I own nothing except my characters.
Chapter Fifteen: The Game and the Promise
~Unbowed-and-Unbroken~
For a moment, everything was paused.
It seemed that even the trees, the bushes; the very island was holding its breath.
Piper glared defiantly at Pan, pinned to the tree with his knee wedged between her own. There was dull pain flaring in her wrists from the pressure he was putting on them and Piper's heart was racing in her chest. Who would have known he could draw such a dizzying whirl of emotions from her?
Certainly not Piper.
"Are you deaf, Smith?" Pan snapped, finally breaking their locked gaze and turning his head to glare threateningly at the frozen boy.
Smith's eyes flicked to Piper, confusion and torn loyalty wavering in him. He didn't know what to do and Piper mentally sighed before doing her best to let him know she didn't need him here. If he was here and stayed and revealed anything about Piper…Dolly's life hung in the balance and panic tore through her.
"Why the fuck are you still here?" Piper snarled and he flinched, looking to Pan again.
"Leave." Pan snapped and Smith jumped, whirling around and tearing off towards the camp. If he returns with Angelo and/or Salazar, Piper's gonna kill him. None of those three need to be here to see any of the new and specific type of manipulation her and Pan have instigated.
Pan stared dangerously into the woods after where his Lost Boy had disappeared, narrowing his emerald eyes and turning his head to glare down at her. His dark lashes were long enough to cast shadows over his eyes, turning the bright color into something darker and more mysterious. Piper held his gaze defiantly, lifting her chin and clenching her jaw.
Slowly, a smirk twitched on Pan's mouth and he leaned closer, tilting his head and moving closer until his head was tilted in the crook of her neck. He just held steady there, not touching her, not sniffing her but just standing there until the tension between them had built to an all new high. Piper didn't know what to do.
She could try and bite him but something gave her the feeling that biting wouldn't exactly be a turn-off for this sadistic jerk.
Piper held still, trying to breathe as little as possible to reduce the amount of contact between their chests. It wasn't really working though because Pan is pressed so close. Slowly, she tilted her head, eyeing him curiously.
Pan's eyes were closed, his lashes a dark, feathery smudge against his pale skin. His pertly tilted nose was nearly touching her skin but it was his mouth that drew her attention. He was so close that if he shifted half an inch closer, his mouth would be brushing against her shoulder. Piper tensed a little more, resisting the urge to try and yank away from him.
Her wrists feel a little raw from the tight grip he has on them, pushing them into the bark of the tree.
His breathing was slow and steady but Piper could sense a riot of emotions swirling through him and it hit her…he was trying to keep control.
Before she could stop it, a small laugh escaped her, the sound low and mocking.
In a flash, his dark green eyes snapped open and Pan tightened his grip on her wrists, forcing her to cry out with pain before baring her teeth angrily at him, dark eyes flashing at him. His throat worked like he was going to yell at her but he didn't open his mouth and he didn't say anything. He just lifted his head and met her gaze boldly, a twisted sneer on his mouth.
"What? Afraid of little ole me?" Piper sneered and Pan jerked his chin up in clear anger and arrogance, leaning impossibly closer, jerking his knee higher against her. A flush of heat went through her, sparking through her veins, a small, fluttery coil in her lower stomach forming.
Piper jerked back but…there was no place for her to jerk back against and Pan just held her tighter. She was starting to breathe a little harder, fierce, sparking anger in her dark eyes and in the curve of her mouth.
"I'm not afraid of you, Piper." Pan purred, cocking his head to the side and slowly shifting his knee against her again. Piper couldn't help the small arch of her body and delight flared in his dark emerald eyes. "What? Feeling good?" Pan mocked and Piper flexed her wrists in his hands, attempting to bring her knee up to hit him but the angle was all wrong and all that accomplished was him pushing their bodies flush, leaving her leg hooked over his waist. "I think I like this position." Pan taunted darkly, shifting his hips against hers.
Piper bit back a moan, her cheeks flushing with heat. Her eyes darkened even more as Pan smirked, leaning his head forward and brushing his mouth against her pulse. The feather-light touch startled her and Piper sank her gleaming white teeth into her lower lip, breathing a little harder. Pan brushed his mouth over her neck again, applying more and more pressure until Piper arched into him, a small pant escaping her.
