by Trent Evans
“Keep your hands off his cock, Darynn. We’ve got a lot to go over with him before we get to that.”
“Fine, fine.” The blonde’s hand slipped under his belt up to the wrist, her fingers busy at work under the black fabric. “Thank God. Definitely has an ass. He’s got hair on his cheeks though.”
“We’ll take care of all of that.”
They’d be taking care of a lot of things once they’d ensconced Quinton in his new home.
Is that what you call it? Home?
Anna didn’t particularly like a male backside that had hair on it, but she knew Darynn didn’t care either way. It was the dimensions of said ass — both external and internal — that the sadistic Amazon was concerned with.
“Want to see?” Darynn’s grin beamed, even from the shadowed rear of the van. “You’re gonna like this.”
“I’m driving. And ogling him isn’t why we’re doing this.”
“Nice bonus though. Here, just a peek.” Darynn pulled the waistband of his slacks down a little, exposing the curves of paler flesh, the hint of the cleft between the smooth cheeks.
Anna shook her head. “Okay, that’s good. Get up here before you rape the man.”
“Don’t tempt me,” Darynn said, climbing into the passenger seat. “I’ve got a nice thick one in the bag with his name on it. Split him right in two.”
She glanced over at her blonde friend. “You don’t really have his name on one, do you?”
Darynn simply gazed back at her, a knowing smile playing at the corners of her mouth.
“Jesus, I’m in trouble.”
“Oh, you aren’t.” Darynn craned her head around, looking at their unconscious cargo. “But he sure is.”
Chapter 4
The pain was what first woke me up.
It was dark, so dark all I could really make out were hints, suggestions of shapes. Was I dead?
Had I awoken in Purgatory — or worse?
I didn’t believe any of that shit though.
Wherever I was, it was cold, a dank, penetrating chill that left my skin clammy. I was certain I’d be able to see my breath steaming before me had there been light enough to perceive it. The flesh under my left jaw felt like someone had scrubbed it with eighty grit sandpaper. My thighs and calves ached. My abdominal muscles were tight, trembling.
I wasn’t dead after all.
A shaft of white light pierced the space in front of me, and I recoiled with a grunt, my eyes screaming, my hands for some reason not cooperating when I tried to shield myself from the brightness. Slanting diagonally down from above, a square of illumination was painted across the concrete floor.
Then I realized why I couldn’t bring my hands up to my face.
Oh fuck.
“What… what’s going on? Where am I? Is anyone there?”
I looked around, trying to adjust to the new light, the glare preventing me from making out anything in the shadows beyond. My hands were manacled in thick leather cuffs, thin chain linking them to a wide, stout leather belt. My jacket was gone, but I still had on my clothes.
Except my shoes and socks.
For some reason, realizing my feet were bare filled me with a primitive dread I couldn’t explain. Trying to push myself to my feet, my bare heels slipped on the hard concrete, my legs like lead.
My ankles were bound fast too, wrapped in the same sort of cuffs. Chains, the links catching the light, ascended up my thighs, once again connecting to the central belt. It was something I’d only seen on dangerous criminals paraded in a courtroom at trial.
“Let me the fuck out of this, goddamn it!” I yanked hard at the cuffs, my wrists burning with the stretch of skin. But it was useless. “Fuck!”
“Do you know what day it is?”
The smooth female voice stunned me for a moment, the question so inane, I thought I might have misheard it. Why the hell did it matter what day it was? I was tied up like a Christmas goose.
Keep it together, asshole.
“It’s… Tuesday.”
It could have been any day for all I knew, but I assumed it was the day I’d been jumped in the parking garage. That I remembered that much was an unexpected relief. I was so disoriented already, the last thing I needed was amnesia on top of it.
“What’s your name?”
That voice was familiar, a calmness to it that was both settling… and ominous.
“My name is Quinton fucking Trask. Who are you?”
“This is gonna be a lot of work,” another female voice said from off to my left. This one was huskier, cold. “He should be scared shitless and he’s already like this?”
I sat up then, still pulling at my bonds. It was maddening to be restrained, something I’d never experienced before. Even the act of sitting up was awkward without the use of my hands.
“You mind telling me where in God’s name I am? Who are you people?”
Two women. Younger, but not too young. Why was that first voice so familiar?
“You don’t need to know that, Quinton.” It was the first woman — and her words sent a chill down my spine.
You’re in real trouble here.
“What the fuck do you—”
The slap rocked my head to the right, a burning pain suffusing my cheek, stars bursting behind my eyes. The blow was so hard, I flopped onto my back, my head dashing against the concrete with a dull thud, a bright flash of pain making me groan.
Get up, goddamn it.
I forced myself to sit up once more, my head swimming for a moment until I could focus my eyes on that single square of light upon the floor. I was suddenly very, very grateful for that light. It meant I wasn’t buried in a tomb somewhere, or lost in the bowels of some great, dank prison.
I needed to know who I was dealing with. Then I could figure out how to get the fuck out of this mess.
“You’re not used to rules, are you?” the smooth voice asked, closer this time. I resisted the urge to cringe, already expecting another slap, no matter what I said. “But you’re going to learn to live with them. Lots of them. So, here’s the first one — and this holds from this moment forward. You will not curse, no matter what. Do you understand?”
