Disclaimer: All the characters from the "Magnificent Seven" T.V. series are property of Trilogy Entertainment, The Mirisch Group, MGM Worldwide.
Warning: This section does involve explicit scenes that are slash in nature (Rating NC-17)
Ezra Standish awoke to find his worse nightmares to be nothing in comparison to the reality he now faced.
His head throbbed but the pain dissolved into nothingness when he woke up and saw where he was. Instinctively, without any evidence to prove otherwise, he knew where he was. Not precisely where as a matter of location but rather in whose hands Diana had delivered him. The furnishings that surrounded him were opulent and befitting one who thought himself to be a king among men. The room he found himself locked within was decorated with the finest, from the plush carpet on the floor to the furniture that was classic Louis XIV. Ezra knew of only one person who kept himself in such splendor and knowing it chilled the blood inside his veins. Suddenly, Ezra had never felt so helpless as he did the moment he realised that he was once again in the power of a man who could destroy him in more ways than one.
Ezra searched the room frantically, knowing it was useless even before he made the attempt but his fear compelled him to try nonetheless. It took him seconds to verify visually what his mind already knew; neither his usual sidearm nor his derringer was anywhere in sight. Of course, Ezra knew that his captor would never be stupid enough to allow it to be within reach. He scrambled off the bed and crossed the expensive rug on the polished wooden floor, trying to discern just how long it was he had been out. There was no windows in the room, so he had no idea how long he had been unconscious and there was only one door that led out of it. Predictably when Ezra reached it, he found the door locked, ensuring his prolonged captivity inside his opulent cage for the moment at least.
"Damn!" He swore uncharacteristically and turned around to get a closer look at his prison.
His hat sat comfortably on a hat stand at the corner of the bed and Ezra wondered fleetingly if this was this captor's room. The notion made him ill and he shuddered to think what the man might have in store for him. The most obvious answer was the one Ezra could least stomach even though he knew that it was the only certainty about all this. It was his own fault, Ezra told himself as he retreated to the bed and sat down at the edge of the mattress to collect his thoughts and decide what he was going to do, if there was anything at all he could go do extricate himself from this situation. Ezra had placed himself in the trouble he was presently in when he had rescued Mary Travis from the clutches of the organization known as the Citadel and its leader.
Hannibal Julius.
Just thinking the name, send new rivulets of fear running through him as if the man's name alone had power over him. In some respect, Ezra knew it did. Mostly because his fear of Julius was not due to the fact that he feared dying but what Julius would put him through before that inevitable death. Ezra remembered how he had pretended to reciprocate Julius' attraction towards him in order to trick the man into telling him about the Citadel's plans for the Territory. Unfortunately, it had worked too well and by the end of the whole affair, Hannibal escaped but not before he declared that he would return to claim what was his; namely Ezra. Ezra closed his eyes remembering how he had kissed Julius on the mouth, how the sensation of touching another man had repulsed him but clearly excited Julius. Ezra knew that capture by Julius did not simply mean falling into the hand of the enemy but becoming subject to his desires.
He had to get out of here!
Ezra knew he was starting to panic and told himself that such an action would only get himself killed. He had to calm down and start thinking about this logically, the way one would dissect an opponent playing a game of cards. A crystal decanter of brandy sat on a silver platter on a table at the far end of the room and at the moment a drink did not seem like such a bad idea at all. Ezra poured himself a glass of brandy and savored the taste in his mouth when he took a sip. He had drained the glass when he felt a warmth come over him, a sensation of peace that gave him the balance he needed to think his way out of his present circumstances.
Almost as that thought moved across his mind, the sound of the doorknob twisted and Ezra almost stiffened in reaction, forcing the bile of fear that surged up his gullet at the impending arrival of his captor. For a man accustomed to never showing fear, Ezra knew that he if he did not compose himself, he would be in no condition to extricate himself from this mess. More importantly, he could not believe it was just coincidence that Julius had chosen now to strike. There was something afoot that pertained to more than just his abduction. Besides, Julius could not expect to keep him indefinitely without Chris Larabee and the rest of his friends tearing the countryside apart in their search for his retrieval.
The door swung open and Diana Belladonna stepped in first. She was dressed in a sweeping sapphire gown, with her hair piled on top of her head as if she were about to dine out for the evening and appearing nothing like a kidnapper but a lady in every sense of the word. Ezra glared at her as they made eye contact and she started to smile. It took a fraction of a second for Ezra to realise that she was not alone. Following closely behind her was Beauregard Kitson, a man Ezra recognized to be a fanatic who had gone on a murder spree involving stagecoaches. At the time, none of the seven could understand what the motive for the murders had been but now as Ezra felt his breath catch inside his chest at the sight of Hannibal Julius following closely behind, Ezra realised the seven had been mistaken about a great number of things.
"Its good to see you Ezra," Julius said with a little smile and to Ezra's horror, he realised that Julius really meant it.
There was affection in his eyes and hunger. The expression in his eyes as he traveled up the length of the gambler nearly destroyed whatever composure Ezra had been trying to maintain and immediately, Ezra turned back to the decanter, deciding another drink was in order to rebuild his shattered equilibrium. He filled the glass quickly and almost gulped down its contents, barely stopping to swallow rather than inhale it. Once again that warm feeling reached out with comforting touch and calmed him down again. When Ezra turned around, Diana was standing next to Julius who was seated on a wing chair, legs stretched out before him, his fingers drumming against each other watching Ezra closely. Kitson had taken point next to the door, his hand not far from the weapon in his holster. The fanatic watched Ezra with the barest hint of a smile which only made the gambler more apprehensive.
"I wish I could say likewise Hannibal." Ezra returned smoothly, lowering himself onto his bed so he could maintain the facade of indifference he was attempting to project. "But I would be lying."
"I expected nothing less." Julius answered. "I take it there is no reason for me to make my introductions, you are familiar with my associates." He gave a quick sidelong glance at Diana and Kitson in a split second.
