Sighing again, James rolled his eyes. “They told me you’d be difficult.”
“You have no idea,” I said, flexing my limbs, already preparing myself for the onslaught to come.
“Fine. The first item we’ll be considering is the ball gag, and to be honest, I could do with some peace and quiet.”
I wanted to kick him. “Are you so confident you’ll win?” I didn’t care a hoot for all of his bravado. I knew what I was capable of, and I’d taken down bigger men than James in the past.
“Talk is cheap, Lois, but silence is golden. Now get up and put your money where your mouth is.” His chair scraped sharply across the floor as he said it, and I watched as he began to flex his fingers.
The fight was on.
Fifteen
I wasted no time in pulling my chair out from under me. Not for one minute did I think James would go easy on me, though I hoped he would probably stop short of killing me. At the moment, he had a point to prove, and several other advantages to boot. He was bigger, heavier, had a longer reach, and by the ripped state of his abs, he most certainly worked out.
Assuming he was in the same line of work I was, and that wasn’t certain, I figured he’d have some martial arts training under his belt. Depending on which ones he’d studied, I might have an easy day or an unpleasant one. There was no doubt I’d come out of this experience with bruises, and I didn’t expect to win against him every time we fought, but I figured the law of averages would at least give me a shot at crossing a few of the more unpleasant things off that list without actually having to experience them first hand. The other side of the coin was that it would give me exercise, and a way to burn off the unpleasant nervous energy that was constantly bubbling through my veins as soon as he came near me. It would also hone my fighting skills, so it had to be a win-win, whichever way I looked at it.
“Are we picking fighting styles, or does anything go?” I asked as I made my way around the table warily. James had already adopted a crouching stance, with his hands held out loosely in front of him, so it was clear my initial assessment was correct.
“Anything goes, sweetheart. I wouldn’t want to limit your creativity.”
“When it comes to the idea of your head connecting with the floor, you won’t.” I smiled sweetly.
He merely grinned in response, but I might as well have saved my breath. There was no way I was going to ruffle any of his feathers with words.
“Ah, so now the boundaries have been set. I’ll take off the kid gloves, then.” James looked annoyingly calm and unruffled, but I’d come to expect that.
“Please do.” Giving him no further time to think about things, I dodged one way and then rushed forward in the other direction. If I was to have any chance of winning this fight, I needed to take it to the floor. That was where I’d get the better of him. Unfortunately, somehow, he’d already estimated exactly what I was going to do, and simply sidestepped out of my way. Spinning around to face him again, I decided play the same tactic again from a different angle. I dodged and barrelled on through from the opposite direction, but James took my feet out from under me, and I was the one who went sprawling, face first, making a very indelicate landing.
“What technique was that?” I asked, a little chagrined as I hauled myself up off the floor boards.
“That was the smack ‘em down technique. I have many more just like it.” He rubbed his hands together as if to accentuate his point, then used his fingers to usher me forward.
“You’re not funny.”
“You’re going to think I’m even less funny by the time I’ve finished with you, Lois, but you’ll learn. I’m beginning to realise you like doing everything the hard way.”
“Not everything,” I whispered, circling him warily. I had no intention of greeting the floor face first again.
“Oh?”
“I prefer making love the easy way.” I dived for his shins, and though I caught hold of one, I didn’t manage to knock him off balance as I’d anticipated, and was it me, or did James have really hard legs? What the hell was wrong with me today?
“That’s too bad. I don’t see any love-making in your immediate future. Perhaps the hard way is better after all.”
Trying my best to get a solid grip on James, I went for a lower body take down, trying to keep top position, but before I knew it, it was me on my back, with James pressed tightly into me, whilst his hand had my arm in a wrist-lock. As he began to bend it backwards in a way it most certainly wasn’t designed for, he raised his eyebrows and stared at me.
“Do you want to call it yet, Lois? Or would you prefer I make it hurt?” The flat, blue eyes in front of me were almost goading, although he appeared to take no pleasure in the victory. It infuriated me, nevertheless. Squirming and wriggling for all I was worth, I did my best to wrap my legs around him and shake him off, but he was always one step ahead of me. I began to wonder if he’d studied my favourite martial art, which was Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and if he had, I was going to need to change tactics for the next round.
“Fine, let’s make it hurt.”
I gave one last futile kick with my legs, trying to free them from his crushing weight, whilst using my free hand to grapple with him, but I knew without doubt that I’d lost this round. There were no rooms for error with James. I either had to get in early and finish the job first time around, or be prepared to accept disappointment.
It suddenly came to my attention that my wrist was being forcibly bent double, and unless I said something pretty sharply, I’d be lucky if I had much of a wrist left.
“I concede,” I screamed. When the pressure didn’t automatically subside, I yelled, “Let me go. You win. You win. Please let me go.” Thankfully, it had the desired effect. He released his grip on me, and I cradled my poor wrist to my chest.
“Was that really necessary?” I griped as my eyes narrowed in his direction.
“You tell me. You started this nonsense, I believe. It would be far easier for me to train you without these silly interruptions.”
