King disappeared from the room after pinning me against the wall, and being alone with Stranger suddenly felt so intimate it made me blush. I turned my naked body away from him, finally out of the ropes that bound me before. I could feel him moving behind me, the clanging of his metal belt buckle as he pulled his jeans back on. And then he approached me. I felt his breath on the back of my neck and a shiver ran through me, making my skin erupt in goosebumps. And he just stood behind me, breathing against my skin, never touching me once or saying a single word.

I looked at the window in front of us, seeing our reflections in the glass. He was shirtless, just in a pair of torn-up jeans, and I was still completely naked with my arms protectively folded in front of me. I felt so vulnerable like that; he was standing so close to me. But I didn’t want him to move away. I wanted him to come closer.

I could hear King talking on the phone outside, and it made my heart pound. I wasn’t sure what he was trying to do, but I remembered that ring of his, remembered the promise I’d just made, and a part of me – a big part of me – already knew what was coming next.

“You smell like fucking sin.”

Stranger’s words felt even hotter against my skin, and my back arched, trying desperately to make contact with him. I couldn’t understand what it was about that man that made my body react so instantly, almost as if it was a chemical reaction binding me to him. I didn’t want to understand, either. It scared me too much.

“Are you going to leave?” I asked him, my voice soft and shaky.

“I…” I could feel his mouth moving against my shoulder blades, moving up until he breathed heavy, labored breaths in my mane of hair. “I don’t think I can… Pet.”

King walked back in moments later, and we sprang apart guiltily even though we weren’t doing anything wrong. King’s eyes lingered on the space Stranger had occupied a moment ago, but he didn’t say a word. He just moved to stand by me, his hand wrapping possessively around my waist. He was wearing pants now as well, but his chest was bare, just like Stranger’s.

“She’ll be here in twenty minutes,” he told me, loud enough for Stranger to hear.

My heart pounded louder. I wondered what would happen next. Would he kick the other man out and pretend none of this had ever happened? I could feel the resentment he felt for Stranger. It was so obvious in every word he said and every move he made.

“I want you to stay,” King told him.

I finally looked over my shoulder, not wanting to miss this exchange.

“Me?” Stranger asked bitterly. “Seems like you changed your fucking mind about having me around pretty fucking fast, old man.”

“Don’t try me,” King spat out. “I said I want you here. If you want to stay for the girl, you will. You sure as fuck won’t do it for yourself.”

Stranger walked up to us, and just like always, my body tensed when he was around. I wanted his fingertips on my skin. I wanted him to feel what he was doing to me. Of course, I could never admit that out loud, especially not with King in the same room.

“Do I get another turn?” Stranger asked, the hint of a laugh in his voice so obvious it made me cringe for him. Surely King wouldn’t let him get away with that tone.

“You will,” King replied smoothly, and my body shook with anticipation.

They both held on to me, as if they were afraid I’d just topple over. King’s arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me close against his taut and toned body, and Stranger’s fingers squeezing my forearm like he owned me.

“Then I’ll stay,” Stranger said with a smile, looking into my eyes. Somehow I managed to hold his gaze, even though it felt burning hot. “For the girl.”

King pulled me against him, and I could feel his erection through his pants as he held me close. Stranger looked out of the window, his breath leaving marks on the cool glass.

King led me to the couch and sat me down on the cushions. Somehow, I didn’t feel naked at all. I felt like I belonged right there, in that room, with those two men having a plain view of my body. I couldn’t even think of what had happened earlier. Having two cocks inside me, fucking me with so much recklessness… It would make me lose my mind all over again, and I needed to stay focused.

“Do you know what’s going to happen, Pet?” King asked me.

My eyes finally left Stranger at the window, and lingered on my master’s concerned expression.

“I-I think so,” I whispered.

He took the ring off his finger and laid my palm out flatly between us. He placed the ring in my palm and clasped my fingers around it.

“I want you to wear my mark, Sapphire,” King said softly. “I want you to wear it forever.”

“Yes, I want–” I started, but he cut me off, placing a finger over my parted lips.

“You have to understand this means forever,” he said again. “No matter what happens, that brand stays there. It’s not like a tattoo, Pet. You can’t have it removed, maybe covered up, but it will always be there, underneath whatever you put over it.”

“You’re going to fucking brand her?” Stranger’s voice was incredulous as he moved away from the window, his eyebrows shooting up as he looked at us on the couch. “She’s not fucking cattle, you jackass.”

“I… I want it,” I said, my voice not nearly as frightened as I really felt. But I knew I wasn’t lying. I wanted this. I’d wanted it since I’d first seen his ring, those initials curving and intertwining together to make a beautiful pattern. I wanted to wear it on my skin, and if he would let me, I would keep it forever. I wanted to.