“I understand you’re a cunt. Why don’t you let me out of this and we can—”
This slap was harder, catching me low across the right cheek, my teeth chattering together. I managed to stay up this time, but the entire side of my face felt like it was on fire. I could taste blood in my mouth.
“I asked you a question, Quinton. Do you understand?”
“Yes!”
For all I knew they had a gun pointed at me already, a simple squeeze of a finger all that would be required to end me. I had zero leverage here. I needed to cooperate. I’d have to wait until they’d let their guard down.
I already knew they weren’t all that sophisticated, the two women not bothering to disguise their voices. I’d been through the survival and captivity training my dad had made me take. He’d told me it was something wealthy people never spoke of — that danger of being kidnapped — but it was always a very real possibility. At the time, I’d thought it was bullshit. I practically slept through the classes, never really believing I would ever be vulnerable to such a thing.
But I sure as hell believed it now.
Leaving their voices unmodulated meant one of two things — either they were amateurs, or they weren’t worried about me ever identifying them.
Jesus Christ.
“That brings me to your next rule. You will answer every single question posed to you, immediately, and verbally.” Her voice dropped an octave, her cadence clipped, just hinting at anger. “Do you understand that?”
“Look, just tell—”
Not one but two slaps cracked across my cheeks, first left, then the right. The room spun, my lower lip throbbing, stinging. “Okay, okay! I’ll… I’ll do it!”
I heard soft laughter off to my left, and it made me want to scream.
Fucking bitches.
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“That’s better,” the smooth voice said. “You’ll be punished for calling me a cunt, but we’ll get to that in due time. For now, answer me. I’ve given you two rules. I want you to recite them to me. I don’t want any confusion.”
“No cussing. Answer any questions I’m asked.” I said it through gritted teeth, the coppery taste of my blood strong now, the corner of my mouth sticky with it. My entire body was shaking, though whether from fear or rage, I didn’t know.
“Good. There’s something else you need to understand. It could be a rule for you too, but it’s more like a universal truth, like the Sun rising in the east, or water flowing downhill. You will be punished for each and every violation of your rules. No exceptions. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
My heart was pounding now, my mind conjuring up all sorts of variations of the word ‘punish.’ How many different versions had I dealt out to the sluts I’d purchased? It didn’t matter. I’d get them to see reason. This was a game, something to compel compliance. Nothing more. They were after money. Everyone was. Once they calmed down, saw that I would cooperate, then we’d get past all this bullshit. I’d pay them, and this thing would be over.
You really believe that?
“I think there’s a chance we might be making some progress with you after all.”
The urge to snarl profanity at her was so overwhelming, I had to bite my tongue.
“He’s playing you,” the huskier, cold voice said, this time from behind me. “He still doesn’t really understand the shit he’s in.”
“I get it. You want something from me. I can give it to you.”
Good, getting to the point.
Maybe this would be over faster than I thought?
Something hard and thin tapped against my burning cheek, the smell of leather strong in my nostrils. “Want to guess what your next rule is, Quinton?”
Coldness clutched my vitals as the leather stroked the line of my jaw. I knew it was a crop. I’d wielded one plenty of times myself. I kept my mouth shut, not sure where she was going with this.
Something whirred in front of me, then a thin line of pure fire erupted across the front of my thigh. I cried out, curling my legs up toward my body, the skin already tightening where the crop had landed, a swollen welt no doubt rising across my flesh under the completely inadequate protection of my slacks.
“You’re supposed to answer any question posed to you, aren’t you?” Miss Smooth Voice practically growled it out.
“Yes! Okay, I’m… I don’t know the answer. I don’t know!”
I did not want another appointment with that crop, the pain now sinking deeper into my thigh. I wondered if she’d actually broken the skin.
Christ, this hurts.
“You don’t get anything. But about one thing you’re correct. You’re going to give us something, all right.” The flapper of the crop played lightly across both my bent knees. “You’re going to give us everything.”
I lowered my head, my gaze fixed on that square of light once more, trying to think, trying to come up with a plan — and wishing I’d paid more attention in those survival and captivity classes.
Then a pair of slender black boots appeared in the light, a figure crouching down. Dressed in nothing more sinister than slacks the color of midnight, and matching fitted suit coat, the silver choker at her throat glinted as she leaned forward a little, the light playing through the straight locks of her dark hair. Fathomless eyes looked upon me then, her lips thin, her expression as neutral as a rock face.
Holy shit.
“You.”
It was the bitch from that day in the holding facility. It was Anna.
“I think it’s time we got that first punishment out of the way.”
Chapter 5
Something hit the concrete next to me, a thud echoing throughout the dark space. I looked down at it, not quite believing what I was seeing.
A round leather bolster.
“No… no fucking way!” I yelled as I scrambled backward, hoping to find purchase against something, anything, to enable me to stand up.
Steel-hard fingers entwined in my hair, yanking back hard as an arm wrapped around my neck. I could smell the same perfume I remembered from the garage, before I’d been knocked out.
