as Brice continued talking. "So then Eric told Michael that he had to -" "Get up, female." Darren interrupted his brother, and the man's blue eyes went wide looking between the two of them as Zora stood. Adam tilted his book down to watch. "Make me a glass of whiskey. Over there against the wall, second bottle from the left." "Yes, Master." She swallowed her nerves and moved to make the drink. It was the first words he'd said to her since the day he'd made her test one of his machines, and her heart started racing as she reached for the crystal stopper. "It's barely afternoon, Darren. Planning to get drunk again?" Brice still had laughter in his voice. "I'm not talking to you, Brice. Why don't you tell Adam about your friends' stupid bet." "I was talking to you. Adam isn't listening anyway." Brice snapped his fingers and Zora looked over her shoulder to see the youngest Perlen brother glaring over the top of his book. She poured an inch of the amber liquid into the glass and went to place the stopper into the bottle. "More." Darren ordered from close by and she jumped. He was barely six feet to her right. With shaky hands she lifted the heavy bottle again and poured another inch, glancing at him to see if it was enough. "A little more." She poured and he raised his hand to stop her, the short glass a little over half full. "Bring it to me, female." He pointed at the floor in front of him and Zora had to force her feet to move closer. Anger radiated off his skin, and she couldn't figure out what she had done to earn it - but every inch of her warned of the danger he posed. Kneeling, she raised the glass up to him and he took it in one hand, using the other to lift her chin. The sudden slap made her ears ring, and she bit her cheek before she yelped aloud. His voice was dark above her, "What are you supposed to say?" "Yes, Master," she responded on instinct. "Darren! Father said you're not -" "Do you want to fuck her, Adam?" Darren looked over at his brother and the young man quailed, burying himself behind his book again. Brice's grin was bright over the back of the couch. "You make it sound like such a chore, brother. I assure you she is -" "I don't want to hear it, Brice, and I don't want to hear the end of your story. Tell it to Adam if you can get him to look up from his book for it." Darren leaned forward and grabbed her by the jaw, forcing her to stare into his eyes. Dark, and cold. "Follow me, female. Silently." Darren released her and then walked past, and she had to scramble to her feet to follow him. A loud whistle from Brice was all that came from behind her, and it only took a couple of turns before she knew exactly where they were going. His secret room. As they walked he regularly tilted the glass up to pour more of the whiskey into his mouth, but he didn't speak to her again. Darren didn't even wait for her when he reached the door, it was unlocked and open and he was inside before she had caught up to him. "Master?" Zora stared into the darkness of the room, and then a lamp clicked on. "Come in and shut the door. Lock it." Darren was at his workbench along the wall, pouring more whiskey from a bottle. As the lock clicked into place, she couldn't suppress the trembling of her muscles. The hulking forms of his machines filled one half of the room, lurking beneath white sheets. "Take four steps forward and then kneel." "Yes, Master," she mumbled and obeyed. "Do you want a glass?" His voice sounded strange, and she hated that she could only see his back as he leaned on the workbench. "Master?" "Do you want a glass of whiskey?" He repeated and she felt a panic rising inside her. "I -" Zora swallowed. "I've never had alcohol, Master." Darren gave a short laugh, and she heard the clatter of glass and the sound of liquid being poured. When he turned there were two very full glasses in his hands. "Here." The glass hovered in front of her, and she tentatively reached to take it, the strong smell coming from it making her nose wrinkle. "Drink." "Master, I -" "Drink!" His voice snapped, and she flinched, prepared for another slap, but it didn't come. Instead, he took a deep draught of his own, and she lifted the liquid to her lips. The first sip was like fire, it burned its way down her throat and she coughed on the first breath of air she managed. "That's horrible!" Zora whimpered as she pressed her hand to the collar at her throat, trying to ease the sensation the alcohol had left behind. "You get used to it," Darren mumbled, and then his voice became a command again, "Finish the glass." "Master, please -" "Finish it!" He shouted, and she jumped. With a deep breath she took a gulp of the whiskey, and whimpered as it burned its way into her belly. The glass still seemed incredibly full, but Darren was already heading back to his workbench to get more. He stood over her as she drank, a dark shadow outlined by the light of the lamp, and it took an intense amount of focus to force it all down - but soon a warm flood seeped out from the fire in her belly. Little tendrils creeping under her skin, down through her limbs, and looping back to weave braids of golden firelight through her bloodstream. "Wow," she breathed as the heat melted the tension from her muscles. "Give me your glass." Darren's hand was floating in front