Czar

by Julia Sykes

  “No. I don’t want it,” I refused as firmly as I could manage.

  I wasn’t supposed to be on birth control. I was supposed to remain a virgin until I was married.

  Married. My hazy concept of my future had always included a loving husband and two children. Before he took me, I had even begun to imagine Dimitri as that man.

  But he wasn’t a man. He was a monster.

  My eyes fell on the knife that rested on the empty breakfast plate. Adrenaline surged through me, and I lunged for it. Triumph ignited in my chest when I managed to close my fingers around the silver handle, and I held the weapon between myself and Dimitri.

  “Let me go. Now.”

  He cocked his head at me, betraying nothing more than mild disapproval.

  “You won’t hurt me, myshka.”

  “I will. Call off your guards. Give me a car. I’m going back to St. Petersburg. I’m going home.”

  “No. You’re not.”

  Fury rose up in response to his implacable calm. I screamed my rage and lashed out at him. His eyes widened a fraction, but his surprise didn’t make him hesitate. He caught my wrist before the knife even came close to piercing his chest. His grip tightened, and my fingers unfurled. I cried out in pain and despair as the knife dropped to the carpet.

  I didn’t have time to draw breath before he flung me over his shoulder in a fireman’s lift. One arm closed around the backs of my knees, preventing me from kicking him. My fists pummeled his lower back as I shrieked and twisted. A resounding crack cut through the maddened sounds I made. Hot pain blossomed on my upper thigh, shocking me into silence.

  Dimitri had spanked me.

  That barely registered when he began walking toward the door that led to the dungeon. Panic took hold, and I started fighting again.

  “Please. Don’t take me in there. Don’t-”

  Another sharp blow interrupted me as he stepped over the threshold.

  “Be quiet.” His soft tone was imbued with warning. “I’m going to get a few things. We are not staying in here. I know you’re not ready for that yet, but you must realize that I have to punish you for trying to harm me.”

  Punish me? My heart beat against my ribcage.

  “I’m sorry,” I choked out.

  “I appreciate your apology.”

  I squeezed my eyes shut, too much of a coward to face the contents of that room again. But I couldn’t block out the sound of metal clanking against metal. My mind couldn’t even begin to imagine what torment Dimitri might have in store for me. I barely breathed until I heard the door shut behind us again. We were back in the nice room.

  The air whooshed out of my lungs when Dimitri dumped me unceremoniously onto the bed. His touch lacked any tenderness when he flipped me onto my front and pulled me up onto my knees, just as he had done the night before. When he put that plug in me.

  I took a fortifying breath. I had handled the device once. I could do it again.

  My head snapped back when something frigid touched my dark hole. Dimitri didn’t meet my eyes. He remained intent on lubricating me. At first, it didn’t concern me to a debilitating degree. I assumed he would use the same plug. Then the morning light glinted off something silvery, and my entire body tensed.

  “Relax, or this will hurt a great deal. I imagine you are still sore from yesterday. That plug was rubber. The hook is stainless steel.”

  The hook. The u-shaped metal rod was only an inch wide – about half the size of the plug. One end was smoothly rounded, and the other looped in a small circle. Rope was tied through the circle. The length of it lay coiled on the bed next to me.

  Surely I misunderstood. Dimitri couldn’t possibly mean to put that thing in my body.

  I tried to scoot away from him, but his arm around my hips kept me firmly in place. His gaze finally came to rest on my terrified features, and some of his cold dispassion melted.

  “I’ll warm it up for you,” he assured me, as though he was doing me a kindness. He fisted the metal, the hook curving over his large hand.

  “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I tried to hurt you. I won’t do it again. Please, Dimitri-”

  “No, you won’t try it again. You will learn your lesson.” He gave me a half-smile. “You might even enjoy it, in a way. Pleasure can be more excruciating than pain.”

  He touched the tip of the lube-slicked metal to my hole. Even though he had warmed it with his body heat, I still yelped at the cold hardness of it.

