Shackled (The Lord Series) by Amy T

Shackled (The Lord Series)

Olivia

Hands, strong hands pin me down, my clothes being ripped, and then…pain…so much pain, and I feel like I am ripped in two. I try to speak, but it feels like I have ashes in my mouth, and the blinding pain makes it impossible to think.

My eyes open, and I am faced with that turquoise gaze that once made me feel safe, except he is not the same as seven years ago, as he looks at me with loathing, the promise of torture and slow death shining in his eyes. Some forgotten survival instinct ignites inside me, and I try to escape him. I scream and thrash as my fingernails claw at his face, three long parallel scratches appearing on his cheek.

Something vicious flashes in his eyes, and he hits me with the back of his hand, my right ear ringing and my head turning to the left, my eyes landing on the Lord who stopped Rueben from killing me, and I realize my mistake-the pain I felt moments ago was coming from my ribs and other parts of my b*dy and not from someone who was trying

to rape me.

My gaze returns to the one who slapped me.

What is worse is that I was trying to defend myself from Rueben.

How many times did I get beaten into submission because I refused to do as told or I tried to prevent someone from hurting me? No matter how many times Jason used his fists on me or had his friends f**k me until my pus sy and a ss felt like they were on fire from use, I don’t seem capable of learning my lesson.

Knowing what is to come, my b*dy and mind prepare for a beating, only this time, it won’t be Jason who will punish

me, but Rueben and the African-American Lord. No doubt it will be much worse. Much, much worse.

Rueben’s angry tone as he curses me makes me freeze, and when he fl*ps me on my stomach, despite the pain radiating from my ribs, I don’t dare move, especially when Rueben’s blood-brother puts his heavy hand on my back and pushes me down into the mattress, putting more pressure on my chest and breathing becomes hard.

“What are you going to do?” Rueben is asked by his blood-brother.

“Teach her a lesson.”

I squeeze my eyes shut and get ready for a rain of fists to fall on me when I hear the swish of a belt in the air before it connects with my thighs. It hurts worse than I expected, and I bite the inside of my cheeks, imagining the orchard

where I fell in love for the first time.

“Don’t you ever scratch me again, or else I will yank out your fingernails and have you eat them,” Rueben snarls as he hits me again with his belt.

Jason has never used a belt on me, but my father sure did, many times, but he never hit me the way Rueben does it, with so much rage and hate. It hurts so bad it feels like my flesh is being ripped from my bones. Tears stream down my face, and I bury my face in the mattress, my whimpers being mu ffled by it. Breathing becomes even harder, and my head is spinning, and I just want everything to be over.

“Do you f**king understand, b itch?” I don’t reply because each time I did it, when Jason asked me something, the beating became worse. The belt lands on my a ss, and a scream escapes my l*ps, but I doubt anyone heard it as Rueben. yells, “Answer me, you stu pid bi tch, else I will return you and your diseased cu nt to Malaky.”

Olivia

I am so scared of Rueben that even if I want to speak, I am not sure I can. My fingers curl around the sheets, gripping them hard as I wait for Rueben to hit me again. The hand pining me into the mattress disappears, and then I hear, “If you don’t stop, you will kill her.”

1 try to whimper a ‘kill me,’ but all I manage is to moan in pain.

“You do not know how hard it is not to snap her n*eck in two and throw her in the landfill with the rest of the trash

like her,” Rueben sneers.

“Then it will be best if I take care of her.”

Rueben is silent for a few seconds before saying, “I will go check on Diva. Make sure to tie the bit ch to the bed.”

“I doubt she will walk anytime soon. Look at the welts forming on her thighs and as s.”

“She deserved it for trying to claw my eye out. And her tied to the bed is to prevent her from doing something st*pid,” Rueben says before I hear a door open and then close.

Rueben is not wrong. Given the occasion, I would try to do something st*pid.

Rueben’s blood-brother is quiet, and I stay alert in case he wants something from me. Sucking his co ck or him f**king me will be even more painful than ever, especially given how sore I am or how my ribs hurt, or the constant throbbing of my thighs and as s, but just because I am in pain doesn’t mean men will take pity on me. They never do.

The last time I took drugs was more than a day ago, and I desperately need some heroin, especially now when my b*dy. craves it, and the anxiety of not knowing what will happen to me next is hitting me.

Turning my head in his direction, I try to ask him to give me something, but my throat is so dry that no words come out of my mouth.

“Let’s get you clean first,” he says, and I nod before attempting to stand, but my b*dy refuses to obey me. “I got you,” he says, rolling me onto my back before picking me up.

His left hand goes under my as s, and I try to hold back my yelp as he carries me to the bathroom attached to the room. I rest my forehead against his shoulder and I whimper silently against his skin. Rueben belted me so hard I

won’t be able to sit properly for days.

“Can you stand?” he asks while inside. “Until I turn on the water and make sure it is hot enough to warm you. You are so cold, it feels like I am touching a corpse.”

I don’t feel cold or hot, but given the circumstances, I wonder if I am in shock. Rueben finding me is surely something I didn’t expect.

“It would be best if you sit for a moment,” he says as he lowers the toilet lid and puts me on top of it.

The lid is cold, offering some comfort to my aching muscles.

“I am Jasper,” he says as he turns on the shower. “And I am sure you already know who Rueben is.”

I stay silent because I don’t know what to say back. The last time I had a real conversation with someone was…years

2/3

Olivia

ago. And even then, men weren’t interested in talking to me, only getting into my pants.

Jasper removes his clothes and boots as he keeps talking, “The other three are Ansel, Tyson, and Mose.”

I tense for a moment, knowing what is to happen, and when he turns to face me, my gaze falls on his di ck, and oh

boy… he is big. Maybe one of the biggest I have seen, and he is not even erect. I try not to wince as I think how badly it will hurt when he will f**k me.