At His Mercy

by S. S. Richards

  She shakes her head slightly and my lips part in surprise. That’s not the answer I was expecting.

  “They didn’t?” I ask, wide-eyed.

  “The door was never locked, Elena.”

  Stupid. I am fucking stupid. I thought I was locked up in here. The thought of trying to unlock the door never even came to my mind as I lay on the bed, miserable and hopeless. I got so used to being a prisoner at my uncle’s house that I believed this man would do the same thing to me, if not worse.

  “I was supposed to go get you some clothes. I will be back,” she says firmly and walks out the door.

  I remain standing still, lips wide-open in astonishment. I take a step forward toward the door, but my legs are trembling, and my hands are shaking. I place the palm of my hand on the doorknob. I’m about to do the one thing I wished I could do for years and years. I’m about to open a door that’s not locked and discover what’s beyond this room and these walls. Tears invade my eyes, turning my vision into a blurry one. They streak down my flushed cheeks uncontrollably and for the first time ever, I don’t stop them. I allow myself to feel every single emotion that’s rioting within me. I squeeze the doorknob tightly until my fingers turn white.

  I let a deep breath out and close my eyes as I finally do what I have always wanted to do. I open the unlocked door.

  Elena

  The hallway is dim and the only sound I can hear is the loud thumping of my heart in the deadly quiet space. I swallow thickly and take a step toward the unknown. There’s barely any light and there’s no sign of anything or anyone in here.

  Fear crawls up my throat and I take two steps backward inside the room. I shut the door hurriedly and my horrible memories come back to me, blinding my sight. I am suddenly trapped in my uncle’s house again, in my old room with Roberto tugging harshly at my clothes.

  “I will fuck you till you can’t walk anymore, slut. Isn’t that what you want?”

  His voice echoes in my head and I let a loud scream out. I run to the washroom and step in the shower. I turn the cold water on and fall to the ground as mind-shattering agony takes hold of me. When will all these memories stop from crawling back to me? When will I ever be able to live my life without having to suffer from my terrifying and pitiful past? They ruined me. They fucked me up so bad and I don’t even know how I will ever be able to carry a normal life again.

  I don’t know how long I have been crying underneath the showerhead, but my body trembles as reality hits me back. I realize I am still fully clothed. I shuck my damp clothes off and throw them behind me. I gather enough strength to stand up and turn the hot water on. I wash my body and hair with whatever products I find sitting in the washroom cabinet and by the time I finish, I realize I have nothing to dry myself with. I let a deep sigh escape my lips. I hope Yeva already came in and brought some clothes and fresh towels in and left them in the room for me.

  I shut the water off and slide the shower door open. My lips part and a gasp escapes them as I hug myself tightly and subconsciously take two step back. How long has he been standing at the door? Maksim, the man who kidnapped me, dressed in a neat tailored suit and his sandalwood scent is filling my nostrils as he stands tall and still at the door.

  I struggle to keep my breathing steady as fear lodges in my throat. I never know what to expect with this man.

  I am naked.

  I cringe mentally at the realization, but I force myself to keep my features calm and smooth.

  “What are you doing here?” I whisper frantically, but his eyes remain aloof and completely expressionless. Besides the fact they travel up and down my length. I cannot read whether he’s upset or happy.

  He ignores my question and points at a towel hanging in the aluminum rack. It wasn’t there before, so either he or Yeva must have hung it there.

  I pace across the floor and yank the towel off the rack in a rapid movement and drape it all over my body. I then take two steps back until my back hits the wall and there’s nowhere for me to go or hide anymore.

  Feeling trapped and completely subjected to God only knows what kind of evil, my breath comes faster and my heart starts beating wildly.

  My head goes into analysis mode, looking at the handsome yet dangerous man standing in my way without having anything to fight him with, which means there’s no way I’m escaping him. He is infinitely stronger than me. My eyes dart quickly around the room, hoping to find something strong enough to hit him with, but there’s nothing. There’s a storm brewing inside of me as extreme fury rises up in me. Only a matter of seconds until I fucking lose my shit on him, which will probably get me in so much fucking trouble. I open my mouth to say something when he finally speaks.

