Prison of Smoke (PRISON OF TIDES SEQUEL)

Twenty-Five

Jasmine’s Point of View

I woke up to something slick between my thighs, and opening my eyes, I saw that Caspian’s face was buried there, devouring me. His tongue moved in circles around my c******s, and I lifted my hips involuntarily.

“Oh… oh,  Caspian...” I whimpered. I loved when he woke me up like this, the warmth of his mouth providing such pleasure to me.

“Don’t c*m, princess,” He breathed into my womanhood. “No matter what.”

I nodded, biting my lip and setting the intention to control myself. His hands kneading my breasts while his mouth had its way with me made it hard to keep my body in check, but every time I felt myself starting to approach my peak, I dug my nails into my skin, forcing myself to behave.

“Good little slut,” He whispered, slipping a finger into me agonizingly slowly. “If you keep being good like this, I’ll have to reward you tonight.”

“Yes… yes… sir…” My voice was high pitched as I tried so hard not to c*m when he flipped my over and kept his mouth fixed on my center before spreading my cheeks and licking my puckered hole. “Oh! Sir,” I panted.

“Be good, Jasmine,” He warned, popping my ass.

“Yes sir,” I moaned as he stuck two fingers in my aching center and circled my back hole with his tongue. “Oh, please, sir, please let me finish, I don’t know how much more I can take, Caspian.”

“I was going to let you before you started begging, but now, I don’t think you can.”

Tears of frustration filled my eyes as he kept going, tormenting me, absolutely refusing to let me finish. I needed him inside of me. “Please, Caspian,” I begged. “Please, please, I’m going to lose my mind.”

With that, he kissed the small up my back up to the base of my neck, sending shivers down my spine. When he reached my ear, the scruff of his facial hair tickled me.

“No.” He kissed my ear and forced his fingers in my p***y deeper, harder, and I almost fell over the edge. Almost. I maintained the restraint he demanded of me. “Good girl. Remember whose p***y this is. You’re mine, and you only orgasm when I give you permission to. Right?”

“Yes, sir,” I cried as he thrust his fingers in and out, crooking them upwards.

With that, he removed his fingers and kissed my neck again. “Come on, my love. It’s time to get ready for the day. We’ll finish this up tonight.”

With wide eyes, I got off of the bed, putting on the outfit he picked out for me. I saw that he had left kegal balls and a butt plug out, complete with no underwear, and I glared at him, panting.

“Caspian, you realize you’re just being downright cruel, right?”

He nodded, taking his toothbrush out of his mouth for a moment. “You know that I’m doing it on purpose, my love. It’ll be worth it tonight, I promise.” He rinsed his mouth out and combed his hair, fresh from the shower.

“Can I at least wear underwear? What if they fall out while I’m in a meeting? I do have a royal reputation to maintain.”

He scratched his chin, considering my point. “Fine. But I get to pick them out.” He walked towards the closet and emerged with an emerald green and black lace banded thong. “This.”

I nodded in agreement, slipping it on under my dress, happy he hadn’t completely lost his mind. “I’m going to go ahead and put your torture objects in now.”

“Oh, no you don’t, princess.” He gave me a devilish look.

He picked me up and threw me on the bed, lifting the skirt of my favorite green knee-length dress and nipping my thighs.

“Oh, Caspian,” I sighed as he made his way towards my center. He sucked on me through my thong, and I gasped as he pushed it to the side with his tongue, dipping it inside of me. After a minute of the exquisite torture, he grabbed the butt plug and lubed it up before putting it in my rear.

“Oh!” As my muscles relaxed around it, I couldn’t help but wish it was him inside of me. I was sure that he would be tonight, if he was doing this. I felt my face flush even harder when he french kissed my dripping womanhood one more time before putting the weighted ball set inside of me before replacing the thong.

A whine escaped me, and he grinned, looking far too satisfied with himself.

“This is going to be a very long day, isn’t it?”

He said nothing, just leaned over and kissed me. “I’ll see you at dinner tonight, my love.”

After an awkward walk down the stairs with Lilliana, I started to adjust to the additions to my body. Actually, the weights rocking around inside of me were starting to become pleasant.

Setting my little love down in her high chair, I made her strawberry oatmeal and played with the spoon a little before she grabbed it and giggled, taking a bite herself.

“Mommy, you know I can do it myself!” Her words came out a little jumbled, and I smiled, thinking of what a little angel she was.

