There was the sound of footsteps and masculine voices. The cell beside hers clanged open. “Let’s go,” she heard Jorge say. After a few moments, he moved to Julianna’s cell, unlocking the door and pulling it open.
“Let’s go,” Jorge said again, and Julianna stepped out, knowing she had no choice. Jorge and Pete had with them a naked woman in her early twenties. She had honey blond, curly hair and large, round breasts over a long, slender body. Her face would have been beautiful, but it was twisted and drawn by fear. Her hands were cuffed on either side of her collar and her ankles were hobbled with cuffs, a short length of chain between them. Just as Julianna had assigned the name Sandy to number thirty-one, she decided to call this girl Ashley. They would never be numbers, not to her.
The men cuffed Julianna’s wrists to her collar and hobbled her ankles as they’d done with Ashley. They attached a chain between the two girls, tethering them together by the O-rings on their collars, Julianna standing behind Ashley. They led them down to the next occupied cell, where a petite girl with short dark hair sat huddled on her cot.
She, like Sandy, looked barely out of her teens. She had a woman’s body, but her cheeks still carried a hint of childhood roundness. Her eyes were puffy and red, tears staining her face. She must have been the one Julianna heard crying. Rachel, Julianna decided. She wanted to take the poor girl in her arms and tell her everything would be okay, but of course, things weren’t okay, and might never be again.
Rachel was cuffed and hobbled in similar fashion and then attached behind Julianna. A fourth girl was added, tall and statuesque, with dark eyes and raven black hair that fell in a shiny curtain down her back. Veronica.
With Jorge at the head and Pete at the rear, the four women were led out of the quarters and into the bright sunlight. Rachel was still sniffling. As the men led them outside, Julianna realized she was clenching her jaw so tight that it ached. They were brought to the pavilion where Alma had given her the lessons. Alma was gone, as was Vince, but Stephen and Jason were there, both of them with tight, angry expressions. Jason was holding a long, thin cane in his hands.
Stephen directed the guards to unclip the girls from each other. They were kept hobbled, their arms chained to their collars. “Kneel up.” He pointed to the ground and all four girls lowered themselves, facing him in a line. He looked slowly from one to the next, his eyes blazing with barely concealed rage. Julianna stole a glance at Jason, who looked just as furious.
She must have got away, Julianna thought, suddenly exultant. That’s why they’re so pissed.
“Stop sniveling, thirty-six!” With a sudden, sharp movement, Stephen reached down and slapped Rachel hard across the face. The girl gasped, then hiccupped, tears still rolling down her cheeks.
Fucking bastard, Julianna thought furiously. She stared at the ground, trying to get her own expression under control so it wouldn’t betray her rage. She realized the other girls probably had no clue that one of them had managed to escape.
Stephen stood back, crossing his arms over his chest. “We have brought you out here to conduct a little experiment. You are each at different stages in your training, but I’m going to give you a chance to prove your submission and obedience. It’s one thing to passively submit to what’s done to you. It’s possible to pretend with the body when the heart is not engaged. It’s possible to fool even the most discerning Master.”
A spasm of pain moved over Stephen’s face as he said this. Julianna flashed back to the almost fond way he had looked at Sandy when he talked to her, the tender way he had stroked her head, and his proud declaration that she had not only accepted but embraced her “fate”. Clearly he must be referring now to Sandy, to her pretending to submit when her “heart wasn’t engaged”.
Was the man really that fucking deluded? Did he actually think he could torture and brainwash human beings into not only submitting to his sadistic will, but to loving him for it? Whatever his twisted thinking, it was clear Stephen had, in his own mind at least, been burned. Fuck you, Stephen, she thought for the thousandth time.
“Today I’m going to give each of you the opportunity to actively prove your submission and devotion to me, your trainer. If you please me, you will be rewarded. If you fail, you will suffer the consequences.” He turned to Jason. “The cane, please.”
Jason handed him the cane. Stephen tapped the blonde’s shoulder with the tip of it. “Stand up, thirty-four.” She obeyed, her large blue eyes wide with fear. He released her wrists from her collar. “We’ll start with you. I want you to beat number thirty-three. Leave marks. Prove your submission.”
