by Bonny Capps
My lips part when two arms wrap around me and a stubbly cheek presses against mine. I look at Vadim’s silhouette through bleary eyes as he holds me close. I relax into his embrace, the ice cold beneath me as his chest rises and falls against my back.
“Do not become a ghost, Sofia. Do not fall apart.”
His words ignite more tears to form, and when my eyes travel back to the window, Boris is gone.
“It’s too late,” I whisper as I stare blankly at the window, and his arms tighten around my shoulders.
“I’m already a ghost.”
Several Weeks Later…
“How much longer does he have?” I ask.
My father’s vrach looks up as he packs his stethoscope into his briefcase. “He’s teetering the fine line between life and death. I’d say a couple of hours … maybe a day. When he does go, he will go peacefully.”
I nod as I press my knuckles to my lips. The doctor leaves, and I stand, approaching my father’s bedside.
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve watched my father deteriorate. One day, he laid down to take a nap and he never got back up. His old body had finally called it quits. Sitting beside him, my eyes travel over his withered face. Deep wrinkles surround his eyes and slither down his cheeks. His eyes are closed and his chest rises slightly with each shallow breath.
“You thought that I was oblivious,” I murmur as I stare down at him. “You thought that I didn’t know what you did to her.”
A smile curls my lips momentarily when I think of my sweet mother, but my face drops into a frown as the dark memory slinks its way into my mind.
“Please don’t do this!” My mother wailed as I peered through the crack in their bedroom door.
He held her by her neck as he glared at her. “You are a whore!”
Her heavy breaths soon turned into a strangled sound as he lifted her by her neck. She kicked and struggled, but mama was only four-foot-something and no match against a man of my father’s stature.
“You’ve made your choice, Vera. Now you must pay the price.”
Reaching across my father’s lifeless body, I retrieve a pillow and clutch it in my fists as I stare down at him.
“Mama was a good woman, and you killed her. You strangled the life out of her. She was the only person who’s ever loved me.”
My face twists as my fingers tighten around the pillow. “What did I ever get from you, old man? Nothing. Not a fucking thing.”
Leaning forward, I watch as his lips part slightly, as if he is trying to speak. “You know what?” I whisper, “I get the last laugh.”
I shove the pillow over his face and smile wickedly has his body seizes up. After several seconds, he’s gone.
Just like that.
Standing, I place the pillow back into its respected place as my father’s dead eyes stare up at the ceiling.
The doctor was wrong. A man like my father doesn’t deserve to go peacefully. I assume the same will be said about me when it’s my time.
Once I emerge from my father’s room, I see Vlad. I don’t try to hide my smile as I approach the big oaf.
“Call the artist. It’s time to hang my painting in its rightful place.”
His eyes flit from me to my father’s bedroom door as a concerned expression spreads over his face.
“Now.”
He nods slowly before continuing down the opposite direction of the hall, and I go searching for Sofia.
Once I enter the library, it takes Sofia and Vadim a moment to realize that I’m standing in the doorway. Sofia is sitting in a chair with her feet propped up on the desk that Vadim leans on. They’re laughing and carrying on. The smile on her face is one that I’ve never seen her wear before. It’s free and legitimate. Not forced … not fake.
I clear my throat as I enter the room and Vadim’s eyes lazily travel up to meet mine.
“Vadim, arrangements need to be made. My father is dead.”
A pained look crosses his face for a split second before his features harden once more as he stands straight, hurriedly leaving Sofia and me alone. I close the door behind him and approach her.
“Hello, beautiful,” I whisper as I sweep her soft, blonde locks away from her face. “You are no longer a princess, but a queen. Extravagant vacations, the finest jewels … I’m going to give you the world.”
I lean over the back of the chair where she sits and kiss her softly along the crook of her neck causing her to sigh. “I need you to become invested in the business, mouse.”
“What do you need me to do?” She breathes out as I run my tongue along her jaw.