“I know, sweet girl. I just can’t believe how big you’re getting.”

She nodded happily, taking another bite of her oatmeal, and before long, her breakfast was gone.

On the other side of the kitchen, there was a much different scene going on, with Cherry trying to feed the twins. Ruby was trying to eat while JJ threw a spoonful of his breakfast at her. Cherry was trying to calm them down, but it was clear she was at a disadvantage without Jacob beside her.

I tried not to smirk as I watched Cherry walk out of the room swiftly and groan, head in her hands as oatmeal dripped down her face. Moving towards her, I tentatively put a hand on her shoulder.

“Cherry, those kids are going to be the death of you,” I chuckled, trying to lift her spirits.

“Jacob’s been gone for three hours and I’m already going crazy. How the hell am I going to get through the next week?” I sympathized with her groan. I hated when Caspian was out of town, even for a day. But a week, with twins? I could see myself going out of my mind.

“It’s going to be okay, hon. You’ve got me here. Besides, he’ll be back before you know it.”

She nodded, grabbing a napkin and wiping the oatmeal off before going back into the room.

“Alright, you two. Just because Papa’s out of town doesn’t mean you guys don’t have rules. If you don’t want time outs and to lose privileges, you will behave. Understand?”

Her tone wasn’t to be reckoned with, and the twins immediately straightened their backs. “Yes, Mama.”

“Good. Now go and get ready, we’ve got to go see Grandma Elenor so that Mama can go to work. Up, up, up!”

Cherry was a force like no other. Within ten minutes, the twins were ready and she was out the door, waving goodbye. Lilliana and I shared a giggle about the twins’ behavior.

“Alright, sweetheart. You, too. Let’s get ready to see Grandma, yeah?”

“Yes Mommy!” She said sweetly, her dark curls falling around her porcelain face.

When we got to the sitting room, Lilliana ran towards her grandma, who promptly scooped her up and swung her around. “How is Grandma’s little girl doing today?” She asked, making faces with Lilliana.

Smiling as I watched on, I waved and let her know I loved her before walking out only to find Cherry in the hall, waiting for me.

Her expression was serious, and she grabbed my arm. “Jazz, I can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong. It started last night. At first I thought it was just nerves, but this morning I went to the sea and I saw something.”

I frowned. “What did you see?”

“Smoke. Smoke, everywhere. I could breathe, but I couldn’t see, couldn’t even think. It was like it was in my head. I have no clue what it means, but it terrified me.”

“Maybe we should go talk to Lanaira about it.” Lanaira, the high priestess, was over Cherry in her continuous work as priestess. Soon, Cherry would have the title of high priestess, but for now, she was still learning everything there was to know.

Nodding, Cherry took my hand. “She’s out of town on a tech-free spiritual retreat right now. I’m in charge while she’s gone.”

I twirled my hair, trying to think. “That’s right. I’m so sorry, it slipped my mind, Cherry.”

“Don’t worry about it.” She moved her hand as if to indicate that it didn’t matter. “Who knows? Maybe it meant nothing. Maybe I’m just stressed about Jacob and can’t see clearly because of it.”

“Maybe…” Something felt off about it to me, as well, but Cherry was the priestess. “I’ll follow your lead on it. Definitely ask Lanaira about it when she gets home, though. Is there any way you can do research on your own?”

Sighing, she shrugged her shoulders, defeated. “I don’t know, Jazz. There are plenty of books on water breathers and their abilities, but as far as fire breathers go, our resources are limited. Lanaira may know how to get in touch with a priestess overseas, but I sure as s**t don’t.”

“Then waiting is all you can do. Do you think it has something to do with the case?”

She closed her eyes for a second before nodding. “Yes. Yes, I do. I just can’t figure out what.”

We agreed to talk more about it this evening, and each headed our separate ways to work.

When I reached the center, Stella gave me an urgent look and rushed me upstairs to my office. Her hair flew around her face as her eyes darted around. She was normally calm and collected, but today, her feathers were a bit ruffled.

“Stella, what is going on?” I asked as soon as the doors to the elevator closed.

“Jasmine, Bennett is waiting for you upstairs. We’re going to need more space.”

“More space? Don’t we have plenty of beds available?”

“Not enough. We only have ten.”

“Ten free rooms isn’t enough?”

She shook her head, eyes wide. “It wouldn’t be enough even if we asked the women to share rooms.”