of her face, and she handed it to him. He turned away and spoke over his shoulder, "Strip and then get back on your knees." It felt almost dreamlike as Zora stood, slipping the dress over her head in a practiced motion that seemed exaggerated with the loose feeling in her joints. The fabric slid from her hand as she knelt again, and then Darren's bare feet were in front of her. Cool fingers moved into her hair, brushing the heat of her scalp, and she waiting for the biting jerk of having her head snapped back, but instead his touch was gentle. Darren's other hand deftly unbuttoned his pants, the soft sound of the zipper moving down filling her ears, and then he spoke in a quiet whisper. "Go on, female. Get me hard." "Yes, Master. I'm here for your use." The words were automatic, but her actions were purposeful and steady. A grunt came from above her as she moved his boxers down to reach his soft cock. She started with slow, languid licks, keeping one hand at the base while the other massaged his balls below. He tasted like warm, male skin with a hint of the sweetness from the whiskey, and her training kicked in as he gave her the freedom to act. She just had to be perfect. Zora focused through the haze of the alcohol in her blood, taking breaths through her nose as she trailed her tongue along the slowly hardening ridges of him. Spending time on the delicate tip, sucking gently, moving the head in and out of her lips until she felt his hips jerking in time with her movements - and then she delved forward. Swallowing him easily as he slowly grew in the warmth of her mouth. A gasp escaped him, and his fingers tightened slightly in her hair. Pride surged inside her as the steel of his cock began to take form beneath the velvet skin, growing until with each dip he brushed her throat. So close to that rigid hardness, so close... but then it faded. Darren cursed above her and shoved her back, turning away to storm back to his workbench as he tucked himself away. A stream of expletives escaped him in a mumbled rant where he damned the gods by name, and Zora could only sit back on her heels in shock as he poured another glass of whiskey for himself. Never, not once, had a male lost an erection with her. The wild ones at the Facility had sometimes come too quickly, or they had been so well practiced in control that they could fuck her for hours without coming at all - but they had never just gone soft. Confusion warred within the fuzzy confines of her head, the warm blur of the alcohol thundering through her bloodstream. What had happened? Her mind was a cacophony of fear and panic and worry, and she didn't know what he wanted of her. "Master?" She called out quietly, but he didn't turn. Nothing more than a dark figure against the dim lamp. "Master... is this... is this because of Sophia?" Darren was back in front of her so quickly that she gave a short scream before he gripped her face hard, silencing her into a whimper. His words were a cold hiss, "Never say that name. Ever." Zora tried her best to nod against his hand, but she could barely move and her neck ached from the angle he held it at. Sophia. Who was she? The wild look in Darren's eyes was warning enough, but it was also the most emotion she'd seen from him. A fevered rage boiling up inside him, cracking the cold exterior she was so used to, and then it exploded and he shoved her backwards. He was on top of her, straddling her waist as his hands landed on either side of her head, miraculously keeping his glass upright. "I'm sorry," she whispered, and his eyes flickered above her like black flames. His hand moved quickly and she flinched, but then he gently moved a strand of her hair off her forehead, tucking it behind her ear. "If it weren't for my father's rule, I'd have you bloody by the time I was done showing you just how sorry you should be for speaking her name." Fear swallowed her whole, and sweat broke out across her skin. She wanted to run, to get away from the anger brimming inside him just because she'd said that name. Sophia. Sophia. Sophia. Sophia. "Fortunately, I have ways of making sure you don't forget that won't leave marks. But you already know that, don't you?" Darren stood and pulled her up with him by her hair. She barely got her balance when he threw her towards the bed, crashing into the footboard with her hip. "Get on the bed." "Master, please, I'm so sorry, I didn't -" "Get on the fucking bed!" Darren shouted and his voice cracked as she scrambled to obey him, kneeling on the sheet. He was breathing hard, one hand in his hair as he lifted the glass to his lips with the other. The sound of him swallowing, once, twice, and then a last time was the only noise in the room other than her shallow breaths. "Lay down." "I'm sorry, please..." she mumbled the pleas in a pointless chant as she lay back on the cool sheets, but he ignored her. He abandoned the glass on a table and dug beneath the bed, lifting up a soft loop that he slid over one wrist, tightening it until it was snug to her skin. His fist in her hair guided her back farther on the bed, and then he repeated the act with each ankle, and her last wrist. By the time he was finished she was taut to the bed, spread wide to the four corners. There was a tiny bit of give in each restraint, but