Page 45 of Violent Skies

“You clearly didn’t work hard enough if I can still talk,” Lauren’s voice seems far away.

“I just need a nap.” I shake my head, nuzzling it into Ashley’s shoulder. “Give me a couple minutes,” I say, letting my eyes close. I fall asleep too easily, my guard down, and I feel my heart rate slow to a strange pace as the room is sucked into darkness. I couldn’t be happier, slotted between two women, sweaty and fucked. I sleep like a fucking baby.

“Do we wait for him to be conscious?”

“You gave him too much…”

“That’s what it said on the bottle!”

I blink the sleep from my eyes, my muscles feel like someone has injected them with lead. I go to wipe my face, and my wrist yanks sharply in place… What the fuck? I try again only to realize that it’s been tied with something. I pull on the other side, shifting my head and finally getting my eyes open wide enough to panic. Rope binds both wrists to the rungs of Ashley’s bed frame.

“What the fuck is this?” I snap, looking around in the dim lighting to find where they’re arguing. I kick my leg but they’re tied down too. “If you wanted to tie me up you just had to ask. I’m into that shit…”’ I say into the empty studio apartment.

“Yeah…” Ashley’s voice is off to my left, that much I know. I let my arm go slack as the women wander from the darkness. Lauren’s got a knife in her hand and Ashely a baseball bat. I stare at them.

“That might be a little too kinky, ladies.” I suddenly feel the urge to get myself free. I wiggle gently at the ties but she’s got the knots done too tight and there’s no way I get out of it simply, or fast enough to avoid whatever they have planned. “What exactly…” I shake my wrist a little harder, tilting my head back momentarily to survey what it’s tied too and then back to the women. “What did you give me?”

“A shit-ton of crushed Benadryl,” Lauren answers, her voice wavering.

“And why?” All the air in the room feels tight and hot.

“Because you’re an idiot but you’re too strong and we have a job to do, Rafe,” Ashley steps forward. “Just do it,” she barks at Lauren, who flinches at the noise.

“Hey now, hold up,” I panic, raising my voice a little. “What are we doing… please, hey.” I try to catch Ashley’s gaze. “What are we doing?”

“God, you’re so fucking stupid,” Ashley sneers, waving the bat up and I brace for her to hit me but she just puts it in my face. “There’s a bounty on you.”

“A bounty?” I choke out.

“So we’re going to collect it, and then neither of us have to fuck idiots like you anymore. We can move to fucking New Zealand and eat pussy on the beach,” Ashely rants.

“Wait…” I continue to tug on the ropes in my confusion. “You’re a lesbian?”

“Oh my fucking—” she screams and the bat cracks across my chest.

My vision blurs with water as the pain vibrates across my torso like a wave. Holy shit that should not hurt that bad. The second my senses return I continue to pull on the ropes, praying that eventually something will snap. Fuck fuck fuck. I roll my body, the rope digging into my wrist painfully, but I miss the next swing.

Lauren looks terrified, like this wasn’t her decision, but she circles the bed and flexes her hand around the knife. “You don’t have to use that…” I say to her, still flexing, but my muscles are tired from the fucking Benadryl and my strength wavers. Get your blood flowing, you idiot.

“Do we have to send proof?” Lauren asks and Ashley nods quickly, readying for another swing. There’s nowhere for me to go this time and the bat bounces off my rib cage painfully. It’s agonizing. I growl at her.

“Un-fucking-tie me right now,” I snap at her. “You fucking whore.” Usually that word is reserved for Murphy when he’s cheating at Mortal Kombat, but fuck it feels good to call her that and even better to watch the way she flinches when I say it.

“Isn’t that what got you into this? Being a man slut?” She swings again, connecting with my thigh and Lauren slashes, the blade catching my bicep in a stinging line that feels like someone is holding a lighter to my skin. I pant, the pain building alongside the rage.

“Fight fair if you’re going to be a bitch,” I snap, and with one final adrenaline rush, I snap the rung my right wrist is tied to. The wood cracks loudly and both their faces drain of color simultaneously. “Yeah, fuck you,” I groan, catching the bat as Ashley swings for my face. It slaps into my hand, the redness spreading instantly, but I yank it away from her and toss it across the room.

It’s a gamble, but she’s rattled and frankly, stupid.

She darts for the bat and it gives me a split second to get my other hand free. Lauren stumbles backward, the knife stained with a line of blood, and her eyes flicker from me to her girlfriend.

“Do something!” Ashley screams and Lauren lunges, but I roll forward and she flips over the bed to the other side. The knots around my ankles aren’t tied as well and I get my leg free in time to plant a kick dead in the center of Ashley’s chest as she surges forward. The bat still catches my thigh and I growl as I work the other knot, eyes on Ashely one moment and Lauren the next. These cunts.

I kick free and scramble from the bed but Lauren jumps, attaching herself to my back, and wraps her arm around my throat. The knife glimmers next to my eye as I twirl in a circle and take the bat to my stomach. “Get off,” I holler, pissed off and bleeding. I flip Lauren forward into the cold cement flooring at Ashley’s feet, but the knife catches my cheek in a deep slash that bleeds instantly.

Ashley jolts into action, swinging the bat, and narrowly catches me in the head but I tuck and ram my shoulder into her stomach, pushing her backward against a wall. She hits it with an echoing thud, her body going limp for a second. I don’t get a moment of peace when I hear Lauren scrambling to get off the floor. I turn on her, storming across the gap and kick her just hard enough to roll her away from the knife.

A scream vibrates through the air and then Ashley is flinging herself in my direction, but I’m faster and the Benadryl is finally wearing off to the point that my senses don’t feel foggy. I snap my hand out, catching her across the face and bring her close, slamming her on the floor next to Lauren who’s crying in loud, wailing breaths.