“Yes,” I breathed as my body still tingled under the intoxication controlling my mind. His words were comforting, physically embracing me under his concern. He cared for me. He wanted to help me in my need for oblivion; he intended to be the one to bring me relief. “You want to please me, love me,” I spoke candidly.
He reared back as though shocked by my statement. His eyes darkened. I shivered as his care morphed into cruelty. “Oh, lamb, you misinterpret again.”
I swallowed nervously when he pressed his thumb deeply into one of the slices still pulsing with my blood. An ache of need throbbed in my belly when he then slid his thumb down the trail, following the path of my wreckage. He leaned further into me until his mouth hovered against my ear, his hot breath tickling the few wisps of hair against my neck. “Your blood is mine, Mae. It is your life force, the very thing that feeds you. But now I substitute your blood. I am your life force, the very thing that will feed you, whether it be pain, misery or fucking pleasure. I am what will breathe life into you, not the air; me. I will be the one that controls each and every move you make, not your brain; me. I am now the very thing that will decide if you live or die, not your blood; me.”
His statement squeezed my heart painfully, choking me in the truth of his words. I should have known he wouldn’t care about me; no one did, so why start now?
I laughed and nodded. “Of course, Master. I apologise. How utterly stupid of me to think that a single entity on this fucking…”
I hissed as his fist once again connected with my lip, more blood spraying furiously from my body. I was surprised I had any left to feed my brain.
“Will you control your mouth!”
I nodded and lowered my eyes as a faint knock echoed in the room and the door opened. A young, slim woman entered the room. Her thick blonde mane was pulled into a pony tail behind her head, the skin on her face taut with the extreme pull of it. Her sharp blue eyes narrowed on me as her bright red lips pursed. Her large chest heaved under the strain of the cream silk shirt she wore, her hips fairly wide under the tightness of her knee length skirt.
Her lips curled at the edge as she sneered at me. “Oh dear.” Her tone was mocking and amused, her disgust at my appearance pleasing her very much.
I shifted my eyes from her to Master then back again, immediately recognising what they were. Lovers. She reeked of sex and need, her eyes softening instantly when they landed on Master. “I’ll fix her up. You need to leave for your meeting.”
Master nodded as he stood, his eyes never leaving mine. “Make sure she’s secured after, Demi. I’ll deal with her later.” He was speaking to Demi but his eyes remained fixed on mine. I frowned at the slither of something that passed through them, it was soft but heated, gentle but debauched and I gulped at the sudden intensity he studied me with.
He turned sharply to face the large man who had entered behind Demi. “I need the equipment securing.”
The man I presumed to be Frank nodded once, acknowledging the order. He never opened his mouth to speak and he never looked at me once.
Master turned to me, the previous expression gone and replaced with a deep-seated hatred. “Let Demi do her job without interference or disgust.”
I stared at him as my brow furrowed. What the fuck did he mean ‘without disgust’?
“Answer me, Mae!”
“Yes, Master,” I mumbled.
He narrowed his eyes further before he turned to Demi. “Behave.” She gave a simple nod at the order and a small smile as she watched him leave.
She strolled over to me when the door slid closed behind Master, the clip of her heels on the cement floor loud and hypnotising. I looked up at her from my position against the wall, my arse numb with the hardness under it.
She tutted and sighed at me. “You really are quite something.” I wasn’t sure if it was a compliment or sarcasm. She dropped to her knees and I soon found out it was the latter. “You filthy tramp. Look at you. Your need for attention repulses me.”
“D…Demi!” Frank stuttered a warning from across the room.
We both turned to him. He was looking at us but his eyes were hard and blank. His body was huge, the width of him as considerable as his height. His eyes were cold and empty but his face appeared soft and almost childlike. His short blonde hair was cut to perfection, almost military in form. Both of his large bulky arms were adorned with a mass of ink, large faces of ladies and numerous weapons decorating his skin in various colours. I wasn’t sure what it was about him that soothed me but he exuded a tangible serenity, even with the sheer size of him.
