by Lily White
However, Aiden believe we could still accomplish our tasks and I had to tilt my hat to his expertise. He’d been doing this much longer than me and I was confident that if he didn’t believe we would be successful, he’d have no problem killing Claire to begin again. However, the thought didn’t sit well in my stomach.
Donning a button down shirt and dress slacks, I buttoned my sleeves with the platinum cuffs I’d been given by Aiden a year prior. The letter M was engraved on each one representing my future status within the society. I’d been proud to receive them.
Stepping out of my bedroom, I crossed through the house, making a stop in the kitchen for coffee. Rebecca was seated at the table dressed in a blue slip dress sipping tea.
“That’s a beautiful dress. What’s the occasion?”
Looking up, she smiled. “Aiden is taking me out for the day. You’ll be alone with your courtesan.”
Her blonde hair hung loose over her shoulders and I admired how the sunlight streaming through the windows turned her hair into a halo framing her face. Aiden stepped into the room, dressed in a full suit. “Let’s go, Rebecca. I don’t want to be late.”
Directing his attention to me, he noted, “I’ve determined how we’re going to break your first pet.” Approaching me, he slipped a piece of paper from his pocket, tossing it on the counter beside me. “I’ve written out what I think needs to be done. I suggest you keep the tape I’ve secured over her mouth. Taking away her voice will help keep her in a submissive position until such time that the break begins to split her psyche. I expect to return to this house tonight to find that she’s been used sufficiently.”
Sipping from my cup, I answered, “Understood.”
They were gone without another word. After downing the last drop of my coffee and reading over the note, I strolled down the long hall leading to the black room where Claire was held. She would stay in that room until such time as Aiden and I could recognize a fracture in her logic and reasoning.
Opening the door, I made no move to enter, choosing instead to use the light from the hall to look her over. Stretched out across the bed, I found that Aiden had left her no room to move overnight. She was positioned on her stomach with her hands bound above her and the chains at her feet pulled tight.
A condom sat dry and crusted on her back.
Shaking my head, I crossed the room to stand next to the bed. I pulled a tissue from the box on the bedside table and tossed away the evidence of Aiden’s introduction to her new life. She didn’t move, flinch, make a sound or indicate in any other way that she was conscious. Grabbing her hair, I gripped it in my fingers and pulled her head from the pillow.
Her eyes popped open.
“Ah. You’re awake. That’s good.”
Struggling against her chains, she attempted to speak despite the tape over her mouth. I smiled and allowed her the time to exhaust herself. She looked absolutely pathetic. Her clothes were bunched around her body or cut away completely. Her hair looked like it hadn’t been brushed in days. However, I knew that wasn’t the case, having seen her so well put together in school the day before.
Without concern that she would attempt to fight, I unbuckled the fitting that had kept her hands secured to the iron frame of the bed. She jerked her hands down to her chest, attempting to flip over and grimacing when she realized her muscles were not yet ready to move so quickly. I smiled.
“You’re going to be sore from having stayed in one position for so long. I suggest you move slowly at first. Do not attempt to fight me. It will only end badly for you.” I kept the tone of my voice bored and without intonation. She mumbled something from beneath the tape and it killed me to not know what she said.
Unlike Aiden, I liked the begging. Absolutely adored hearing what a woman would say in this type of setting. People said strange things sometimes, most often reverting back to thoughts and musings regarding something they would never have to worry about again: homework, tests, hair appointments or outings with friends. It was as if they believed they would return to that life and regret not having kept to their usual schedule.
It only took a few days for them to accept that those activities were no longer important, not in their new life, at least.
She started to kick when I moved to release her legs and I slapped my palm over her bare ass. She bucked against the sting of my strike, but settled when she recognized the cold lack of emotion in my eyes.
“I’m not afraid to hurt you and judging by the bruises on your body, neither was Aiden.” Letting go of the chains at her feet, I knelt down by the bed so that I could look her in the eyes. “You have no idea what you are up against, Claire. There is nothing inside that head of yours that will save you. You’re being freed, that’s what you don’t understand. A smart woman will accept that fact early on so as to avoid being punished severely for her rebellion.”
More mumbles were spit out from beneath the tape and I shook my head in disbelief. She wasn’t going to give up. I wasn’t sure if that surprised me or made me more excited. Fear and submission caused my cock to jump, but it was anger that truly brought me to life. Despite Aiden’s instructions, I needed to hear what she was thinking. It was the method to my madness, the way I discovered the person I was training and used their own thoughts and feelings against them.
Aiden didn’t understand my need to hear what they had to say, but not every Master operated in the same manner. Yes, he’d taught me the basics of this craft, but like every other Master in the society, I needed to forge my own path, develop the style that would make my job quick and efficient. Not knowing what Claire now wanted to say was killing me, slowly.
“I’m going to remove the tape. I’ll tell you now that screaming won’t do anything but upset and excite me. Nobody but me will hear you.”
Reaching out, I pulled at the tape, gingerly at first, but then decided that it was too tight to be removed by hand. I turned to grab the scissors from the table in the room and returned to the bed to cut at the tape. She jerked away from me and I reached out with my free hand to grab her hair to hold her head in place. “Don’t move or you’ll end up with a nasty gash across your cheek.”