I stand straight and begin slowly massaging her shoulders. “It isn’t what I need you to do, Sofia. It’s what I want you to do.”
Walking around the desk, I lean against the sturdy wood and stare into her dark, disconnected eyes. “Me being a young successor, I’m going to have other bratva’s coming at me from every angle. I need to know that my wife will stay by my side every step of the way.”
“Just tell me what you want, Dimitri,” she snaps.
I tilt my head as I regard her sudden attitude. “An attitude will get you nowhere, mouse. You are the ship, and I am the sails. When I ask for your cooperation, it is recommended that you smile and do as I wish. Otherwise, you will not like the consequences.”
She sighs and stares down at her lap and I straighten my spine. “The videos have become very popular as of late, but I don’t wish to stop there. I have other plans, and I need you to help me.”
“Help you?” she rasps, her eyes travelling to mine.
“Yes,” I respond sharply. “Help me. There is a new thriving market for taboo films. Snuff is still in high demand, but we need to spread our clientele. We do that by meeting different needs.”
I push off of the desk and place a finger under her chin. “I want you to be my star, Sofia. I want you to be the one that other men long for, but cannot have.”
She shakes her head slowly, her eyes shimmering. “I can’t, Dimitri. Please. Please don’t make me do this.”
I nod as a smile tugs at my lips. “You will. You will because you are my wife. You will, because you do not have a choice.” I remove my finger from her chin and her head drops down as I continue. “You will, because you are mine.”
Her lip trembles as her soft, brown eyes stare into mine. “I can’t kill people.”
I laugh. “Kill people? You won’t be killing anyone, mouse, but you will be using them. For my gain, and for yours.” She frowns. “There is no denying the rush that I get when I know that I have full control over a person. I want you to feel that, too.”
She lets out a defeated sigh and shakes her head. “What exactly do you want me to do?”
I reach down and grasp her hand, pulling her to her feet. Reaching out, I gently run a finger from her cheekbone to her jaw.
“First, I want you to watch.”
I lead her down below the dacha’s polished floors. Her thin fingers tighten around my hand as she stops abruptly. I look over my shoulder and give her a tug, causing her feet to pick up once more.
“I remember this,” she murmurs as her eyes travel to the openings on each side of the corridor. Some of the arched doorways are covered with a red curtain, and some have the curtain drawn to the side.
“Oh?” I say, leading her into one of the open rooms and releasing her hand. She nods slowly as her eyes travel around, her hands rub up and down her arms in an attempt to warm them.
“It’s so cold,” she whispers as she continues to take in her surroundings.
Each room that lines the corridor is pure concrete, and that only traps the chill in the air. There aren’t any furnaces or fireplaces down here to offer solace from the cold, and I prefer it that way. The cold keeps the women on their toes, and it makes the blows hurt much worse.
I nod to a cage situated in the corner. “Get in.”
Her eyes dart to the metal cage and she shakes her head emphatically. “No. I can’t go back
in there.”
I begin approaching her with narrowed eyes. “Did I stutter, or did you misunderstand our little chat earlier?” Reaching behind her, my hand slides over the nape of her neck before I tangle my fingers in her hair. “Get. In. Now.”
She sucks in a breath as my grip tightens in her hair and I pull her to the cage. I toss her inside, and she winces when her back hits the metal bars. I slam the door shut and smirk at her.
“Don’t tell me no again, Sofia. In fact, you might as well remove that word from your vocabulary.”
She hangs her head, and I turn when I hear footsteps approaching the entrance. Vlad drags in one of the newer whores, though we’ve already become acquainted—several times. Her wide, blue eyes dart around before locking onto Sofia, then her gaze softens when it lands on me.
I grip the whore’s arm before dragging her to the center of the room. Her name is irrelevant; she’s merely a fuck toy, but Sofia doesn’t need to know that. Turning towards Sofia, I run a hand over the young woman’s front. She only wears scraps of clothing; some leather shorts and a waist corset. Her breasts are uncovered, and I grasp her breast before twisting her nipple. She cries out, and Sofia’s brow pinches together as she watches.