As the elevator opened into my office, I saw police officers swarming around, Bennett standing in the middle with a giant stack of files. He was barking orders into a cell phone. The mild mannered chief was clearly frazzled.

“Okay, someone has to tell me what’s going on.”

“Jasmine, you aren’t going to believe this. Those guys that Paul gave us turned in exchange for 25 year sentences. With how old they are, they’ll be dead before they even get out.”

I brought my hand to my mouth. “No trial?”

He shook his head. “Not for these three, at least. Things are about to blow wide open, Jasmine. One of the men was transporting women. He had 25 of them in the back of a semi.”

“25?!” I felt the room starting to spin. “You saved that many women today?”

He nodded, a huge grin on his face. “We saved that many women today.”

I looked around. “Are those folders for the women?”

Bennett nodded. “We’re trying to find accommodations for them now. There was a bad accident on the interstate and most of the doctors have been busy. But we need to get them attended to medically. I was hoping you may be able to help.”

I nodded. “Bennett, have them bring the women who are stable enough to not be in the hospital here. I’m going to call a few doctors who work in private practices, see if any of them are available to help. Stella, call Elenor and tell her to get here immediately. I want you to go coordinate with the palace staff to have these women stay there. We need the beds for our more common victims, and these women have been through a new level of hell. Please keep this plan under wraps. Bennett, you help coordinate getting the victims here. If there are any who aren’t safe to travel or who absolutely have to remain in the hospital, keep track. And Stella, please call Cherry, as well. She needs to be here for this.”

“Yes, your majesty.” Stella ducked her head, pulling out her cell phone to start making phone calls. Bennett and his men huddled together, figuring out the best way to get the women over here.

I placed a call to Dr. Ramirez. She was the best OB/GYN there was, and she was on retainer. She’d be willing to help with the examinations, and she’d know others who could help, too.

As I suspected, she quickly made her way to the center, seven other doctors in tow. Dr. Ramirez was running point on the medical aspect of things, making sure the doctors each had all the supplies they needed as they wheeled medical tray after medical tray into the lobby, machines being carried in by nurses behind them.

Elenor rushed into the lobby. “Jasmine, oh my gods, I couldn’t believe it when Stella called me! Don’t worry, now, the children are with Talun, he’s taking them for ice cream, but oh my gods, 25? You realize that this makes 28  women so far that have been rescued? Oh my, oh my… Jasmine, dear, look at what a difference you’ve made.”

I looked around, pride swelling in me as I watched everyone running around the lobby and conference rooms to set up makeshift medical areas. When I caught Dr. Ramirez’s eye, I nodded approvingly, and she flashed me a quick grin before turning back to the task at hand.

“Elenor, will you call Caspian and let him know what’s going on? There’s something I have to do.”

“Of course, dear, oh, It will be so good to talk to Caspian, I can’t wait until he hears the good news, oh my, do you want him to come? Of course you want him to come, was that even a question, oh, excuse me, dear, I fear I’ve become caught up in the excitement…”

Chuckling, I excused myself and rode the elevator up to Anna’s floor. Knocking on her door, she opened it, her eyes puffy as though she’d been crying. I pretended not to notice, knowing she would tell me what was on her mind when she was ready.

“Anna, has anyone told you what’s going on?”

Anna shook her head, wiping under her eye where another tear spilled out. “What’s going on?”

“Anna, thanks to you, we just found 25 trafficked women. They’re on their way here now.”

“What? Thanks to me?”

I nodded. “Yes, Anna. You gave us Zachariah. One of the men that Zachariah gave us was transporting them in a semi, heading towards Cathre. Without you, we never would have found them.”

“How long.. How long had they been trafficked for?” Her eyes were wide, her face frozen as she spoke.

“I have no clue. The hospitals are slammed right now, so we’re setting up a temporary medical center here. We have eight doctors who brought their own equipment, and the police are bringing the victims here now. Come with me. Help them get used to it here. Help them feel safe.”

Anna nodded, thrust into the position of healer for the first time in her life. “Thank you, Jasmine.”

“Don’t thank me. Thank you for everything you’ve done. It took a great deal of courage to go against them all. Without you, those women would have been sold.”

Back downstairs, I found that Caspian had arrived, Cherry flying through the door shortly afterwards. They took in the chaos around us with wide eyes, and I couldn’t help it - a huge grin broke across my face. As horrific as the sheer number of people we’d located was, we’d saved them. We’d saved 25 people from the same fate Anna had.

