I took a step back.

"Get on the bed Ms. Riar."

I swallowed as my eyes darted towards the large, king bed with blue-tinted, perfectly made, grey sheets and back towards Cassius and Axel. They stood to the side of the bed near the head in the corner Axel was tied to a chair in.

"Assisting how?" I asked, my voice quieter than I liked.

Cassius disregarded my question as he addressed Axel.

"Is this close enough?"

Axel fidgeted, tugging against the ropes, his hair falling into his eyes. "Yeah."

Close enough for what?

Everything that I thought I knew was going to happen wasn't.

A tremble shook my fingers before I curled them into my palm. "Assisting how?" I repeated, louder.

My mind was running wild. It always was. But during those other times, I wasn't faced with the cold, domineering man known as Cassius. He approached everything with apathy, including my fear.

"I will be stimulating you until you climax," he answered bluntly.

I stumbled back a step.

Did he mean that in the way I thought he did? Or was this one of those language barrier things that the magical translator spell was having problems with? Ezra had told me it didn't work on a select few languages.

Then again, he also told me his friends wouldn't do this kind of thing.

"Bed, Ms. Riar," he repeated as he crossed his arms, the action strained the material of his shirt across his muscles, accentuating them.

His eyes ordered I follow his demands. It didn't take a genius to sense the 'or else' they held in their depths.

Then it clicked. The reason why he frightened me the most.

Since I arrived, seeing him invoked anxiety in me. I had dismissed it because he had seemed the second safest after Ezra due to his lack of interest in me. He hadn't given me a chance to believe otherwise until just recently.

But the way he was looking at me. It jogged recognition.

His eyes reminded me of the man who had been tormenting me for almost ten years. He reminded me of that man who had broken me. Not just with the way he was looking at me as though I would trip over myself to fulfill his wishes like it was expected- that I'd dance like a puppet at his words. The shape of his eyes, the way they narrowed, and the arches of his brows. They were familiar. The reason Cassius struck fear in me was that he reminded me of him. The man that still stole my sleep in the dark hours of the night with nightmares produced from memories.

And he was continuing the torment I escaped in his steed.

And that pissed me off.

I took another step back and stood straight, shoulders back.

He was disappointed in my acting, maybe I should show him how well I could play the role.

"No," I stated. I suppressed the grimace that wanted to twist my face when my voice cracked. It was easier to convince myself to act daringly rather than actually portray it.

The room stilled.

Axel threw his head back against his armchair as he barked out a laugh.

Cassius, on the other hand, didn't seem amused. His eyes narrowed on me. I began second-guessing my course of action before remembering the temporary protection the presence of the guests in the manor provided me. I had already taken the leap, might as well try to make it to the other side.

That conviction wavered for a moment when he took a controlled step towards me. Once again, his predatory movements reminded me of him. I steeled myself. I wasn't going to show weakness.

"I didn't expect to witness an opening act like this before the show and dinner," Axel said as his laughter died down. "I don't think I can recall a time anyone has said no to you, Cassius."

Cassius paid no mind to Axel and his manic joy. He continued to stalk towards me.

"Get on the bed, pet."

My throat thickened at the way he spit out the word 'pet.' I backed up another step. He followed.

My breathing became faster, harsher, as fear distorted reality into memory. My eyes zoned in on Cassius as everything else, including Axel, faded. Except, he was no longer there. In his place stood him.

His face twisted into a sinister grin that was all too familiar.

He took another step.

I turned on the balls of my feet and bolted for the door.

My heeled boots pounded against the floor as hard as my heart pounded inside my chest. I had escaped from him, how was he here?

I sprinted past the french door leading into the seating area. The skirt of my indigo dress made the curtains chase behind me. Dodging the sofas and coffee table, I ran for the door, my hand outstretched to twist the doorknob open.

As the tips of my finger brushed against the cold metal, I was harshly pulled back. The air was knocked out of my lungs from how violently my back crashed into a hard body.

"Going somewhere, pet?"

His voice pierced through my ears. It was laced with anger.

Hyperventilating, I leaned back against the body behind me and jumped. Kicking my legs out I push off against the door in an attempt to dislodge him. It was a useless attempt seeing as it didn't move him an inch.

I let out a blood-curdling scream when he lifted me with his arms wrapped around me and started carrying me towards the bed. I didn't want him to turn me back into the girl who didn't care what he did to her, the one that would lie there and just take it. I knew I resented Zev at times for taking my safe place away, but I was grateful. For the first time in years, I wasn't a numb body waiting to be pushed too far.

I was living.