The tape split easily beneath the sharp edges of the blades and I felt bad for what I had to do next. Ripping it from her skin and hair, I wasn’t surprised at the scream of pain from the small woman beneath me. When she looked up at me, tears pooled in her blue eyes. They would have sparkled if there was any light in here besides the single dull bulb that hung in the center of the room.
She started her crap almost immediately. It was amusing to say the least.
“Holland. Please. You have to let me go. You haven’t done anything wrong and I won’t say anything about you when I go to the police. There’s still time for you to stop what you’re doing.”
Her voice was hoarse. I wasn’t surprised by that. Screaming asked a lot of the vocal chords, but the voice it left behind was somewhat sexy in its raspy and breathy tone.
“Ms. Elliot. I have done things wrong. I kidnapped you in the middle of the college parking lot. Do you really think you can convince me that you won’t disclose that small fact in your rush to the authorities?” I patted my hand lightly against her sticky cheek. “Mentioning the police was not in your best interests. I thought you were smarter than that.”
Her eyes widened, most likely in reaction to the calm quality to my voice.
“You need to get cleaned up. We can go about this the hard way or you can give me a show. Which do you prefer?”
“I prefer that you let me go.”
My fingers were locked over her cheeks choking out her last word. “Sounds to me like you just chose the hard way. How unfortunate.”
I moved to unlock her feet, choosing to connect the shackles on her ankles together. I wasn’t foolish enough to believe that she wouldn’t attempt to fight me every step of the way. Her wrists were still bound to each other and now that her legs were no longer connected to the bed, it was time to move.
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“Holland…Holland please. This isn’t you. You don’t have to do this. You’re a good kid.”
A smile pulled at my lips. “I’m a good kid, huh?”
“Holland, I’m your teacher, please help me.”
Turning back to her, I was starting to understand Aiden’s use of the tape. That’s not to say that I regretted my decision to remove it, I just simply understood. “Let’s establish a few things now before we move forward in this, Claire.” Pacing in front of the bed, I didn’t bother looking at her when I said, “I’m no longer your student and likewise, you are no longer my teacher.” Finally glancing at her, I added, “Anybody’s teacher for that matter. In fact, we’ve switched roles. From this moment forward, I’ll be your teacher.”
I couldn’t help staring at her. She still appeared silly with her shirt bunched up around her shoulders and arms, but her legs and abdomen were exposed to my eyes; her alabaster skin, smooth and flawless. She wore a pair of light blue underwear that contrasted nicely against the perfection of her skin. My hands clenched at my sides and my mouth watered.
How many times in class had I imagined slipping my hands up her pencil skirts? I’d always wondered what I’d find and now seeing it in front of me, I smiled to realize I hadn’t been wrong to think it would be amazing.
“Are you ready to move forward?”
“Please, Holland. If you stop now, if you let me go, we can walk away from this together. I won’t say anything.”
“You expect me to believe that?” I tilted my head to the side. “Ms. Elliot, you’ll have to do better than that. Do you really think I’d be stupid enough to think you’d let me walk that campus? You know better than that and so do I. I’m a predator. You’re not the type of woman to say nothing while a predator walks among innocent college students.”
Rolling my neck from side to side, I blew out a breath. “Let’s move on. Shall we?”
It took two steps for me to reach her. Grabbing her by the leather cord that bound her hands, I pulled her from the bed, allowing her to fall heavily on the floor.
I knelt down beside her while she cried. “You need a bath, Claire. You’re filthy and you stink of sex. That does nothing for me unless I was the one to put the stink there in the first place. I want you to crawl for me, Beautiful. Like a stunning little caterpillar on her way to becoming a butterfly.”
She cried harder and I stood up. One kick to the stomach was all it took to gain her attention. Her breath was knocked out of her, but the kick wasn’t hard enough to do any type of real damage. It was just a warning of what could come. “Are we doing this the hard way, Claire, or are you going to crawl?”
“I can’t crawl!” She rasped out. “My hands and feet are bound, you asshole.”
Her angry words were the only spark I needed. My cocked jumped in my pants and electricity shot along my skin. This was going to be more fun than I’d originally planned.
Aiden believed that pain would be her breaking point.
As usual, the bastard had been right.
Chapter Eight
Claire
“I think if you try harder, you’ll find that you can crawl. Pretend you’re an inchworm. I’m patient. I can walk slowly while you figure it out.” He sounded amused, as if he were playing with some new gadget or toy. Men liked their toys. These men took that joy a bit too far.
The toe of his boot tapped against my abdomen where he’d kicked me before.
“Let’s go, Claire. I won’t be careful if I’m forced to drag you.”
He spoke so calmly. It was as if he were speaking to a casual acquaintance and nothing more.
What the hell was going on? I couldn’t understand any of it.
I’d spent most of the night theorizing, trying to pinpoint the identity of the man who’d raped me and how a kid like Holland could be connected to him. Nothing made sense.