“Go to hell, F...Frank,” Demi mocked with a hiss of hatred to her voice. Her jeer at Frank’s speech impediment made my blood boil.
She pulled out some things from a small box and I watched, mesmerised as she threaded a needle with suturing thread. “You obviously enjoy pain, rat, so I’ll not bother anaesthetising your arm.”
Frank sighed heavily and I lifted my focus to him as Demi started her torturous procedure. Every harsh stab of the needle made me wince but I sank my teeth into my lip, refusing to let her witness my discomfort. She was obviously a bitch, a heartless cow who thought she remained above the rankings of others. Her idolisation of Master was just as apparent as her hatred for me.
I smiled at Frank when his eyes kept flicking in my direction. He never smiled back and his gaze never roamed over my bare body but his eyes softened with each of my attempts to connect with him. He seemed the lesser of the two evils in the room and I desperately tried to relate to him with each of my looks.
I winced when Demi speared my skin deeper than was necessary. I dropped my eyes to study her suturing. My eyes widened at the hacked attempt at repair. The stitches were large and angry and would most definitely leave more of a scar than my track lines would have.
Frank shook his head in anger as he checked out Demi’s work. “F…Fuck sake, Demi. D…Daniel told you to fix her up, not m…mar the poor girl.”
Demi shot upright and glared in his direction. “One, never call Master Daniel in front of the stock, you retard. Two, never question my motives, and three, keep your senseless opinions to yourself. Master won’t tolerate your contempt towards me.”
He stared at her, his eyes cooling further with every passing moment. His hands fisted by his sides as his throat bobbed with his fury. Eventually, he relented under Demi’s glare and shook his head.
I flinched when Demi’s fingers wrapped around my hair and she pulled me across the room. “Get the fuck off me, you bitch,” I spat as I attempted to yank her fingers from their cruel hold.
I choked on the blood when she rammed one of her heels into the side of my face, the tip dislodging a tooth under the force of it. Coughing loudly, I spat the tooth out with a mouthful of blood.
Her eyes widened as anguish covered her face. My hand lifted instinctively to my cheek, holding my face as the pain throbbed. “Ahh, shit,” I mumbled.
Demi pointed one of her long talons at Frank, her eyes blazing in severity. “She fell into the wall.”
Frank lowered his eyes, worry evident on his face. His eyes moved over my face, softening when they landed on the trail of blood trickling from the corner of mouth. “B…But…”
“No buts, freak. I’m warning you.” She turned to me. “If either of you tell Master then I will make your lives miserable. There are so many things I can tell him that you did today, like how you punched me, how your language was pure filth and how evil you were to me.”
My eyes widened. “What? I haven’t even…” The funny sensation of talking with a gap in my teeth made my brow furrow even further.
“No,” she butted in. “But Master isn’t aware of that, is he? And if you think he’ll believe you, rat, over me then I’m afraid you’re in for a shock.” She bent into me, her face a mere inch from mine, her hatred almost slapping me. “MY Master loves me and he will give me anything I ask. And if I ask him to slice straight through your heart, he won’t even hesitate.”
/>
She gripped my chin, rendering more pain through the delicate nerves in my gum. “You not only belong to Master Daniel, but also to me. I am free to do whatever I wish and I’m hoping you understand just how low I will go to please MY Master.”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek, trying to hide my humour at her desperation. “Honey,” I whispered, “You are more than welcome to him, but why do I get the feeling you feel threatened by me?”
I glowed inwardly as she squirmed slightly, her teeth becoming visible when they sank into her bottom lip.
I smirked when I realised how deep her need for Master was. And me being me didn’t hesitate in twisting that knife even deeper. “Oh, I think you ought to feel threatened. I made him come in my mouth almost as soon as he sank his cock between my lips.”
Frank mumbled a groan as Demi transformed before me. Her eyes fired and her fingers dug even further into my cheeks, her thumb pressing hard against the empty area between my back molars. “He touched you?” Her surprise was potent, the shock of my revelation burning her blood.