I had friends.

I was falling in love.

And he was back to take it all away.

My screams were cut off when my body became weightless before landing hard on the bed. I didn't get to resume before I found myself pinned down on my back with a hand wrapped around my neck.

"Are you done?"

I blinked as the face staring down at me from the side of the bed flickered, the features shifting and distorting.

I blinked rapidly past my paralyzing fear. With each blink, the face above me became clearer. The clearer it became, the easier it was to identify the man as Cassius, not the one that haunted my dreams.

Though, I had a feeling he would join him after what was about to come. The flicker in his eyes made that apparent.

"Listen, pet," he said emotionlessly. "This is strictly business. I am doing what I need to do to protect my family and sadly, that comes at your expense." He didn't look sad about it. "It would be better for everyone if you cooperated."

I knew he was right, but the adrenaline pumping through my veins told me to run. To escape. It had been a long while since I had last had a fight or flight response so strong.

A frustrated groan sounded to my left. I turned my head slightly, keeping Cassius in my peripheral vision, to find Axel with his eyes pinned to me. His chest rose and fell rapidly in a pant as his eyes trailed down my neck, paused as he eyed my breasts, before continuing down my body to my bare legs. My dress had shifted when Cassius had tossed me onto the bed, revealing more of my light brown skin for him to eye.

"Cassius," he growled out. His eyes were terrifying. The intensity of the silver was so great they seemed to be illuminated. They locked onto mine and I instantly felt the fight leave my body as it sagged into the bed.

Cassius glanced in his direction before sighing. "The better you behave, pet, the sooner it will be over."

Before I could register what was happening, he had pushed my dress up to my stomach and shoved his hand into my underwear. He didn't spare a moment. He circled my clit a couple of times before dragging his fingers over my entrance a few times. To my utter humiliation, I grew wet.

He adjusted his hold on my neck, which shifted my head slightly and disconnected my eyes from Axels, breaking the spell. I tried jerking my hips away from him, but that only made him tighten his hold around my neck and push me further into the mattress. His arm holding me down was stretched straight as he stood above me, The arm violating me was bent at the elbow, giving him a better angle to shove a finger deep inside me.

"Stay still," he warned.

But I hadn't received as many punishments as I had in my life because I followed commands well.

I clawed at his hand that was cutting off my oxygen. The wetness beneath my fingertips let me know I drew blood.

Cassius didn't react in the slightest, he just unhurriedly pumped his finger, increasing and spreading the wetness before adding another finger.

When darkness started to spot the edges of my vision, my fight against his hold grew stronger. He must have noticed the urgency on my face because his grip loosened just enough to let me gasp down shallow breaths. A small mercy as the pace of his fingers picked up.

Despite the fear, humiliation, pain, and desperation. I felt my body reacting to his touch. I could feel the heat of the flush painting my skin. I wanted to hate every moment of Cassius's touch, but old habits were hard to kill. Especially those forged during dire circumstances. They were too ingrained in who I was now.

Well, that was the excuse I told myself for the small moan that slipped past my lips when he swept his thumb over my clit. Or maybe it was a product of the oxygen deprivation I had just faced. Either way, my body was reacting to the unwanted stimulation.

The whole time he worked me with his fingers, his eyes stayed locked on my face, not straying once. His face was set in stone, unmoving and emotionless, as his eyes seemed to observe every minuscule movement I had in reaction to what he was doing. He captured every, twitch, suppressed moan, and hitch of breath I had, adjusting his movement to get the reactions he wanted.

It didn't take long before a ball of tightness began forming in my lower abdomen. My breathing grew heavier as my hands now clung to his around my neck for different reasons.

As the tension inside me grew, so did the growls and moans coming from Axel.

"Cass," he growled like an hungered animal.

Cassius didn't look towards him, his brows frowned the slightest as he increased the speed of his thrusts, his fingers hammering into me at this point.

My hips moved of their own accord under his ministration, pushing me closer to the edge.

I bit down my lip hard to suppress a moan when he pushed me over. Waves and spasms of pleasure crashed over me. My back arched as my nails dug into his hand. I had never experienced a climax as intense before. The only ones that came close were the ones Ezra had given me the other day.

Through the bliss coursing through my veins, I could hear a low guttural moan leave Axel's lips.

Cassius's fingers didn't stop. They continued to pump into me as my nerve endings grew sensitive and I was writhing to get away.

Before I had a chance to try to claw my way out of his hold again, the door in the other room burst open with enough force that it left a hole in the wall where the doorknob hit it before bouncing back. The intruder stopped it from hitting him with a hand.

