Water Dragon (The Bride Hunt Book 2) (17 page)

“I would never hurt her.”

The nerdy guy turned towards her. “It’s time to play.” He smiled. His eyes looked dead. She couldn’t help but notice that he wasn’t in the least bit turned on. This guy was sick with a capital S. He took a step towards her and she couldn’t help herself. She screamed. The sound was held back by the tape.

Then she wriggled and tried to get up onto her feet, which were tied with a cable tie. The sicko’s eyes gleamed and his smiled widened. To her horror, the start of a hard-on lined his pants.

I
t felt
like the walls were closing in. That everything was spinning. “What?” Torrent roared.

“Lie down, my lord.” Sky tried to push him back down. “You are in no condition.”

“I have to agree with Sky,” his brother boomed. “I will take a team of males. I will find her.”

“No.” Torrent lurched to his feet. He felt like a day old lamb. “I will find her myself. She is mine.” The world spun harder, he gripped his brother’s shoulder to stay on his feet.

“You won’t be able to shift. You were dead a couple of hours ago.” Tide looked at him with concern. “Even if you do make the shift, you might not be able to stay in dragon form for the flight. If you shifted at thirty thousand feet, the fall just might kill you for real.”

“It won’t happen.” His head cleared somewhat. “Not with this amount of adrenaline in my veins.” He pulled his shoulders back and locked eyes with Tide.

His brother shook his head. “It’s a bad idea.”

Torrent grit his teeth. “I have to go. She is my female. Mine.”

“I understand your—”

“No you don’t. You have no clue. We’re wasting time arguing. Bring the fire dragon to me. I want the details first hand.” When no one moved, he shouted. “Now!” Smoke wafted from his nose and mouth. If he had been a fire dragon, there would have been flames.

“Maybe you’re not as weak as I thought.” Tide turned and left.

Torrent was still royally fucked up. His bones were only half knitted and his skin was still pink and even still raw in places. The biggest problem was the lack of energy. It was a pity Coal had killed him. It always sapped a male and made the healing process that much slower. He would deal. His female needed him.

Within minutes, his brother returned with the fire Dragon. “Good day.” The male nodded. “I am Heat. I was the male tasked with fetching your female. I was given her address, a description and was told to bring her back here to the water lair.”

Torrent grit his teeth, having to work hard at remaining patient. He wanted to grip the male by the throat and demand answers. Since he knew that this wouldn’t help, he kept silent, at least for the time being.

“When I arrived at Candy’s house, the human protectors were there. There was a vehicle parked out front, lights flashing. There were two protectors inside of her house. One of them held a suitcase and was talking with an older human female.”

“Go on.” Torrent growled, patience waning by the second.

“The older female lived across the road. The human protector was busy questioning her. The suitcase belonged to your female. She was walking on foot, with the suitcase when a male pulled up in a vehicle next to her. He was driving one of those roofless cars, I can’t recall the name of such a vehicle…” He lifted his eyes in thought.

“It doesn’t matter,” Torrent snarled. “My female is in danger. Give us the facts and do so now.”

The fire dragon nodded. His throat worked and there was a sheen of sweat on his brow. It was the only outward indication of fear. “It seems that the human female that lives across the road from your female is very interested in what goes on in the area. She heard Candy’s house door slam and watched her leave her home. The human male chased Candy soon afterwards. She dropped the suitcase in her attempt to get away. He broke into her house and physically removed her. At this stage, her hands were tied and it looked like he was threatening her as he pushed her into his car and sped off. The window to her house was smashed. She did not seem to be injured in any way. The human was too afraid to intervene but she called the protectors immediately. She—”

Torrent could not withhold his rage any longer. He roared. His fists were clenched so tight that his nails dug into his skin. Adrenaline coursed through him. It felt like his scales were rubbing him raw and his teeth erupted.

The fire dragon took a step back. “I would be happy to assist with any rescue operation.”

“The female was unharmed and very little time has passed since she was taken. We need to assemble a team.” Tide was the vision of calm. His brother’s demenor and words helped calm him as well… somewhat.

Torrent nodded. “No more than two males, as well as yourself and the fire dragon.” He glanced at the male.

The fire dragon nodded. “It would be an honor.”