"I recognise Miss Belladonna as the unsuccessful solicitor of my affections these past few weeks." Ezra stared at her with accusation and Diana's eyes for once returned his gaze with one that revealed her true emotions and it was a far different creature from the scheming woman whom had tried to destroy his relationship with Julia. There was almost something about it that seemed reluctant and sad.
"I had a job to do Mr Standish." Diana returned. "I did not choose the manner in which I was to carry it out."
"Oh but I think you're just a little affected by our handsome Mr Standish, aren't you my dear?" Julius said derisively, giving Ezra a perfectly predatory look. "I'm afraid he's spoken for."
"I have no idea what you are talking about." Diana feigned ignorance and felt her cheeks flushed with hatred when she saw Kitson snorting his disbelief with as much arrogance as Julius. "I did my job and he is here."
"Of course he is my dear," Julius smiled, not at all believing her.
Diana did not look at Ezra and something about the pity in her eyes as she turned her gaze away made him most anxious indeed.
"Well you have me here Julius," Ezra asked boldly, deciding not to play Julius' game and get to the heart of the matter. "I am assuming Miss Belladonna's rabid pursuit of me was at your beckoning, in some twisted revenge for what I did to you during our last encounter and Mr Kitson's goal obviously was not to leave murder and mayhem in his wake terrorizing passengers on stagecoaches. What grand scheme do you have planned that requires so much distraction?" The gambler challenged.
"Well," Julius started to smile. "You see through me as always Ezra but then you see through everyone don't you? Your friends and your lovers." His eyes narrowed and for an instant, Ezra was allowed see the amount of rage he had inspired in Hannibal Julius' psyche for his act of betrayal.
"Spare me the evaluation," Ezra retorted, finding his words coming a little slower this time. He wondered if the alcohol was starting to affect him but dismissed the possibility almost immediately, it would require more than two shots of brandy to make his slight of hand anything but still razor sharp. "You obviously have something else transpiring elsewhere in the Territory, I can see no other reason why else you would send Mr Kitson on a rampage as you have unless it was not your attention to call every law enforcement officer to arms at his actions."
"Well since you insist on knowing," Julius answered calmly, not at all perturbed by Ezra's sharp words. "I do have a little something planned which I am sure you'll find out soon enough. However Miss Belladonna's mischief into your relationship with the lovely Miss Pemberton and Ezra I must commend you, she is astonishingly beautiful, was a little indulgence on my part."
"You stay away from Julia." Ezra hissed, feeling nothing less than disgust hearing this animal speak her name. He took two steps forward but knew before he even heard the gun hammer click behind him that Kitson had drawn his weapon and was prepared to shoot. Ezra blinked once and saw that the derringer that once remained hidden within a harness beneath his shirt now lay in her gloved hand was staring back at him, barrel first.
"Rest assured, it is not Julia I am interested in." Julius responded rising slowly from his chair.
Ezra caught his meaning and returned in a low whisper. "Over my dead body."
"Come now," Julius' eyes narrowed. "It won't take quite that much will it?"
"Never!" Ezra growled and prepared to be shot to keep that from happening but instead, all that happened as he closed the distance between himself was Kitson bringing down the butt of his gun on the back of his neck. Pain exploded throughout his consciousness but not as acutely as he thought it would. As Ezra dropped to his knees, he realised that the pain was dull, as if the edge had been taken off somehow. It was not as disabling a strike as it could have been. Such attacks had the power to render one unconscious, like he had been when Diana had delivered him here in the first place.
He tried to stand up when he felt a wave of dizziness hit him that was more than just the effects of the blow delivered to his skull. He felt the pain yes but now there was this perennial fog descending upon his consciousness that made it hard to focus. He stood up somewhat shakily and tried to regain some measure of balance but it eluded him. His body felt warm and relaxed almost as if his brain did not want to function. He could access things if he concentrated enough but his control was slipping like grains of sand through outstretched fingers. He was not drunk, Ezra told himself defiantly. He could not be on just two glasses of brandy! Unless...
The thought surfaced so acutely that it had the power to slice cleanly through his disorientation with razor sharp clarity. He tried to look at the decanter sitting so innocently on the table with poison swirling within its amber contents but Ezra could not even manage that.
"What did you do to me?" Ezra forced himself to speak, his word escaping him in slurred and indistinct syllables.
"I did nothing to you." He heard Julius answer and opened his eyes to see the man was coming towards him.
Ezra stepped back but he almost fell over from the effort. He found himself against the edge of the bed. "You bastard. You poisoned me."
"I furnished it," Julius said in that slick voice full of confidence and triumph. "You drank it rather willingly, without any coercion from me. I wonder," the man remarked. "Are you so willing about other things you normally need coercion?"
"Touch me and I will kill you." Ezra spat futilely but knew he was lost because he could barely stand upright. The effect of the drug in his system was still not enough to spare him the horror of what was about to happen.
Julius stepped right to Ezra's ear and whispered softly, "you won't kill me Ezra but I will touch you. I told you once before, you were mine and I always take what is mine."
It had taken Chris Larabee time to get used to Ezra Standish.
He knew that much of his difficulty had to do with the incident that saw Ezra running out on the rest of the seven during their first adventure together. In retrospect, Chris supposed it was unrealistic to expect the man to behave any differently although at the time, Chris was ready to skin him alive for the act. However, much of Chris' tolerance in the months to come had to do with the fact that the notion of having friends who watched one's back was so alien to Ezra, he did not recognise it for what it was until he had started riding. Before that point, Chris doubted Ezra had ever knew what true camaraderie was but fortunately for all of them, had quickly grasped its significance enough as being important enough to turn back in an attempt to salvage the situation.
Since then, their personal friendship had its good days and its bad. For most past, Chris knew that he could trust Ezra explicitly. The man still had some bad habits that Chris could be tempted to strangle him for. He still complained about making a dollar a day, seemed to lose all good sense where money was concerned and complained incessantly about exerting himself with anything as vulgar as menial labor. However, Chris also knew that in a fight, Ezra would die to protect those he was with. When he used that high powered intellect for something other than a con, he was a mind to be reckoned with and though he did it in a very off handed way, he was always quick to show that the people were the most important things in his life.
