"Oh, she's coming around!"
I tried to lift one hand to rub my face, then realized I was wearing handcuffs. My eyes snapped open and I winced from the blinding light.
"Ooh, wow...so pretty." said the excitable male voice. "Just like a little doll."
I weakly rubbed my eyes, still feeling the effects of the drug, then pushed up a bit to my knees. I slowly peered up and noticed a shape of a couch near me while I was on the floor. I could see one pair of legs that were shrouded in darkness while the beaming light from a single lightbulb was focused on me.
"Wh-where am I?" I gasped, acting frightened by the situation. "Wh-who are you?"
A dark chuckle from the darkness made me want to laugh, but I shrank back and scooted farther away.
"No, no!" exclaimed that voice again, and a hand reached out of the darkness towards me.
I twisted and quickly scooted my back against the wall, but I was still very visible. "P-please, let me go..." I whimpered, lowering my head. "I-I didn't do anything, I swear."
"Oh, we know. But my buddy Ben had me keep an eye on you and bring you back if you got a little lost." stated the calmer, deeper voice. "But my brother got attached."
"B-brother?"
"Me, me! You're so pretty!" exclaimed the other voice. "I wanna play with you!"
"P-play? B-but Basile is going to play with me when his work is finished."
The owner of the deeper voice clicked his tongue. "It is a waste on him. And it's also such a shame my other idiot brother got captured. It's been such a boring time trying to keep him safe. I wish that shitty bastard would leave me out of his mess. It was his fucking fault that he got greedy."
I tried not to let any emotion appear on my face. Éloy had a brother—two, maybe? Honestly, I wasn't sure that there were even two people in this room with me. The two voices took turns, never overlapping the other. But they could be twins, I guess, that took turns speaking.
"Anyway, that masochistic pervert Ben wouldn't be able to control you." remarked the calm voice, then the excitable one continued, "I wanna play with you!"
I tilted my head and thrust my wrists out. "Then why'd you cuff me? Don't you wanna play with me?" I asked cutely, pouting as I nosed the links between the handcuffs.
I heard one hitch of breath, then giggled and dropped my hands. "I guess you're not so scary after all!"
"Not scary?" murmured the calm voice, then I watched one figure stand in the inky shadows across from me. "I guess I'll show you how scary I can be."
I tilted my head and then watched with amazement as the man claiming to be Éloy's brother moved into the light. He looked very similar, but his body was littered with burn scars from what I could see of his neck and hands. The lower half of his face was obscured by what appeared to be a dark, breathable fabric. I think he had chocolate-brown eyes like Éloy, too.
"S-sir—?" I breathed, then jumped when he crouched down and placed his hands on my thighs.
The man seemed to smirk, then his whole demeanor changed. "Pretty Mio!" he exclaimed, then leaned forward to hug me. "You're super cute. I wanna play with you, Mio."
"What kind of play?" I asked quietly, and the kiddie version of the man appeared to grin, even though I couldn't see his mouth.
"Play house! You can be the mommy, Brother can be the daddy, and I will be the kid."
Okay, so the kiddo version of Éloy's brother was actually a kid with childish desires and the normal one was indeed an adult with adult desires.
"Um, okay. What should I call you?" I asked quietly, reaching up to pat his head.
"Hmm, how about Nicky?"
"Okay, Nicky. And should I call your brother 'Daddy' or can I know his name?"
Nicky's eyebrows furrowed. "Brother doesn't like that idea about using his name, so he wants you to call him by the other one."
"Ooh, all right. Thank you, Nicky." I praised, smiling at him and petting his hair.
"You're welcome, Mommy. Are you gonna make dinner? Daddy's gonna come home soon."
I blinked. I wasn't sure how to play this game, but I decided to try my best. I agreed with "Nicky" and pretended to make dinner, then "Daddy" came "home."
"Welcome home, dear." I said with a smile, and "Daddy" chuckled.
"Thank you, Mio. What did you make tonight?"