Torrent clasped his hands in front of him, he looked his brother in the eyes. “There is no time to waste. I’m going to leave ahead of the team. The male’s name is Ellis. Candy used to work for him at a place called Kitty’s. I’m not sure where it is but I plan on finding out. Sky…” He called to the she-dragon who came running.

Her eyes were wide, they were filled with tears. “Yes, my lord.”

“Do not concern yourself.” His voice shook but it couldn’t be helped. Torrent had never experienced fear before. Not like this. To his very core. Like a living and breathing thing. “I will bring Candy back.” He touched the side of her arm. Her lip quivered but she pulled her shoulders back and nodded. “Where is my cell phone? I’ll need to research this male, this Kitty’s establishment. Brother?” A low bark.

“Yes.” Tide stepped in beside him.

“Take your cellular device. Call me when you reach Walton Springs.” He huffed out a breath. “I should have all the details by then.”

“I would urge you to wait the ten minutes that it will take me—”

“No!” He snarled. Torrent had waited long enough. His female’s life lay in the balance. He could feel it.

Sky returned moments later with his phone. It had been placed in a ziplock bag. He would thank Sky properly later. Phone in mouth, he erupted into his Dragon form and left without a second to spare

“We’ll be right behind you.” Tide bellowed as he flapped his wings.

Everything ached but he didn’t give a shit. He tried to clear his mind. The only thing he could do was concentrate on his female. On her face, her eyes, her lovely smile… the one she saved just for him. It was because she loved him. Sky was right. What a fool he had been. What an utter fool. He only hoped he got the opportunity to apologize.

Hang on, Candy.

I’m coming for you. Just hang on!

An anguished wail was torn from him. She had to be okay, she just had to be. That male was going to wish he had never been born.

T
he freak leaned
in next to her, still holding the scissors. His breath was coming in tight gasps. His eyes were wide and his cheeks flushed with excitement. She tried to worm away from him but he grabbed her by the leg and yanked her back. His grip was surprisingly strong for such a scrawny guy. “Stay still. I don’t want to cut you.” His voice was unnaturally feminine sounding with a nasal edge. It made her skin crawl. Everything about this guy made her skin crawl.

He moved to her ankles, bringing the scissors down to the bottom of her jeans. He obviously planned on cutting them off. As he brought the scissors further down, she kicked out with both legs and knocked them from his hands.

“Owwww.” A long drawn out whine. “Quit doing that.” He gave her a wink, like suddenly it was okay for her to play along with him or something. He thought that this was all an act. He expected her to play along. Tough freak’n luck. This might be a game to him but it sure as hell wasn’t to her. The nerd leaned over, grabbed the scissors and moved back to her ankles.

As he got close, she kicked him again, harder this time. He narrowed his eyes. “I said to quit it.” His voice was even more nasally this time round. “Tell your girl to stop messing around.” He glanced at Ellis who had made himself comfortable on one of the chairs in the corner.

Ellis held up his hands. “Hey, I’m not even here remember? You said you wanted authentic. That’s about as authentic as you’re gonna get.” He pointed in her direction. “No rape victim is going to just play along.”

The nerd huffed out a breath. “But you said I can’t hurt her. If this was a real rape, I’d punch her or cut her a little. I’d get her to cooperate.”

“You can’t break or damage the mechandise. I don’t want you bruising or tearing her pussy either but you can hurt her a little.” Ellis shrugged.

Bastard! She made a moaning noise which made Ellis smile in her direction.

The nerd didn’t even notice the exchange, he was too busy getting all excited for that. “I can?” His chest was heaving now. He was clenching and unclenching his fists. His voice was singsong.

Ellis smiled. “That’s what I said.”

He was such a dick! What was wrong with people? It was a question she asked herself more than once. What the hell was wrong with society?

This was a world in which children were abandoned, abused and murdered. Ghandi had once said that you could tell the quality of a nation by how it looked after its animals and she’d been to the shelters. Cages overflowing with unwanted pets. All of those innocent eyes staring back at her, begging for some sort of affection. For love of any kind. Many of them would never leave. Not alive anyway. It was heartbreaking.

Tears were streaming down her cheeks and she shook her head as the freak moved back to her ankles. “Now…” His voice vibrated with excitement. “Are you going to be a good little girl or am I going to have to teach you some manners?”

There was no way she was going to just lie there and take it. She gave a nod, feigning acceptance.

