“I’m sorry, Seth,” she mumbled an apology. One which she meant right down to her soul. She was sorry, but she knew she would probably do the same thing again. Rose felt a tear run down the side of her face as she tried, again, to figure out why she behaved as she did.
“I know you are.” Seth’s voice was full of sadness. “But we’ve done this way too many times for you to not know there’ll be consequences, Rose. You know that, Flower, yet still you do it. What are you seeking, I wonder?”
“I don’t know,” Rose confessed as she felt his eyes boring into her.
“I think I do, but,” he paused as her eyes flew to his in question, “I think you need to find that out for yourself. In the meantime, strip and assume the position for your punishment.”
She stood, peeling off her leathers and letting them fall to the floor. Seth’s demeanor changed the moment he’d ordered her to undress. His dominant nature taking over as he watched her intently, flicking on a solar powered lamp to give him more light to see her. “You’ve a bruise or two. I thought you said you weren’t injured?”
“It’s nothing,” she replied as she padded across to one of the tools they used in the room. A slim wooden t-bar at waist height, screwed to logs that were bolted to the floor. Rose stopped before it, bending over the wood, her head almost touching her knees as her arms gripped behind her thighs to hold her firmly in place.
When she’d first been punished, Seth had tied her wrists to her legs to stop her from moving, but now she held herself still, refusing to move even an inch. She felt him as he closed the distance between them, so close she could feel his groin press up against her ass.
“I can smell him, Flower, and he doesn’t smell as if he’s bathed in years.” Seth’s voice sounded disgusted…to say he was OCD was putting it mildly. “How could you lie with someone who smelt like this?”
“I blocked it out,” she muttered, knowing he was speaking truthfully. The man she’d had sex with smelled like a cesspit.
“Not something I could do.” Seth stepped back, away from her naked skin, and she took a deep breath in, waiting.
As she let out her pent up breath, he struck, a stinging snap against her skin, using one of their many accessories, probably a crop, to punish her. Gritting her teeth, she ground out, “One.”
“Good,” he said as he moved his aim slightly, the crop stinging her ass higher up as she blurted, “Two.”
Seth paused, his hand caressing her skin. “Do you know what I yearn for? What I dream will happen when you return home?”
Rose kept the sob inside, nodding.
“Tell me,” he ordered as he continued to touch her skin.
Rose whispered, her unshed tears clear in her voice, “For me to come home clean and not to have fucked someone so we can go to bed.”
“Yes,” Seth said quietly. “It’s not a lot to ask for, Flower. Is it?”
“No.” The sob she’d been holding back broke free as the tears fell. “I’m so sorry.”
“So am I,” Seth said as he continued with her punishment.
The strokes hurt, burned, but were soon over. He never beat her just for the sake of it. He wasn’t a sadist who liked to hurt her. In fact, she was certain it hurt him more than her when he carried out her sentence for her actions. It wasn’t as if she wasn’t aware of what she’d come home to. After all, any and all chastisements had been discussed and agreed upon by both of them. Rarely did Seth have to enforce one, apart from her return from a lone assignment.
As he led her towards his bathroom, she wondered again why she did what she did. Was it the sex? Or was it a sick sense of wanting Seth to treat her like this? She had no fucking clue, and it wasn’t as if she could just book an appointment to go see a shrink. There probably weren’t any left in this godforsaken world.
“It pains me to do this every time you return home, Flower,” Seth said as he turned on the taps for the large bath. “I truly hope you can find what it is you seek and be happy.”
Rose’s voice was barely a whisper as she stood, waiting on the bath to fill up. “I only want you. You’re the only man I feel safe with, who I can allow to control me in bed. Seth, I don’t know why I do it. I really don’t. I don’t want to hurt you, to hurt us.”
As steam started to rise, he turned to her, a sad look in his eyes. “I think you believe that, Rose, but I don’t think it’s the truth. You care for me. I know that. But I’m not the man you’re destined to be with . . .”
Shaking her head, she broke a cardinal rule, she interrupted him, “No, don’t say that. I do love you.”