"Just the usual." I murmured, subtly moving my head when he pushed his lips out to kiss my cheek. "How was work?"
"Daddy" wasn't too pleased with me, but he answered anyway. "It was all right, but I had to punish a few people for not acting out their proper roles in the office." he remarked, hinting at my own action—or lack thereof—a moment ago.
"I see, that's terrible. I hope you didn't punish them too severely." I replied, glancing at his face.
"Daddy" seemed to smirk. "After they apologized, their punishment wasn't too harsh." he said in a deeper voice, then continued, "So be a good girl, Mio, and play along."
"B-but—!" I went to protest, then noticed his movement and pushed his face away with my hands. "No kisses."
His scowl was fierce. "Why? You've been acting strangely since my accident, Mio. Is this it? Were you only with me for my appearance and money?"
I wonder if his girlfriend or wife did actually leave him after he got his burn scars. I was blessed that Aimé didn't leave me because of mine.
"That's not true." I responded, then tugged my collar down a bit to my left. "I have my own scars and you haven't left me yet."
His eyes widened, then "Nicky" came forward. "Mommy, when'd you get hurt? Are you in pain?"
I chuckled and cupped his cheeks again. "Aww, you're so sweet. Thank you for worrying about me, Nicky." I said, then answered his questions, "No, I'm not in pain. I got hurt long before I met your daddy."
His dark eyes hardened. "Did someone hurt you, Mommy? Or was it an accident?"
I poked his nose. "Don't worry about it, Nicky. It's done now."
"Aww," he whined, then grinned at me. "You're gonna tell Daddy and me when you get hurt, right?"
"Sure," I replied with a warm smile, gently petting his scarred skin. "But you have to tell me when you and your daddy get hurt, too."
"Nicky" hugged me tightly and rubbed his face on my chest. "Mommy is the best."
I petted his dark hair and leaned against the wall, then tilted my head back. When was "Daddy" going to let me out? Technically, I could just knock out "Daddy," but "Nicky" was too cute. I didn't want to hurt him.
"Say," I began, still petting his hair. "I know 'Daddy' is awake because his hand is creeping up my thigh. Sit up."
"Daddy" slowly pushed himself up and removed the cloth covering the lower half of his face. A long, jagged scar from the left side of his mouth ended at his left ear. His lips curled up when he noticed that I hadn't reacted.
"You're the one my brother fell for, aren't you?" he asked, no longer in the mood to play house with his brother.
"Yes," I replied with a small smile. "And you're his ally—his mole—in the Golden Cobras."
He snorted and sat back, resting one arm on his knee. "It took his blabbermouth self almost a month to fuck up and let the cat out of the bag. But he was so happy to have 'his kitten' in his arms again."
I hummed, trying not to let myself tremble. I subtly clenched my jaw and steeled my gaze. Éloy's brother chuckled and smiled at me.
"Since you found me and made my brother happy, I'll give you our names. You already know my idiot brother's name, don't you?"
I nodded. "He said very few know it."
"We're loyal for the most part. We keep to ourselves, but we'd never give each other up."
"I see," I murmured. "What a strong bond of siblings."
"What's your real name?"
I tilted my head and smirked at him. "You said you'd tell me first. Speak up, then maybe I'll say it."
His jaw ticked and he snapped his hand out, but I knocked it away. I shoved myself forward and used my weight to slam his back onto the floor. He grunted, then froze when he felt my hands wrap around his throat. I giggled and leaned forward, looking into his dark eyes.
"Are you sure you can handle me? I quite like masochistic perverts, you know." I stated with a smirk, then pulled my lips up in a cruel grin.
Éloy's brother was in a stunned stupor, so when I sat back on his lap, he jerked with a gasp. I snickered and rubbed the underside of his jaw with my thumbs.
"Come on, speak up." I encouraged, then quickly moved my knees onto his forearms. The older man grunted.
"Perhaps I should have left Ben to you," he grumbled, then blushed when I grinned at him. "Or maybe not."
"Come on, we don't have all day."
"We do."