“Do you like that, slave? Do you like the pain that I give you?” My eyes never leave Sofia’s when I whisper the question to the whore.
Sofia is fighting something within herself, it’s written all over her face. One emotion transitions into another as she fights her feelings of jealously. The confusion glistens in her eyes as she grips the bars of the cage, her knuckles turning white.
I can see her thoughts. “Should I be upset? Should I be angry?” Yes, no, yes, no … She is the epitome of beauty when she battles with herself. It makes my cock press painfully against my fly as I watch my beautiful wife come undone against her will. Her thoughts no longer belong to her, they belong to me and only me.
I grasp the woman’s hair and pull her head back to expose her neck before biting into her flesh. She tenses up in my arms, and I sigh as my teeth cut into the sensitive skin. I pull away and blow on the indents left behind.
“Shhh…”
She loosens up in my arms and I lift her hands above her head before cuffing her wrists. This isn’t our first powwow. I’ve been conditioning this one for weeks. She relishes in the pain … she wants it. Something that Sofia will soon learn.
Sofia watches me like a hawk when I walk across the room and pull the rope, lifting the girl to where her toes can barely touch the cold floor below. I grab the bamboo cane and circle around the whore, feeling the burn from Sofia’s dagger eyes. She can hate me all she wants. The fact of the matter is, she doesn’t hate me for what I’m about to do to this woman—she hates me because it isn’t her, whether she wants to admit it or not.
I walk toward the hanging girl as the cane swings casually by my side. “Do you know the beauty of mixing pain with pleasure, Sofia? Most will never comprehend the beauty of the two together.” I stand in front of the woman, rearing back and landing the cane over the goosebumps that have spread over her breasts. She tenses up before her chin falls to her chest. “But the reality is, it’s a primal need.” I look over my shoulder into Sofia’s questioning eyes. “When you see two animals fuck, what do they do? Generally, the female lays on her belly while the male uses her for one thing. Her job is to grow babies in her womb, but his, his job is to spread his seed. His job is to dominate. To own. He bites her, pins her down, takes what he wants. It is no different with man. We are the dominant of the two sexes.”
She shakes her head and diverts her eyes.
“Just like you, mouse. When you first came here and I locked onto you, you nearly let me have you without ever speaking a word to me.”
“I didn’t,” she grits out, her eyes latching onto mine once more. “I didn’t let you have me. You took what you wanted.”
“You would have eventually. If you’re going to sit here and feed me a bunch of moralistic garbage, I guess you need to take the slave’s place, don’t you? You can sit there and pretend that this doesn’t bother you, but the reality is that it does. Come off of your high-horse. Quit pretending that you do not like it when I touch you … when I fuck you—”
“And what if it does?” she spits out. “It wouldn’t change a fucking thing, Dimitri.”
I smile at her admission, because that’s basically what it was. Sofia is too proud to spit out the truth plain as day. She loves to play on words.
“You’re right, mouse. It wouldn’t change a fucking thing.”
I turn towards the brunette woman and lay the cane across her chest once more, causing her to shriek. I continue beating the woman until the bright red marks have crisscrossed every single inch of her exposed flesh. Her chin brushes against her chest as she slumps down, her toes still grazing the floor below. Sofia remains in the cage, arms crossed over her chest as she glares at me.
I’m no longer cold as the adrenaline pumps through my veins. Beads of sweat cover my entire body as I circle the slave. “Pick your face up,” I snap, and her bright blue eyes find mine. “Tell me that you want to suck me … that you want to swallow my come.”
She nods and does as she’s told. “I want to swallow your come, master,” she whispers, and I whip her thigh with the cane.
“Louder!”
“I want to swallow your come! Please, fuck my mouth!”