He gave me one more warning tap before I finally rolled over in an attempt to comply. I didn’t want to. The last thing I wanted to do was amuse these bastards further. But what choice did I have? They’d hurt me. They’d already proven that. It wouldn’t do me any good to provoke them into injuring me so severely that there was no reason in keeping me for whatever purpose they had planned.
Earlier, when Holland first looked at me after entering the room, I swore I saw something almost human in his expression. It was barely a flash of emotion, but it was there. Now, to look up at him and find him smiling down, I realized that he was as committed to this atrocity as the man I met last night. I’d hoped, PRAYED, that it wouldn’t be the case, that, perhaps there was some shred of humanity inside a man too young to have become so cold.
There was nothing.
No humanity.
No morality.
No empathy.
“Let’s go, Claire. We don’t have all day.” He could have been telling me it was time to leave for the store with how casually he spoke.
Another nudge with his boot and I forced my bound arms over the floor. Pulling myself along I kicked out with my bound feet, inching, like he’d said, as if I were a caterpillar or worm. My muscles screamed in agony at the strenuous movement, my heart pounding with my terror and dread. I was practically naked from the waist down and my breasts scraped over the floor in the places where my loosened bra no longer covered them. For each movement I made to inch forward, my body shuddered with shame and heartache.
Already, I’d been reduced to something sub-human, unworthy of respect or compassion.
His steps thumped behind me, slowly keeping time to the sluggish movement of my trembling body on the floor. He watched me with satisfaction. I could imagine a surge of power flowing through him at having made a woman crawl.
Minutes passed, fifteen or more, when we finally reached a door at the other end of the hall. My elbows and knees were burning from having been repeatedly knocked against the hardwood floor. Muscles I didn’t even know I had hurt, my body weakening so completely that I shook each time I had to force it to move again.
“Stop there.”
I didn’t just stop. I collapsed. My tense breath flew out of my mouth on a cloud of relief. It didn’t matter that the muscles of my abdomen were cramped and despite the relief of lying down on the cool surface of the floor, I couldn’t escape the tortuous cramping. It would have been impossible to stretch out. My body felt locked into a semi-fetal position.
A door creaked open in front of my face. From what I could see from my vantage point, I was looking into a large bathroom. Holland flicked a light on above me and the space flashed a sterile white beneath the blazing bright bulbs in the room.
“Bath time, Courtesan.”
Another nudge with his foot and I knew he intended for me to move yet again. I couldn’t do it. I was paralyzed with fear and so much more. Pain, degradation, violation and the shame inflicted by the resultant laughter of the men who abused me. It was heart wrenching and soul shattering. I thought I should be stronger, more prepared for a situation like this. I’d studied the crimes committed by horrible men. Even then, after hearing the stories and reading the case files, it hadn’t prepared me at all. The only thing it had served to do was to give me the false sense that I was somehow too strong or too knowledgeable to fall so quickly into step.
“I can’t move anymore.” I made the admission on a voice choked by tears. I was begging him to believe me, to realize the degree of pain I was experiencing. “Holland, I’m not just saying that. I really can’t move. It hurts too much.” I hated admitting it, hated the fact that I begged. I wasn’t broken at his feet. Not yet. Yet, I couldn’t deny I was defeated.
He was silent for a moment. The length of time it took him to respond made me wonder if, perhaps, I hadn’t spoken out loud at all. There was always a chance that I’d imagined it, the physical weakness in my body, the raging emotions in my veins, it was enough to make me delusional.
His knees popped when he knelt down beside me. I could barely see his face, but I knew he was staring
down at me. The palm of his hand ran softly up my back and I jumped in response to his touch. Warm and soft, his hands represented a man who’d never had to work a day in his life. He was privileged and entitled. If he wanted it, it was his.
“If I unbind you, will you fight against me?”
I barked out a disbelieving short burst of laughter.
Fuck. I was already losing it.
“I can’t move, much less fight.”
He returned the humor by chuckling softly above me.
His hand stopped at the base of my neck. Twirling the hair between his fingers, he said, “You have a big mouth, Claire. The stunt you pulled with Aiden last night wasn’t smart. He’s a professional. You attempted it again this morning with me. Why? Did you think that there was something human inside me that you could reach?”
“Yes.”
For some reason, I still believed there was. He was too young to be so jaded, too privileged to be bitter. I knew that kids fell easily into the mindset of their superiors. It was possible that Holland had been manipulated to play this role, that he wasn’t too far gone to be pulled back.
“Tell me, Claire. From what you’ve studied, in all your experience and knowledge of a criminal’s mind, tell me what I’m feeling right now.”
I humored him, thinking that maybe by opening up a line of communication, I could play on his mercy or sympathy. It was a slim chance, but it was still a chance nonetheless.
Forcing my voice to remain calm and professional, I said, “Empowered. Sexually Stimulated. It’s possible you’re in a manic state.”
“Do I sound manic?”
“No.”
“So what does that make me?”
A monster. That’s what it made him. I knew that’s what he wanted me to say. He wanted me to acknowledge the evil inside him, to make it real by stating it out loud.
“It makes you a confused person. A young man that has been manipulated to do things that are not in your nature. You’re as much as a victim as me.”