Chris just wished that the man could keep an appointment.
It was dawn and Chris wanted to make an early start of their patrol today. With Vin and Josiah out of town, chasing up the possibilities of a new Indian uprising and the ill wind of statehood still making tempers volatile, he did not want to be too far away from town today. With four of them away, there would only be Buck; JD and Nathan left to defend Four Corners should trouble come riding along. Thus Chris wanted to get their morning patrol underway as soon as possible. Usually, he did this chore with Vin but since the tracker had other business to attend, he found himself teamed with Ezra on this particular morning.
Chris waited at Yosemite's livery for almost twenty minutes before he went searching for Ezra who was most likely in bed at this time of the morning. Four Corners was still quiet as Chris strode over the boardwalk, heading towards Ezra's lodgings. As he walked down the main walk of the town, he saw Virgil Watson giving him a little wave from the front porch of Watson's Hardware. Chris tipped his hat at the crusty old man who was one of the few people in town that had advocated their presence as Four Corner's peacekeepers in the early days of their tenure here. In a matter of minutes, Chris arrived at the lodging house where Ezra resided and let himself in quietly.
The owner of the establishment, Mrs Irene Satler was accustomed to seeing the seven on her premises since Ezra was now a long time lodger. She greeted Chris politely, offered him a cup of coffee which he declined politely before telling her that he was here to see Ezra. Mrs Satler made some remark about being uncertain if Ezra was there or not because the gambler kept such unusual hours. She accompanied Chris to Ezra's room and waited until Chris had knocked a couple of times and not received any response before she used her own keys to let him into the room.
Chris stepped inside Ezra Standish' private bastion and found the room to be devoid of its master.
Chris walked past the threshold of the door and let his gaze sweep across the room. The air within it was cold and gave him the impression that no one had been inside its confines for some time. Everything was kept neat and tidy and Chris could not say whether this was to Mrs Satler's efforts or Ezra himself because the gambler was more fastidious than any man had a right to be. Everything sat in its place and as Chris took a step deeper into the room, he noted that the bed had not been slept in. Stepping up to the feather mattress, because Ezra would accept nothing less, Chris placed his palm beneath the covers and made contact with the cool sheets. Cold greeted his hand and Chris withdrew, firm in the conclusion that Ezra had not slept here last night.
"He didn't come home." Chris said more to himself.
"Maybe he slept at the saloon." Mrs Satler point out.
"Maybe." Chris ignored the pinpricks of suspicion against his skin. He should not leap to conclusions just yet, Chris told himself, not when he had not investigated all possibilities yet.
Thanking Mrs Satler for letting him in the room, Chris departed from the lodging house with a new destination in mind. He had been at the livery so he knew Ezra was still in town because his horse Chaucer was still stabled there when Chris had arrived this morning. Chris did not let himself suspect the worst yet because it was very likely that Ezra was at Julia Pemberton's. Like most of the seven, with the possible exception of Josiah, the rest of the seven had been on intimate terms with their women before entering a matrimonial state. Most of them had always the good sense to never be seen leaving the homes of their women before dawn. Chris had always made sure he was never seen leaving Mary's before their marriage because he had no wish to ruin her reputation with any scandal. As far as Chris knew, Ezra was similarly mindful of Julia's standing in the community.
Julia would not be up yet so Chris did the polite thing and knocked on her front door once he left the white picket fence that surrounded her home and walked up the cobblestone path to her porch. He knocked a few times before the door swung open and Julia who was clearly still in bed, pulled her robe closer around herself as she ran her fingers through her fiery locks to make herself looking somewhat presentable.
"Morning Julia." He greeted with a slight tip of his hat.
"Chris?" She said still not completely awake as she stared at him with leery eyes. "Come in." She withdrew into the hallway, expecting him to follow her as she retreated back to the parlor of her house.
"Is Ezra here?" He asked once the door closed behind him.
Julia turned around immediately, suddenly very alert. "No," she shook her head. "He went back to the lodging house last night."
"Are you sure?" He asked, tensing at the news that now put Ezra's absence in a very different light. "I went to his place. He ain't there. He hasn't been there all night."
"But he left here at about 2.30 this morning," she replied, staring to get frightened. "He doesn't stay because he's worried about what people might think about it." Her voice was starting to shake with fear.
"Julia," Chris came forward and cupped her cheek gently within his palm. "Calm down, this is only the second place I looked. If I know Ezra, he's probably at the saloon in all night poker game."
That was not far from the truth because Ezra was known to play into the small hours of the night if the stakes and the competition were challenging enough. However, Chris also knew that while the gambler might complain about his duties as peacekeeper disrupting his private life, Ezra would never neglect it either. Besides Chris could not imagine Ezra being late when he knew that he was riding with Chris today. For some reason, Chris seemed to inspire Ezra's efforts and while the gunslinger did not mind it, he also wished Ezra realised that the time where he had to prove anything to Chris was long past.
"You know he wouldn't do that if he was riding with you." Julia declared, thinking exactly what he was at the moment.
Chris fell silent; unable to deny her when he had thought the same thing himself. "Yeah," he nodded slightly. "I know that."
Julia's eyes clearly showed her rising fear and she swallowed thickly. "He said he had to get back last night," she spoke softly, remembering what he had told her after he had slipped out of her bed and proceeded to get dressed, even though she had asked him to stay, not caring if anyone saw him the next morning. "He didn't say he had to ride with you this morning and I ought to know what you're like if he's late."
Chris stifled a smiled supposing he was deserving of being considered such an ogre. However, there was no humor in the situation because it was looking very evident that something had happened to Ezra. Unfortunately, with a trail that was hours old, their chances of finding him were next to remote and Vin had already left town with Josiah, so Chris could not even count on the skills of an experienced tracker. Still, Chris intended to tear the countryside apart just the same until the gambler resurfaced.
He just hoped that Ezra could hold out until they found him.
Ezra could smell Julia's perfume around him.