it was impossible to close her legs, or sit up. "Master?" She whispered as he stood by the bed, staring down at her. "Shut up." Darren turned away, past all of the machines, and then she heard another door and the sound of running water. Zora trembled, her nails biting into her palms. She wanted to swallow that name like she'd never said it, wanted to erase the last ten minutes like they never happened. The haze of the alcohol was still present and fogging her brain to an uncomfortable blur, but as Darren's heavy footfalls moved back towards her she was fully focused on every noise he made. The slosh of water was the only warning she got before an icy torrent crashed over her and she screamed, bucking off the bed as much as the restraints allowed. Cold water seeped into the bedding below her and she instantly started to shiver in the chill air of the room, tears of frustration breaking through even as she gritted her teeth against the stream of curses she wanted to release. The hollow sound of a bucket clattering to the floor filled the room, and Darren turned away again, but he returned quickly with an armful of wires, and things. He dropped them next to her and she tried to make sense of them, but it wouldn't matter. "Do you have any idea what it's like to have something precious to you taken away?" His voice was deadly quiet as he trailed a finger over her breast, circling the hard bud of her nipple as she shivered. "Master -" she tried to answer but he twisted her nipple viciously, and her words collapsed into a string of pleas for him to stop. Instead, he replaced his fingers with a metal clamp that dug into her skin, but the teeth were short and close together so they didn't hurt near as badly. In a moment he had repeated the agony with the other breast, and she was whimpering as the wires connected to them trailed over her stomach. "It would be so much better in life to have never known something good. To never know how good things can be, than to know and then to lose it." Darren was practically whispering as he sat down on the very edge of the bed and leaned on her thigh. He pressed a dark object between her thighs, the tip of it was slick and with a sharp thrust it was inside her. The presence of it wasn't painful, it wasn't particularly large, but it was solid and cold and uncomfortable. Her whole body shook with a powerful shiver as the cool of the room seemed to attack her again. "I'm sorry, Master." Zora's teeth chattered as she spoke, but he just stood and stared down at her, a box in his hands - connected by wires to the space between her thighs. "You will be." There was no time to respond, to beg again, to plead with him - because suddenly there was nothing but pain. A white, scalding wall of it that was somehow more vibrant inside the tender walls of her pussy and the painful tips of her breasts. Zora crashed back into her body, shaking and sobbing, as the shock ended. "Master Darren! Please!" "I really just want to hear you scream." The pain returned again, and Zora was only partially aware of the scream she let loose. Her nerve endings were fire when the shock happened, spreading vicious lines across every inch of her skin, only to make the cold so much worse when it ceased. She begged, and she screamed, and the shocks came over and over. Her body ached from it, and she hiccupped between sobs when he finally let there be enough of a lull for her to draw in gasps of air. The shock of his warm hand slipping between her thighs made her cry out, preparing for pain, but instead his fingers found her clit and began to move in sinful circles. Impossibly, pleasure started to surface under the constant shaking her body had begun in response to the cold and the pain. It was a tempting respite, each involuntary lift of her hips begged her to dive into the waves of warm sensation pulsing from between her thighs - but she held back. If she let herself go, the pain would be that much worse when it returned. "Tell me how the shocks feel." His voice came out of the darkness to her left, and she whimpered as his fingers slid down to press the object inside her, thrusting it as his lips brushed the skin of her wrist. "Come on, describe it for me." "I can't," Zora whined, and he laughed quietly, returning his fingers to that careful tease over her clit. Just hard enough to make her body jerk, but not consistent enough to let her fall over the edge into pure pleasure so she could drown out the cold, and the aching remnants of the electricity. "Yes, you can." His lips pressed a too-warm kiss to her wrist, and for a moment his fingers sped up, drawing her out until she was dangling precariously over a sweet abyss. That was when the words tumbled out of her. "It makes everything feel like it's on fire." "Go on." He rewarded her with another deep thrust of the object, before turning his attention to her clit with renewed force. As the warm tide of pleasure rose inside her, she started to tremble for an entirely different reason and she wanted that feeling to stay. She didn't want the pain to come back, so she told him about it. "It hurts, but not like - like a crop, or a belt." Zora gasped and whined as he slowed his fingers to keep her at the edge without tipping over. "It's like my skin is caught in a lightning storm, but