Tales of the Forbidden (14 page)

* * * *

Devon fixed steak dinner for them. They ate, teased, and picked on each other throughout the meal. After quickly chasing around the house and some extra hot sex on the stairs, Kera was sleeping a deep and peaceful sleep. Her body felt sore, but relaxed and her mind at peace. She was wearing one of the new silk pajama sets that Devon bought her and was draped over his body. One leg was over his hip, one arm over his shoulder, and her head was on his chest. He had his head on top of hers with an arm draped over her back. For the first time, both were at peace with each other, the first time that they slept like this. It was also the first night Kera let Devon hold her the way he wanted without a fight. Rolling over in bed, something slowly woke Kera from her sleep. Opening her eyes slowly, she could barely focus on anything. Hands with a grip of steel yanked her from the bed, and four men jumped Devon the second he opened his eyes.

“Don’t kill him!” the one holding Kera yelled. “His death won’t give us anything but trouble.”

“Devon!” Kera screamed. She was jerked from the bedroom as Devon fought with the four men. Kera watched Devon knock two away and run to the hallway as she was being dragged down the stairs.

“Kera!” he yelled.

“Devon! Help me!” Kera managed to free her arm from the iron grip and kicked the guy in the leg. She managed to get only a few feet away from him before he grabbed her brutally again 116

and slapped her in the face.

Kera screamed again when she saw someone hit Devon relentlessly at the back of his head. He went down hard.

“Get off of me! Devon!” Kera watched in horror when Devon didn’t move. “Devonnnnnnnn!”

* * * *

“Kera!” Devon woke up and sat straight up in the bed yelling. “Lie back down,” the doctor commanded.

“Where is she?”

“You have a nasty knot on the back of your head, as well as a minor concussion. Stay still and let me mend this cut on your cheek.”

“Mr. Noved,” a man at the foot of the bed said, “you’ve been out for a couple of hours. I came out here with the information on your cousin. But from the state of the house, it looks as if I am too late.” He looked around the room.

“I don’t give a shit about him right now, Helms,” Devon hissed in pain. “We need to find Kera.”

Again, he tried to sit up.

“Mr. Noved, your cousin has her,” Helms informed him.

Devon stopped and glanced at the man who headed his security. Calmness washed over him, like the calm before a storm. A calm that only a man set on murder would have.

Kirk Helms stood at the foot of the bed watching a doctor put smelling salts under Devon’s nose. The room was a wreck.

Furniture turned over, drawers rummaged through, and other things broken. However, what brought Helms out this way at this time of night was the information Devon had sent him to find, and Helms acted like he didn’t want to give.

“Your cousin,” Helms went on, “is in a lot of trouble. He’s been taking girls over the border and selling them to the brothels.” Helms sat down on the bed and looked Devon in the eye. “And he owes some very nasty men a lot of money or a fresh girl.”

Devon looked at the man as if he had lost his mind. Then the things he had heard over the past few months started to make sense; Cameron always needing more money, yet spending much more than he had. The desperation had been clear…

“How long?” Devon asked quietly.

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“From the information I have found, at least a year.” Helms answered.

“He’s going to sell them Kera.” Devon moved from the bed and pushed the sudden dizziness away.

He started cursing himself. All the signs were in front of him, yet he had seen none of them—how Cameron always watched Kera, how he had taken a sudden interest in her, and how he had stopped asking Devon for money lately. Instead of wondering why, Devon had just assumed his cousin was finally turning a new page in his life. But to sell his wife was a new low that Devon found difficult to believe Cameron capable of.

“He’ll take her to the woods,” Devon said to himself, pulling a pair of jeans over his legs. “He doesn’t know that I know he has her. And he doesn’t know that I know he’s going to sell her.”

“You are in no condition to go any place,” Helms said. “This is what you pay me to do.”

“And you don’t know what kind of temper she has,” Devon said in a matter-of-fact tone. “It won’t be long before she pisses him off to the point where he could do anything to her. Plus, the property rests right next to the border.”

“Mr. Noved. We have men out looking for your cousin and wife as we speak.”

“And you, Helms, don’t know dick about Cameron. He can hide for weeks, even months, in those woods.” Anger flared in Devon as he looked at his man. “Moreover, he’s damn good at hiding, and I bet he knows the best ways to get over the border without being seen. I’m going after that fucker and will kick his ass myself.”

Helms sighed, throwing a heavy sweater at Devon. “Then at least dress for it. I don’t want to have to carry your ass out of the woods as well as your wife’s.”

Devon smiled as he pulled the sweater over his head. In less than five minutes, Devon, Helms, and a small group of men headed into the woods towards the border.