His head was groggy and when he tried to open his eyes, his lid remained thick hoods fastened firmly over his eyes, refusing to allow any sight to reach him. He tried to think clearly of where he was but was drawn instead to the irresistible feel of cool sheets against his bare skin and the softness of the mattress beneath him. His body was drained of all its energy and the attraction of lying still was very powerful indeed. The pillow upon which he rested his head was equally enticing and Ezra let out a breathless sigh even though he could not seem to grasp what he was doing in such warm, comfortable surroundings.
"Julia." He whispered, recognizing her scent immediately. His Julia loved expensive French perfume and its soft and subtle aroma reminded him of all things her, fiery red hair and emerald colored eyes, almost feline in their mystique. He thought of touching alabaster skin and drowning in the silken feel of her lips when he felt himself being turned on to his back.
Hands touched his skin and though something in the back of his head told him he should feel caution, Ezra could not ignore the smooth palms running languidly across his chest, caressing the muscle almost reverently. Somewhere in the background he heard a breathless sigh and found himself yearning for her touch again. Suddenly a mouth enclosed his nipple hardened by exposure to the cool air and Ezra found himself groaning in pleasure. His body arched to meet the mouth insistently suckling at him and when he tried to move his hands to touch, he found they were trapped. He was too groggy to care why or make further protest when the hand attacked his other nipple and began to thumb it with expert caresses.
"Yes." He muttered. "More Julia, more."
There was a pause and those lips moved away from his chest and drew a disappointed whimper from his lips before kisses traveled down the center of his stomach, brushing lightly against the fine hairs of his torso. Ezra felt his erection come upon him at the feel of her soft lips against him, sliding downward and filling him anticipation of what would happen when she finally reached her destination. Still, as much as he enjoyed the kisses against his skin, the caresses from smooth, soft hands, there was a part of him that was not willing to submit completely to the desire building inside him. He could feel danger on the edge of his consciousness but could not see it.
Ezra took a deep breath and there is was again, the subtle aroma of Julia's perfume filling his consciousness and forcing away his inhibitions. He remembered touching her, how it felt to see her face melt into ecstasy when her orgasm came upon her and the overwhelming pleasure that came with knowing that it was he who made her feel that way. He groaned when he felt hands molding over his stiffened cock and began stroking it with expert movements. Once again he tried to move his hands but they were restrained somehow, so the only thing he could do was claw at air while he was being assaulted with pleasing sensations.
"Julia," he moaned again. "You're so beautiful."
A mouth slid over his cock and made Ezra cry out even though it was not customary for him to do so. Normally, he tried to maintain some semblance of control but he had no such power here. How could he when that mouth was doing such splendid things to him. He was groaning out loud as he felt the life and soul being drawn from him with each stroke from that heavenly mouth. His hip were moving of their own accord now, thrusting urgently into that tight ring of flesh. He could feel his stomach constrict as his orgasm began to build inside of him.
"So good," he muttered as his balls started to tighten and the pressure inside his cock reached a point he could not longer endure. "God, that is so good." He shuddered incoherently, feeling his entire body become one exposed nerve ending that needed stimulation desperately. He was starting to pant as the pace increased and he could no longer process when one heavenly stroke began and another ended. The tongue that laved the underside of his heavy shaft was merciless, tasting him with each laving, pausing at brief intervals to punish his glans with a slow, caressing swirl across the head while exploring the slit and drawing another cry of pleasure from him.
"Turn over," a voice whispered through the darkness.
"Yes," he groaned, too far over the edge to realise that it was not Julia's. He started to turn around slowly and the mouth left him, although it was replaced by a hand once more and the pumping continued at a slightly less frantic place allowing him to enjoy the sensations without being completely overwhelmed by it.
"On your knees." The voice instructed and Ezra complied, confused but not too much because he was still pushing against the hand that was giving him so much pleasure.
It was hard to brace himself on his knees when his hands were restrained and when he opened his eyes, the fog inside his mind had receded enough to let him recognise that his wrists were bound together by a thick rope that kept him tethered to the bed post. His mind reeled in confusion at how this could be when something warm and slick was applied to his rear. He tensed at fingers probing his back passage, trying to understand what was happening. It was not an unpleasant sensation and coupled with the forceful stroking his cock was presently subjected to, it was an intriguing feeling.
"Julia what are you doing?" He managed to ask uncertainly, coherence returning to him very slightly.
He was answered when he felt what he was certain to be a finger penetrating him fully. His body was torn between the sensation of pleasure and pain and it was potent mix that made him moan out loud as that finger began exploring his insides. Ezra felt his breath catch at the sensation of that one finger and then two, making scissor movements as the taut muscles were stretched and coaxed pleasurably into yielding. The pleasure was beyond belief and Ezra's hips were pushing forward, he was panting out loud as that he pumped into the hand torturing him with delight. The fingers inside him were wonderful, he had never felt anything like it before and suddenly, he felt finger tips make contact with something that drove a groan of pure ecstasy from his quivering lips.
"Oh Jesus!" He bucked forward hard, his mind trapped in delirium over where he wanted to be exactly when the pleasure spot inside him was touched again. He cried out once more, feeling waves upon waves of sensation bombard his senses.
"Come for me." The voice whispered and Ezra knew that he would be obliging as he hips pushed forward and back with equal desire, wanting the hand that held him while needing to impale himself more on the fingers that had kindled a fire inside him.
"Dear Lord yes!" He cried again and opened his eyes, a new awareness feeling him at the pleasure he felt when suddenly, he noticed a mirror on the wall. Strange how his mind was starting to clear and images beyond the sensations he was feeling became defined when there was only vague fog before. Ezra blinked as he saw himself in the reflection. He was naked on his elbows and knees, appearing obscenely as if he was in prayer. A hand was wrapped around his hardened organ, continuing to stroke him furiously and he saw clearly the face of the person behind him.
It was Julius.
Dear God, what was he doing?