it doesn't end, it just bounces back and forth, and everywhere at once, and it focuses on my breasts and my -" He thrust the object inside her hard. "Your cunt? Yes. This is a very special tens unit, I designed it myself. What do you think?" "I think it hurts." The words left her before she could think, but his voice had a smile when he spoke again. "I know. It's meant to. Describe it more." "I can't!" She shouted, jerking against the bonds that held her to the frigid bed, but then his hands were gone and the pain returned like a thousand pinpricks of fire. It went on and on, her voice unable to even scream by the time it stopped again and she choked as she tried to gasp and sob simultaneously. "Describe it." Darren's command was clear, and the tears rolled hot down her temples as she let out a frustrated sob. "Please! It's... it's such a sharp, sudden pain that it makes me want to pull away - but I can't!" Zora wrapped her hands around the soft restraints as she tried to shift, but then his hand slid between her thighs again and she hated how wet she was, and how readily she lifted her hips at the first delicate swipe across her clit. "Go on." "It doesn't change, there's a high point with other implements. A moment where it hurts the most, and then it starts to fade, but the shock is constant. There's no adjusting to it." She whimpered as the pleasure started to crest again. "It's either there, or it isn't." The Wild Ones Ch. 06 "Was that so hard?" He asked, and then his fingers were gone. For an instant she thought she'd passed his test, earned his forgiveness for saying her name, but then the pain came. Lesser at first, but then it grew worse until her muscles were screaming and her ears were filled with a buzzing that threatened to drown her in darkness. Lightning, a coiled web of lightning, and she was trapped in the center. There were stars on the outside, far away, but they were winking out. One by one. Tiny light by tiny light. And soon there would be no lights left, except in the web, and they would sting and bite at her skin until there was nothing left of her as well. Zora surfaced, breaking through the web of pain, when a new pain hit her. The clamps being removed, and then a warm mouth landed over the sore buds of her breasts. The wires were gone, the object gone, and Darren was leaning over her. One of his hands trailed up her arm, loosening the strap at her wrist until it was free, then he sat up completely to lean across her and repeat the action. That was when she saw he was shirtless. Thinner than his brother, a tight and compact strength, without the bulk of body present in the males of the wild ones. "You make the prettiest sounds..." he whispered as he leaned over her, bracing a hand on the other side of her and slipping his knees between her widespread legs. His mouth returned to her breast, sucking gently on the sore bud, but then he bit down and Zora couldn't help but cry out. The low groan that rose out of him only increased as he bit harder, and she began to beg. "Please, Master, please!" When he released his teeth from her breast she gasped in relief, and he sat up above her. His short hair a wild mess above his beautiful face. Darren's eyes met hers for a moment and then he turned away, leaning back to slip her ankles out of the restraints and she immediately took the chance to flex them. "On your knees." He grabbed her arm and flipped her to her stomach, and she obeyed pushing back onto her knees as his fingers dug sharply into her hips. She heard him shuffling his pants and then he was pressed against her sore pussy, sliding the head of his cock up and down her slit. "Don't speak unless you're screaming." Darren pressed her back down so that her cheek was against the sheets, her ass in the air, and then he thrust hard inside her. A short cry escaped her, and he drew back and thrust hard again. She was sore, and her entire body was cold and uncomfortably stiff, but he clearly didn't care. Each thrust was harder than the last, and his fingers were trailing between her thighs - alternating between teasing her clit until she was rocking back against him, and twisting the delicate skin of her inner thighs between his fingers until she was whimpering and wordlessly begging him to stop. Then his hand slid between her legs again and he began a focused, torturous focus on her clit. It was crippling, and she found herself pleading, gripping the sheets in fists as she thrust back against him. Waves of pleasure spiraled through her, filling all of the places hollowed out by pain, and cold, and fear until she was moaning as loudly as she had screamed just minutes prior. The edge appeared like a golden line of fire in her mind, beckoning her to cross over, and when he filled her again, she let go and crashed through and every inch of her body echoed the release - and then Darren joined her. His body stiffened, he choked off a cry, and she felt his cock kick deep inside her. They lay there for a moment, quiet other than their heavy breathing as they calmed themselves, and then he slid from her and moved away to sit up on the edge of the bed. It took a moment for Zora to catch her own breath, but she stared at the curve of his back as he buried his face in his hands. Through the quiet in the room she