  “Why don’t we have a seat and talk?” he suggests, motioning back toward the other room.

  I don’t want to talk to him about anything. But as he leaves, I breathe a sigh of relief that the tension that radiated from him followed him as he walked away from the bathroom. I hug myself and make sure the towel is wrapped tightly around my body before going in the room and facing him.

  I find him standing by the edge of the bed. I swallow thickly and remain standing far away from him. I can feel the tension mounting in his body, and I can see it as clear as day on his face.

  “Sit,” he commands, pointing at the bed. I shake my head, refusing to obey, denying the stinging feeling deep down that’s telling me I should listen and not fight this man. But I can’t. I somehow refuse to obey someone who kidnapped me. I didn’t have a choice with my uncle. But Maksim Pavlov, whoever he is, doesn’t need my submission.

  “Okay.” He places his hands in his pocket and glares at me with icy eyes. And God how I wish the floor could open up and swallow me whole right this second.

  “Two things I need you to understand very well,” he continues. “When I say something, you do it. You don’t ask questions and most importantly, you don’t argue with me. Understood?”

  I don’t say anything. Yes, I understood. But the words don’t come out of my mouth as my body shivers with emotions I can’t even begin to explain. I look down at my feet, ignoring the heat that’s blazing in his eyes. My stomach clenches and my rusted heart begins to thud heavily in my chest. But something about his eyes and the way he’s staring at me warms the core of my body. It’s betraying me and it’s something I have never experienced before.

  “I said sit. I won’t repeat myself again.”

  I clench the towel tighter against me and walk toward him. His scent fills my nostrils again as I take a seat in the middle of the bed. I close my eyes, trying to run away toward my safety net again. But somehow, I’m never able to escape when he’s around me. Tears burn in the back of my throat and they threaten to come out. But I force myself to not allow them to control me. I don’t want to look weak. No, not this time.

  “You are not the man I was supposed to go to. Are you?” I say in a quivering voice and for a moment, all I hear is his loud breathing.

  “No, I’m not. But now that you’re here, under my rules and my mercy, you’re mine,” he says hoarsely and my eyes fly open as I gasp. Did he just say he owns me? That I’m under his mercy?

  “No, you don’t own me. And you need to let me go. If this has to do with you and my uncle, believe me when I say he won’t care if you hurt me or if you keep me here,” I growl. I won’t obey or submit. Over my dead body. So I decide to let him know.

  “I will not submit to you in any way. You kidnapped me and you need to let me go,” I hiss as my blood boils with anger and humiliation all at once.

  “Is that so?” He seethes and takes a step toward me. I watch as he clenches his hands into fists and I subconsciously give up. I wait for the blow, to have him let his anger out by using me as a fucking punching bag. But he doesn’t hit me. Instead, his hand fists my hair and he yanks my head back. The movement hurts so bad I’m surprised my hair doesn’t rip out at the roots. And somehow, I refuse to cry out or show that I’m in pain, despite the tears that st
ing my eyes, but I hold them there stubbornly.

  He brings his face so close to mine and I swear, my stupid fucking heart skips a beat without my permission. He’s the most handsome man I’ve ever laid my eyes on. And I hate this feeling. I hate him.

  His tongue comes out to lick his bottom lip and a shiver runs through me. Is he turning my body against me? Or have I been too abused in my life, mentally and physically, that I’m officially fucked up? I don’t know what’s going on with me and I don’t think I’ll ever know.

  His other hand grips my throat and squeezes tightly. I gasp and don’t fight him. My hands are free and I’m supposed to be scratching him or hurting him any way I can in order to free myself from him. But I don’t do it because my body is somehow enjoying this. It’s betraying me. I’m losing myself. And I hate it. I hate myself for being weak.

  He tightens the grip until I’m having trouble breathing. I kick him with my feet, but it doesn’t do anything to him. My eyes roll as I scratch him. He still doesn’t move. Is this the end? Is he gonna kill me now to ease my sorrow?