* * * *

Kera was breathing frantically as she was dragged through the deepest part of the woods. She had tried many times to yank her arm away and each time she tried the grip would tighten. When she tried to bite the hand she was rewarded with a 118

backhand to the face. Now she could barely feel her arm below where the man gripped her, and her face stung like hell. There had to be a bruise by now on her cheek from him. When her foot caught on a fallen limb, Kera crashed to the ground. She started to cry as pain shot up her leg.

“I can’t go any further!” she yelled at him, tears falling down her face.

“Get off your ass and move!”

“I can’t!” she screamed as she felt her ankle started to swell.

Sharp pain washed over her ankle and up her leg again.

“Arghh!” he yelled loudly, causing some birds to take off in fright. “It wasn’t supposed to happen like this! This was all supposed to go smoothly. The son of a bitch wasn’t supposed to fight back.” Cameron started to pace around her. “If he would have just given me the damn money then none of this would have happened.”

“Do you think he will let me go?” she hissed at him. “Think, Cameron! He’ll come for me,” she told him. “There is no way in hell he will let this go. You should have thought twice before you took me from his arms.”

She shifted so she could sit and feel her ankle with her hands. Kera was able to feel the swelling, but that was all. From what she could see it didn’t look good either. Kera was starting to think the thing was broken with the way her toes were numbing up.

“He doesn’t know I have you, smart-ass,” he hissed. “And I am damn sure in time he will get over you and find another sweet piece of ass to fill your shoes. Now get the fuck up!”

Cameron took two steps towards her and forced her back up to her feet by grabbing hold of her top. Kera screamed as fresh pain radiated up her leg. In his disgust, Cameron shoved her back down to the ground. On her way back down, her foot twisted more, and Kera thought she felt it pop.

She was crying from the pain. Nothing in her whole life hurt as much as this did. Not even the loss of her virginity had hurt like this, or the way Devon had treated her. Cameron started to pace again, looking at her every so often.

“Enough fucking around!” he yelled at her.

“Are you really that fucking dumb?” Kera yelled at him.

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“Have you seen my fucking ankle, you moron? I can’t go anywhere. I can’t… fucking… walk!”

Cameron grabbed her violently around the wrist and forced her to stand on her bad ankle. He half dragged, half carried her a few more feet before he dropped her again.

“We’ll rest here. I think we’re too far out for him to find even if he does suspect anything.”

Kera wiped the tears from her face, and even though she was crying in pain, she laughed at him. “Just keep telling yourself that one, dipshit. He’ll find you and kick your ass.”

Cameron stomped over to her, grabbed the front of her top, and viciously slapped her face again. She saw stars from the force of his hit and her face burned from the blow. He dragged her to her feet and leaned in so close to her that when he spoke, spit came out. “You were a bitch before he fucked you, and now that he has brought you to your knees, you’re just a fucking cunt now. One would think after he shoved his dick in that pretty mouth of yours, it would shut you up some. But no! A little fucking money in your pocket and Miss Bitch thinks her shit don’t stink.”

Kera started to laugh, which caused him to push her to the ground roughly. “And what are you? You’re going to sell me for your pocket change. Do you really think that once this gets out you will ever be allowed at the Ceremony at all?” When all he did was glare at her, Kera went on. “Oh, I get it. You can’t get it up, can you? You need a girl that doesn’t know a damn thing, but thinks you are the greatest lover around. You’re nothing but a sick bag of shit; nothing more, nothing less.”

Cameron looked at her with pure hatred in his eyes. “When I sell you I won’t need to come back to Treece, but you keep that smart mouth of yours going and I will show you just what I do have, girl. I’ll make you scream until nothing comes out but a whimper.”

* * * *

Devon stopped suddenly and went down to his knees. He inspected the ground closely, touching it lightly with his hands. “He’s trying not to leave a trail, but he is.” He grinned.

“How well does he know these woods?” Helms asked.

Devon stood up. “As well as I do. He’s heading south. It’s the 120

only part on the border that isn’t patrolled on a regular basis.”

“That would explain how girls are getting out without us knowing. Do you think he’ll stop for the night?”

It was a well-known fact that many girls ran away from home. Girls like Kera, in the sense they didn’t want to be a part of the matchmaking. These girls ran mostly because, being trapped in the same social class as Kera, they usually only ended up serving in the Compound. It never crossed his mind that they were being taken over the border and sold.

“My guess would be that he will want to get her across as soon as he can, but if I know her at all, then she will start to slow him down very soon,” Devon smiled. “Being bullied isn’t something she stands for.”