In the doorway stood a furious Ezra.

Cassius finally released me and removed his fingers at the entrance, turning to face Ezra as he approached.

His eyes were glowing faintly, the green in them deepening. Sparks of a similar tone flickered from his fingers, like micro bolts of lightning. He didn't slow his pace as he walked through the doors and into the room. When he entered his eyes seemed to flare along with his nostrils as the sparks jumping from his fingers grew pronounced.

He stopped a few feet into the room. His eyes first locked onto Cassius before shifting to me as I lay on the bed still recovering from the orgasm I had forced out of me.

Shame flooded my body, flowing through my veins like ice when his eyes drifted down my body and took in the sight of my dressed bunched up at my stomach, putting my underwear on display. Underwear that now sported a damp patch. I rushed and fumbled, pulling the dress down.

A sudden realization hit me.

Cassius did this on purpose.

He wanted Ezra to find me like this. Defiled by another. After all, he had said it himself, Ezra was becoming too attached to me. His tone of voice made it clear it wasn't an outcome he was happy with. He prioritized his family. If he had to hurt one to save him from greater harm, he would do it. What better way to fix the problem with him becoming too attached than making Ezra disgusted at the thought of touching me again?

I gasped as I was pulled from my thoughts by a sudden flash of light.

Cassius grunted and stumbled back a step as a bolt of lighting from Ezra hit him square in the chest, burning the fabric of his shit and charring the skin beneath. Ezra prepared to attack him again, but the bolts at his fingers flickered and sparked like they were struggling to form when Cassius narrowed his gaze on him. A hint of annoyance could be seen making its way into his features.

"Ezra," Cassius said as he brushed at the blackened skin with his hand. "I see you found an opportunity to excuse yourself from breakfast."

He glanced towards Ezra who had bared his teeth at him before rounding the bed and heading towards Axel where he sat relaxed. His head rested against the back of the armchair and his eyes were heavy-lidded. The dark circles under his eyes were still present, but less pronounced. Colour could be seen on his cheeks, the pale, clammy texture now held life.

"You mother fucker."

Ezra hadn't yelled the words. His voice was level, but the anger in his words was evident. The fact that he swore was an added shock factor.

A lazy smirk graced Axel's face. "I thought I was the mother fucker," he laughed. "Lady Beatrice could attest to that."

A vase flew of a side table and shattered against the wall behind Axel. If it was aimed slightly to the left, it would have hit him.

Cassius shook his head. When Axel went to open his mouth to say more, he shoved his fingers into it. The fingers that were just inside me a moment ago.

Axel's eyes closed as he groaned around Cassius's fingers. He sucked and lapped at them, cleaning and swallowing every single drop of my wetness.

Pulling his digits out of his mouth, Cassius returned his attention to the furious man whose anger could be tasted in the static current flowing through the air.

He sighed like the following confrontation was a headache. "Ezra, this was necessary-"

"No, it wasn't," Ezra said, cutting in.

"Your infatuation with her is clouding-"

"No! It's not!"

Ezra's shout echoed in the hollow silence that followed.

Cassius didn't appear fazed at the anger that was exuding from him like a visible layer. "Yes. It was."

Ezra's face twisted in an angry snarl. "Then you could have gotten me to do it."

"You wouldn't have allowed us to go through with it."

"Because what you just did is fucked up! She didn't want this!"

"And I didn't want the incubus to attach himself to her and refuse to feed on another and starve. Would you have preferred the outcome that a hunger-crazed incubus would have brought instead?"

"Bullshit."

"You, yourself, have witnessed Axel's decline."

He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, but he didn't refute Cassius's words. Shifting his attention to me, he stalked towards the bed.

Fear paralyzed me.

Doubt made my heart sink.

What if Ezra proved me wrong, that I had fabricated how kind he was in my head out of desperation? Would he change now that he had witnessed me so crudely?

I pushed up off the bed as he approached, attempting to move to a seated position. Before I could, Ezra had swept me up into his arms. One of his arms was wrapped around my upper back, the other under my knees. I could feel his body shake in anger as my side pressed into it.

Without a word to the other two, he turned with me in his arms and headed for the door. I was surprised to see Zev standing in the seating area as Ezra carried me through. He was leaning back against one of the sofas that gave him a clear line of sight into the bedroom. His eyes flicked to mine before darting away, avoiding mine.

I didn't have much time to linger on why. Ezra didn't slow his stride as he carried me out of the room and down the hallway.

I swallowed, wanting to ask him where we were headed but didn't. I was too terrified of what the answer would be.