by Lily White
“But…” Holland began to object.
“Go. Don’t make me tell you again.”
Like a beaten dog, Holland stood up and left the room. He didn’t bother to glance back or say another word. Terror washed across my skin in a sticky sweat. My fingers gripped the ledge of the table where they were positioned, my nails digging into the wood.
“Well now, Courtesan, what am I going to do with you?”
Chapter Eleven
Holland
I didn’t make it farther than the hall before the first blood-curdling scream tore through the house. It cut through the air around me, the sound sharp and jarring, electric in the way it burst across my skin.
Spinning on my heel, I almost returned to the kitchen, but thought better of it. Aiden never liked to be disturbed.
The screams continued to tug at me like phantom hands as I moved through the house. Reaching Aiden’s office was a relief. Closing the door, I was able to block out the sound, to pretend that he wasn’t hurting her.
Minutes ticked by, each one building the anxiety in my body. I couldn’t help but wonder why it bothered me as much as it did. This was just another day, another courtesan and another training session that would eventually deliver her into a carefree life. She wouldn’t have to worry for money or anything that she desired. Her owners would care for her.
The door clicked open, my body spinning in the chair to find Aiden walking through. Crossing the room and wearing a blank expression, he gave no indication as to what he’d done to Claire.
Passing me to round his desk, he asked, “What was the spatula for, Holland? Were you going to spank her or make pancakes?”
I ignored his remark.
After settling into his desk chair, he asked, “What did you tell her?”
Contempt turned to steel in my spine. “Nothing that you haven’t told countless other women when you train them. I told her what was being done to her. That’s it.”
He eyed me with suspicion. “I seem to remember telling you to keep the tape on her mouth.”
Firing off an objection, I said, “I work differently than you, Aiden. She’s mine to train and I’m using my methods to do so.”
His left eyebrow arched in surprise. “And how long have you been practicing these methods exactly, Holland? Tell me, in all your years of experience, how often have those methods been successful?”
I had nothing to say.
“That’s what I thought.” Leaning forward, he braced his arms on his desk, curling one hand over the other in front of him. “Remember that you are not a full Master yet, Holland. I can still refuse to continue training you.” Pausing he allowed the threat to settle in. “How do you think your stepfather would feel about that? Do you understand the types of strings he had to pull to get me to agree to this?”
My stepfather was a deep-pocketed bigot who believed he was better than every person he encountered. He spent most of his time with the women he purchased and left my mother to raise his children. After she’d accomplished that, he’d quickly forgotten about her, but she didn’t complain because she had enough money to remain comfortable for the rest of her life. Like Aiden, my stepfather believed he could cure any problem with cash and most of the time, he was right.
“Yeah, I hear you.”
Aiden looked at me long and hard. “You know how I feel about your family. I chose to look past it when I agreed to train you, to the detriment of my courtesan. Do not make me regret that.”
Returning his contemptuous stare, I replied, “My stepbrother disappeared three years ago. I can’t be held responsible for what he did. I understand that he and my stepfather had personal dealings with Rebecca prior to her becoming a Courtesan, but that shouldn’t be used against me. I had nothing to do with it.”
“Which is precisely why I agreed to train you, Holland. Well, that and the ridiculous amount of money I was paid.” Flipping open his laptop, he pushed a button and brought the screen to life. “We’re done here. Go take care of Claire. She’s still strapped to the table where you left her.”
Pushing out of my seat, I left the room without looking back. I appreciated and even admired Aiden for his skill as a Master, but his haughty attitude and arrogance was wearing on me.
That’s not to say I’m not as arrogant as him. I’m just less of a jackass about it.
Entering the kitchen, I looked over at Claire and almost lost it. Blood seeped from cuts on her body, razor thin tears to her skin where Aiden had hit her with his metal tipped flogger. She couldn’t move around due to the way she was strapped to the table, but her body still shook with her sobs. Duct tape was once again wrapped around her mouth and head, but I couldn’t remove it this time. Anything I did in kindness would be met with Aiden’s punishment.
Quietly, I crept around to release the shackles from her body. Picking her up, I cradled her to my chest as I carried her back to the bathroom where I’d fucked her earlier. I didn’t feel bad about what I’d done to her, but I felt somewhat guilty for Aiden’s reaction. Had I just left the tape in place, none of this would have happened.
Stepping into the bathroom, I placed her in the dry bathtub and set to work pulling the first aid kit out from beneath the sink.