  I give up as my eyes close and that’s when he pulls his hand away from my throat and I instantly gasp for air. I cough so hard that my lungs feel like they are about to come out of my chest. My body feels weak with the lack of food and oxygen that I fall back on the bed and close my eyes, focusing on my breathing.

  “Next time, it won’t be this easy. I’m warning you. The less you fight me, the easier it will be on you.” His footsteps get farther and farther away from me. The sound of his heels against the ground comes to a halt and it doesn’t help ease the panic rising within me.

  “Make sure you eat. And even though this door remains unlocked, believe me when I say there’s nothing beyond this door. You’re in the west wing. There’s nothing in here but empty, dark rooms.”

  He closes the door behind him and as soon as I’m finally alone in the room, the tears I’ve been fighting stream down my face. I cry so hard as my coughing gets even louder. Agony swirls in my head, threatening to knock me out.

  No! Not again.

  Suddenly, I’m back in the pit of hallucinations and my body becomes numb as I see Roberto standing above me. His eyes are grim, jaw set.

  “Morning, slut, did you miss me?”

  Maksim

  My head throbs with a headache I have never experienced before. I cross the hallway into my office in a couple of strides. I shut the door behind me and plunge my fist into the unforgiving wall. The pain radiates up my arm, making my face grow black with fury as I pace the room.

  Why is she fighting me?

  The question I have yet to find an answer to flows through my mind every single time I see her, or think about her, alone and vulnerable in her room. I despise the darkness that randomly came back to life when I first saw her tied to the chair. Completely at my mercy. I wanted to beat her up, draw blood, and fuck her mercilessly as I reminded her I owned every single inch of her body. I’m fucked up and she’s destroying me, making the beast and the monster inside of me wake up. It’s been craving a woman like her for so long. Fierce and unbreakable no matter what she’s been through.

  I want to be her nightmare, but I’m afraid she won’t survive when I’m done with her. I’m scared the darkness inside of me cannot be contained. I am unclean and despicable. Time has been heavy on my soul.

  I knock all the documents and binders that are sitting on my desk to the floor and howl furiously like a beast in horrible pain. It doesn’t sound human, even to me.

  I vowed to myself to never accept the darkness that lives inside of me and become like my father. I never wanted to be like him despite the amount of respect I always had for him. But here I am, unable to fight the urge to be a sadistic bastard if I don’t force myself to keep a fastened rein at all times.

  She’s challenging the beast inside of me, and if she keeps on doing it, it won’t be good for her.

  I should let her go, I know I should. But how am I supposed to let her go when every time the thought of not having her here crosses my mind, the beast gets angry and roars in agony? It has been craving the scent and touch of a woman like her for as long as I can remember. It mourns heavily inside of me. Every time I curse it and order it to curl up inside, it gets even angrier. She awoke the beast and it won’t calm down anymore. Not unless I have her underneath me, crying and begging for my mercy.

  A knock comes at the door, hurling me back to reality. I sneer as it opens and Mikhail peeks inside.

  “Is everything okay, sir?” he asks as his eyes roam around the room curiously. I don’t think my staff has ever seen me this angry and miserable before. The collected business man and Russian Mafia Don suddenly turned into a disgusting mess. They are just as confused as I am about what could be happening to me.

  “Get out,” I hiss through gritted teeth and he instantly leaves and closes the door behind him.

  My breath comes in frantic pants and my pulse pounds wildly in my head. The craving to punish and hurt and fuck crawls back into me and I know for damn sure that I won’t calm down until I force my cock deep inside her pussy. I need to punish her without even knowing what to punish her for. I am the one who decided to keep her. The deal was to kill two of Leonardo’s men just like he killed two of mine. The main goal was to send him a sign that war has started, and that I wasn’t going to back down until his blood covers the palms of my hands and I laugh in victory as I stare down at his lifeless body, painted in blood and completely unrecognizable.

  She was in that car at the wrong time. That’s her sin.