“Well,” I sneered. “Rather, I touched him. Just a little something to please your Master. Blew his load straight down my throat whilst he cried out my name.”
Okay, maybe that was a little stretched, but I wasn’t going to tell her that he never uttered my name, and disappeared before I could even swallow the whole mouthful he’d given me. There was just something about this bitch that got my back up, brought out the dark side of me, the side that was adamant I would knock her down after her ridicule over Frank’s disability.
“You lying whore,” she spat as her fist crashed into my face.
Fuck that!
I gave it back to her, her face crumpling under my fists. She was easy prey in my desperation to release the pent up energy. She just lay still as her ugly fucking face smashed to pieces under my wrath while I let my hatred out and tore into her. Adrenaline fired through me, killing any pain in my arm and allowing me to strike blow after blow upon the bitch.
I knew Master would kill me, but bring it on. The quicker the better. I couldn’t take another moment in there, tied, beaten and regarded lower than a dog. Maybe this would bring the finality that awaited me in the next few months hurtling forward, ending my anguish over how my life would end, how painful it would be when my soul ripped its way out of me.
“N...No…” Frank begged as he pulled me off the bitch who was curled up below me. I kicked out at her as my body was hauled backwards. “You m…mustn’t. Master will p...punish you, Mae.”
“I don’t care!” I screamed as I struggled to free myself from his hold and kill the contemptuous bitch whimpering in a heap on the floor.
I bucked against Frank when he forced my wrists into the cuffs hanging from the ceiling. “I…I apolog...gise but I m…must secure y…you.”
Demi uncurled herself and clambered up, her eyes fierce on me. “You cunt!”
I laughed. “Oooh don’t let Daniel hear the filth you spew,” I mocked, my mind completely overtaken with my delirium. “He won’t like that, Demi.”
She huffed and wiped the blood from her mouth with the back of her hand, her eyes studying the red substance that now smeared her smooth, flawless skin. She looked shocked to discover she actually housed a blood system, her eyes staring widely as her lips parted. That figured.
She strolled over to the tools on the wall, her shoulders straight in her determination to hurt me. Her long fingers rested on a large iron baton. My breath hitched and I tested the security of my restraints. It didn’t surprise me to find they were not only steady but strict and harsh, denying me any movement at all.
“Get out,” she ordered Frank.
He shook his head frantically as his eyes swept from me to Demi, who brandished the stick she was going to teach me a lesson with. “M…Master won’t t...tolerate this, D…Demi.”
Demi scoffed and smiled arrogantly. “I’m sure he’ll forgive me. After all, the rancid rat hurt his baby.”
I closed my eyes and sighed. The bitch had planned it all along. I realised as Frank quietly lowered his face and walked from the room that I had played right into her hands. I was a fool. I always had been. Even after everything, I still held onto the hope that one day someone somewhere would actually like me, love me even. And yet, even though my life was nearly over, my hopes were always buried under the taunt of hopelessness.
Demi pulled in a large breath and smiled at me, her eyes glistening in delight as she raised the baton above her head. “Let’s get to know one another a little better, rat.”
I closed down after she rained carnage, the pain in my body too intense with her malicious hits. She didn’t just beat me; she battered and crushed me in her explosion of fury. She screamed with every strike, blanketing my own cries as the agony rendered me almost numb.
Oblivion took my mind to a better place after she moved behind me and crashed the stick into the back of my knees, jolting my wrists and snapping my joints at the pressure.
However, I didn’t lose consciousness until I heard Frank re-enter and force Demi’s wrath upon himself. Each of his cries scorched my heart as he took the punishment for me.
Chapter Eight
‘The hunt for love preys on the soul.’
The sear that ran through my skull was crippling, its intensity debilitating. Panic surged through me as sickness threatened to choke me. It had never been this bad, the torment this time was excruciating.
I moaned as I turned my face to the side, my body refusing any movement, then released the explosive illness clogging my throat, vomit trickling down my cheek.
