Caged (Savage Men 1)

“I don’t care if I’m pretty. You had no right.”

“But …” He places his hand on the glass, hoping I might place mine on as well, but I walk as far away from him as I possibly can.

“You could’ve chosen anyone, but you picked me.”

“I … like … you,” he says softly even when his voice still sounds like that of a grizzly bear.

“If you liked me, you wouldn’t have condemned me to a place like this! You don’t do this to someone you like. You don’t get to pick them and trap them like … like …”

Tears spring into my eyes. I can feel my throat clamping up again, so I clutch it and sit down on the bed.

Every time I look at him, all I see is that he’s the sole reason I’m in here. And I hate myself for feeling so guilty for ever even letting him into my heart. For letting him take what he wanted. For me …wanting him too.

He took my freedom away from me.

How could I ever look at him the same again?

Accompanying Song: “Freeze All Motor Functions” by Ramin Djawadi

The next day, Graham storms into the room. “Why the fuck didn’t you two have sex?”

I almost tumble over my own feet; that’s how fast I’m trying to get up from the bed so I can get as far away from the glass as possible. As far away from him as I can.

He paces along the cages, gazing at us with an infuriated look. “Hmm? Got an explanation for me?”

“Sex. In the room,” Cage says.

“Yes,” Graham barks. “You were supposed to fuck her hole, remember?”

I don’t understand. Why is he so mad? Cage got what he wanted, right? Wasn’t I just a reward to him for winning the fight?

“We fucked,” Cage says.

“You let her suck your dick,” Graham growls, banging the cage and scaring everyone. “I told you to ram your dick inside her; I didn’t mean her fucking mouth.”

There’s only one way he can know that … and that is by watching us. So there’s a camera in the bedroom.

Shit.

How often does he watch? And how long?

Just thinking about it makes my skin crawl.

Cage doesn’t respond. All he does is stare stoically.

“Calm down,” Syrena says.

“Don’t tell me what the fuck to do!” Graham spits at her, making her take a step back. Then he walks back to Cage. “And you … do what I fucking told you to do.”

Cage sighs.

“What was that?” Graham says, holding his ear up to the glass.

“Yes, sir,” Cage mutters, clearly not impressed.

Graham nods. “You’d better remember your place.”

He turns and walks straight to my cage. I don’t want him anywhere near me, but that’s just the thing … I’m not in control. And that’s what this is all about. Control. He wants it, yet Cage and I took it away from him by deciding to do it differently than he had in mind.

“You think you’re so clever, don’t you?” he says, cocking his head as he points at me through the glass. “You think you can avoid my rules forever?”

I shake my head, but when I part my lips, just a tiny squeak comes out.

He chuckles, but it quickly turns into fully fledged laughter. “Not anymore. If you won’t do what I say, I’ll have to make you.” The creepy smile on his face makes a chill run down my spine.

Then he turns and storms out again, slamming the door shut.

I shiver again, wondering what his threat meant. What he’s planning … it can’t be good.

I sit down on the bed again, feeling nauseous.

“Guys? You gotta step it up, man,” Syrena says. “If y’all wanna avoid getting caught in his rage. All I’m saying is … make him happy, and he might give you what you want too.”

“Freedom,” I say, looking at Cage as I say it even though I’m replying to Syrena. “N-no one can g-give me that … except me.”

Accompanying Song: “@l” by Xoe Wise

I wake up in the middle of the night when a foul stench enters my lungs. When I open my eyes, my vision is blurry, but I can definitely make out the gas pouring into my room.

Shit.

He’s turned on the valves again.

I don’t want him to take me, so I immediately roll out of bed with my blanket and stand on my bed, stuffing the blanket into the vents letting all the smoke in. But it’s too late. The smoke’s already in the room, and I’m coughing and heaving. Worse, my legs are shaking, and I feel weak. Not soon after, I collapse onto the bed, unable to keep the blanket against the pipe. The smoke now freely flows into the room, pulling me with it into the darkness.

I don’t know how much time has passed since Graham drugged me, but a roaring headache pulls me back into the here and now. I try to rub my temple, but I can’t. My hands are stuck.