Page 68 of Broken Surrender
Don’t let him think you care.
It’s easier if you let it go.
He grabbed a fistful of my skin, twisting it until I moaned. It should have hurt. Should have made me scream. But the substances battled inside of me, everything heavy and weak, my chest palpitating, every touch more electric than the last. He slapped me. My hips bucked forward, begging for more.
“That’s better,” he said.
The pressure lock shifted, letting the door open. Gunfire blasted, the guards shooting back, each of them falling. Vaughn immediately grabbed the gun from his holster and held it to my temple. Desmond stepped in, armed too, ready to kill.
“How did you get down here?” Vaughn asked.
“You don’t own the Marked Blooms Syndicate,” Desmond said.
“They have orders to protect Shin & Co Inc—”
“Not anymore.”
The two of them stared at each other, circling around the room, until finally, Vaughn shoved the gun harder into my forehead. I trembled, groaning aloud, but my ankles spread wider. Desmond straightened his aim at Vaughn’s heart.
“So you didn’t bring your sister,” Vaughn said.
“My sister died five years ago.”
“And how did she do after the test batch of our early versions of Eros? Did it stay with her for long? Did she come toyoufor attention?” Vaughn chuckled. Desmond stepped forward, his gun steady. “Put the gun down, or I’ll kill Lena.”
I glanced at Desmond, pleading for him. Emotion simmered in his eyes.Trust me,he seemed to say.
“What’s it going to be?” Vaughn asked. “Do I wait for your sister? Offer her up to the company? A young pin cushion doll for us to fill and fuck? Or do I make this cunt overdose on Eros? See how long it takes for her heart to stop?”
“Go ahead,” Desmond said. I moved my hips forward, distracting Vaughn for a slight second. I couldn’t keep still. I had to do something now. “Use all the Eros you have.”
Vaughn narrowed his eyes. “What—”
I kicked my leg as hard as I could, smacking into Vaughn’s side. He lunged forward, grabbing a syringe from the table. Desmond knocked the gun from his grip, but Vaughn didn’t care. He swung a metal tray into Desmond’s elbow, his gun dropping to the floor. They rolled to the side, knocking into a table full of vials that crashed onto the floor. Desmond pinned Vaughn to the ground, barrelling into him with balled fists. As the punches flew into his face, Vaughn raised his fist up and stabbed Desmond in the back, plunging a syringe down into Desmond’s skin.
Desmond stumbled forward, his pupils dilating. “How does that feel?” Vaughn asked. “That’s enough tranquilizer to knock you out for a long, long time. I had it prepared for the cunt over here, but,” he shrugged, “as long as it’s put to use.”
Desmond locked eyes with me. “Lena,” he said. “I- I love-”
“Please. Spit it out already,” Vaughn laughed.
“I love you,” Desmond said, his words slurred.
“Love?” Vaughn laughed. “You want to see how much you love her when I fuck her in front of your dying body?” Vaughn rubbed a hand down my chest and I shivered, a whimper crumbling out of me. He stepped forward, each crack of his shoe on the tile making me cringe. “Watch, Callen. She’s such a slave to her cunt. Eros is pure genius. And once we’re able to manufacture enough of this, Shin & Co Inc will surge on Eros.”
He unlocked my cuffs. In my mind, everything raced, screaming to run, to help Desmond,to do something.But I came forward, pulling at Vaughn’s pants. I unzipped him, taking out his cock.
“You see, Callen?” Vaughn asked with a pleased smile. “She can’t help herself.” Tears covered my cheeks but every sound was a moan, like I had wanted this. Like the night Aaron had raped me. Like I had done the night I had killed John.
Behind him, Desmond stood up, swaying from side to side, a gun in his hand.
Vaughn leaned over, boring into me, and then he shifted to taunt Desmond, but I wrapped my arms and legs around Vaughn, straddling him like a leech. I wouldn’t let him see.
“Fuck me, please,” I said. “Please. I’m begging you.”
“What an honor,” Vaughn said, “fucking my boss’s wife in front of the man who murdered him.”
He stabbed my stomach with his cock, too busy turning his head over his shoulder to realize he wasn’t fucking me. He was too focused on making sure that Desmond was watching. Desmond stepped forward, his gait unsteady. I moaned, pulling Vaughn’s attention back to me, and as soon as we locked eyes, I licked his neck, trying to seduce him, to do everything I could to distract him, until finally, I found control and bit into his shoulder, my canines clamping down as hard as I could. He howled, his eyes bulging, and I bucked my hips until he fell over. I held on as tight as I could, while Desmond raised the gun and put a bullet into Vaughn’s head, the blood splattering me.