could hear the steady hitch in his breathing, the shaking inward draw of air. Is he crying? Zora was at a loss. Her instincts screamed at her to reach out, to help him, to offer something to make him feel better. Yet, he was her Master, the citizen that had done nothing but cause her pain since she'd been forced into his path. It was like he blamed her for being there, but Henry Perlen had purchased her. Henry Perlen had demanded his son breed her, and based on the warmth spreading between her thighs he could at least report back that was done. She swallowed, getting her heart rate under control before she spoke softly, "Master? Is there anything I can do?" Darren's back went still, and then he shouted, "Get out! Get the fuck out!" Zora scrambled backwards off the bed, snagging her dress from the floor as she stumbled towards the door. "GET OUT!" He roared and she flipped the lock and practically threw herself into the hallway before slamming the door. Zora was shaking as she leaned against the wall outside. Her muscles were jelly, and her legs didn't want to support her as she slid to the floor, hugging her dress to her chest. As much as she wanted to curl into a ball on the floor, she knew it would be a bad idea. There were too many staff in the Perlen house to sleep naked on the floor. With a level of strength she wasn't sure she had, Zora dragged herself to her feet and pulled the dress on and began the walk back to her room so she could sleep. Kinsey would have to clean up the coffee for Brice. -- "There!" Francesca's voice peaked, her nails dragging sharply over his scalp before her fingers tightened and pulled him harder against the soft flesh of her pussy. Her taste was all over him and Zane tilted her back further with his shoulders under her thighs. "Yes, right there!" He focused on her clit, alternating between sucking it and moving his tongue in a rapid pattern across the tender bundle of nerves. It would have been easier to pleasure her if she didn't jerk his hair at the wrong moment in her efforts to come, but he had learned over the last few days to prepare for it. Twisting his shoulder lower he was able to slip two fingers inside her, immediately curving them upward and her cries increased. "Yes! Yes, now!" Her voice rose until she was practically screaming, a shrill sound that made him grateful her thighs were pressed against his ears. Enough. With a hard draw on her clit he increased the efforts of his fingers inside her, rubbing at that crucial spot, and then he let his teeth brush the nub between her legs and she fell apart in his arms. Her fingers tightened painfully and she screamed as her orgasm left her shaking, and he lapped at the warm rush of juices, steadily gentling his licks until she twitched and finally released her death grip on him. "By the gods, the Facility should offer classes to the citizens. Timothy is never that good." She let out a little laugh and Zane lifted himself up between her thighs. "I am here for your use, Mistress." The words made him feel hollow, but Francesca Perlen simply propped herself up on her elbows and stared down at him. Her dark waves flowed off her shoulders, revealing the rosy tips of her breasts, and the flush that spread from her chest to her cheeks. She smirked down at him, spreading her thighs. "Yes. You are. Keep licking me, I like it." The haughty tone was back, and Zane dropped his eyes from hers and decided it would be better to busy his tongue than to say something he'd regret. Running his hands across the insides of her thighs, he watched as her hips tilted up in preparation, her pink folds glistening. He bent his head and lapped at her again, spreading her wider to delve his tongue deeper, and then she screeched and kicked him back from her. For a moment he couldn't hide the growl as his shoulder ached where her heel had landed, and her eyes widened in fear for half a second - but it was gone just as quickly. Francesca sat up and slapped him hard, snapping his head to the side, and Zane twisted his hands in the sheet to hold himself still. "You beast! You scratched me!" Her knees snapped together as she sat up completely. "I demand that you shave immediately. Do I look like I want to be scraped up by your beard, wild one? I'm a lady! A citizen!" Zane dragged the back of his arm across his mouth and felt the early beginnings of scruff on his chin and cheeks. It took effort to steady his voice, but he managed. "I'm sorry, Mistress. I will shave." "Go now!" She pointed at the door, doing her best to look in control, but the halo of mussed hair and her heaving breaths made it hard to believe. Zane slid off the bed, and her voice came again as he took his first step. "And bring back a pear. And honey! Quickly, now!" "Yes, Mistress," he spoke softly and left the room. The hall was cool and quiet, and he took the opportunity to rotate his neck, trying to ease the stiffness from it and his shoulders. "She's miserable, isn't she?" A male voice surprised him from his left and Zane stood up straighter to see Adam standing near the head of the stairs. As much as he wanted to agree, he composed himself and spoke softly. "Mistress Francesca is -" "Horrible." Adam sighed, and Zane froze. "It's okay, I know you won't say anything. What was she screaming at you