As if on cue, ambulances and police cars started arriving, and one by one, women with escorts filtered in through the door, most of them looking around with darting eyes, their bodies shaking. Some looked healthy, while others looked like they’d been taken for a while. I wondered what their stories were.

I knew that soon enough, I would know, and I wouldn’t be able to forget. The trauma they’d endured would be seared into my mind permanently, but it was important. It was so, so important.

They gathered in the lobby, and I realized that everyone was staring at me. I cleared my throat, trying to find the words.

“Hello, everyone. My name is Jasmine, and I’m the director of the Belden s****l Assault center. I’m here to make sure you have everything that you need as you begin to recover from what you’ve been through. For now, we’ve got a team of the finest doctors here to check you guys out, and after that, we’ll get you settled in your accommodations. If you need anything at all, please do not hesitate to let us know. Again, my name is Jasmine. This is Stella, my assistant; Caspian; Cherry; and Elenor. We are all more than happy to help. There will be food as soon as you are done with your examination.”

I looked at Stella, who nodded, putting in calls to the kitchen staff, checking the progress of the meals they’d been creating.

Dr. Ramirez ushered the women into the medical area, assigning each woman to a cot before the doctors began collecting urine samples and drawing blood. I left the room, rushing towards the basement, where we’d renovated a floor of the parking garage into a massive kitchen. It was sad how many people came through, but the work we were doing was important. I wanted to be sure that the staff didn’t need anything.

I was immediately glad I’d shown up, because they were making sub sandwiches and had run out of bread, of all things. Grabbing my wallet, I handed Mario, the head chef, $200 and told him to send one of his more trustworthy employees out to get whatever supplies they needed.

It dawned on me then that I’d done everything I could for the moment. The sheer reality of the situation came crashing down on me, and I needed something. Time. I needed time to process. So much was rushing back. All of those women had such familiar looks in their eyes, dragging me through time to when I’d first come to the hospital, to be further poked and prodded after already being violated so many times.

Heading back upstairs, I stopped the elevator for a moment, Stella by my side.

“Jasmine?” She looked at me, tucking her light blonde hair behind her ears. “You okay?”

I pressed my back against the wall and looked up, shaking my head as I blinked away tears. “I will be. I just need a moment. Can you give me a moment, please?” Oh, gods. There was stuff inside of me. I needed it out, I needed it out now.

She nodded, and I slid to the ground, putting my face in my hands. “Oh gods, I’m sorry Stella. It hit out of nowhere. I can’t let them see me like this. I’m going to my office. Can you please make sure no one disturbs me? I’ll be done in half an hour. I just need some time. If there’s an emergency, call me. I just need to compose myself.”

“Of course,” She said softly, taking my hand and squeezing it. “You just go up and I’ll handle everything downstairs. You don’t worry about anything, your majesty. You’re always so strong, but right now, it’s okay to rely on the team you’ve built here.”

Nodding, I turned the elevator back on and typed in the code to go towards the penthouse. Stella left me in peace, and I ran to the bathroom, taking the kegal balls and buttplug out. I wrapped them in a paper towel and threw them away, tying off the trash bag before replacing it with a new one.

Looking at the trash bag, I knew that I was a product of Raymond’s creation. A perversion of the woman I once was. I felt sick and leaned over the toilet, hurling my breakfast up.

Footsteps approached, and irritation filtered in. I’d asked Stella to keep people away from me. I needed to be alone right now. I didn’t need any of the staff seeing me like this. A knock of the bathroom door sent panic down my spine.

“Someone’s in here,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady.

The door opened, and when I saw it was Caspian, I couldn’t contain it anymore. I broke down, sobbing on the floor, and he sat beside me, pulling me into his arms.

“It’s okay, my love.” He repeated into my ear, his whispers soothing as I cried into his chest.

Hiccupping, I tried to speak. “Caspian, I took them out, I’m sorry. I’m sorry, please don’t be mad, I know I wasn’t supposed to, but I couldn’t.. I couldn’t... I’m sorry…”

His arms tightened around me. “Of course I’m not mad, my love.”

“I’m filthy, Caspian,” I sobbed, burying my face in his chest. “They ruined me.”

I heard him let out a breath with a shudder. “No, you aren’t. None of it’s your fault. I think we should go home, my love.”