He held the cane out to her and Ashley took it hesitantly. Stephen grabbed Veronica by her elbows and pulled her to her feet. “You will show your submission by accepting the caning with grace, and thanking number thirty-four afterwards.”
“Yes, sir,” the girl said in a meek voice.
He positioned Ashley beside Veronica. “Ten strokes. Hard. I want to see welts.”
Ashley looked helplessly at him and then at the cane in her hands. “Please, sir, I don’t—”
“Silence! I didn’t ask you to speak. Do as you’re told. Now.”
Her hand trembling, Ashley lifted the cane and batted rather ineffectually at Veronica’s voluptuous ass. Julianna saw it was already marked with fading lines of purple and black.
“You can do better than that, thirty-four.” Stephen voice was soft, but menacing. Ashley hit the girl harder, a long, red line appearing over both cheeks. Stephen had Veronica count as each stroke marked her flesh. Ashley seemed to grow in confidence as she struck the other woman, each time a little harder than the last.
When she was done, Veronica, who had barely whimpered, turned and knelt, lowering herself gracefully to kiss the top of Ashley’s bare foot. “Thank you, ma’am, for using this worthless slave.”
Stephen actually applauded, while Jason laughed. The two guards stood stony-faced as usual. “Excellent.” Stephen moved toward them, taking the cane from Ashley. He re-cuffed her wrists at her collar while Jason released Veronica’s cuffs.
“Now, thirty-three. Return the favor. Show thirty-four how it’s done. Don’t hold back.” He handed the cane to Veronica. Julianna saw a cruel gleam in the girl’s eye. Ashley, whose entire body had started to tremble, was directed to turn around and stay still.
“Don’t forget to count,” Stephen admonished.
The first blow landed hard, the loud thwack of the cane against flesh making both Rachel and Julianna jump. Ashley cried out and then gasped, “One!” Veronica hit her with hard, methodical strokes. On the fifth stroke, she hit her thighs, raising a long, ugly welt horizontally across both legs. Ashley screamed in pain and stumbled forward in her chains.
Veronica continued to whip her, the last blow landing with a vicious cut across Ashley’s shoulders. Ashley collapsed to the ground. Julianna could barely believe what she was witnessing. Veronica’s expression was one of triumph. She tossed her hair and simpered at Stephen. Stephen moved close, stroking her cheek. Julianna saw the erection bulging in his pants and looked away with disgust and fury.
Jason, meanwhile, prodded the crying girl with the toe of his shoe. “Thank her.” Ashley turned, still on her knees, and lowered her face to Veronica’s foot. She kissed it, mumbling the words she was forced to say. Julianna’s heart ached for the girl. Veronica had given her a vicious beating, much harder than the one she’d received.
Once they’d forced the two girls back into the line, Julianna gulped as Stephen moved toward her and Rachel. He pulled Rachel to her feet and unclipped her cuffs. Handing her the cane, he said, “Show your worth.”
He pulled Julianna up and positioned her so her back was toward little Rachel. The first blow wasn’t very hard. “One!” Julianna shouted.
“Harder!” Stephen commanded. The second stroke was harder. It hurt, but it wasn’t unbearable. She counted as each stinging stroke cut across her skin. “Harder. Show me your devotion.” Julianna was
caught unprepared for the slice of the cane as it struck her lower back, searing her like a brand.
“Oh god! I’m sorry! I missed,” Rachel cried.
“Stupid girl!” Stephen grabbed the cane from Rachel and pushed her to the ground. “I’ll finish this. You’re useless.” He hit Julianna four more times, each harder than the last, cutting across her ass, thighs and back. He pressed her shoulder. It didn’t take much for her to sink to her knees.
“Thank me properly.”
Julianna managed to kneel down and touch her lips to Stephen’s sandal. “Thank-you-sir-for-using-this-worthless-slave.” She said it in a rapid monotone, the words strung together as if they were little more than nonsense syllables.
Stephen jerked her arm, pulling her to her feet. He spun her around, releasing the clips on her cuffs and thrusting the cane into her hands. Julianna, her back and ass stinging, looked down at Rachel, who was curled into a ball on the ground, sobbing.