“That’s a good, little—” He began to say, but at the last second, she kicked out. He yelled out in pain and anger. The guy moved much quicker than she expected. He gripped her hair and pulled hard. He pulled until she was sure it was going to come out by the roots. He pulled until pain surrounded her and filled her. Until she became one with it.

Her head thudded softly against the wooden floor as he released her. She could feel him tugging on her pants, could feel the cold steel from the scissors as he worked his way up her leg. She was too afraid to move in case a sharp edge caught her.

Her scalp throbbed with every beat of her heart. Unfortunately, her heart was beating fast so her head hurt badly. Then his hands were on her. He rubbed up and down her leg and squeezed her thigh. He’d cut most of the way up her thigh but had stopped just short of going all the way.

She forced herself to open her eyes and moaned in frustration and irritation. This seemed to egg him on. He squeezed her thigh harder, almost to the point of pain. “I can’t wait to fuck you real good. Show you what a real man can do.”

Right. If he was any type of real man he wouldn’t be doing this. He might be ‘playing pretend’, but he was sick just the same. That much was apparent.

He moved up, his eyes glued to her chest. No you don’t, asswipe! When he leaned forward, intent on cutting her T-shirt, she head butted him in the face. There was a cracking noise and his nose began to gush.

“What the fuck!” He cocked back his fist, his face pulled into a sneer.

“Don’t you dare.” Ellis warned, trying to make himself sound gruff, even though she could hear he was smiling. He was loving every minute of this. Sick son of a bitch that he was.

“She broke my fucking nose,” the guy whined.

“You told me you wanted authentic. Are you changing your mind? Is a tied up woman too much for you to handle?”

The freak narrowed his eyes on her for a long while. His jaw tightened and he nodded once. “No! I’m game.”

Her heart sank.

“Get cleaned up and rape the bitch already.” Ellis sounded bored.

The guy nodded and disappeared into the bathroom. Ellis chuckled once the freak was out of earshot. “This is the most fun I’ve had in a long while. I’m actually rooting for you, Candy. I’m not sure this loser can even get it up.” He shook his head.

All too soon, the guy was back. His nose was a little puffy and he plugged it up with some wadded up tissue paper to stop the bleeding. He looked pathetic.

“I’m done playing.” His voice was cold, his eyes hard. Before she could do anything, he gripped her throat, holding her down. She felt a weight on her middle. His knee maybe? She struggled to take in enough air. Candy could feel the cold of the blade as it glided up her torso. She could hear the snip, snip as it cut her t-shirt. Her arms hurt because they were being crushed beneath her body.

Her eyes were wide. Her nostrils flared as she tried to take in air. Her vision became blurry. She needed air. Needed it now. Black patches danced in her vision. She struggled to see, to think. Needed air.

His hand came off of her neck and his knee lifted. Candy sucked in a deep breath. Her legs fell open. No, he’d cut the cable that bound them. She sucked in another hard breath. Her zipper was being yanked down and he was pulling on her jeans, making groaning noises from the exertion.

She was fighting to get enough air into her lungs so that she could move. So that she could fight. Her vision was still blurred and her body felt so weak.

She kicked at him but he slapped her leg away. Her pants were about halfway down her thighs when her vision began to return.

“No fight left, girly.” He said, his voice even more nasally than before. He stroked his fully erect dick through his pants. “I’m looking forward to this.” He sickend her. As in, a wave of nausea rolled through her and she had to suck in air to try and quell it. The last thing she needed to do was vomit with her mouth taped shut.

Candy kept on sucking in air through her nose. The worst of the nausea subsided. She was biding her time. If this dickhead thought that she was done fighting, he was dead wrong.

He grabbed ahold of her jeans and gave another hard tug. Thankfully, her underwear was still in place, as was her bra. Candy bent her knees to stop the garment from going down much.

“Stop that.” The freak moaned. “I’m done playing.” He gave her pants another yank and she twisted her body, bending her knees again. His entire focus was on getting her jeans off. The freak moved in close, his legs splayed. If she could just move a little to the right, then she’d have a clean shot. One well placed kick to the balls would put him down for a while. He might not feel like sex anymore. At least not today.

Just a little more. She twisted…

There was a loud crashing noise. It was like one of the walls had fallen down or something. The crash was followed by a loud roar. It shook the walls, the very foundation. The door to the room they were in was next. It splintered inwards, a couple of shards landed on her. The freak brought up his arm to shield his face.