"Excellently voiced, Piper." Pan purred, pulling his head back and cocking a bronzes eyebrow at her, a corner of his mouth curling up with satisfaction.
"I thought you said you had other people to take care of these needs of yours?" Piper snapped angrily and Pan grinned widely, the sadistic edge resonating with the dark edges of her personality.
"I do." He said and she scowled up at him, hating that he was taller than her and as such, could look down on her.
"Then why are you forcing yourself on me-" She barely finished her words before he surged closer, forcing their hips to move together until he prized her legs apart enough to slide his body between them, releasing her wrists with his hands, a swirling dark green smoke solidifying into solid cuffs around her wrists, securing them to the tree.
"Forcing myself on you?" Pan taunted, a cruel smile on his mouth, dark emerald eyes glinting down at her as he yanked on her other leg, the one that she had all of her weight on, until her knee buckled and she was forced to hook her other leg around her waist. She had to tighten her legs around his waist or have the cuff tear into her skin. "Does this seem like I am forcing myself on you?" Pan asked, snapping his fingers. It took the barest of seconds for Piper to realize her baggy pants were gone, leaving her in nothing more than her underwear and baggy sweatshirt, her shirt and bra thankfully still on under her shirt.
"What the fuck?!" Piper snarled ferociously, yanking harshly on the cuff secured tightly around her wrist. All that did was chafe the already sore skin and it didn't keep Pan from placing his hands on her knees, slowly sliding them down her copper skin, his own skin even paler against her own.
The feeling of his heated palms scraping lightly over her legs made more unwilling heat slide through her veins but Piper refused to give in. Twisting her ankles, Piper yanked him closer, pulling Pan off balance so he was forced to reach out and brace himself against the trunk of the tree, his lightly muscled arms on either side of her head.
Digging her heels harshly into Pan's back, Piper locked their eyes together, the feeling of being helpless swirling into rage so deep and wild that she hardly seemed sane.
"You. Don't. Touch me. Unless. I. Say. Understood?" Piper snapped harshly but he didn't seem to care about her words. Sliding one hand down, Pan tangled his fingers in her wild curls, roughly yanking her head back at an unforgiving angle. Breathing harshly, Piper glared, showing him the fight in her eyes.
"I can touch you when…where…and however I shall choose. Do you know why?" Pan hummed lowly, the sound vibrating deeply in his throat and chest like some sort of purr. "Because until I say otherwise, you. Are. Mine."
"Like hell I am!" Piper spat, wishing she could pull her dagger out of her pants but with her wrists up so high, it was unlikely.
"Can't you see what this is, Piper?" Pan rumbled, cocking his head to the side and watching her with unveiled amusement.
"What, pray tell, is this? You sick, sadistic fuck?" Piper snarled and he threw his head back, laughing deeply. The vibration of his body against hers made Piper involuntarily clench her thighs tighter around his lean waist and Pan's laugh was cut off, the muscles in his arms and chest tightening as his self control was tested.
The play of his muscles tightening under his smooth skin made Piper smirk smugly.
"This…all of this-" Pan began, his voice the tiniest bit strained as he dropped his hands down to her thighs, clenching his hands around them, the burning heat of his palms stroking the heat that seared through her. "It's all just a game."
"Who's winning?" Piper challenged, cocking her head to the side, suddenly melting; boneless against the tree she was cuffed to. "Me?" She asked, undulating her hips in a twisting motion that had him clenching his jaw and his hands tightening almost to the point of cruelty. "Or you?" Piper purred, leaning closer and ignoring the strain on her shoulders.
"We will find out." Pan growled, yanking her closer by her thighs. Piper refused to be rattled again though and slowly smiled, the curling of her mouth hinting at a forbidden secret that prompted quick, flashing interest in his darkened emerald eyes that looked more like pools of obsidian lust.
"I guess we will." Piper agreed, opening her mouth and sliding it over his pulse, her sharp white teeth unerringly finding his pulse point and nipping before he was suddenly gone from between her thighs, vanishing in a cloud of emerald smoke and strained, hungry eyes.
Piper hit the ground with a thud, her wrists suddenly freed and her clothes fully on. Her wrists throbbed with the return of the unhindered blood flow and she hissed, lightly rubbing them even as the red marks darkened into bruises.
"I guess I win that round." Piper muttered and grinned sharply, rolling her shoulders in a quick, loose motion that relaxed the strained muscles. "The next move is yours." He wasn't around but Piper didn't doubt that Pan would understand the challenge anyway.