Ezra's screamed inside his mind when clarity return to him with damning realization. However, he had little time to reflect his situation or what he had been doing the past few minutes because something slammed into his back passage with enough force to make him scream without ever realizing the sound had escaped him. It was a guttural cry, finding its origins in the pit of him as he felt himself being filled and the agony of that entry was beyond belief. He almost passed out but his body was not about to give him that respite. He felt hands gripping his shoulders, holding on to prepare for another onslaught of pain.
"Mine Ezra," Julius whispered into his ear as he slammed himself against that beautiful body once more. Focusing entirely on his own pleasure now, Julius dispensed with any further attempts at seduction now that Ezra was fully aware of what was happening to him. Julius smiled at the delicious idea of waiting until Ezra was somewhat lucid before moving the seduction to this level. The gambler would be aware but too weak to fight and that was just how Julius wanted him. After all, this was not just about claiming what was his, Julius thought, this was also about vengeance and he wanted vengeance.
"Bastard!" Ezra screamed with pain and despair as he felt another powerful thrust tear through him. His mind was starting to shut down from the agony as tears ran down his cheeks.
However, it subsided for the moment because Julius leaned in close for one more venomous whisper. "Oh Ezra," Julius started to moan. "You do have a sweet ass."
Ezra could only scream again.
Ezra did not know at what point during his ordeal he blacked up but he certainly knew it when he finally regained consciousness.
He was lying on his stomach and the scent that was so much Julia before was now gone. He could smell something but it was not pleasant. It felt like blood. The memories immediately began to come flooding back into his mind with such force, Ezra could do nothing but endure it. He tried to force the images away, wondering how he could have been so deluded into thinking that it was Julia in this room with him. He had enjoyed it! He had felt lips over his cock and thought it was Julia and no matter how horrible the end result was, he had enjoyed how it felt! His stomach knotted inside of him at the memory that he had begged for more. Ezra closed his eyes and did not even know he was sobbing until his tears soaked into the sheets before him.
"Oh come now." A voice spoke up. "It wasn't that bad."
Ezra's head snapped up and saw Julius seated a few feet away from him, wearing a long robe while holding a glass of brandy in one hand and a gun in another.
"You son of a bitch..." Ezra managed to say, movement sent jolts of pain through his body. The lower half of him felt as if it was on fire and he felt all torn inside. "I will kill you for this."
"That's not what you said during." Julius smiled at the empty threat perfectly aware that Ezra was in no condition to do anything at this moment. "If I recall, you enjoyed yourself immensely."
"Fuck you!" Ezra swore with uncharacteristic rage, forcing himself out of the bed. Slivers of hot agony shot through him as he attempted to move and a cry of pain escaped him as he crawled off the mattress.
He clutched the sheets to keep his naked form from Julius, needing to maintain some measure of dignity in the face of his unthinkable actions.
"Been there, done that." Julius sneered.
A pained expression crossed Ezra's face that was more than just the injuries sustained from his brutal exchange with Julius, it was the realization that he had been taken. A man did not get taken! The idea was so stomach turning that Ezra could barely stand it. Worst of all, he was in no position to do anything even though Julius was only a few feet away from him, relishing every moment of his torment.
"I will kill you for this." Ezra said in a low voice, staring at Julius through narrowed eyes. "If it is the last thing I do, I will kill you."
"Why?" Julius stood up slowly. "Because you enjoyed it?"
"I enjoyed nothing!" Ezra spat angrily and took a step back, unable to stand the fact that Julius was approaching him. "You drugged me!"
"You enjoyed it Ezra," Julius continued to smile. "You enjoyed it so much you asked for more. I heard you and I'm sure you remember it too."
"SHUT UP!" Ezra swore and lunged at him. Julius stepped out of his reach easily and Ezra dropped to his knees, the agony that came from that effort strangled him in half and he gasped in pain as he fell.
"You may want to get dressed," Julius said dispassionately, returning to his seat.
"What for?" Ezra hissed. "I would assume you enjoy getting your money's worth."
Julius chuckled and replied after a moment. "Ezra you were one of the finest I ever had pleasure of keeping company with but my interest in you is dwindling. You were an itch that required scratching and I daresay after your magnificent performance, I consider it well and truly scratched. Unfortunately, I rarely crave the same meal more than once. In other words, I think we're done."
His words raked at Ezra, drawing blood with each venom filled syllable. His humiliation and despair was beyond expression and he had never thought he could feel more disgusted at what he was and what he had been made to do then at this instant. He wanted to die. God, he actually wanted to die. "So now you're going to kill me?"
"Kill you?" Julius laughed. "No, it would not serve my purpose and after the pleasure you afforded me, I think I can afford to be a little magnanimous. I'm letting you go."
"I don't want your mercy!" Ezra snapped angrily. "You let me go and I swear I will hunt you down until the day I die!"
"The day you die may be sooner than you think," Julius retorted. "But it won't be at my hands and I am letting you go because I would dearly love to see how you're going to fare returning to your friends and telling them that you were released because you were my whore."
"God!" Ezra gasped at the idea and started retching. He could not stop himself as his stomach emptied itself of its contents and what was worse, he could hear Julius laughing in delight at seeing it all. Ezra wanted to die. Why couldn't Julius just kill him?
"Or will you tell them at all Ezra?" Julius continued to taunt. "I think not. I think you'll never say a word."
"It wouldn't matter to them anyway!" Ezra wiped his mouth and stared at Julius defiantly Beads of sweat were running down his body and he knew that he was going to pass out again. The attempt to attack Julius had sent searing waves of agony through the lower half of his body and Ezra knew he was not succeeding in controlling his pain. It was overwhelming him. "They wouldn't care! They are my friends!"
"Oh sure they won't," Julius retorted. "They won't look at you and wonder if you didn't perhaps ask for what happened to you. I mean you did kiss me once Ezra, I did nothing to inspire it. You did that of your own volition."
"I was trying to save Mary!" Ezra returned helplessly.
"Maybe you were and maybe it was always there inside of you." The leader of the Citadel pointed out.
"No!" Ezra shouted angrily, refusing to think that. "I know what I am and what I am is nothing like you! My friends know that!" It was more of an effort trying to convince himself of that then it was Julius.