I smile as I reach above her head and remove the cuffs, allowing her to fall to the floor. I place my hands on the back of my head as she undoes my button and fly, freeing my cock. I take no time as I shove my length down her throat, holding her there as the gagging sounds echo throughout the room. “Keep me there,” I growl as I remove my hands.
She does as she’s told, keeping my full length inside of her warm mouth as tears stream down her cheeks and drool dribbles over her chin.
“Now,” I murmur, and she removes me from her mouth, gripping my cock in one hand and stroking me as she catches her breath. “Take me back into your mouth.”
She nods and instantly begins fucking me with her mouth. Her movements are quick. She’s eager to please. My own needs are of more importance than hers, and that’s how it should be. That is how these relationships are constructed. They are not built on love or trust; they are built on my needs.
My eyes lock onto Sofia’s as she watches me. Her gaze is impassive. I’m sure she feels sorrow for this girl. Well, she needs to get over that. However, when I look into those brown eyes, my dick becomes soft in the whore’s mouth. It isn’t this woman that I want, the one that I want is in the cage, and her stoic eyes haunt me. They remind me of our two bodies and their capabilities.
I push the whore away and she gasps. “Go.”
She nods hastily and jumps to her feet, a pained look spreading across her face as she escapes the room. Vlad is waiting for her right outside of the curtain. He’ll take her back to the chamber where we house the shlyukhi before they are sold to the highest bidder.
“Well?” I whisper as I approach the cage.
She cocks her head to the side. “Well, what, Dimitri? You brought me down here to show me a woman sucking your cock after you beat her with a cane? What was the point? You’re showing me because you want it to be me hanging from the rafters? You want to beat me with a cane? You want to force your dick down my throat and make me gag on it?”
I sneer at her. “You are becoming quite the little brave one, mouse.”
Her lips curl up as she looks at me with mock admiration. “I’m sorry, let me start over. That display was absolutely captivating, how you kept her from biting your dick off is beyond me—”
“Enough!” I holler, but she continues.
“You are an exceptional master. You’ve warped that woman’s mind, and you’ve done your job, right? That is what you brought me down here to see, no?”
I kneel down in front of the cage and stare into her eyes. “What has gotten into you?”
She shakes her hea
d slowly as a trembling breath escapes her lips. “You married me, whether or not I wanted it, I didn’t have a choice … not one,” she whispers, tears filling her eyes. “Now, you remind me again that it was only for one reason. Not that you wanted me, but to use me as a tool to get what you wanted. I’m nothing to you, and you’ve reminded me of that time and time again. Though, I should thank you. I should thank you for never allowing me to care about you … to fall in love with you.”
I frown as I watch the tears spill from her eyes. She’s never opened up to me; she’s never been honest until now. Honesty is a dangerous thing, but even as my fists tighten, I can’t be angry at her admission.
“You never would have fallen for a man like me, Sofia. It wouldn’t matter if I didn’t take you. Regardless of what you believe, I didn’t know who you were when you were brought into my home … when I stopped the inevitable from happening to you.”
She hastily wipes the tears from her cheeks—they’re evidence of her hurt, and she doesn’t want to give that to me. “Please let me out of here.”
I keep my lips pursed as Dimitri follows me up the stairs to his bedroom. I cracked. I swore that I wouldn’t allow him to see that. Up until that moment, I had kept my true feelings under lock and key for fear that my words wouldn’t go unpunished. Now, after his response, my fear is even greater.
He opened up, too.
Dimitri is utterly terrifying, but he’s also incredibly enigmatic. Malevolence wrapped in a beautiful package—that is Dimitri. I have kept my questions from slipping, because I didn’t want to allow him to sway my opinion of what he is: a monster. I also didn’t want to become a statistic: a woman who fell madly in love with her captor.
Like settled dust, it didn’t take much for him to stir up the many questions, causing them to swirl waywardly in my mind. All it took was for him to breathe a little truth to make me question everything.
I sigh as I reach for the doorknob, but I freeze when his chest presses against my back.
“I want you to understand,” he whispers against my shoulder.