“We still have time to find them.” Helms said, looking up at the sky.

“Yeah,” he glanced up at the sky as well. “But in the woods, that’s not much.” He gave Helms a dirty grin. “It’s the perfect time to take him.” Helms looked at Devon with questions in his eyes that he didn’t voice, so Devon went on. “Let’s just say that my dear cousin sucks at hide-and-seek.”

* * * *

Kera sat across from Cameron with a small fire between them. She watched him eat the small amount of food he had taken from the cabin and thought how much of a pig he really was. The woods were so dark the only thing that could be seen was what the flames touched. “You need to eat.”

“I find looking at you turns my stomach,” she replied.

“Something about a chicken shit for a man sours the stomach.”

Cameron laughed at her. “He’s not going to save you. You know as well as I do that he’ll just move on to the next piece of ass.”

Kera smiled back at him in a sweet manner. “You keep saying that. Man, you really do believe your own shit. When the little girls back home give you those paid blowjobs and tell you how big you are, do you believe that as well?” Her smile turned even sweeter but with a twist of cruelty to it. “Oh, I know, you still think the Easter Bunny comes and hides eggs, huh? And that Santa Claus is real?”

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“I’ve seen him move from one nice ass to the next. I was very surprised he picked you. You don’t fit his type, not really.”

Cameron gave her a disgusted look. “You’re too much of a smart-ass.”

Kera didn’t let anything show on her face as she stared at him. He shoved the rest of his food into his mouth and stood. He strolled a few feet from her, turned his back, and started to piss.

Kera took this moment to tug the thickest log toward her.

Something in her gut told her that he wasn’t done with her yet.

Cameron zipped his jeans and headed toward her. Roughly, he grabbed hold of her top and brought her to her feet. Kera managed to hold onto the log behind her back and pushed back a cry of pain. She waited to see what he would do. However, she was unable to hold the expression of pain from her face.

Cameron wrapped one strong arm around her and held her chin in place before him. “In fact, you’re more my type. The feisty girls are so much more enjoyable to fuck. They fight so well.” He lowered his eyes and licked his lips as he focused on her mouth.

“It’s such a turn-on to hear them beg for me to stop.”

He kissed her brutally, forcing his tongue past her teeth. The fighting she was doing only fueled him on, so Kera did the one thing she knew would get him to stop kissing her, she chomped down on his tongue. He let go of her suddenly and smiled, which she rewarded with a savage slap to his face.

“Oh this is going to be tasty.” He spat blood out of his mouth.

“The others didn’t fight nearly as much as I know you are going to.”

Cameron pushed her to the ground and then covered her body with his own and, somehow, Kera managed to hold on to the log still. He kissed her face and neck, biting her as he went and leaving bruising marks to go along with the bites. He roamed her body with his hands, ripping at her pajamas to expose her flesh. Kera cried out as her legs were forced opened by his rough hands. The whole time, Cameron whispered in her ear how he loved it as she fought him. He had managed to rip her top from the shoulder down to expose one breast when he heard the snapping of a twig. Still atop of Kera, he stopped cold and glanced around them. Kera took the opportunity to scratch the side of his face. Hard.

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“Bitch!” Cameron cried. He stood quickly and dragged her with him before backhanding Kera, knocking her back to the ground.

Kera took her log and swung it with as much force as she could at Cameron’s knee. He went down, screaming in pain, and Kera clambered to her feet —foot— and took off, running and limping as best as she could into the woods. Twice, she fell painfully to the ground, screaming as pain radiated up her leg.

“You fucking cunt!” he screamed. “Just you wait until I get my hands on you! Bitch! I’m going to fuck you so hard you’ll be bleeding by the time I’m done!”

Kera ran. Her ankle throbbed so badly and was becoming numb to match her toes, yet she didn’t care. All she wanted to do was get as lost as she could in the woods so Cameron couldn’t find her.

Her side hurt, her leg hurt, and her breathing was in gasps, yet she kept running. Every time she fell she pushed the pain away and forced herself back to her feet. Eventually, after yet another tumble, she stayed put and cried. Agonizing pain emanated from her foot, and the fear of Cameron coming out of the trees and grabbing her seemed to freeze her on the spot.

“Somebody.” She mumbled in the dark, pushing herself back up on her shaking legs. “Please.” Kera managed to stand on her two feet and scream, “Help me!” before she again forced her body to run.

Out of nowhere, an arm shot out from the dark, snaked around her waist, and pulled her into a strong grip. Another hand shot out and covered her mouth the split second before she tried to scream.

“Shhh!” someone hissed in her ear. It was a voice she had grown to know so well.

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