Page 37 of Hell & Back

“Don’t. She’s sleeping. What do you guys need?” He took a drink of his coffee.

“Wanted to see if she made any progress on those Phantom fuckers’ addresses,” Dagger spoke up.

“She might have. Her computer dinged while we were busy. She’ll check it when she wakes up. For now, she needs the sleep. She’s not slept much since Darren was taken.”

“She doing okay otherwise?” Race leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Yeah, I think so. The OB doctor said things were looking good at her last visit.” Fuck, that was the day they found out they were having a girl. One of the best moments of his life shattered when they took Darren.

The door suddenly opened causing all three men to jolt in surprise.

“What’s going? Why are you all standing out here in the hall?” Kylie looked from one man to the next.

“Uh, we were letting you sleep, babe,” Tuck replied.

“Oh, well,” she blushed a pretty shade of pink. “I’m awake now and I just got a couple of hits.”

“Really?” Dagger asked.

“Yeah, come inside.” She pushed the door farther open and figured they would follow.

Tuck looked to Race and then Dagger. “Not a word. Do you hear me? Not a word.” He growled the last at Dagger.

In his woman’s haste to get dressed, she’d put her t-shirt on inside out and backward with the tag in front. If she would have put her button-up shirt over it, no one would have noticed. Hehid a smile behind his coffee cup and followed her inside. That wardrobe mishap alone would embarrass her, but if she new her hair was a total wreck in the back, she’d be throwing her shoes at him.

8

DARREN

Darren’s stomach growled and he was dying of thirst. What he wouldn’t give for an ice cold beer right now.

He sat on the dirty cot with his back and head against the bars. He closed his eyes, refusing to guess at what kind of stains there were on it and tried to nap. So far that’s all he managed to get, little naps here and there. Nothing that amounted to much. The more exhausted he got, the harder it was to control the urge to find relief for his aching dick with his own hand. For a while just remembering what he’d seen Otis and Henry go through was enough to keep him from trying to get himself off, but as time passed it was getting harder and harder not to try.

If this much pain came with using the drug, how the hell did they think they were going to sell any of it and how did they expect to gain repeat customers?

“Hey, Henry? Have they ever given you the drug and then given you a woman shortly after or have they always made you wait a long time?”

Henry lay on his cot completely exhausted. He’d tried getting off with both of his hands to the point he could barely raise them. Now he lay on the cot, tears streaming down the sides of his face in frustration and his hard dick pointing straight to the ceiling. Not that he’d examined it too closely, but the damn thing seemed to bob with the beat of his heart. How close was Henry to being as bad off as Otis was when he took that woman in front of him?

“Yeah,” he had to clear his throat. “The first time they gave me the drug and about the time it kicked in, they brought me a woman. We fucked a couple of times and everything was fine. Got off harder than I ever have. It was amazing. I couldn’t wait to try it again.”

“This time?”

“This time is my third dose. All I want is to fucking come and get the hell out of here. They can keep their damn money.” He swiped at his eyes with limp arms. “If they’d just give it like it’s supposed to be given, the drug wouldn’t be half bad. They just like fucking with us and watching us go insane with pain.”

Darren didn’t like the sound of that. He’d managed to get through it so far by meditating. He’d picture taking his bike engine apart and putting it back together. Then he’d picture taking his gun apart and cleaning it. That one was one of his favorites because it ended with him shooting every last Phantom in this club.

Yesterday, he guessed it was, they’d come and gotten Otis, presumably to set him free. By the time he left he’d acted like, well, for lack of a better word, anormalperson.

His stomach growled again. Despite his misgivings about whether or not he should eat anything they gave him, heeventually caved and inhaled whatever they brought him. So far, it had been a peanut butter sandwich without the jelly or a ham sandwich without the cheese or mayo. He should probably be grateful they brought a bottle of water whether it was luke warm or not.

From his best guess, they only fed them once a day which meant he’d gotten three sandwiches. That meant he’d been aguestof the Phantoms for at least three days, maybe four. He doubted they fed him the first day they had him. They were too busy kicking his ass.

He turned a little to see what Joe was up to in his cell. He was sitting much the same way he was except his eyes were becoming more and more vacant as the days went by. They’d only dosed him that one time, but they hadn’t released him yet. They were probably keeping him because he could identify them if he went to the police. Joe had to know the Phantoms would never let him out of here alive. No matter what, Darren vowed to himself, when his club came to get him, he was taking Joe with him. He just prayed it would be sooner rather than later.

He hissed through his teeth at the sharp pain shooting through his dick. Squeezing it hard until the feeling passed helped less and less. He banged the back of his head on the bars and hoped he wasn’t still here when it didn’t help at all. He feared what the might mean.

The sound of a door opening and heavy footfalls landing on stairs had him straightening on his cot. Three men came into view. One carried sandwiches, another carried bottles of water and the third, the key to the cell doors. The man with the sandwiches placed one on a paper towel outside Henry’s cell and slid it forward. The other guy handed him a bottle of water that he pushed through the bars. Next, they stepped outside his cell and repeated the process. Moving on to Joe’s cell, he’d been shocked to see them unlock the door and step inside.

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