After all, he was the one that started this game. That meant he had to know the rules.
~Unbowed-and-Unbroken~
"Piper!"
"There you are!"
Salazar and Angelo hurried to her from across the clearing, worried expressions banished by the relief of seeing her.
"Are you okay?"
"Smith told us Pan cornered you!"
"Are you in trouble?"
"Did Pan yell at you?"
"What happened?" They both chorused impatiently and Piper suppressed a small smirk of amusement, reaching out to roughly ruffle Salazar's hair while she shrugged carelessly at Angelo. His sharp hazel eyes fixed on the darkening bruises around her wrists and he tightened his lips but didn't say anything.
His loyalty was being tested but like with Smith, his greater loyalty to Pan won out and Angelo didn't comment on the bruises. Piper felt a bitter burst of resentment curl in her chest but she firmly stamped it out and ignored it.
She can't dwell on things that don't matter anymore. Dolly is her priority. Dolly needs to be her priority.
"I'm fine, Pan just wanted to chat." Piper said casually, carefully angling herself so she was slightly behind Angelo as they walked over to the roaring fire to accept their bowls of stew. "I want to know where the prisoner is being kept." Piper said, fixing her dark eyes on the two boys.
Salazar and Angelo exchanged hesitant looks, eyes wide at the sudden demand.
"Why?" Angelo asked slowly and Piper cocked a slender copper eyebrow, a quick, sharp little grin on her mouth.
"I'm not going to hurt your precious Pan." Piper sneered and they both flinched the slightest bit. "I just want to see how he knows my- I want to see how he knows Fiercemoon." Piper said, lowering her voice so no one else could overhear her feral companion's name.
"Oh. Is that all?" Angelo asked warily, Salazar frozen at his side. The boy's dark green eyes were flicking rapidly between the two of them as he bit down on his bronze lip.
"Of course. Why else would I possibly want to see him?" Piper returned calmly, her dark eyes blank of any deception. The only problem was, her eyes were blank of any other emotion as well so Angelo shifted at his seat, shooting a quick glance around the camp until he spotted Felix.
"I think you should talk to Felix about that. I don't really have the authority to say yes or no." Angelo mumbled, hiding his face and using his food as an excuse.
"Oh. Is that the only reason?" Piper mocked and Angelo's face flushed but he refused to look up, choosing instead to shovel food into his mouth and mumble something she couldn't understand. Irritation burst in her chest and Piper shot to her feet, turning and swiftly making her way over to where Felix was sitting at the fire, staring into the flames blankly.
Piper slowed down when she reached him and sat down a few spaces away so she wasn't quite sitting next to him. Pulling her knees up to her chest, Piper curled her arms around her knees and rested her chin on her knees and stared into the fire. The brilliant orange and sparkling red flames shifted and flickered, reaching higher, emanating heat that warmed her.
The colors reflected in her eyes, turning them to liquid flames that swirled with broken promises and lost dreams.
"You want to see the prisoner." Felix stated quietly and Piper shifted her gaze over to him, seeing him watching her back. His icy blue eyes weren't so icy but more…solemn. Like he was on the edge of doing something….he really shouldn't.
Piper didn't hope though. If anyone was ever going to turn away from Pan for her, it wouldn't be Felix. Felix has this overwhelming gratitude and fierce loyalty to Pan that Piper identifies with because...that's exactly how she is with Dolly and Cortez.
She feels this fierce, deep, unwavering loyalty to them because in her eyes, they saved her from what her life could have been. They've stuck by her side since the day they met. They have never wavered or faltered in their friendship of her and in return, Piper, as one of those rare people that feels things so very deeply…she can't help but give her all back in return.
That's how Felix is. He may seem cold an untouchable but there is not a damn thing in all of the universes that could ever possibly tear him from Pan's side. Nothing but the explicit betrayal of Pan himself and even then, there would be that forever lingering flame of loyalty that stubbornly refuses to go out.
"I hear he knows my feral cat." Piper answered back quietly and Felix nodded the slightest bit.
"You can speak with him but only after Pan is done. I'll let you know when." Felix said and Piper nodded, leveling him with a steady gaze.
"Thank you, Felix." Piper said quietly and he nodded at her curtly before they both resumed gazing into the flickering, wavering, steady and strong flames.