"One thing is for sure Ezra," Julius smiled viciously. "They'll never turn their backs on you again."
"No one's seen him Chris." JD Dunne announced himself upon entering the saloon where at present, he, Nathan and Buck were preparing to ride. All three men were checking their ordinance for their departure.
"We'll we've checked everywhere else." Buck sighed unhappily. "He ain't in town."
Since Chris had sounded the alarm, that's all they had been doing this morning, scouring every known haunt the gambler like to frequent, hoping that someone might have some news as to his whereabouts. What bothered the seven more than Ezra's disappearance was not the fact that he was gone but he had been stolen from them without anyone seeing it. That took skill and skill like that often ensured there was no trail the seven could follow to get him back.
"Someone took him." Nathan said decisively, unable to think of any other explanation for the gambler's disappearance. They had only spoken yesterday evening in this very tavern and Ezra had given no indication of going anywhere. If he was absent now, it was because something completely unexpected had made him that way.
"Someone?" Julia asked frantically, the lack of positive information playing havoc on her already fragile state of mind.
Inez frowned at the men present, wishing they could be a little more sensitive to the Emporium owner's present disposition. Inez immediately poured Julia something to drink that was stronger than tea and rounded the bar in order to serve it to her friend.
"We don't know anything for certain yet, Ezra might have been called away for something urgent that he did not have time to tell us about." Inez declared, trying to put a positive spin on things even though she knew better than anyone that Ezra would not simply up and leave without telling anyone where he was going. He had people in his life that worried about him if he were to disappear and suddenly, the fear that Julia was starting to feel so prolifically started to affect her as well.
"We'll find him." Chris said firmly and when Chris said it, it was quite possible to feel better because it almost sounded like an inevitability.
"I don't understand why they would just take him alone." Julia responded, confused.
It was a good question, Chris thought to himself. They all had made enemies in their checkered pasts. Considering what Ezra used to do prior to meeting them, he more than anyone would have angry marks seeking their pound of flesh for the cons he must have run during his time. However, retaliation for those crimes would be swift. An angry remnant of that past would find it more expedient to simply kill the man and disappear, not take a hostage unless the crime was something so terrible they wanted to make Ezra suffer. Chris could not imagine Ezra running a con that would earn him that kind of death.
"Chris," JD swallowed, trying to think of how to reveal what he had learnt while he had been making his own investigation into Ezra's disappearance. "Miss Belladonna's gone too."
Chris looked up sharply. "What?"
"She's gone." JD repeated himself since all eyes were now upon him demanding an answer. "I spoke to Mr Heidegger, it seems that Diana up and quit yesterday. Heidegger paid her out in cash and when he went to her room at the hotel, it was all emptied out."
"Now that can't be a coincidence." Buck stared at Chris.
"Why?" Julia demanded coming towards Chris. "Why would she take him? He said he told her he didn't want her!"
"I don't know," Chris confessed putting his hands on her shoulder and trying to calm her down. "But we'll get to the bottom of it."
"JD," Nathan regarded the younger man now they had something of a lead to follow. "Anyone see her leave town?"
JD who had came to the same conclusion the minute he had learnt of her disappearance had made the appropriate inquiries in anticipation of the questions Chris and the others would ask of him. "No one." He responded. "She just disappeared."
"Okay, people just don't disappear." Buck replied. "Especially a woman like that."
"I hope you mean because she is conspicuous." Inez retorted sharply, giving her husband a look.
"Of course darling," he said in mock hurt at her believing him capable of thinking anything else. "She's had her eye on Ezra and some women don't take rejection well."
Chris nodded silently, perfectly aware of what it felt like to be the object of someone's affection and how thin the line between love and hatred could be. Ella Gaines had almost destroyed his life because of her obsession with him. Sarah and Adam had paid the price of her delusion that she and Chris was destined to be something more than what they had been. The question was, is Diana Belladonna the same? She was a duplicitous creature, of that Chris had no doubt but was she insane? Somehow the gunslinger did not believe so.
"Would she hurt him?" Julia asked fearfully.
"I don't even know how she managed to get the drop on him." Chris confessed. "Ezra was saying just yesterday that he had a bad feeling about her and it was more than just because she tried to come between you and him."
"Well we know next to nothing about her." Nathan pointed out. "What we know is what she told us, that she's a singer from the East."
"Which is nothing really." Buck retorted. "She could have been anyone. Hell she could even work for Laurel Chase."
Chris stiffened at the name. "Laurel wouldn't get a woman to do her dirty work." Chris said after a momentary pause. "Besides, it wouldn't be Ezra she'd come after, it would be me, or Vin or even you Buck. You said she had a thing about you."
"Yeah," Buck shrugged uncomfortably, hating to admit that the woman scared him but then he was not exactly alone in that feeling because Laurel scared the hell out of all them all. "Okay, someone else. What about Julius?"
Chris looked at Buck. Hannibal Julius was a possibility. After all, Ezra had stolen Mary right from under his nose. Chris knew that a man like Hannibal Julius would take great offense at that. He might even blame Ezra for the failure of not only his plan to avenge himself on Chris but for the whole plan involving the railroad and its destruction. "That's possible. We ain't heard much about him since he disappeared after that whole business with the railroad."
"This is just supposition." Julia retorted. "We don't know anything and we're just guessing!" She cried desperately.
"Julia, we'll find him." Chris said again as her words prompted him into moving. Sliding his Peacemaker into his holster, he watched Buck do the same and Nathan ensuring his own weapon was loaded because it was time to get out there and start searching.
"I promise you." He said staring into her eyes and realizing why Ezra found the emerald fire burning inside them so terribly mesmerizing. "We won't stop until we do."
While her husband was dealing with a crisis of his own, Mary Travis found one brewing inside the confines of her office as Alexandra Styles sat across from her desk. When the lady doctor had arrived in Mary's office expressing a need for advice, Mary had thought it had something to do with being a newly wed. After all, Alex had not been married that long to Vin Tanner and the first few months of any marriage was never as smooth sailing as people would like to think. However, when Alex told her what was actually wrong, Mary almost wished it was a marital problem, not the one she now found herself involved with because of Alex's request for help.
