I tried to go to sleep like Alec wanted me to do, but it was impossible. So many thoughts were running through my head. What would happen tomorrow? Would my father be all right? Would The Iron Colt Brotherhood figure out the ruse that Alec and I were playing? So many questions and thoughts of terror would keep even the most exhausted awake. I could also tell that Alec was struggling with the same issues because he stood by the window staring out, appearing lost in thought.

“I can’t sleep either,” I said softly. “Are you thinking about tomorrow? The ritual?”

“I’ve been to a ritual before, and I know what they are going to do to you,” he said, not looking at me but still looking out the window. “We need to prepare you for tomorrow.”

“Prepare?”

“I want to make sure you can be as comfortable as possible tomorrow, and there is only one way to help do that,” he answered simply.

He walked over to a dresser and pulled out some items that I couldn’t make out from the angle in which I sat. I clung to the blanket around my body as goosebumps covered my flesh.

“Lie down on your stomach,” he ordered as he walked toward me.

I did as he asked, as the mattress gave beneath my weight and embraced me in the softness of the blanket’s fabric.

“What are you going to do?”

“I told you. I have to stretch you. You’ll be glad I did.”

“Stretch me? What are you talking about?”

“Your anus.”

I snapped my head back to look at him in disbelief. “What? You are going to stretch my an… anus?” I was appalled. He couldn’t be serious.

“I told you. I know what happens at the ritual.”

“Which is?”

He squeezed some fluid out of a tiny bottle onto his index finger and without pausing, touched it to my anus. I gasped and tensed up, but he continued. He rubbed the cool, slick liquid all around the surface and then dipped his fingertip past the entrance.

I bucked and cried out. It didn’t hurt, but the invasion surprised me. I wiggled and whimpered when his finger went even deeper inside and the small bite stung.

“Just relax. My finger is nothing compared to what will be put inside of you tomorrow.”

“Oh God,” I whispered as I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the ministrations going on in the depths of such an intimate part of my body. What would be put inside of me tomorrow? I didn’t want to know… and yet, would my imagination be worse than the actuality?

“I’m adding a second finger. It might hurt a little as I stretch your bottom hole more, but in a few minutes, your body and mind will adjust.”

“Why? Why is something going inside of me there tomorrow?”

“Because it’s always been done that way. The ritual hasn’t altered since the beginning, nor do I ever see it changing,” Alec said as he added the second finger. And just as he’d warned, the small bite from before grew in intensity.

“Ahhh,” I cried. “I don’t like it.”

“Well, I think you are a smart girl. Your current situation isn’t about liking things from this point on.” He shoved both fingers in deeper, making me moan loudly as I clutched the blanket with balled fists.

He continued on with the stretching of my bottom hole, ignoring that I gasped and moaned with each tiny thrust of his fingers. He pushed his fingers in deeper. He shoved a little harder.

And then finally… he pulled out his fingers and I sighed in relief, happy my stretching was over. I moved to sit up but he placed his hand on my lower back, pinning me down. “I’m not done yet. The dildo is next.”

I looked over my shoulder, with less shock this time. Of course, it couldn’t be as simple as two fingers. “Will this hurt?”

“Yes.” He lubed up the phallic instrument. “But if you relax and take deep breaths, you may actually find some enjoyment in it.”

I smirked as I turned my head and hid my face in the crumpled up bedding. “I doubt that,” I mumbled.

I knew the instant the dildo touched my puckered entrance that it was going to hurt. It was big. Far too big to enter inside of me—

“Ahhh,” I cried out. “It’s too big. Please! You are going to tear me!”

He paused with just the tip of the dildo inside, burning the entrance to my bottom. “Shh… take that breath. Come on.”

I inhaled, and let it out with a shaky exhale. As I did so, Alec pushed the awful instrument all the way in. I screamed… or at least, I think I did. I really didn’t know at the time because my head spun as the sensation of pain mixed with a fullness that gave me an odd sense of warmth. I wanted it out immediately, and yet, when he slowly pulled it almost from the depths of my channel, I moaned loudly when he pressed it back in.

“Does it hurt?”

“Yes,” I replied, yet oddly, I didn’t want him to stop. My mind screamed no, but my body reacted the opposite.

“I know. But you have to get used to something of this size in your backside. You will most likely be sitting on one of these for most of tomorrow.”

I whimpered at the thought. “Why does the brotherhood do all this?”

“Because they can.”

“So why do you? Because you can as well?”

He moved the dildo in and out in a slow and steady pace. I felt electric shocks run along every nerve inside my body, and although I didn’t necessarily want this to continue, I didn’t exactly hate it either. My pussy pulsated with each movement, and I knew if I started to gyrate my hips and rub my clit against the fabric of the sheets beneath me, it was very likely I could reach completion.

“I left this all a long time ago. I never thought I would be here,” he said softly, never ceasing in the thrusting.

“But you once were one of these men?” I asked, trying to keep my mind off the pleasure and the pain of confusion that erupted in my backside. “And my father?” I couldn’t imagine a decent man ever wanting to be in a position of such atrocity. Nor could I picture my father willingly being part of a society like this.

“Bloodline and power,” he confessed. He paused the action of the dildo but kept the tool inside. “Ambition, drive, and the need to reach what to many is an unrealistic goal. The Iron Colt Brotherhood gave us the tools to build an empire. It gave each member the keys to what could be a very lucrative kingdom.”

He sounded so sad as he said the words. I didn’t want to say or do anything, scared it would distract him and he would stop sharing.

“But power comes with a price. We all knew this.” He took a deep breath. “But sadly by the time we realize the consequences, it’s too late.”

“But why would you ever be part of this?” I asked, realizing there was so much more to this man.

He pulled out the dildo slowly and stood up. I turned my head and watched him walk to the bathroom silently. He seemed like a different man since our time at the lake house.

He walked back into the room, reached under my arms, and pulled me up to the pillow and adjusted the blankets so they were covering me. Was he tucking me into bed? “You need sleep. Tomorrow is a long day.”

“Alec?” I asked softly, looking up into his eyes as he pulled the blanket to my chin. “Please tell me that we will all walk away from this in one piece. You, me, and Papa.”

Sadness washed over his face, and I saw such pain in his eyes. “I’m going to do everything within my power to make sure that happens.” He placed a soft kiss on my forehead. “It isn’t going to be pretty tomorrow. It’s going to be the worst experience of your life. But you will get through it. I will make damn sure you do.”