“Good girl,” King muttered, ignoring Stranger completely. He got up to his feet, leaving his ring in my palm.

Stranger laughed and shook his head, looking from one of us to the other.

“You two are both batshit fucking crazy,” he said, and I let a small smile break out on my lips as I stuck my tongue out at him. He stared at me for a long moment before running his hand through his hair and groaning. “I must be just as fucking crazy.”

The doorbell rang, and I exchanged a look with King, hoping it didn’t show how panicked I was really feeling.

“She’s early,” he muttered to himself, and got up to answer the door. Once again, I was left waiting alone with Stranger, and having him in the same room made me nervous as hell. Thankfully, the door to the playroom opened again, and in walked King, with someone all too familiar following behind.

“Maria,” I said, and she gave me a nervous smile before looking away.

“Angel,” King corrected me, striding into the room in front of my new friend. “Don’t call her by her name in here, Pet.”

My bottom lip trembled as he guided me to my feet. I could only stare as my friend laid out a sheet on the floor. She put on a white robe over her clothes, and her hair was pinned up in a hairstyle that didn’t show off her pretty curls. I felt so nervous it almost made me sick, and I could barely look at any of them.

Stranger was standing to the side of the room, as if he was pretending he wasn’t playing a role in this. King hovered over Angel as she prepared everything, and I almost felt like I was a part of a medical experiment. It made me shake so badly King came over and cradled me in his arms. I could see Stranger shaking his head with an incredulous laugh over his shoulder. But he still didn’t leave. None of us could, not now.

“Pet, I need you to lie down,” Angel told me with a smile. I didn’t know whether she was jealous or felt sorry for me, and I didn’t know which one I’d prefer, either.

I let them both help me to the floor, lying down on my back. My eyes went to Stranger for some reason, and my gaze begged him to help me. He muttered something under his breath as he came to stand closer to me. He kneeled down next to King, and the two men shared a grudging look of acceptance, each taking one of my hands.

“Everything is sterilized,” Angel told me in her calm, soothing voice. But it wasn’t doing much to calm my nerves, not this time around. “You don’t have to worry about anything. The pain will be intense but it will dull into an ache you will be able to withstand.”

I stared at her with my breath catching, and for the first time, I wondered if King had done this to all of his pets. Jealousy wracked my body so intensely I thought I would retch, and my eyes begged my master to tell me the truth.

“It will be okay,” he said softly.

“I…” I swallowed thickly, my head swimming with thoughts I couldn’t put into order. “Am I the first one to get this?”

He stared at me for a long time, and I tried to predict his answer, but I had no idea what it would be.

“Yeah,” he said finally. “You’re the only one, Pet.”

His eyes lingered on mine until Angel cleared her throat.

“Could I have the ring?” she asked softly, and I finally unclenched my fingers. My palm was covered in half-moon imprints from where I’d dug my fingernails into the skin. She took the ring from my hand, and we all watched, mesmerized, as she sterilized the metal.

I knew I could have stopped the whole thing if I wanted to. But somehow, I wanted to see this through to the end.

I watched Angel clean the ring and raise a small metal rod to it. I didn’t know what it was until she turned it on, and fire bloomed on the end of it. She heated up the ring, holding it up with something that looked like large metal tweezers.

“Jesus fucking shit,” Stranger muttered next to me as the metal glowed red.

That was when my body started to resist. Fear took over in its most primal form, and my back arched off the floor, gasping for air and crying out so pathetically I felt sorry for myself and what King would do to punish me.

“Pet,” he said softly. “Please, do you still want to do this?”

“Y-yes,” I cried out while my body begged for it not to happen. “Please, just hurry, do it now, hurry the hell up, please…”

My voice broke into sobs and they all just stared at me, Angel poised over my body with the brand ready.

“Part your legs,” she said softly, and my heart pounded louder. Where was she going to put it? Where on earth was she going to put that thing? I wailed in horror.

“Please,” King begged me. I could hear the panic in his voice, and it mimicked mine. “Please, Pet, if you don’t want it, we’ll stop now.”

“You have to do it,” I begged him. “Please, you have to…”

“For fuck’s sake,” Stranger muttered under his breath. In one swift move, he was between my legs, and he parted them as wide as he could. My thighs trembled until he pinned them under his hands, so fucking tightly I couldn’t move a single inch. I cried out in pure terror.

King’s weight sank against my chest and they both stared at me as the brand made contact with my tender skin, burning a mark that would forever label me as King’s property.

I’d never screamed so loud.

Before that moment, I hadn’t even known it was fucking possible.

My scream echoed in the room, and when I passed out, either from the shock or the pain, it echoed in my mind as well.

Over and over again.