His voice was patient, as always; so gentle. I tried to let it soothe me, but my head was buzzing, a million memories hitting me at once. The things inside of me. Why had I let myself have things inside of me again? Raymond had been right. I liked it. I was disgusted with myself. I needed to be here.

“No. They need me here, please, Caspian, I can get it together, I promise,” I begged, humiliated.

“I know you can handle this, but I’m taking you home. You’ve done more than enough today. My mom can take care of this. You have to take care of yourself so that you can keep helping others, okay?”

Sniffling, I nodded, leaning against him. “You’re right.”

He gave the top of my head a long kiss before running his fingers through my hair. “I love you, Jasmine. Let me take care of you.”

“I love you too, Caspian.” I let him help me up, and with that, he took me out back through the service entrance, avoiding everyone’s prying eyes. I realized then that I was grateful that Stella had gone against my wishes. I needed Caspian, and she saw that, even when I was too stubborn to admit it myself. I would have to thank her in the morning.

Jacob’s Point of View

The plane landed, and I wished more than anything that Cherry was there to share this moment with me. I knew that leaving her with the kids was the best decision I could make. I was the man of our house, and while I knew Cherry would never admit it to anyone but me, she counted on me to be our family’s protector and provider. It was a role I was happy to fill, but in times like these, I wish I could throw caution to the wind and take her with me.

My nerves were jumbled, something that rarely happened, at the thought of meeting my mother. Did I call her mom? Giada? I’d have to see what felt right when I met her.

Exiting the plane, I stepped to the side and video called Cherry, with no answer. Odd, but she could be working. I pushed aside the anxiety that was bubbling in my chest as I stepped into the airport, gathering my bag and looking around. A woman in her 50s held a sign with my name on it, and I recognized her as an older version of the woman from my vision.

My mother.

I stepped towards her, hesitant at first, but before I knew what I was doing, our arms were around each other.

“Ma, it’s so good to meet you,” I whispered, holding her close. I felt her tears dampening my shirt, and I squeezed her tighter before letting her go.

“Jacob, you’ve grown into such a fine young man,” She said through a heavy accent. Despite that, I didn’t have any issue understanding her.

“I was so happy when I got your letter. I didn’t know how to go about finding you, and things have been hectic ever since I found out you were a fire breather. There’s so much we need to catch up on.”

She smiled happily, her dark hair pulled back to reveal shining brown eyes, just a few shades darker than my own, like black coffee. I saw kindness in them, goodness in them.

“Yes, we do. I can’t believe this is real. I never thought I’d see you again, my handsome boy.”

Smiling back at her, I followed her to her car, and she drove to her home on the outskirts of the city. Her villino was surrounded by a sprawling garden, lavender being the dominating plant. It smelled heavenly, and when we walked inside, a delicious scent wafted over me, herbs sizzling inside of a baked ziti.

“Paulo!” She yelled, and a man who looked like an older, larger version of myself walked out. “This is Jacob, your nephew.”

“Ah! Jacob, I’m so happy to finally meet you. It seems you’ve done well in life, and we couldn’t be more proud.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Uncle Paulo.” It surprised me how easily it was to accept them as family, but it felt natural. They hadn’t rejected me in giving me up for adoption - on the contrary, they’d made a sacrifice out of love for me.

“Come, sit, dinner is almost ready. Tell us about your life, your adventures, your family overseas.”

Sitting across from Paulo while Ma finished making dinner, I told him all about the twins, showing off pictures of them with Cherry.

“Ah, your wife is very beautiful, and very beautiful children, Jacob. You’ve made a fine life for yourself. We will have to meet your family soon.”

“I’d love that. You should come visit Lutna. We have plenty of room, and my wife is dying to meet you.”

“I can’t believe you left such a pretty woman alone. She’s going to have to beat men off with a broom while you’re gone.” A hearty laugh fell from his mouth, and I nodded in agreement.

“I’d be more worried about any man who crosses her. She’s a firecracker. Makes me love her even more,” I said proudly. “I never thought I’d settle down, and then I laid my eyes on her and that idea was all gone.”

“You’re a very lucky man, Jacob.”

I nodded in agreement as Ma set the food on the table, making my mouth water. For the first time in my life, I sat around a table with my birth family and enjoyed a meal. Having this, and my family back home, was more than I ever believed I’d had in my life. I was so happy that I was worried it would all go up in smoke if I blinked.