I folded my arms across my chest mutinously. Bizarrely, I’d all but forgotten I was completely naked. That had to be a good thing. I was getting back to my old self.
“You got lucky. I’ll beat you next time.”
“I love your optimism.” The hard stare was back, but I ignored it. Thankfully, I didn’t have to endure it for long. James turned on his heel and headed towards one of the oak cupboards just under the kettle. He pulled it open, rustled around for a minute, and then pulled out a large, red rubber ball, complete with black leather straps on either side. He wasn’t going to waste any time making sure I kept my end of the bargain, it seemed.
“You keep ball gags in kitchen cupboards?” I figured I might as well get as many words out of my mouth as possible before the privilege was removed from me. Seriously, though, the setup around these parts was beyond weird. The bad news was, in the next few weeks it was only going to get worse.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg, precious. You should see what we keep upstairs.” Moving towards me, he dangled the gag in front of my eyes to let me know what I was in for, as if I hadn’t been tormented enough already.
The thought of being gagged was not a pleasant one, but it was one that I had endured before, so at least it didn’t have the element of the unknown. The previous time it had been a strip of dirty cloth, a drug dealer, and a sixty-foot yacht. Sharkey had seriously underestimated the man count for that op, and my team and I had found ourselves up against fifty armed men. Three of us didn’t make it, three did. The three who were spared were all women, and there was a reason they’d decided to keep us, though I wasn’t going to think about that now.
“Are you okay, Lois?”
I gave my head a visible shake to snap myself out of it. What was wrong with me? James had already proven himself a worthy adversary, and I needed to concentrate.
“Yes. Let’s get this over with.” I walked towards him and held my head up high. Aware
this was going to be one of the easier trials I was going to face, I decided to put a brave face on situation, though my confidence had been dented.
“Have you been gagged before, Lois?” I could see the wheels turning in his eyes, and I wanted to swear. This was not something I wanted to talk about.
“No.” The answer I gave was firm, and the look I wore was steely. My body language was perfect. There was not a blink, twitch, or tremor out of place. He wasn’t going to see through me this time.
“You’re lying.”
Goddamn the man! He was going to drive me crazy.
“Are you going to gag me, or are we going to stand here chatting?” I could hardly believe it, but I was almost looking forward to being mute. If James could have read my mind, it was saying something along the lines of, ‘hurry up and get on with it, you bastard.’
“If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s all you have to say, Lois, but you need to be honest with me. If you’re going to have a meltdown when I put this in your mouth, I want to know about it beforehand, so I’m prepared. If there’s anything that you’re uncertain or afraid of, I’ll walk you through it and hold your hand. I’ll also make sure I stay with you the whole time. If you have a panic attack and I’m not around, that won’t end well. Do you understand what I’m saying, Lois?”
“Yes. Okay, I have been gagged before, and no, I do not want to talk about it. You don’t need to worry about me, though, I’ll be fine.” I traced a small line down the centre of the red ball and was surprised at how smooth it was.
“We both know you’re not fine, Lois, but we’ll talk about that later. Right now, let’s get you through this, and we can tick it off our list.” He held the ball gag between the two leather straps and looked at me. “Kneel for me and open wide, sweetheart.”
I decided to be graceful in defeat. Besides, there weren’t really any other options. If I didn’t do as I was told, we’d go back to the original method of training, and making a run for it really wasn’t in my best interests if I wanted to get inside CB. Bending down on one knee, the other swiftly joined it, and I looked up at James and opened my mouth. It wasn’t one of the hardest things I’d had to do, but I didn’t enjoy it. I was someone who had to win, and here I was, having just lost.
James didn’t prolong the agony, though, and I guess I could be thankful for that small mercy. The red ball came at me with surprising swiftness, and all it took was a few deft moves with the buckle before the gag was locked firmly in place.
Getting to my feet immediately, I took a few hesitant steps backward, mainly to put some distance between James and myself. For a moment, I teetered, my balance madly off kilter, and then I got back down on my knees.
No longer in the here and now, all I could think about was my dirty cell on the yacht Eclipse, the smell of diesel, and the sound of screaming. The screaming was always the first thing that came back to me, along with the vicious swaying of the boat, which had been caught in a rip tide. The nausea was nearly unbearable, but I had far worse things to contend with on that day. They’d cuffed my hands around the back of the bilge pipe on the bottom deck, and I’d nearly sawed my wrists off in order to escape the wonderful delights they had planned for me. I think I got lucky that day. I’d been the one they’d left until last, which meant I had to sit and watch whilst fifty odd men had their fun with the two women before me. Looking back, my fear probably turned them on, and they’d been happy to play with me. Those guys could smell fear from two hundred paces, and their enjoyment of my predicament had been obvious. I had no doubt that all of us would have been killed that day, but for one small factor. My hands clawed at the floor helplessly as my memories ran wild.
“Lois. Stay with me, Lois.” My head suddenly jumped all over the place and the yacht disappeared. James was shaking me with both hands, probably wondering what on earth I was doing. My head snapped up and I blinked. Transferring myself into a sitting position, I took a few deep breaths, in and out, through my nose.