Seth raised an eyebrow and a hand shot up to cover her mouth. “As I was saying.” Seth poured a small amount of bubble bath into the water. “I know you love me and I love you. But, and I’m sure of this, you are not in love with me. I wish you were, Rose, I do, but you’re not. I think you seek the one you are supposed to be with each time you leave here.”
“Seth, you know what it’s like out there.” Rose shuddered. “We have a home, with electricity for goodness’ sake, your foresight in setting this place up was amazing. Hell, I wouldn’t be having a hot bubble bath anywhere else but here, and you are the most amazing, patient, capable man I’ve ever known. I do love you. I do.”
She watched as he sighed, his shoulders drooping. “Who are you trying to convince? Me or yourself?”
Rose sagged, his words causing her pain as she realized she wasn’t sure. Before she could muster a reply, he turned off the taps, pushed his pajama bottoms down and stepped out of them and into the tub. “Come here,” he ordered as he slid down into the water.
She slid in, gasping at the heat, and sat between his legs, her back to his front as he started to cleanse her. Laying her head back onto his shoulder, she shuddered, his hands soaping her thoroughly, cleaning her body at the same time as her soul. Rose’s eyes closed as he murmured, “So beautiful, my lovely Rose.”
Her body relaxed as he carried on, whispering soft endearments in her ear as he continued. “Let’s get you to bed.” Seth’s voice jolted her from the nap she’d managed to slip into. His strong thighs pushing him up as he pulled her with him. “You need rest,” he stated as he wrapped a large towel around her before leading her back to his room.
“Can I sleep here tonight?” she asked, knowing he rarely allowed it.
“Yes.” He smiled, pulling the cover back so she could slide inside.
“Thank you,” she replied, waiting on him to join her.
Seth rubbed himself dry, folded the towel and returned it to the bathroom, then got in, pulling her into his arms and cradling her like a child. “Sleep.”
She could feel his growing erection, her lips kissing his chest. “I’m okay.” She purred at the thought of him taking control of her pleasure.
“I said, sleep.” He turned her around, her back to his front, holding her firmly. “No nonsense tonight.”
“Okay.” Her voice tinged with disappointment, a mere moment later, she was sound asleep.
* * *
Her panic rose as she heard shouting, her mom and dad rushing into her room and pulling her from her bed. A bed she’d only just got used to after being forced to leave the Pack a week before. She’d pleaded with her dad to stay. She liked the Pack, even if she was half witch, but he’d told her the Alpha had ordered it. Why? She had no idea, her eight-year-old mind not understanding why the Alpha had forced them to leave.
Now her father was putting her in her closet! Fear lapping in her belly as her mother uttered words Rose knew were a spell. A spell for what, though? Her mother’s voice urgent as she spoke quickly. “Stay there. Do not move and don’t say a thing. I’ve put a spell on you so they can’t see you, baby, stay there and we’ll come get you when it’s safe.”
Rose sat with her knees bent, her arms wrapped around them, as tears ran down her face. She swiped at them, telling herself not to be a baby as loud banging downstairs was followed by her father roaring, “No! Leave her be!”
More shouts, a loud bang, then footsteps running up the stairs. She held her breath as a strange man entered her room, ransacking it, and even looking under the bed. Then he stalked over to the closet, wrenching the door almost off its hinges and staring inside. Rose bit her bottom lip to stop herself from crying out as he looked around, his eyes meeting hers for a brief second before he turned away cursing. She would never forget his face and the hatred she saw as her eyes met his.
“No fucking thing in here!” he shouted before disappearing from her line of sight.
Rose sat, shivering and shaking and almost peeing herself with terror. She heard her mother’s words again, telling her to stay there, so she did. She waited, and waited, and waited. The dawn’s light filtered through her curtains and still she waited. Too scared to even call out for her parents.
As the heat rose in her room, she knew it was almost lunchtime, her stomach rumbling and her bladder full to bursting. Still she sat. Not moving a muscle as she prayed to the Goddess for her mom or dad to come get her. It was not long after that she heard some muted noises from downstairs. A groan, a curse, and then movement.
