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"Maybe I picked the wrong specialty," Nyrren breathed, hooking his fingers beneath the ropes to test his knots. "Who knew I'd like seeing a woman tied up so much?"
Then he reached down and pinched my nipple hard enough to make me wince. A lazy smile touched his mouth, but there was a glint in his eyes that I didn't like at all. I'd seen it in Ela's, but never directed at me. It was the darkness coming to the surface. That need to hurt, to destroy, and to leave the target damaged when it was all over.
Hooking his fingers under my chin, Nyrren forced my face up to his. "I want to see tears, Nariana. You think all that lace on your body is armor? Well, just look at what isn't covered." He grabbed my other nipple and squeezed as hard as he could.
Not even the gag could keep me from yelping at the sudden and intense pain, but this man liked it. The more I reacted, the more turned on he got. When he let go of my breast, I was breathing harder, feeling the ropes bite into my skin as my chest heaved, and he seemed to enjoy that. The way his eyes devoured me felt wrong, though. Like a predator. Like he'd just found his calling, and I knew this was going to be bad.
Even worse, I couldn't see Talin. I couldn't meet his eyes. The gag prevented me from calling his name. My hands were tied securely to my ankles, so there was no gesture I could make. My guardian had promised me that he'd know when to step in, but how? I couldn't signal him. I was completely and totally at this man's mercy, and Nyrren seemed to like that part the most.
Then, without warning, the back of his hand crashed into the side of my face. I tried to relax into the hit as we'd been taught, but that was easier said than done. My skin flared cold at the impact, but the heat of pain came right after as my mind tried to catch up. Another hit came from the other side.
"Beg," Nyrren ordered.
I lifted my eyes to his and said nothing. If he wanted to break me, then he'd have to do more than that. I was a guardian. I'd been hit enough to know it didn't matter. I was Zeal's Chosen. I knew the price would always be less for me. I also wasn't ready to break.
"Oh, that's right," Nyrren chuckled. "You're not the submissive type. Good, because if I put enough bruises on you, I won't need to worry about what grade you give me. You should've chosen a Path, Nariana. You should've learned your place in this temple. You are not special, and I'm not stopping until you're willing to scream that at the top of your lungs."
His foot came next, hitting me right above my belly button. My breath rushed out. My stomach wanted to follow, but I forced my body to take it. There was nothing sexual about this. No desire, no seduction - for me. This was Nyrren's kink, and every time the man made me hurt, he seemed to lose a little more of his control.
Another hit connected with my face, and then Nyrren stepped back. His eyes scanned the collection of toys, but he didn't reach for the left side. His hand landed on something near the middle. My pulse was pounding faster. Anxiety made my skin prickle, but it wasn't fear. Not yet. I just had no idea what this guy would do, but that was ok. My guardian was right there. I'd have sessions like this at some point. I needed to learn how to deal with it, and Talin had to figure out where my limits were. I wouldn't know until I reached them, right?
But what Nyrren lifted wasn't a whip, flogger, or a crop. It was a rod about as thick as his thumb, and dark. Wood? Rubber? I honestly didn't know, but the man tested its weight as if it were a sword. A slash through the air made a whoosh, and then he turned the rod on me.
The first blow hit my bicep, then my elbow. I grunted, but that was all. Next, he whacked at my back, forcing me to topple forward, but I caught myself. When the rod connected with my ass, it wasn't a spank. The pain made me lurch, but the ropes prevented that. I could feel the welt growing immediately, yet the man didn't even slow. Another hit on my lower back, my shoulder, and Nyrren walked around me. Hit after hit, he kept going, waiting for me to cry out, to beg, or worse, to give in.
Instead, I closed my eyes. Zeal promised his priests that our suffering would be less. I couldn't taunt the guy. I couldn't seduce him. I was here to take the pain of his frustration, to become his punching bag. The rod hit my thigh even harder, and then Nyrren stopped playing around. Pain collided with the side of my face. Stars exploded behind my closed eyes. I felt myself falling over, but had no way to stop it. Time slowed, pain took over, and I felt blood in my mouth.
The gag forced me to swallow it, yet something was trickling across my face. Was that blood or tears? I didn't know and didn't care. I just wanted to be free. I wanted this to stop. I wanted to prove I could take it, but I was helpless. Points of fire lit up across my body with each hit - and then everything changed.
Nyrren kicked me again, still wearing his shoes. My entire body lurched. Something cracked. My breath failed me and my stomach heaved, but I bit that back. It took everything in my power to suck in a breath - because it hurt! Another kick came right after, and then the rod connected with my side. A scream burst from my throat, searing pain piercing my body even as my eyes flew open just in time to see Nyrren's foot coming at me again.
His shoe connected with my sternum. That painful spot in my side tore a little more, and I knew something was wrong. These weren't bruises. This man was going too far. I was trying to take it, but I could barely think. My mind didn't want to settle. Shivers were taking over my skin and I was panting, desperate, wanting nothing more than to run. I was done. I needed out. I hurt too much. This wasn't normal. This wasn't ok. This wasn't ever going to end.
Talin!I screamed in my mind, and it was like he heard.
Nyrren was whaling on me with the rod, hitting me over and over like a sack of grain. I flexed, struggling to see my own guardian, but he was already moving. Every step took an eternity. The crack of that stick on my skin came so much faster, racing at the same pace as my heart, and that was when I realized I was screaming into the gag. Not words, just desperate cries that couldn't make it around the ball filling my mouth.
"Enough!" Talin roared, slamming into Nyrren with both hands.
The man staggered back, but his guardian rushed forward, shoving Talin off. "Do not touch him!" Wobem bellowed.
"She's done," Talin snarled, trying to push the guardian off. "Nyrren, that's enough! Stop!"
Yet the man's eyes were wild. He looked drunk on my pain, his erection straining his pants and his face contorted with delirium. Nyrren's lips hung open, and he panted with his need for a little more. I watched him take one more step toward me, but Talin saw it too.
My guardian's fist crashed into Wobem's face. Nyrren bellowed in frustration, swinging that rod again, but this time at Talin. My guardian ducked, spun, and caught the thing, yanking it out of Nyrren's hands. The moment of distraction was just enough for Wobem to get a good hit in, though. His fist slammed into Talin's back, right at his kidney, and my man staggered, caught himself, then came back for more.
Talin was good. He'd been training his whole life, and he wasn't about to give up, but I could see he was losing. Bound like this, I was completely helpless. My body hurt too much for me to do more than watch. The ropes prevented me from even getting out of the way. Even screaming was useless, so instead I prayed. Not with words; I simply begged for Zeal to do something, tell someone, warn them all, orsomething. I needed him, and I hoped with everything I had left in my body that he'd come for us.
Nyrren, Wobem and Talin were struggling. They slung each other around, traded punches, but there were two of them and just one of Talin. Then Nyrren grabbed something else off the table and rushed back in. He moved so fast that I didn't know what it was until the very last second. Until the man drunk on the power of inflicting pain stabbed downward, burying the knife into the side of Talin's neck.
"No!" I screamed, no longer caring about anything else - not even that the gag stopped the word from coming out.
But it was too late. Blood was already rushing from the wound, and far too much. All I could see was red. So much red running down the side of my guardian - and then Talin's legs gave out.
Chapter 54
Anver