  His clever fingers danced across my clit. “Don’t fight it. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “But I will if it comes to that.” He didn’t have to say it aloud for me to understand his meaning. The thing was going in me, one way or another.

  I sucked in a breath and blew it out slowly, focusing on the pleasure of his touch on my most sensitive bundle of nerves. My inner muscles relaxed, and the unyielding metal eased into me in a slow slide, not stopping until I felt the cool curve of the hook press against my skin. In a moment of pure revulsion, I tried to shove it out. Pain lanced through me. A low, animal whine slipped through my teeth, and I forced myself to relax again.

  His touch left my clit, and the mattress shifted as he stood. He grasped the rope attached to the end of the hook, uncoiling it and lifting it toward the top of the massive headboard. He looped it through an eyebolt that was embedded in the wood. The hook tugged within me as the rope pulled taut and he tied it off, securing me in place more firmly than the cuffs could ever manage. I didn’t dare move, knowing the unyielding steel would only cause me pain if I fought against it.

  Dimitri wasn’t satisfied yet. He picked up another strange object that I hadn’t noticed before. The purple plastic was shaped like a butterfly, and thin black nylon straps dangled from the tips of its wings. He worked quickly, winding the straps around my upper thighs so that the butterfly rested squarely against my clit.

  Then it began to vibrate.

  I jerked in surprise, but only earned myself a fresh jolt of pain from the hook.

  He stepped back and studied my body for long moments, a twisted smile playing around his perfect lips. I found my anger again.

  “You’re a sick bastard, Dimitri,” I hissed. “If you think I’ll love you after this, you’re insane.”

  He shook his head at me ruefully and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small, black rubber ball with short leather straps on either side. I didn’t even try to guess what this new device was for. And I didn’t have to wait long to find out.

  He held the ball to my lips, applying pressure until they were forced apart. I tried to clench my teeth, but his fingers sank into my jaw. My mouth opened with a small cry, and he quickly slipped the ball inside and secured it in place by buckling the leather straps together at the back of my head.

  When he was satisfied with his work, he brushed a kiss across the gag.

  “You are going to stay here quietly and think about what you’ve done,” he informed me in a tone one might use to admonish a small child. He wiped away the first tear that spilled down my cheek. “I know you’re sorry, myshka. But you must learn to behave.”

  He moved away from me and crossed to the bookshelf. To my disbelief, he simply selected a book and settled down in the chair beside the desk.

  My sound of protest was muffled by the rubber ball. Surely he wasn’t going to sit there and read while I remained bound and tormented. I screamed against the gag to get his attention, but he didn’t so much as glance up at me.

  The vibrations on my clit were beginning to arouse me. I couldn’t bear to have my body betray me again. I couldn’t possibly enjoy this. My pride wouldn’t survive it.

  My hands weren’t restrained. If I could just untie the rope that secured the hook to the headboard, I would be free. I tried to prop up on my elbows, but the slightest movement jarred the hook, sending a shockwave of pain up my spine. I whimpered and eased my torso back down against the mattress, closing my eyes as defeat rolled over me.

  All I could do was
wait it out. Dimitri would untie me eventually.

  Once I accepted my own powerlessness, I sank into the darkness behind my closed eyelids. Unable to face my humiliation, my mind went carefully blank, and I became a purely physical being.

  The vibrations against my clit made relentless pleasure build in me. I focused on it, giving over to it. I came quickly and violently. When I shuddered in the aftermath, the hook shifted, tingeing my pleasure with pain. That sensation kept me aroused, as did the continued humming of the butterfly. Another orgasm took me. This time, I wanted to come down off the high. My clit stung, and the hook punished me every time my hips moved with involuntary ecstasy.

  I opened my eyes to search for Dimitri. He was still reading his fucking book. I screamed into the gag. I knew he could hear me, but the bastard didn’t so much as flinch.

  The stinging pain turned to burning pleasure, and my orgasm took me again. Every time I came, I ached for the ecstasy to end. Eventually, my blissful shouts quieted to soft, keening cries. Surrender swept over me, and I forgot my rage and indignation. All that existed was sweetly torturous sensation. I wept into the pillow, desperate for the ruthless ecstasy to abate. My body shook and shuddered, and only the unyielding hook kept me on my knees.