Her hand flew to her mouth, terrified, as heavy feet slowly made their way towards her. “Please, please, please,” she said over and over in her head, though what she meant she had no idea. A dark shadow filled her doorway and she almost screamed in fright, biting her lip so hard she drew blood, as her heart hammered in her chest.
A booted foot came into view first, then another, large feet, impossibly large feet. Relief flooded her as she recognized her father’s boots, he was huge, as big as a bear, and she’d never seen feet as large as his. Her eyes swung upwards and she gasped when she saw the blood oozing from a round hole in his side. His eyes found her and he fell to his knees in front of her closet, grabbing her to him and holding on tight.
“Thank the Goddess,” he gasped as she cried tears of joy at being in his arms.
“Where’s Mommy?” she asked, scared.
“She’s gone, honey, they took her away because she’s a Witch.” Her dad stumbled as he stood with her in his arms. “We need to go. I need to find you somewhere safe, and I think I know just the place.”
“Why?” she cried, not wanting to move again and wanting her mom back. “I want Mommy, Daddy, I want Mommy.”
“I know you do, baby.” He soothed her as he carried her downstairs, through the living room and out the back. His large motorbike waited and he put her on the ground as he got on. “Hop up,” he told her, his hand sticking out to help her.
“Mommy won’t like it. You know she always gives us trouble when you take me out on the bike, Daddy. I don’t want her mad at us.”
“She says it’s okay for this one time, Rose, just get on. We need to go now before they find out about you and come for you, too.”
Her heart lurched as she jumped up behind him, her fingers holding tight to his belt as he started the machine up. “I’m hungry, Daddy, and thirsty.”
“Later, baby, we need to go now.”
And with that, he took off, leaving everything she owned in the house, and her mother goodness knew where. Tears ran unchecked down her face as they sped along, burying it into her dad’s back and soaking his shirt. On and on they rode, not stopping until it was dark and she almost fell off the bike from exhaustion. Her dad did something she never thought she’d see; he broke into a store and stole food and water.
“Mommy is gonna be so mad at you.” She frowned as he handed her a candy bar and a bottle of water.
“Only if we tell her,” he said in a very strange voice.
“Okay, Daddy, I won’t tell her.” She made a cross over her heart. “Promise.”
“That’s my girl,” he said before they got back on the bike and carried on.
The hours blurred past, her father stopping once to pull out a small length of rope from the back of things he’d stolen from the store. He wrapped it around her, then tied her to him tightly. “Sleep, Rose, I can’t afford to stop, so you’ll need to sleep while we travel, baby.”
She didn’t think it possible. Sitting behind him as they sped along, tied to his large body, but she did. Her head falling forward to rest on his back as her lids closed all of their own accord.
It was two more days before he said, “Not long now, Rose.”
“Where are we going, Daddy?”
“To a friend, someone I can trust to keep you safe.”
“Oh, okay.” She frowned. “Then are you going to go get Mommy?”
“Yes.” Her father nodded. “I’ll go and look for Mommy once I know you’re safe.”
“Good,” she said firmly, missing her mother so much it made her stomach ache.
Looking around, she saw they were in the countryside, lush green land all around, and the road they were on not wide enough for much more than her dad’s bike. Was it a road? Her eyes could see it was hard, like tarmac, but it was long, windy, and thin. Very weird.
Peeking around her dad’s bulk, she saw a long, tall wall ahead. It seemed to stretch on forever, and as they drew nearer, there were signs dotted around. She was good with words and she was sure some of those were curse words! Why would there be cuss words on a sign?
Her dad slowed the bike to almost a crawl, his loud voice roaring, “Seth! It’s Brendan O’Connell, I need your help.”
Rose looked wide-eyed at the gate before them, razor sharp wire now visible all along the top of the wall and all over the thick metal gate. Her dad stopped, kicked the stand, turned the engine off, then got off the bike, lifting her into his arms as he strode forwards and banged on the gate, hard.