“What the fuck!” Ellis leapt from the chair. Shards of wood splinters were in his hair.

The freak’s eyes widened and he sucked in a deep breath.

That’s when she saw him. It was Torrent. Oh god! She’d never been more happy to see someone in her whole entire life. His eyes were bright blue slits. His teeth sharp and deadly looking. His lip curled away from them as he snarled. Although he was mostly man, it was easy to see the animal in him. His muscles bulged. His skin looked like it might burst from trying to contain him. In this moment, Torrent looked larger than life. He looked completely savage.

The freak turned all the way around. Still on his knees. He made a whimpering noise. He probably didn’t know what he was seeing. A huge, pissed naked guy had just broken his way into the room. He whimpered again as Torrent picked him up by his neck in an almost gentle hold. The freak kicked his legs, like he was running in mid air. It reminded her of a puppet. His actions jerky.

The hold Torrent had on him was anything but gentle judging by how the guy began to choke. Loud gagging sounds that would’ve sounded revolting had they been coming from anyone else.

In an almost casual fashion, his eyes still locked with the freak’s, Torrent reached between the guys legs and he squeezed… hard.

There was a strange popping noise. It was a sound she’d never heard before. One she hoped never to hear again. Torrent dropped him and he fell into a screaming heap. His hands clasped between his legs. The screams spoke of a depth of agony she never knew existed.

She wanted to feel sorry for him but couldn’t muster even the tiniest bit of sympathy. The guy was sick and depraved and in the worst of ways. From between his clasped fingers, blood blossomed, the stain spreading across his cream coloured chinos. His face was a bright red.

Ellis had his back against the wall, his hands in front of him. “Name your price.” When Torrent took a step towards him, he began to beg. “Don’t hurt me. Please. Do you want the girl? She’s yours. Anything just—”

“She is not yours to give.” Torrent growled, not sounding quite human.

“What do you want then? Anything. Name it.” He was crying, snot ran from his nose and spittle flew from his mouth. “Please… just…” He shook his head, holding his hands out like a shield. Like they could somehow keep Torrent back. Ellis glanced to where the freak lay, then moved back to Torrent and then to Candy. “Help me! You owe me. You owe me, Candy.”

She shook her head, trying hard to convey her thoughts.
No, I don’t!

He looked back up at Torrent. “What do you want? Surely there’s something. Everyone has a price.”

“I want you dead.” There was no warning. No more talking. No discussions. Torrent smashed his fist through Ellis’ chest. She could hear his bones crack and break. There was a slurping noise and Torrent pulled back, Ellis’ heart was clasped in his hand. It was still beating.

Ellis looked down at the heart. There was a look of shock on his face. He looked back up at Torrent. He tried to speak but his mouth would only open and close, blood trickled from between his lips. The heart in Torrent’s hand gave a shudder and stopped. Then Ellis fell to the floor… dead.

Torrent dropped the heart and turned towards her. His face suddenly looked ashen. For the first time, she noticed that his nose was swollen with black bruises beneath his eyes. His chest, parts of his stomach and arms had peeling skin. Some parts were pink and puckered, others raw and open. He fell to one knee. “Candy,” he groaned her name.

Not for the first time today, she fought against the rope that bound her arms behind her back. She moaned against the tape that covered her mouth.

Torrent fell face first onto the hard floor. The only thing that kept her from losing it completely was the sight of his chest as it rose and fell.

* * *

E
arly hours
of the next morning…

Torrent tried to open his eyes for the umpteenth time and failed. He felt a momentary panic that quickly subsided. What was wrong with him?

Nothing.

Everything was fine.

The voices had woken him. Although woken was not the right word since he wasn’t truly awake. Roused—yes, better, there were voices that had roused him. Females. He tried to make out what they were saying. “I need to see him for myself.” Her voice was far away. Like it was being projected through water or even something more viscous. Like molasses or syryp. Who was the female that spoke? He knew that voice. Just as an image began to form in his mind he lost it. It wafted away like smoke and a light breeze.

Torrent felt warm. He was so tired. More tired than he’d ever felt before.

There was more chatter but it was too far away. He buried himself deeper in the covers. Breathed in her sweet scent and allowed himself to be drawn back into sleep. There was a scratching on the edge of his mind. Something his subconcious was trying to make him remember but he was too exhausted to even try and think what that something could be.