  A gentle hand stroked down my back, and my eyes fluttered open. My vision was hazy around the edges, but his perfect face was in sharp focus. He held absolute power over me; he was my entire world in that moment. My every nerve ending was on fire, set ablaze by him. I wanted him to burn me up, to consume me. Anything to make the cruel vibrations stop.

  He pushed a lock of sweat-dampened hair back of my brow, regarding me intently. Whatever he found in my eyes seemed to satisfy him, and he gave me a small nod before unbuckling the leather straps at the back my head and easing the rubber ball out of my mouth.

  “Do you remember why you tried to stab me?” He asked in a low, even voice.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered, my mind still hovering in that blessedly blank space. I didn’t want to think.

  “I know you are. Tell me why, myshka,” he prompted, more sternly this time.

  “I…” I grasped at the ragged threads of my memory. The incident seemed to have happened an interminably long time ago. “I didn’t want the birth control shot.”

  “I want you to take it. And you want to make me happy. Don’t you?”

  Another small orgasm was wrung from my scorched clit, and I whimpered. “Please…”

  “If you make me happy, I will release you. I will hold you and take care of you. Tell me, Alicia. Do you want the birth control shot?”

  I didn’t want the shot, but I did want to make him happy. Pleasing him meant I would get a blessed reprieve.

  “Yes,” I agreed softly, thinking of how nice it would feel for him to caress and care for my sore body. “I want that.”

  He smiled and retrieved the syringe from the desk. The sting of the needle sinking into my bottom was nothing compared to the burning of my clit. He pressed a kiss over the spot where it had stuck me and then disposed of the used shot.

  I would have sobbed with relief when he turned off the vibrator, but I was too spent to manage it. A low groan left my chest on a long exhale.

  It took him less than a minute to remove the straps from my thighs and untie the rope from the bolt in the headboard. He slowed his movements when he eased the hook out of me. It left me feeling strangely empty after being so harshly filled for so long.

  It felt like days had passed since I tried to stab him.

  Remorse flooded me at the memory of what I had done. Dimitri’s lesson had been well-learned. I would never try to hurt him again. I would do my best to keep him happy.

  Chapter 11

  No one came for me. Sixteen days, and no one came. Other than the one day Dimitri’s father had barged into the bedroom, I never saw anyone but my gorgeous captor.

  He spent most of every day with me, taking care of me like a particularly cherished pet. He read to me, fed me, bathed me, and – much to my chagrin – shaved me. In the hours when he left to take care of his “business,” I nearly went mad with boredom. The books were my only source of entertainment, but trying to puzzle through the complicated Russian often gave me a headache. Secretly, I was coming to crave his presence.

  I did my best to keep Dimitri happy, but I couldn’t bring myself to agree to be his sex slave. Although, I truthfully didn’t see how my agreement would make any difference to my situation. He already fucked me whenever – and however – he wanted.

  Fucked. Dimitri didn’t make love to me. He used my body for his pleasure. And my body received pleasure in kind.

  I didn’t understand my reactions to him. Hatred was a constant burn just beneath my skin. It was almost hot enough to sear away every trace of love I had ever felt for him.

  But love was never fully eradicated until the day he lost patience with me.

  The bedroom door crashed open, and I shrank back into the pillows when Dimitri stormed towards me. He had been my sweet lover only hours earlier, feeding me dinner and telling me how beautiful I was. He seemed to genuinely regret that he had to leave me to go to meet with his father.

  Now, fury rippled through his taut muscles. He came to a stop beside the bed and glared down at me.

  “What… What’s wrong?” I squeaked.

  “You think you can deny me,” he said in a low hiss. “I always get what I want. Always.”

  “You sound like a spoiled child.” The accusation spilled from my lips before I could stop it. “I’m not some toy you own. I’m a woman.”