“Seth! Open the fuck up!”
“Daddy!” she squealed, never hearing him say that word before.
“What do you want, Brendan?” a soft voice asked.
“Open up and let me explain, please, Seth. I have my daughter with me.”
Rose looked from her dad to the gate and back again, until finally the gate swung open to reveal a very hard looking man. She clung to her dad as the man motioned them inside. He scared her. No, he terrified her. He was as scary as the ogres in the stories her mother used to read her.
“Five minutes,” Seth said curtly. “I’m busy.”
Her dad didn’t say anything, walking in and towards a building farther inside the wall. “She needs to rest. We’ve been travelling for days and I tied her to me to sleep.”
“What?” Seth looked at her and she clung tighter to her dad. “Brendan, is that blood? The hole in your shirt looks like a bullet hole. What the hell is going on?”
“I don’t have time, Seth. I need you to take care of her while I go and try and rescue Marie. They came and took her. I have to go back and try and find her.”
“What the fuck? Are you mad?” Seth looked at her again, causing her stomach to flip. “One, I am not the kind of guy who looks after a kid, and two, if they took her, then you know what’s happened. You won’t find her, not . . .” he paused, looking at her and back to her dad, “not a.l.i.v.e. anyway.”
She concentrated on what he’d spelled out. “Alive?” She looked up at her dad. “What does he mean, Daddy?”
“Smart,” Seth said. “I assume she takes after Marie?”
Her dad laughed, actually laughed. “Yeah, she does. That’s why I need to keep her safe. They’ll come for her, Seth.”
The man paced back and forth. “Okay, I’ll give you a week. I’ll look after her for a week, then you need to come and get her.”
“Thanks.” Her dad nodded. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Wait.” Seth jogged away, disappearing inside the house for a few minutes before reappearing with something in his hand. “Here, it’s a phone that charges with solar power. The signal depends on where you are. Some places it works fine, others, not a hope in hell. Keep me in the loop as much as you can.”
“Okay, thanks.” Her dad pocketed the phone, then knelt down. “Baby, I have to go to try and find Mommy. Seth is a friend of
mine. He’ll make sure you’re safe, so be a good girl for him. Okay?”
“No, Daddy!” she wailed, grabbing onto him and sobbing. “Don’t leave me, please, Daddy, don’t leave me here alone.”
He pushed her back, staring into her eyes. “Rose Marie O’Connell, man up. Your mom needs my help, so I have to go and see if I can help her. I can’t do that with you. You could get hurt, and then what? I’d be too worried about you to maybe help Mommy. Is that what you want?”
“No,” she whimpered, tears streaking her filthy face.
“I know you’re scared and upset, but you gotta be strong. Be a good girl for Seth and I’ll be back soon. Promise.”
Seth clapped her dad on the back. “Don’t you want to rest up a bit first? Let me take a look at that wound.”
“No, it’s healed. It was silver, so it put me down when they came. I managed to get it out, and it’s healed on the journey here. I’ll be fine, Seth, so long as I know Rose is okay.”
“I’ll look after her. One week, Brendan.” Seth raised an eyebrow, waiting on her dad to answer.
“One week.”
With that, her dad picked her up, kissed her, hugged her, handed her to this Seth man, turned and walked away.
She didn’t see him again for almost a year.
Her heart thudded, almost beating out of her chest at the terror of losing her dad. His back was getting smaller as he walked away. A scream erupted from her throat as she thrashed in Seth’s arms.
“Flower! Rose! Wake up, it’s only a dream, baby, wake up.”
Her eyes flew open as Seth held her close, tears cascading as she sobbed into his chest, his voice soothing and calming her. “It’s okay, baby, I’ve got you.”
“When will it stop?” She moaned, the nightmare one she had on a regular basis.
“I’m not sure, Flower.”
“I wish it would, stop that is.” She snuggled into his warmth, his hands stroking her body as she started to fall back into sleep.
“It will,” Seth whispered, keeping her safe within his strong arms.
The Black Rose Chronicles: Deceit and Lies Page 2