"Oh God Alex," Mary found herself whisper. "Are you sure?"
"I'm sure." Alex nodded, wishing it were anything but true. "The tests confirmed it." She had even done them twice, hoping she was not mistaken in any way. Unfortunately, the answer was still the same.
"How is she?" Mary asked, unable to imagine what Casey must be enduring at this moment. That poor child!
"Shattered." Alex said bluntly, unable to keep bitterness out of her voice. "She's so scared Mary. I can't stand seeing her like this."
"Does JD know?" Mary asked and then realised that Casey was probably too terrified to tell JD about what she now carried inside her body.
Alex shook her head. "She couldn't even tell Nettie. She came to me yesterday and it was the first time she confided to anyone about it. I promised her I wouldn't tell but I can't make this decision on my own."
Mary wrinkled her brow in confusion. "What decision? Its Casey's to make."
"Casey can't go through this." Alex met her eyes. "She said so. She's been through hell already because of that bastard Blackwood, I can't believe God would want her to go through having his baby either."
Mary started to understand. "Has she spoken about getting rid of it?"
"No," Alex answered quickly, "not at all. I doubt the thought has even occurred to her but I do think that killing herself has."
"Oh no!" Mary gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. "Are you sure?"
"She's barely twenty Mary," Alex declared. "She's facing an unimaginable situation. What else would her options be other than having it?"
Mary slumped into her chair. "She doesn't have to keep it." Mary pointed out.
"No she doesn't," Alex agreed. "But she would have to leave and JD will want to know why. We can get around the town knowing but we won't be able to get around JD and that's what terrifies her the most."
"He loves her," Mary insisted. "It wouldn't matter to him."
"We don't know that for sure." Alex retorted, "if you were his age and your fiancée tells you that she's having a child that is your brother? How is he supposed to handle that? He barely was able to handle the fact that an animal like Blackwood could be related to him at all."
"Damn that man," Mary swore burying her face in her hands, understanding completely why Alex needed to talk to her. This was too much for one person to bear. She could not even imagine how Casey was coping with it. "Damn him to hell for what he's done."
"Unfortunately, he's going to take Casey there first." Alex responded. "Unless I do something."
Mary raised her eyes. "Do something? Like what."
Alex rose to her feet. "I could perform a therapeutic abortion."
Mary's eyes widened in shock. "You could also lose your license and go to jail!"
"I know that!" Alex returned sharply. "Don't you think I know that but my freedom is not even the issue here. The issue is whether or not this is right. I don't care what the law says, I mean morally and ethically, is it right? I don't even want to offer this to her in case she decides to take me up on it!"
"Do you know how to do it?" Mary asked, a little horrified by the whole subject. She knew of the places that did such things, the filthy back alleys and creepy little men that performed such operations, who often ended up killing their patients instead of offering salvation.
"I know how to do it." Alex said shortly. "It's rather simple actually. Wouldn't take any more than an hour. She's be on her feet in no more than a day. The irony of it is, done properly, she can have even children in the future."
"A perfect solution." Mary replied neutrally.
"Hardly." Alex declared, her voice shaking. "I'll be giving her a solution but the fact is, I don't know whether I have the right to give her this choice."
"The bible says one life shouldn't be sacrificed for another." Mary responded, hoping that was some kind of answer even though in saying it, felt wrong somehow.
"Spare me that of all things!" Alex exclaimed. "Its not even life at this stage. It's a collection of cells that has the possibility of sentience. It will grow into a baby but its not one yet!"
"That's not how the law sees it." Mary returned.
"The law are not composed of doctors and scientists who have studied life," Alex shot back. "They are made up of men who are subject to the will of pious puritans who don't give a damn about the rights of the mother or the child, just their God!"
"Alex its okay," Mary said softly, understanding the source of her anger was her helplessness at having this terrible burden fall upon her alone. "I know you're trying to do what's right and I can't say anything that will make this easier for you. I wish I could."
"I look at Casey, at this child. She's a baby herself. She's so scared and it's not because of what the town will say or the fact that she'll be ruined publicly by the pregnancy, it's the idea of carrying his child. As if it wasn't enough that he had to rape her but he had to leave a reminder of himself behind, something that would follow her forever."
"It's a child." Mary reminded. "A child who had no wish to be born. JD came into the world the same way I imagine, thanks to what Blackwood probably did to this mother."
"I wish it was that easy for me," Alex whispered, lowering herself into her chair as she covered her face in her hands. "I wish I could make an arbitrary decision and live with it but I can't. If she were someone I didn't know or didn't care about, it would be easy but she's Casey. She and Nettie are the closest thing Vin has ever had to family and by extension they are that to me. I can't sit by and let her go through this when I have it within my power to save her from all that pain."
Mary listened to Alex and once again felt grateful that this choice was not hers to make. "I know and maybe that makes it why you should be the one to decide, because you know how hard a decision it is."
"I have no idea how it's going to effect her mentally," Alex confessed. "I'll make the immediate problem vanish but the reality of it being gone is something she'll have to deal with alone. I may perform the abortion but can she live with consenting to it?"
"Maybe it comes down to you asking her." Mary responded, offering the only solution that made sense at this time.
"I have to know whether I can do this first," Alex sighed. "I don't know whether I can."
"You know you can," the newspaperwoman stared her straight in the eye. "You wouldn't be tying yourself into knots like this if you didn't think you could."
"Oh I can do that procedure but I don't know if I can live with it any better than Casey will when it's over." Alex replied. "I don't know that at all."
In all truth, had Diana Belladonna known what fate lay waiting for Ezra Standish when she delivered him to Hannibal Julius, it was all together possible that she might not have undertaken the task. While she told herself this, she knew deep down inside that she had little choice in the matter. While Julius called her an employee, it was closer to the truth that she was in fact a disciple rather than a salaried worker. Although most people looked at Diana Belladonna and saw a white woman, refined and cultured with an Eastern accent that bespoke a fancy school and education, it was an illusion like the rest of her.
