“She’s waiting for you, lover boy.” The one on my right snickered. I recognized that laughter and the cruel grip of his hands. Brock wasn’t someone easily forgotten. “We’re gonna make a fucking kick-ass film. You guys will be super stars.”

We shuffled down the tunnel, stirring up dust, and they ushered me back into their torture room with the concrete floor. Alex hung by her wrists from the rafters, her skin darkened from dirt and bruises. She was entirely helpless with her head drooping toward her tits. The men shoved me to where those damn chains waited, so fucking close yet too far away to touch her. I slammed to my knees and swayed for a few precarious seconds, then I lifted my chin and peered up at her.

“Now that’s a fine piece of ass.”

Snickering.

Laughter.

Words blending together in a long string of threats and taunts I couldn’t understand because everything from my sight to my hearing was garbled.

Except for Alex. Her presence came through achingly clear, and my apprehension choked me. I couldn’t speak, couldn’t plead. So long as they kept pumping my system full of drugs, I was fucking nothing.

How much pain would she suffer because I couldn’t fight for her?

“Fuck me…just leave her alone.” I tried rising to my feet, but the floor swerved, and I fell sideways. The contact bolted through my brain, throbbing with an incessant pound. Blood pooled on my tongue from where I’d bit down hard.

More laughter.

“I’m not into dudes, sorry.” Brock bent and yanked my head up. Vinnie disappeared from view. “I’d rather watch the two of you get it on.”

“Fuck you.” I spit in his face. He snapped back and planted his fist into my jaw, and fuck, he had a better arm on him than his scrawny brother.

I glared at him, ignoring the deep ache that radiated to my teeth, and a sense of satisfaction spread through me as he wiped my saliva from his cheek. “Fuck you,” I said. “Go ahead, hit me again.”

Better me than her. The longer I kept the focus on me, the longer he’d leave her alone.

He pulled his arm back, preparing to strike, but a single demand from Cleft, who appeared in the doorway behind him, made him freeze.

“Save it for the camera.” Cleft sauntered into the room. “Getting started without me, I see.”

“Nope, just warming up.” Brock retreated, and I pushed to my knees as the room spun around me for a few seconds.

Cleft assessed the situation with a nonchalant glance. “Let her down. But him…” He jabbed a finger in my direction. “I want him on his toes. Don’t rely on dosing him. He’s a mean sonofabitch. Gave me hell on the inside, even while I had my cock shoved up his ass.”