for? It sure sounded like she was enjoying it a moment ago." He clenched his jaw, wondering how often the younger man had listened to what Francesca screamed, but he pushed the thought aside. "Mistress has asked me to shave my face." "Ah." Adam shrugged, and tilted his head. "Come on, you can use my bathroom. No reason to go to the servant's wing." The young man was across the hall and inside his room before Zane could explain he needed to go by the kitchen anyway, but he sighed and followed him. "Master Adam, I need to get Mistress Francesca a snack." "So, get her a snack once you've shaved. I'm sure my tools are better anyway." He flicked the light on in his bathroom, which was over half the size of the bedroom Zane slept in downstairs. Adam was right as he unrolled a shaving kit on the counter. The blade looked sharper, the soap expensive, and the youngest son seemed unconcerned that Zane would soon have the razor in his hands. "Thank you, Master." "Enough with that, just call me Adam. Please." Zane stared at him for a moment, the man's dark curls and youthful face couldn't alter the sadness in his expression. "Go on." He gestured at the tools and Zane started with the water, cranking it hot until it almost burned his hands. Then he scooped handfuls of it and scrubbed his face hard, trying to wash the taste of Francesca Perlen off of him for just a few moments. For days he'd been at her feet, or under them, and he'd spent hours and hours between her thighs, licking and pleasuring her until his jaw ached and his tongue tired. Yet she had not asked him to breed with her. The more time he spent with her, the less confident he was that he'd be able to fuck her if she demanded it. Which would mean BC-426, which would mean he could hurt her. And then Henry Perlen would probably kill him. "I'm sorry." Adam's voice pulled him from his thoughts with a jolt, and Zane paused with soap lathered across half his face. "Master?" "Adam." He sighed and hopped up onto the end of the counter. "I'm sorry for how my sister is treating you, and for what my brothers have done to yours." There was no good answer to a comment like that. With a huff of breath Zane stared at himself in the mirror, evening out the lather across his other cheek, before picking up the razor to begin smoothly shaving off the barest beginnings of facial hair. His light brown hair was a mess, sticking up in all directions from Francesca's grip on it, and his lips were swollen from his efforts - but his blue eyes looked vibrant. They looked like Zora's. Even though it felt foolish, Zane swallowed and asked, "You haven't been with my sister yet, Master?" "Would you just call me Adam?" "No, Master." Zane answered as he ran the blade over his skin again. Adam rolled his eyes and leaned back against the mirror to watch him. "I haven't touched your sister, and I don't plan to." That made Zane's hand freeze with the razor halfway through a stroke. "Why?" The word was barely audible in the silence of the bathroom, but Adam heard him, his green eyes lifting to meet Zane's gaze. "I have a girlfriend, and despite what my brothers believe I function just fine with someone who actually consents to being with me." The young man swallowed and dropped his eyes, the next words too quiet. "A slave can't consent to any of this." Zane felt light headed, panic rushing through him like a whirlwind. Was this a trick? A trap? What in the name of Mirel was this citizen saying? A slave can't consent? Since when had that mattered? This was what they had been born for. "I just wanted you to know I won't touch her, or you. I'm not interested, and..." Adam hopped off the counter, taking a deep breath. "And you both have more friends than you think. All of the Wild Ones do." Water dripped into the sink, measuring the silence as Zane's heart hammered inside his chest, his tongue unable to form words. Adam walked past him, stopping just outside the door to the bathroom. "Feel free to finish up, you can always use my bathroom if you need it. I won't tell anyone." There was a long moment where Zane didn't even breathe, waiting until he heard the door to the bedroom shut before he dropped the razor into the water to steady his shaking hands. When he looked back at himself in the mirror he was as pale as he felt, and the scent of sandalwood filled his nose as he forced air into his lungs. Friends? He gripped the edge of the sink, leaning on it to steady himself so that when he finished shaving he wouldn't cut his own throat. This was impossible. It couldn't be true, but the man had seemed honest as he'd shared what felt like a very dangerous secret. Adam Perlen wanted to be their friend. -- I'm sure many of you feel just as confused as Zora and Zane right now. Darren has a serious issue with a girl name Sophia, Adam wants to be their friend, Kinsey is still being Senora Standoffish - but at least they're together! I have such wonderful plans for this world, but the best thing you can do is rate, comment, send me feedback! Remind me that there are people still reading this story and looking for more from The Wild Ones. It will remind me that there's a good reason to sit at the laptop after my work day is over! Hope to see you again soon, lovelies, and Happy Holidays! *heart* Jennifer Bene / always_yes