Harder maybe.
This was what her life had consisted of for thirteen impossibly long years. She’d only spent a couple of weeks free, so this nightmare hadn't felt distant. But it had been seven years since Thunder and his teammates had escaped their own three-year-long version of hell. That was enough time for him to distance himself from it, for it to start feeling more like a bad dream and less like reality.
Now he had returned.
Trapped.
Caged.
Powerless.
For him to willingly accept this because he wouldn't leave her side made her terrified to meet his gaze.
What would she find in it?
As though drawn against her will, Maya found her gaze drifting toward his. She didn't want to see what was in it. Didn't want him to look at her with disgust, with guilt, with regret. Already, he knew she was mentally unstable. He’d seen her at her worst, lost in her mind, trapped inside her fear, but now he was getting an up-close and personal view of what she’d lived through, and she was certain it would forever change how he saw her.
But when their gazes met, clashed, she didn't see any of those things.
Pride, fury she knew wasn't directed at her, impotence, and unwavering support.
Master was moaning, his fingers tangled in her hair as he thrust with abandon into her mouth, close to coming, lost in his building pleasure so he wouldn't see her latch her gaze onto Thunder’s, drawing strength from him.
Not once did he look away. Maybe he couldn’t give her words right now, but she didn't need words to see that he was offering her all of himself, letting her lean on him even if they were separated by half a dozen feet and a wall of metal bars.
Even when Master grunted, crying out as his release erupted into her mouth, she didn't break eye contact. Master continued to thrust, forcing her to either swallow or choke, and so she forced the evidence of his orgasm down her throat and waited for him to withdraw.
Once he started to soften, he finally pulled out, stroking her head like she was nothing more than a pet who had perfectly performed a trick, and she dropped her gaze back to the floor so he didn't see the hatred she felt for him burning brightly.
“Such a good girl, aren't you?” Master asked, petting her head, and she fought the desire to pull away. “Maybe if you're a good boy, I’ll let her go down on you,” Master taunted as he turned to face Thunder. “She likes to be shared, don’t you, my pretty toy? And she has three perfect holes.”
The hands that had been gripping her hair now roamed her body. A thumb was shoved between her lips, while his other hand dipped between her legs, where she was very clearly not wet for him, since none of this was pleasurable to her, before shoving its way inside her.
Another growl emanated from Thunder, and Master chuckled before withdrawing his finger. “He’s anxious to have a taste of you, too, isn’t he, pretty toy?”
Since Master never wanted her to reply, Maya simply stayed where she was, waiting for whatever he had planned next. There was no other cage as far as she could tell, so she wasn't surewhere Master planned on putting her or if he was intending to keep playing with her.
Before she could find out, a cell phone began to chirp. She hadn't had a cell phone since she was fourteen, and Thunder certainly didn't have his on him since they’d both been abducted, so it had to be Master’s.
He made an irritated noise, but stepped away from her to answer it. With him distracted, Maya chanced a glance at Thunder, who was watching her with concern. When he arched a brow at her, she gave a small nod to let him know she was okay. After so many years of being used just like what Master had just done to her, she didn't have it in her to feel humiliated. Not that she liked that Thunder had witnessed that, but it was what it was, and they had bigger issues to worry about.
Like being prepared for the rest of Delta Team to make their entrance.
“I’ll be back, my pet,” Master said a minute later, returning to her side and petting the top of her head. “I’d been looking forward to enjoying this sweet body of yours, but there’s something that requires my immediate attention. When I return, I’ll bring with me some of our favorite toys, until then, you can sit here like a good girl and wait for me.”
Pushing on her shoulders until she was shifted off her knees and onto her backside, Maya knew better than to wince at the pain from the welts from the belt. So utterly convinced that she was too broken to be any sort of threat, Master went striding out of the room, and she hardly dared to hope that he’d be gone long enough for them to figure out a plan.
It seemed too good to be true, and from her perspective, when something appeared too good to be true, then it wasn't true.
“Babydoll?”
The soft whisper made her blink, and that single motion had tears filling her eyes. Crying was a waste of time they didn't have, but she couldn’t seem to help herself.
“You're okay, babydoll. You did amazing, I’m so proud of you. You're going to be the one to bring that monster to his knees, and he’s never going to see it coming.”
Those words pushed a borderline hysterical laugh past her lips, and she blinked again, lifting a hand to wipe away the few tears that had spilled free, and then the semen that dribbled down her chin.
She wasn't really the one who was going to bring Master to his knees, but it was a nice thought. One that spurred her into pushing to her feet and stumbling toward the cage where Thunder was trapped.