Belladonna was her stage name and it served. She hardly remembered her real name, other than the fact that it was Native American in origin. Apache to be exact. Her mother had been Apache. Her father whomever he had been, was white. His last act on this earth prior to dying was raping the woman who would be her mother. She had been born an act of violence, an uncomfortable representation of two worlds and belonged to neither. Diana was no mercenary. She was a patriot. What she did for Julius was for the purpose of laying the foundation of a new Apache nation as Julius promised would happen once his coup was carried out successfully. For that end, she was willing to serve him in any way possible.
She did not realise that serving him would require her to be a party to an act as abominable as the one that had seen her birth.
She had heard the screams. She doubted there was anyone who had not heard the cry torn from the southerner's lips when he was finally taken. A wave of sympathy hit her as she heard that tortured scream and suddenly, her cause felt hollow because she had admired him in her own way. Despite everything she had tried to do to come between them, Ezra Standish had stuck steadfastly to the side of Julia Pemberton. Diana could not help feel a little overcome by the strength of his love for the titian haired beauty. Gaining his attention had been a job to her, nothing more. She did not love the man but respected his loyalty to the woman he loved. Such loyalty was rare.
Now she found herself invited into the room where Julius had taken everything that made Ezra Standish what he was and destroyed it. What did Julius want her to see? Was it bad enough that she had heard?
"Diana," Julius said smugly as she entered the room.
"Mr Julius." Diana responded evenly, her eyes fixed upon him even though her curiosity was drawn to Ezra.
Julius was dressed now and he regarded Ezra the way a man might regard a young woman he might have taken and was now finished with. Unfortunately, Diana knew what that felt like too. "I am finished with Mr Standish for now." He regarded the unconscious man on the floor.
Diana felt her innards hollow when she saw the gambler lying face down, naked except for the sheet that was draped over himself. His skin was pale and covered in sweat. There was blood on the sheet and Diana knew that without cooperation, what Julius had done to him had the power to do significant internal damage. She hardened herself to the image, not wishing to see this because the guilt stabbed at her more than she liked.
"What do you want done with him?" She asked quietly. She expected him to be killed. In his state and after what Julius had done to him, it might even be a mercy.
"I want you to get him dressed," Julius said hardly glancing at the gambler. "Get him dressed and have Kitson return him to Four Corners."
Diana looked up at Julius in astonishment. "You're letting him go?"
"Yes," Julius responded a little taken by her surprise. "I have no further use of him now."
"I know but he has seen you," she pointed out, wondering if he was playing tricks on her. Julius did have a twisted sense of humor. She had learnt that much since coming into his service.
"So?" Julius asked, looking at Ezra for the first time. "I seriously doubt he'll be telling his friends under what circumstances we met and he has no idea where this place is, nor will it be of any consequence by the time he is returned to Four Corners. Once Kitson takes him from here, we'll be moving out. I have appointments to keep. We're moving into the next phase of our operation."
"I see." Diana nodded understanding, finally seeing the full facet of Julius' vengeance on Ezra Standish. She took an unsteady step forward, somewhat staggered by the cruelty of the man's scheme and searched the room for Ezra's clothes. "He's not going to be in any shape to ride."
"All the better," Julius said with a little smile. "I should like to see him explain his injuries when he is returned to his friends. I'm sure it will make for some colorful story telling."
You bastard, Diana found herself thinking inwardly. Wasn't it enough to destroy everything inside him that made him a man? Was it also necessary to force him to humiliate himself in front of his friends and his fiancée as well? Once again, Diana reminded herself that she was a soldier in a cause greater than just Julius' sexual gratification. This was about the Citadel or for Julius, this was not even for herself but rather for her people and the dedication to her cause forced her to remain silent. "I'm sure it would."
Julius looked at him. "You're not enamoured by our Mr Standish are you?"
"Of course not." Diana returned tautly.
"I warn you," Julius met her gaze directly. "The only thing he could love more than Julia Pemberton is the six men he rides with. There is no room for you."
"I do not have any feelings for him." Diana retorted, grabbing Ezra's clothes from the chair on which it was piled. "That is your curse."
"You give as good as you get," Julius smiled, conceding that on this point she had served the winning remark. "I admit, I do have an appreciation for Mr Standish and taking him was most enjoyable but he is of more use to me being a source of his friends' outrage at my treatment of him."
Diana lowered herself onto her knees and started to pull away the sheet. Ezra was still unconscious but he was shaking and his skin was pasty to the touch. He was in some kind of shock she was certain and knew that he needed a doctor immediately. He was still bleeding and Diana could only imagine what internal damage had been done to him. She forced herself to remain indifferent to his plight because Julius letting him go was the best thing for him right now, no matter how Ezra may wish it otherwise. He needed to get help fast and at least away from Julius, the leader of the Citadel might not be tempted into using him again.
She dressed him quietly under Julius' gaze. Ezra was hardly aware of her touch but even in his unconscious state, the effects of what was done to him was evident. He was shivering and Diana had to fight to keep the tears from spilling down her cheeks when she pulled his pants over his rear and saw the material become soiled in blood. He muttered when she brushed wet hair out of his face.
"Julia." He whimpered and broke Diana's heart with the sorrow and despair in his incoherent voice.
Julius had stepped out of the room and had summoned Kitson to come help her. Diana was almost glad when she saw the lackey enter the room. Kitson's eyes move through the room before resting on Ezra and then on the bloody sheet that Diana had pulled away from him. Kitson's expression was unreadable but when Diana's eyes made contact with him, she sensed that he was not as comfortable with Julius' actions either.
Julius seemed to notice the exchange and said firmly. "In ancient times, it was the prerogative of the Roman commander to completely destroy an enemy by taking him in this manner. Trust me," he said with a cruel sneer. "This man will trouble us no more from this day."
Diana stared at Ezra briefly and knew with absolute certainty, he was wrong.