How could she hit this girl, this child? She glanced at Veronica and Ashley, both of whom were looking at the ground, no doubt relieved they were no longer in the spotlight. She looked at Jorge and Pete and saw they were looking at each other, as if blocking out what was going on before them. Stealing a glance at Jason, she saw he was stroking his crotch, a small, mean smile on his face.
Stephen hauled Rachel to her feet and positioned her away from Julianna. “Beat this useless slave,” he ordered Julianna. “Show her no mercy. Give her ten good ones. I want to see blood.”
Jesus. Blood! She had no idea how to handle a cane, but couldn’t imagine hitting someone hard enough to draw blood. Just the thought of it made her feel sick. There was no way Julianna could do this. Yet she knew if she didn’t, Stephen would take over and do it for her.
Taking a deep breath, she let the cane fall against Rachel’s small ass. The girl whimpered and said, “One.”
“Harder,” Stephen said.
With a silent apology, Julianna struck the girl again, a little harder. “Two!”
“Harder!” Stephen barked.
Julianna obeyed, her heart wrenching when the girl gasped and yelped. The third line rose dark and angry just below the first two. Julianna felt faint, her ears ringing. “Go on,” Stephen commanded. “Another. Mark her thighs. Strike her back. Make her suffer. Make her bleed. Do it, number thirty-eight, or pay the price.”
A small, dark voice whispered in her head. Do it. Just do it. Save yourself. You have no choice. It’s you or her. It wasn’t her doing it—it was Stephen. He was forcing her to, with his henchmen and bullies around him. If she didn’t comply, he’d probably hurt Rachel even more, and then turn his vicious wrath on her. She had no choice. She had to do this.
I’m so sorry, Rachel, she whispered in her head. Julianna pulled back her arm and flicked her wrist, the cane whooshing through the air. At the moment of impact, Rachel screamed and jerked sideways, causing the cane to wrap around her torso, leaving a long, ugly welt in its wake. Droplets of blood appeared along the welted line on Rachel’s thin body. Julianna stared, horrified at what she had done.
Rachel collapsed to the ground, curling up like a terrified animal. Julianna couldn’t remember ever feeling more wretched in her life. A slow, cold fury rose in her gut, along with the nausea.
“Go on. You’re not done.” Stephen’s words cut like a razorblade.
Jason forced Rachel again to her feet. Julianna’s heart was beating too hard, too fast. She felt like she was going to pass out. Nothing she’d suffered so far on this wretched island had been as bad as this. It was one thing to suffer, quite another to be the direct cause of someone else’s agony. She couldn’t strike the poor girl again.
Julianna clenched the handle of the cane. Her hands were slick with sweat. She knew she had no choice. Her body felt sluggish. She couldn’t seem to control her movements. It was like a bad dream where you try to run, but find your legs are stuck in place.
She could feel Stephen’s will, like a magnetic current moving over her, forcing her to do what he wanted. She lifted the cane, but again she hesitated. She couldn’t beat this young girl, not again. Not even if it meant terrible punishment.
They could control her body—they could starve her, beat her, even kill her. But by forcing her into the role of aggressor, by making her complicit in their cowardly, cruel games, they had tried to steal and desecrate that part of her that kept her human. They would not, they could not, have her soul.
The cane clattered from her fingers to the ground.
“Pick. It. Up.”
She let her hand fall to her side and straightened up. Though she was shaking with fear, she looked directly into Stephen’s cold gray eyes, thrusting out her chin in defiance.
“No.”
Chapter 10
At a look from Stephen, the guards dragged Rachel back into the line of kneeling girls. Stephen turned his cold, hard gaze on Julianna. Barely contained fury sparked behind them. What had she done? What would he do to her? Would the other men just stand by and let him kill her?
Stephen turned from her, speaking now to the line of girls kneeling in a row. “It is quite clear,” he said, his voice dripping venom, “that this worthless slave needs to be taught a lesson. A very firm lesson. I trust the rest of you will learn by her example, what happens to girls who say no.”
His head swiveled toward the guards. “Hold her in position, arms fully extended.” Jorge and Pete moved to stand in front of Julianna. Each took hold of a wrist, pulling Julianna’s arms until they were stretched out on either side of her. Stephen stood behind her, the cane in his hand.