"No, we don't. My man will be back soon and he'll be looking for me."
He smirked. "Oh, you mean Éloy's puppy?"
"My man."
He snorted and rolled his eyes. "My name is Corin. Éloy's and my baby brother is Alaire."
"French roots?" I asked, and he nodded.
"We came from Cannes in southern France. It was easy to slip in with Désiré's side of the Golden Cobras because he works with many French people as a Frenchman himself."
"Well, thank you for answering my questions." I said, letting go of his throat. I placed my hands on his chest, keeping Corin in place. "My name is Theodore Armel-Viper."
Corin's dark brown eyes gleamed. "Ah, another heir?"
I smiled. "Yep."
"A surprisingly girly one at that. Will the Black Vipers survive?"
I flicked his nose and he flinched. "You're so rude. I think this side of me is an advantage. Besides, even though I am cute and cuddly like a teddy bear, I do have the traits of a real grizzly bear."
"Oh yeah?" prodded Corin. "Prove it."
The door creaked open and a knife was aimed nearby. As it dug into the floor, Corin's eyes were wide. I chuckled as I pried it out and pressed the blade under his jaw.
"Be a good boy and come along with us, Corin. We won't hurt Alaire if you're good."
Corin's eyes narrowed. "Bastard—agh!"
Aimé had kicked Corin's shoulder as he hauled me up onto my feet. I pressed my face into his chest and breathed deeply of his intoxicating and soothing scent. Aimé purred and curled to kiss my head, then retrieved his knife from my hand.
"Good job, Theo." he whispered, firmly stroking my back. "I'm so proud of you."
"How'd you find me, Aimé?" I whispered, then he fished out his phone. I pouted. "You put a tracker on me?"
"To keep you safe," he murmured, repeatedly kissing my forehead. "Are you mad?"
"Nope, I'm really happy. Thank you, Aimé."
My fiancé tugged me aside and kept my face pressed against his chest as his subordinates hauled Corin out of the room. One guy tossed Aimé a key and my man caught it, nodding to him. The guy seemed happy as he hurried out, then Aimé unlocked the handcuffs on my wrists and they clattered to the floor. My slightly reddened skin was quickly covered in saliva due to licks and kisses from my possessive man.
"You're really too cute, Rayiys. I was so jealous of everyone I talked to who had seen and or talked with you. 'Mio Moore' is too sweet and attractive to be shared with others."
I giggled and stood on my tiptoes to kiss his left cheek. He was still a tiny bit curled over while he rested his right cheek on my wrists. I stroked his face with my fingers, smiling happily when he purred and returned my affection tenfold.
Aimé slowly exhaled and relaxed, nosing and kissing my fingers. "Rayiys Theo, are you going to dominate me later?"
I inhaled sharply and began to cough, then laughed when my concerned beloved began rubbing my chest and back. I patted his left pec and his body heated up more distinctly as I purposefully rubbed his nipple through his clothes. Aimé growled and curled down to bend me backwards. I giggled against his lips, pecked them, then pressed for a deeper kiss. Aimé was very happy to oblige my nonverbal request.
When the kiss eased off, our breaths were shared between us, Aimé hugged my waist tighter and asked his question again. I pushed my fingers into his sand-blond hair and met his lips again.
"Of course I will, Aimé."
Teddy teased a lot of people, and Aimé will be having some fun soon. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Alaire: Variant form of French Hilaire, meaning "joyful; happy."
Corin: French form of Roman Latin Quirinus, meaning "men together."
Is Corin actually a really bad character? Or is he mainly dragged along by his brother? Well, you'll find out in due time.
I did add a few more details to this chapter that weren't in the original and tried to make the situation clearer.
And to make this issue clear, Corin has Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) due to something horrifically traumatic happening to him and his family when he was young. I don't think I ever explained Corin's past, so maybe I'll add that as a new section of the Q&A at the end of the main story.
See you again tomorrow! I love you all very much. <3
- Alessa (Kelpie) xoxo
Updated: 3/19/2024
Word count: 2375