I drop the towel and step back just as a guard fills the doorway. His face is blank, almost bored, like I am an errand he has already completed a dozen times.
“It’s time to go. Elliot wants you for your initiation. Come now.”
My stomach drops so hard that my vision swims.
He doesn’t wait for a response. His hand closes around my arm and drags me forward. I stumble but stay upright. I don’t fight him. Not yet at least.
As we move through the manor, the sounds reach me before I see anything. Low moans echo through the halls, broken by wet, choking noises and laughter. Asher’s laugh carries easily. Knox’s voice follows, amused and cruel. Elliot’s tone sounds calm and pleased.
The door opens into a game room flooded with harsh, unforgiving light that leaves nothing to the imagination. A pool table sits in the center like a stage.
Sophie is on her back, stretched across it, her bare legs spread wide, her body tense but responsive, her breath coming fast and uneven. The bruises on her skin don’t slow her down. They seem to fuel her. Her back arches higher when Elliot stands between her thighs, his hands locked around her hips, holding her open while he thrusts into her with force. She meets him every time, gasping, her mouth parting in sounds that are not pain.
Knox stands at her head, his fingers twisted into her hair, guiding her mouth exactly where he wants it. His cock fills her mouth, her lips stretched around him as he sets the pace, using her throat without restraint. One hand stays tight in her hair while the other moves over her chest, squeezing her breasts, pinching her nipples until her body reacts sharply and she moans around him.
Asher stands close at her side, his pants undone, his cock hard in his hand. He guides Sophie’s wrist, showing her how fast, how tight, how to stroke him exactly the way he wants. She follows without resistance.
Sophie isn’t fighting them. She is leaning into it. Her body moves with theirs, her pleasure obvious in the way she spreads her legs wider for Elliot and hollows her cheeks for Knox. This is control given and taken by choice. A shared language of dominance and submission that they all understand.
And standing there, watching, I realize this isn’t meant to shock me alone. It is meant to show me what kind of initiation they believe in, and exactly how far they expect me to go.
Asher shifts first. He steps back and trades places with Elliot without breaking the rhythm of the room. Elliot steps back, giving space as Asher moves in behind her.
Asher grabs Sophie’s hips and drags her forward, folding her over the edge of the pool table, her chest pressed to the felt table, her back arched.
He reaches for a pool stick resting along the table’s edge. He angles it against her ass and pushes it inside her with a rough, steady force.
Sophie cries out, her fingers gripping the table as her body reacts. Her hips press back against him instead of pulling away, breath breaking as she adjusts, spine curving deeper as he sets the pace, keeping her exactly where he wants her.
Elliot turns away from her and walks toward me.
His cock in his hand, his expression relaxed, almost amused. “You ready to join?”
I can’t answer. My mouth won’t work as I try to process what I’m witnessing. Fear locks my jaw in place, and my pulse roars so loudly I can barely hear anything else.
“This is how women survive the manor,” Elliot says calmly. “You give us what we want, and you stay comfortable.”
His hand brushes over my chest, his fingers grazing the curve of my breasts through the silk. My body reacts before my mind can stop it, and I flinch hard, stepping back.
He smiles wider. “You’ve got some nice tits. I’m going to have a lot of fun with you.”
I shake my head, breath coming fast and shallow.
“I don’t rape,” Elliot says, his tone almost bored. “Look at me. Does it look like I need to beg for pussy?”
He steps closer again. “It is in your best interest to meet our needs if you want your stay here to be as pleasant as it can be.”
I swallow, my throat tight, and shake my head again. “No.”
He laughs softly. “Really?” His eyes flick over me with open contempt. “I thought you’d be more of a cock-hungry slut. I saw the videos of you and Seth. I figured you’d be desperate by now, especially since your boyfriend is probably dead.”
The words knock the air out of my lungs. I gasp despite myself.
Elliot strokes himself slowly as he watches my face. “Last chance to make yourself useful, I promise you won’t like the alternative.”
I weigh everything in a split second. Fear, survival, Seth, the baby, my own body. Then I shake my head again. “No.”
Elliot chuckles, “Suit yourself.”