Terror broke over Julianna like a cold sweat. If the guards hadn’t been holding her upright, she would have fallen. Stephen leaned close, his hot breath on her neck. “I never met a girl yet who I couldn’t break.” He stepped back.
The first blow struck hard across her ass. Julianna yelped and jerked but the men held her in place. Stephen chose a spot on one cheek, striking it over and over until Julianna thought it must literally be on fire. She was screaming, struggling hard against the strong hands that held her in place as she tried in vain to avoid the relentless cut of the cane.
Her mind began to fog with pain. She felt the warm trickle of something down her leg and realized it must be blood. Her head fell forward, her legs giving out.
“Hold her up,” Stephen snapped.
The men each took hold of one of her upper arms, pulling her upright and supporting her weight. Mercifully the cane shifted at last, now painting lines of stinging fire over her back, ass and thighs. Each time she swore she couldn’t take another stroke, another landed, and then another. The air was filled with a high-pitched, keening cry. She was dimly aware it was her own voice though the sound seemed disembodied, floating somewhere over her head.
Strong fingers gripped her arms as she sagged. Pain washed through her—long, searing stripes of white hot pain. I can’t do this. I can’t take this. And yet she did. On and on it went, until her nerve endings, mercifully, began to numb.
She could still hear the sound of the cane cutting through the air and landing across her skin but she couldn’t feel it any longer. Her body was icy, as if her very blood had frozen in its veins. Her lungs felt like balloons that had lost all their air. She was breathing fast and hard, but no oxygen seemed to be reaching her. A rushing sound thundered through her ears, blotting out all other sound, as a gray, cold mist moved over her eyes, blinding her.
“Thank god,” she whispered, letting the darkness take her.
~*~
Julianna opened her eyes. It was dark and she had no idea where she was. She tried to move, but realized she was immobilized, her wrists pulled over her head and chained to the wall. She was standing upright, held in place by manacles at her wrists and ankles, as well as a thick band of leather secured around her waist.
The air was warm and close, and she recognized the fetid stench of the solitary confinement hut. Her back was against the wall, her skin still t
ender and stinging. She jerked forward, trying to wrench herself free, but only succeeded in nearly choking herself on her collar. She let her head fall back, too exhausted and defeated even to cry.
~*~
When next Julianna opened her eyes, the hut was suffused with the pale gray light of dawn. It felt like there was sand in her eyes but she could do nothing but blink. Her whole body felt gritty with the stuff and she longed for a shower. Her arms were numb. She tried to move her fingers but had no idea if she was succeeding. She needed to pee. She desperately wanted to close her legs to alleviate some of the pressure in her bladder, but chained as she was, she could not. She listened hard for a while, trying to tell if anyone was out there, if anyone was coming for her.
She squirmed and felt a few drops of urine escape. She knew she was seconds away from losing control. “Oh, shit,” she cursed, as all at once the floodgates opened. She couldn’t deny the physical relief she felt as the hot stream splashed between her legs, puddling on the floor at her feet.
To think she’d been reduced to this—naked and filthy, forced to stand in a puddle of her own urine, chained to the wall like a character in some medieval nightmare. Humiliation fought with anger at the thought of the men walking in and seeing her like this.
Anger won.
I never met a girl yet who I couldn’t break.
Julianna stoked her anger on those words. “Fuck you, Stephen,” she muttered, letting the rage move through her like an ocean wave. “You didn’t break Sandy. You won’t break me.” Closing her eyes, she fell again into a fitful doze, dreaming of the vast ocean meeting the endless sky, a tiny blond head bobbing in the distance.
When next she awoke, it was from the heat. She could feel the sweat rolling down her sides and between her breasts. The collar around her neck chafed at her damp, itchy skin. Her hair was matted and tangled, and an annoying strand kept falling into her face. A bead of sweat slipped into her eyes, stinging like mad.
Her heart began to thump at the sound of the ATV approaching. The door swung outward and Jorge came in. Pete entered just behind him, a tall, thin silhouette against a blinding rectangle of sunlight.
Dark Obsessions - Volume I: Four Intense Capture Fantasies in One Sizzling Collection Page 11