Shackled (The Lord Series) by Amy T

to rape me.

My gaze returns to the one who slapped me.

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

How many times did | get beaten into submission because | refused to do as told or | tried to prevent someone from hurting me?

No matter how many times Jason used his fists onor had his friends f**kuntil my pus sy and a ss felt like they were on fire

from use, | don’t seem capable of learning my lesson.

Knowing what is toe, my body 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 cursesmakesfreeze, and when he flipson my stomach, despite the pain radiating from my

ribs, | don’t dare move, especially when Rueben’s blood-brother puts his heavy hand on my back and pushesdown into the

mattress, putting more pressure on my chest and breathing bes hard.

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

“Teach her a lesson.”

| squeeze my eyes shut and get ready for a rain of fists to fall onwhen | hear the swish of a belt in the air before it connects

with my thighs. It hurts worse than | expected, and | bite the inside of my cheeks, imagining the orchard

where | fell in love for the first time.

“Don’t you ever scratchagain, or else | 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 hitthe 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 | bury my face

in the mattress, my whimpers being mu ffled by it. Breathing bes even harder, and my head is spinning, and | just want

everything to be over.

“Do you f**king understand, b itch?” | don’t reply because each t| did it, when Jason askedsomething, the beating became

worse. The belt lands on my a ss, and a scream escapes my lips, but | doubt anyone heard it as Rueben. yells, “Answer me, you stu

pid bi tch, else | will return you and your diseased cu nt to Malaky.”

Olivia

| am so scared of Rueben that even if | want to speak, | am not sure | can. My fingers curl around the sheets, gripping them hard as

| wait for Rueben to hitagain. The hand pininginto the mattress disappears, and then | hear, “If you don’t stop, you will kill

her.”

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

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

like her,” Rueben sneers.

“Then it will be best if | 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.”

“| doubt she will walk anytsoon. 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 | hear a door open and then close.

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

Rueben’s blood-brother is quiet, and | stay alert in case he wants something from me. Sucking his co ck or him f**kingwill be

even more painful than ever, especially given how sore | am or how my ribs hurt, or the constant throbbing of my thighs and as s,

but just because | am in pain doesn’t mean men will take pity on me. They never do.

The last t| took drugs was more than a day ago, and | desperately need sheroin, especially now when my body. craves it,

and the anxiety of not knowing what will happen tonext is hitting me.

Turning my head in his direction, | try to ask him to givesomething, but my throat is so dry that no wordse out of my

mouth.

“Let's get you clean first,” he says, and | nod before attempting to stand, but my body refuses to obey me. “I got you,” he says,

rollingonto my back before pickingup.

His left hand goes under my as s, and | try to hold back my yelp as he carriesto the bathroom attached to the room. | rest my

forehead against his shoulder and | whimper silently against his skin. Rueben beltedso hard |

won't be able to sit properly for days.

“Can you stand?” he asks while inside. “Until | turn on the water and make sure it is hot enough to warm you. You are so cold, it

feels like | am touching a corpse.”

| don’t feel cold or hot, but given the circumstances, | wonder if | am in shock. Rueben findingis surely something | didn’t

expect.

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

The lid is cold, offering somefort to my aching muscles.

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

| stay silent because | don’t know what to say back. The last t| 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.”

| 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 | have seen, and he is not even erect. | try not to wince as | think how badly it will hurt

when he will f**k me.