  The door swirls open and this time, I ball my hands into fists and my nostrils flare, ready to beat the shit out of anybody who’s about to walk into this office. I almost feel sorry for them. My fury springs to life as I walk two steps toward the door. Aleksandr steps in and frowns as he takes a step back.

  “What the fuck . . .” he says, holding both of his arms up in the air.

  My anger decreases and turns into annoyance.

  I relax my hands.

  “What the fuck do you want?” I snarl and he looks at me with confusion.

  “What’s wrong with you, man? Ever since you brought that girl in here, you’ve been acting weird and fucking furious all the time.”

  I swallow hard, ignoring his comment. Aleksandr is my cousin and the brother I never had. He knows me inside out and I’m afraid it will be a challenge to hide this away from him.

  A moment of silence fills the room as we both stare at each other. He cocks a brow, still waiting for me to answer his question. I clench my jaw and he gets the message instantly.

  “Fine,” he says. “We have a problem.”

  He heads toward my desk and takes a seat at one of the chairs facing it. I let out a quick sigh as I sit on my comfortable leather chair and cross my legs. Problems. Again. It seems like that’s all I’ve been getting lately. Fucking problems.

  “By keeping the girl here, you didn’t only get Leonardo mad, but apparently the lord who purchased her is furious and is declaring war too,” he explains, running a finger through his stubble-smooth jaw.

  War started when Leonardo killed the most important man in my life. But the lord who was supposed to take Elena as a slave wasn’t in my plan. And he’s very powerful, even more powerful than her uncle.

  I swallow thickly and think about my next move when Aleksandr’s voice interrupts my thoughts.

  “I just wanna know one thing. Why did you keep her? We didn’t need more headache because of a fucking woman.”

  What am I supposed to tell him? That the beast inside of me is the one who decided to keep her? I’ve never been challenged like this in my entire life. Especially not because of a fucking woman. Aleksandr glares at me, knowing damn sure I’ve just gotten us in way worse trouble than we were already in. I stare back at him and snarl.

  “I wanted to get to her uncle through her.”

  Lies. But I can’t make up any other excuse at the moment. And by the look on his face
, I know Aleksandr isn’t buying my bullshit.

  “Bull-fucking-shit, Maksim. You kept her because of her pussy. I just don’t get it. You could have fucked her and let her go. Why did you keep her?” he hisses and my body heats as blood boils in my veins. If he doesn’t get the fuck out, I will fucking make him bleed out of his nose.

  “Watch your mouth, Aleksandr.” I snarl.

  “Isn’t it the truth? I get it. The girl is hot, but there are so many other hot girls out there.” He shoots up from his seat and points a finger at me. “Just remember that because of your stupid actions, we might all go down because of some pussy you wanted to fuck.”

  He storms out of my office, leaving me alone to my demons. The truth hits me as I sit here, wondering why I kept her instead of sending her back or even killing her. The memory of her begging to get killed floods back. I’ve never seen someone begging to die. No man has ever begged me for death, let alone a beautiful woman like her. The fire in her hazel eyes blazes with strength every time our eyes meet. It sends shivers down my spine and makes the blood in my body drain to my cock. It always throbs painfully against my pants, begging for release.

  I get up and pour myself a glass of whiskey. I drink the liquid audibly as I imagine her body writhing underneath mine. I’m gonna use her and feed the beast in me that takes pleasure in pain. She’s an object existing only for my pure pleasure. Just a piece of meat to get fucked and milk me off my seed. I’ll never lose control around her. I’m not the type of man to be weak. I don’t want to know anything about her miserable life, or the reason behind the fiery ache that shows in her eyes. Her sad little story is none of my interest.

  By the time I drink the fourth glass of whiskey, I look down and find a massive, thick bulge in my pants.

  I know exactly what I’m gonna do to take care of it.

  Elena

  I open my eyes to the sound of his shoes approaching the door. My stomach clenches. I drag the covers to my chest despite already having my nightgown on. I’m happy that at least they gave me clothes to wear.