  “You think that makes a difference? I do own you. If you won’t give me what I want, I will take it. That is a man’s right.”

  His hand closed around my arm, and he hauled me to my feet. He had never treated me so roughly before, and I feared something terrible was coming. My mind began to work in overtime.

  “You don’t have to be like this,” I pleaded as he dragged me along beside him. “This is because of your father, isn’t it? He’s the one who taught you this, but I know you’re not like him. You’re-”

  “Do not talk to me about my father!” He roared. “He is the one who has shown me the mistakes I have made with you. How weak I have allowed you to make me.”

  We reached the door to the dungeon room, and he flung it open. Panic spiked, and I twisted in his grasp, trying desperately to stay in the pretty bedroom.

  “Don’t take me in there,” I begged.

  His fingers dug into my flesh, and he yanked me across the threshold. “I should have done this when I first took you. Then you would know better than to play games with me. You will accept your place, Alicia.”

  “If you…” I almost said love me, but I no longer harbored that particular fantasy. “If you care about me at all, you won’t do this. I know you care. You don’t want to hurt me.”

  “Yes, I do.”

  My throat closed against any further protest. He couldn’t be reasoned with. And I couldn’t get away from him. He was too strong.

  We stopped abruptly, and he reached up. Metal rattled against metal as he tugged down the length of chain that was looped through a ringbolt embedded into the ceiling. Black cuffs dangled from the end of it. I tried to recoil, but his large body at my back blocked my retreat, and his arms caged me in on either side. He grabbed my wrists and buckled the supple leather around them with expert ease.

  “This is where I broke my other slaves… My father gave me my first woman when I turned fifteen.”

  He had been torturing women for a decade. He knew how to inflict pain to get what he wanted. I had thought his treatment thus far had been sick and twisted, but now I longed to return to the nice room, where he would hold me and whisper tender reassurances while he fucked me.

  His heat at my back disappeared, and the chain clinked through the bolt again, this time pulling upward. My arms were drawn inexorably up over my head, until I was forced up onto my toes to alleviate the pressure on my wrists. My l
ungs seized, and I began to hyperventilate. I wanted to tell him I would cooperate, but I couldn’t manage to force out the words.

  “Breathe, myshka.” My sweet lover’s voice issued from those cruelly perfect lips. His dark eyes softened, and he stroked his hand down my side.

  His gentleness wreaked havoc on my mind. How could he treat me like this and still appear concerned for my wellbeing? He had strung up my naked body in his torture chamber, but he touched me as though he actually cared that I was upset.

  Torture.

  “Please,” I heaved out on a sob. “I’ll do what you want. Tell me what you want.”

  He took a step back, and shifted the items he held. He gripped one in each hand, holding them slightly away from his body as though offering them to me.

  “I want you to make your choice,” he said calmly. “Serve me willingly, and I will make this pleasurable for you.” He hefted the whip in his right hand. Long, thin strips of suede leather hung from a wooden handle. “Refuse me, and we will do this the hard way.” He held out the coiled black bullwhip.

  I swallowed hard. I didn’t want him to beat me. “I’ll do it. I’ll… I’ll be your slave. Just let me down,” I begged.

  His white teeth flashed in a triumphant grin, and he tossed the black whip aside. He lifted the suede one and brushed the soft falls across my breasts. The sensation wasn’t unpleasant, but fear still rode me hard.

  “You will like this one.” He kissed my lips lightly. “Trust me.”

  “How can I possibly trust you?” My voice wavered with despair. He had taken everything from me – my innocence, my freedom, my life.

  “Do you remember what I told you about BDSM and safe words?” He asked. “That is how I want it to be between us. You can use these words to stop me if I’m causing you too much pain.”

  “But you’re going to beat me anyway,” I said hollowly.

  He touched the hilt of the whip beneath my chin, forcing my head up so I had no choice but to look into his eyes.

  “I need to hurt you, Alicia. It’s who I am. But you are made for this. You are a masochist. You find pleasure in pain. It’s time for you to acknowledge that.”