It wasn’t so bad. My mouth felt painfully full, and the taste of rubber flooded my saliva, but it was just a gag - James wasn’t a monster. Well, not of the usual variety, in any case.
“Lois, look at me.” He took my hands in his, and I had little choice but to follow his directive, though his eyes were beginning to haunt me. Thankfully, his voice was low, calm and soothing. Somehow it managed to banish my dark thoughts, and that could only be a good thing.
“If you’re okay, make the ‘O’ signal with your index finger and thumb. If you’re not, blink three times.” He squeezed my fingers in his hands, just to make sure he had my attention, before letting them go. Nodding my head, I made the required signal and tried not to let myself think about anything but James. It probably wasn’t a great idea to let my imagination run away in that direction, but it was better than the alternative.
“You’re doing great, Lois, and I promise not to keep it in any longer than necessary, but I’m afraid I do need you to get used to the feel of it, and there’s really only one way to do that properly.”
I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear this. Looking up at him, I braced myself for the worst. He gave me a rueful grin.
I shook my head and rolled my eyes. Now I definitely knew I wasn’t going to like this. Waving my hand at him to continue, I urged him to hurry on up and spit it out. We didn’t have time for games.
James looked to either side of me, as if searching for available objects that I might throw at him and, satisfied there was nothing that posed a threat, he said, “I need you to masturbate in front of me.”
Counting to ten, I just managed to convince myself that poking out his eyeballs with my fingernails would not be in my best interests, but I shook my head vehemently. No way. I was not doing that.
“It’s on the list of mandatory things you have to do, and I suspect they’ll require it of you at the auction, so we might as well get the first time over with. You’re going to be doing it daily, so it’ll look good by the time you actually have to do it with an audience. If it makes you feel better, I’ll close my eyes the first time, but you need to get used to people watching you. In CB, you’re going to be surrounded by men and women who will not only feast upon you with their eyes, but they’ll be using their hands and fingers, too. By accepting this assignment, you’ve just given up all your rights to privacy, and you’ll need to learn to beg for the most ridiculous things. As a slave, you enter CB at the bottom of the food chain, and working your way up takes time and a good degree of skill. So, Lois, I’m going to trust you and shut my eyes. I’ll open them again after you orgasm, and if I can’t figure out that point all by myself, tap your hand repeatedly on the floor for me. Okay?”
James didn’t wait for me to respond to the question. He just closed his eyes and sat there quietly on the floor. Gah. How on earth was I supposed to make myself climax in front of an audience? Repeatedly! Letting out a small, frustrated moan, I considered just sitting there and doing nothing. Would I get away with it? Unlikely. James had eyes in the back of his head, and knowing my luck, he’d probably check to see if I’d done the job properly. Besides, what good would that do me? When the time came, I’d be so nervous I’d barely be able to move, and everyone would spot me for the fraudster that I was. There was no getting away from this. I needed to get with the programme.
“Don’t even think of cheating, Lois. I can tell whether you’ve orgasmed or not, and if you defy me on this, our little ‘jousting’ sessions will be null and void.”
Thankfully, James didn’t say another word, but I got the message loud and clear. Do not mess with me. Inwardly, I pouted, because I wasn’t prepared to risk our arrangement. At the moment, it was the only thing keeping me sane. So, I needed to breathe, or try to breathe with a great big red ball in my mouth, and get busy with some fingers.
Shaking my head, I began to rue the day I’d set foot in this house. I’d thought kneeling on my knees, naked, on the front porch was the worst thing that could happen to me. Ho
w wrong was I? Staring at James’s face directly in front of me, paying particular attention to his closed eyelids, I splayed my knees a little wider and slid my right hand down between my legs.
There was no question that I would be wet. If James was sitting less than three feet from me, that wasn’t going to be an issue. My fingers slid inside my pussy easily, and I used them to slowly lubricate my clit. My first instinct was to rush this little interlude and get my task over and done with as fast as was humanly possible, but I managed to hold myself back from that thought. If I was going to be doing this in front of people eventually, that tactic wasn’t going to work. The guys at CB would want a good show, and I intended to deliver one. I decided I might as well give it all I had now and practise as if there was a captive audience in front of me.
Taking my time, I let my fingers delve inside me, a little deeper with each thrust, before I smeared the resulting wetness all over my sex. Using my fingers to squeeze and flick my clit, I wished I didn’t have a great big ball inside my mouth. Saliva came in handy when you wanted lots of slippery and wet, but I could probably make do with what I had.
“Put your fingers in my mouth.”
My stomach hit the ceiling at the sound of his low, raspy voice penetrating the silence, but it quickly recovered. How did he do that? Was the guy possessed with extra sensory perception, or did he just get lucky nearly every damn time? Had I not been gagged, I would have muttered a swear word or two, but as it happened, the idea was a good one, so I hesitantly reached my fingers up towards his lips. Why I’d decided to do as he said was anybody’s guess, and when I came within an inch of his face, the urge to drag my fingers back was upon me, but it was too late. He must have sensed me there, because he lunged forward and, catching my index and middle finger together in his teeth, he sucked them into his mouth hard.
Sparks (A Special Agent Novel Book 1) Page 19