~Unbowed-and-Unbroken~
"Two more days." Felix spoke over his shoulder and continued on his way while Piper stared at his back, frustration burning in her chest. He was procrastinating in allowing her to see the prisoner and it is getting on her nerves. Whirling around, Piper drew short when she saw Pan watching her from across the clearing, a group of his Lost Boys around him.
There was a dark look flashing through his eyes and Piper jerked her chin up with defiance automatically. A smirking smile flashed across his mouth and then he just…ignored her. He turned his attention back to the boys eagerly clamoring at him and he didn't look up.
Unsettled, Piper strode across the clearing and across the other side, moving easily through the trees. She knew this path better than she knew any other at this point so it didn't take long for Piper to find Dolly.
"Dolls!" Piper called and Dolly's face appeared between the slats of bamboo.
"Piper! Piper come here, I know where the prisoner is being kept!" Dolly exclaimed and Piper darted forward, nimbly climbing up the tree, using branches to propel herself higher, faster. In moments, Piper had reached the branch Dolly was suspended from and had climbed along it, using her knife to pull open the latch at the top of the cage and drop inside with her friend.
For a dizzying moment, the cage spun and dipped, moving because of the new weight dropped rather abruptly into it.
"Piper!" Dolly yelped fearfully, clutching the sides of her cage. "Why would you do that?" Dolly accused and Piper slowly moved to her feet, crouched low to keep her balance.
"Sorry, Dolls. I wasn't thinking." Piper apologized and Dolly's stream of terrified words was cut off as she stared at Piper, wide-eyed at the rare apology.
"It's fine." Dolly said reflexively and Piper shook her head.
"It's not fine. I should have been more careful." The cage stabilized and Dolly stopped clutching at the sides so frantically. "You okay?" Piper asked, concern flashing through her eyes. Dolly smiled over at her friend, pleased, as always, to see the signs of caring.
"Yeah, it just scared me, that's all." Dolly answered and Piper relaxed. "So anyway, I heard Felix talking to one of the boys about where the captive is. He should be around this area, Pan likes to keep all of his prisoners close but not too close to each other." Dolly said and Piper nodded thoughtfully, mentally tracing all of the paths around here. "This one is facing north, towards the mountain, you know the one with the weird shape?" Dolly asked and Piper grinned.
"I know it. I should be able to find him later today. Dolly, if I can get you off this island, I will. You do know that, right?" Piper asked hesitantly, the rare moment of vulnerability shining through.
"Of course I know that!" Dolly exclaimed, a small shadow crossing her baby blue eyes. "I'm just…I'm just worried you are only thinking about me." Dolly confided and Piper raised her chin a little.
"I am just thinking about you. If I can get off this island with you, all the better but if I can't then you will be going back home without me." Piper shrugged. "That's all there is to it."
"NO!" Dolly exclaimed angrily. "We are supposed to stick together, Piper!"
"I know that!" Piper shouted, frustrated that her friend was being so obstinate. She slumped her shoulders, some defeat touching her expression. "I know that, Dolly but if worst comes to worst, you are my only priority." Piper explained softly but fiercely. "I can handle this place. It won't take long for me to have an in here that no one else has. I can survive here if I need to but you…Dolly, I don't want you to learn how to survive in a place like this." Piper explained and Dolly shook her head firmly but Piper wasn't done. "You deserve better than this."
The implication of Piper's words slammed into Dolly all at once.
…Piper doesn't feel like she deserves a good place, one free of any and all manipulation and games. She's been in places like this before, where every day survived is one day closer to losing herself completely.
"You deserve a place better than this too, Piper." Dolly said softly and Piper's shoulders jerked but she didn't look up from her hands.
"One day, maybe I'll believe that." Piper whispered.
They sat there in silence, the both of them lost in their own, deep, lost and lonely thoughts until it was time for Piper to go.
"Will you come back and tell me what the savage says?" Dolly asked anxiously and Piper paused before she climbed out, nodding to her small friend.
"I promise, Dolls." Piper slung a gentle half-smile Dolly's way. "And I always keep my promises."
"I know…." Dolly whispered once her friend was gone. "That's what I'm afraid of…"
BookRain - I can't tell you how Fiercemoon knows the Indian, that explanation will have to wait! Once again, thank for the PM, I needed it! ;)
zuleika126 - Aww, thank you so much!