I heard soft footfalls on carpet but my eyes refused to open, not daring to risk more torture.
I murmured a groan when a cool cloth swept over my mouth, gently collecting the remnants of my illness as delicate fingers brushed the hair from my face, perspiration gluing it to my hot skin.
“Sshhh.”
“Mmm.” I couldn’t speak any more thanks and hoped my nurse understood my gratitude.
“Sleep, lamb.”
I stiffened, the simple action tearing explosions through my brain. I blew out a harsh breath at the throb when I struggled to open my eyes. My heavy eyelids squealed furiously as I battled with their stubborn refusal to cede to my demand.
Master’s face slowly came into focus as he perched beside me on the bed. He was minus his customary suit jacket, just a crisp, light blue shirt covering his impressive torso. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and the top two buttons were open, giving me a glimpse of fine dark hair.
“Sleep, Mae,” he repeated more sternly.
I stared at him, however my gaze was soft as I relayed my message of thanks to his tendering. He replied in understanding with a faint nod, his dark chocolate eyes melting into me. He was the most handsome man I had ever bore witness to in my short twenty one years. If he was a nice person he would have been truly magnificent, many women I estimated, fighting for his attention. But his cruel personality masked the beauty, made it irrelevant.
Another surge of fire shot across the crown of my head and I instinctively brought my hands up to my head to cradle the pain. My knees bent as I pulled my legs up to my chest to protect myself from the torture.
“Is it unbearable?” he asked in a soft voice.
“Mmm,” I mumbled sharply as I squeezed my eyes closed. I gagged at the pain, concentrating on my breathing like I’d been shown at the pain clinic but it was useless this time. “Need – meds.”
“I’m afraid I can’t grant access to your own, Mae, but Dr Galloway will be here shortly.”
“What?”
“Just try and sleep, Mae… please.”
I gulped and reopened my eyes, fighting against the pain to look at him. Did he know? Was he aware of it? “Why have you called a doctor?” My voice was slurred but coherent.
His eyebrow lifted. “Do you really need to ask, Mae?”
“I need to…” I hissed and shuddered as a bolt of whit
e hot pain shot through the front of my skull causing my lips to tremble at the agony.
“Mae,” Master snapped harshly. “Close your eyes and refrain from any more talk. Your body is beaten too much, and your blood pressure is raised causing pressure on your brain which in turn is aggravating your Glioma.”
I wheezed at his words, my heart stuttering as my brain struggled to cope with his knowledge. “You know?” I forced out, gritting my teeth as the movement of my jaw pounded my head.
He snapped upright, his fury now palpable in the quiet room. “I shall not ask again, lamb. Your disobedience is giving me cause to want to hurt you. We both know you are in no fit state to take any more right now. I will return when Dr Galloway arrives. Until then, I suggest you heed my wishes if you value your peace.”
If I could have opened my eyes I would have glared at him, the arrogant fucker. ‘I suggest you heed my wishes if you value your peace.’ Who the hell spoke like that? In fact as I thought more about him, the more complex his dialogue appeared. He was always longwinded in his speech instead of getting to the point like most of us. His words were complex and intelligent, his accent privileged and almost snooty.
I curled my lip in answer. What – the – fuck – ever! I couldn’t be arsed with him.
My lip curled higher when I noticed the immense difference in our vocalisations, my mouth in the gutter and his wrapped in silver.
Ahh, fuck him. I was Mae Swift, and no one, not even a Master with a penchant for cruelty would ever change that.
~~~
It was light when I next woke. Voices filled the quiet and I left my eyelids in place, listening to the conversation.
“Are there no other drugs available?” Master asked. “Something of greater potency?”
A male sigh echoed around the room. “There are but they are expensive, Daniel.”
“Give them to her.”
A pause stilled the air. I could sense who I presumed to be Dr Galloway’s shock. “To what limit?”
The Decimation of Mae (The Blue Butterfly) Page 7