The arm tightened immediately, my voice strangled to a gurgle.
“You’re not going anywhere, asshole.”
Ms. Husky Voice. She had to be that fucking blonde who’d Tazed me.
My vision began to gray out as her arm squeezed tighter, my hands twisting helplessly in their bonds. I finally found some purchase with my heels on the smooth floor, and I pushed back hard. The woman let out a surprised sound as she lost her balance behind me, her arm dragging me back by the throat as she stumbled.
Hands grasped my ankles then, and I vainly tried to shake my legs free.
“You’re only making it worse,” Anna said, looking down at me. “This is happening.”
The arm around my throat squeezed even harder, and I gasped, my vision collapsing to a narrow circle, the strength draining from my limbs. It was all the opening they needed.
In a flash, I found myself face down over the bolster, my hips high, the bitch extricating her arm from around my neck just long enough to grind an elbow into the base of my skull, pressing my right cheek against the impossibly cold concrete. My breath came fast and hard as they pinioned me, my hands jammed underneath, caught between my hips and the leather bolster.
“Look,” I said. “We can talk about this… no, don’t!”
Fingers curled under the waistband of my slacks, drawing them down quickly along with my boxers, exposing the top part of my ass, the air cool on my bare skin.
The words had come out of me as almost a plea and I bit down on my lip, ashamed at them. I’d take this. I could endure whatever they planned. I knew the crop would hurt, but I was a lot tougher than either of the two women.
“Lift your hips,” Anna said.
“No.”
“Wrong answer.”
A whooshing sound preceded an eruption of tearing fire across my buttocks, the pain worse than anything they’d given me thus far. Somehow, it was made worse by my head being immobilized against the concrete, the sound of my groan echoing in my ears.
“Lift your hips.” Anna enunciated each word.
“Fuck you.”
Two more strokes slashed down, even harder than the first. My breath caught as the second one was laid down, and for an instant, I thought I couldn’t breathe, my muscles rigid, my ass squeezing tight against the burning agony clawing into my flesh.
“He’s… a clencher,” Ms. Husky Voice said from just above me, her voice slightly labored. She ground her elbow even harder into the back of my skull.
“We’ll cure him of that.” Anna tapped the crop’s flapper against my ass, playing it along the cleft between my cheeks. “Want more, Quinton? You’re not going to win here. This is one of the few decisions you’re going to have a chance to make for the foreseeable future, so you’d better choose wisely. You can either do as you’re told, or I can whip the skin right off your ass for you. Now, lift your hips.”
I did it without thinking, as if my body was overriding my mind, doing anything it could to avoid the pain that was sure to come if I continued my defiance.
“Not so tough now, are ya?” the blonde said, as my slacks and boxers were wrenched down my legs to bunch around my knees, humiliation flooding through me. The leather bolster was freezing against my cock, my balls pulling tight. I knew they could see them between my thighs, and the knowledge terrified me even more than the pain of the crop. I bucked against the bolster, using the power in my hips to try to pull my head free. Loud smacks erupted, someone’s hand spanking me quickly on the backs of my thighs, once, twice, a third time, heat flaring, the pain spiraling even higher.
“Stop that,” the blonde growled. “You’ll stay where we put you.”
She landed a few more sp
anks until I sagged back down upon the leather. She was stronger than I’d ever have believed, and I decided to let them have their way.
This time.
A hand touched me again, and somehow I knew it wasn’t the blonde’s. Caressing rather than hurting, fingertips whispered across my skin, easing along one of the already throbbing welts left by the crop. “See what happens when you obey? No pain.”
“Well, not as much anyway,” the blonde muttered, laughing.
That gentle touch was almost worse than the crop. I wanted anything but kindness from the bitch. She wasn’t about to get me to comply with the good cop/bad cop bullshit. But I sure as hell wasn’t going to let her know that. I’d play along for the time being.
“That’s… that’s enough. I’ll… do what you say. Just… that’s enough, okay?”
The blonde laughed again, her elbow twisting as she did, though the pressure on my head didn’t relent one little bit.
It was Anna who spoke though. “I’m afraid you don’t get to decide when anything is enough. Not ever.” The crop slapped my naked hip gently, then it was pulled away. “I’m going to whip your ass very, very hard now. I think six strokes should do it.” The black boots appeared in front of my face, mere inches away, and she crouched down, the air currents stirring with her movement. Her voice was soft, almost a murmur from just above me. “But I want you to know something, Quinton fucking Trask. Only two of these are for breaking your rules. The other four are simply because I want to give you more.”
The words froze me in place. Punishment for some insane rules was one thing. At least it had some logic. But this was something else.
Yes, it’s something else all right. Haven’t you said those same words before?
The words confirmed one thing, a certainty I couldn’t deny, even as I tried to think of a way around it.
Control.
I had none — and she had all of it.
“You know, brutalizing me isn’t going to get you more money. It might even get you less — especially once my father hears about it. He won’t be happy.”
It was Anna’s turn to laugh, the sound light, so utterly relaxed that it was equal parts fascinating and chilling. “Your father won’t stop a thing.” She stood, walking around me once more. “Who do you think gave the okay for this?”