I sat down on the ledge of the tub and hated the pain I saw behind her blue eyes. Without speaking, I went to work tending to her cuts as best I could and cleaning up between her legs. Aiden had worked her over apparently. She cried the entire time, mumbling out from behind the tape, but I had to ignore it.
When I finished I replaced the kit beneath the sink and returned her to the black room where she would be held for the next couple of weeks. Laying her on the mattress, I smoothed back her hair with my hand, looking down at the pathetic mess Aiden had left in his wake.
“It will be easier when you stop fighting. There is no escape from this, Pet. No way you’ll be able to stop or avoid what’s happening to you. You’ve been bought and sold already. These conditions…” I motioned to the room. “…they’re only temporary. As soon as you learn to accept your place, as soon as you submit fully, you’ll live a life of luxury beyond anything you’ve known. The society is different than what you expect. We’re not traffickers. We’re not monsters. We transform women, break them from their shell, free them from what society expects from them. You’ll understand that soon.”
More mumbles from beneath the tape and I knew it was time to leave. She put up a fight when I shackled her legs and arms to the metal frame of the bed.
I’d return later that evening and begin the training again, but for now, she needed her rest. I regretted the fact that the room was kept so cold and she neither had clothes nor a blanket to keep her warm. That was all part of the training. It was the dark before the light, the shadow that fractured her spirit, emptying her so she could be taught her new life. I understood that, but it didn’t mean I had to like it.
She mumbled louder as I walked away, but I still ignored it. I didn’t need to see the panic in her eyes to know what she was attempting to say. Maybe Aiden had been right. She was a smart woman who knew how to get into a person’s head. I was worried that by allowing her to talk, I’d let her into mine.
I walked slowly through the house, rounding the corner to the kitchen when Aiden came barreling out. His shoulder struck mine as he passed.
“Where are you going?”
He looked back at me, anger clear in his expression. “I have business to attend to. Watch over Rebecca for me. She’s not in a healthy frame of mind at the moment. Let her eat, but then return her to her room.”
I didn’t ask questions. His mood wouldn’t tolerate it.
He was gone before I could blink and I stepped into the kitchen to find Rebecca crying over a bowl of soup. Quietly, I approached the table, sitting down in the chair where I’d sat before and talked to Claire.
“What’s wrong?”
“Like you care.”
Her response pissed me off. So I returned the favor.
&n
bsp; “Don’t forget I’m a Master in this house. I can bend you over this fucking table if I want to.”
Her red-rimmed eyes narrowed in rage. “Aiden would have your fucking head.”
“Would he?”
She cried harder and confusion muddied my thoughts. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
Without looking at me, she answered, “I’m being sold.”
The words ‘what the fuck?’ didn’t come out of my mouth, but I was sure they were written into my expression. When I didn’t respond, she explained, “I’ve been complaining a lot and I got jealous of Claire. He tricked me this morning and said he was taking me out. What he was really doing was presenting me to a new owner. He’s a big son of a bitch. I’m surprised he can find his dick beneath his stomach. Especially considering how small his dick is to begin with.” Her body visibly shuddered and she dropped her spoon into the bowl. Drops of soup splashed out, but she ignored them.
“It’s best that you not talk about your new owner that way. You know the rules.”
“Fuck the rules. I’m so over the fucking rules. He has no heart, Holland. I love him deeply. I give him everything that I am and for what? To be sold off? The last time he did that almost got me killed and because I’ve complained and showed jealousy, I’m being sent away. My life means nothing to him.”
“He’s a Master. He’s not supposed to love you. Not in the way you view love, at least. You’re a courtesan, Rebecca. You submit to the will of your Master and your owners. That’s how it’s always been and always will be.”
My words did nothing to soothe her, but she had to accept the truth. Aiden told me when I first started training that Rebecca had a dual nature. Her mind was dominant whereas her body was submissive. She enjoyed the pain, the humiliation. She’d learned to crave it as a sign of affection from Aiden’s hand. But her mind would never let go. Even broken and fully submissive, she never quite relinquished control to Aiden or anybody else. That worried me because I knew some of the owners in the society demanded complete obedience. They would go too far in punishing their Courtesans if those demands weren’t met. My stepfather was one of those men.
“Are you done eating?”
“Yeah.” Pushing back in her chair, she stood up. I noticed faint ligature marks around her wrists that hadn’t been there this morning. What had Aiden let the new owner do?
…
After getting a few more hours of sleep, I showered and dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans. As I traversed the halls, I was struck at the lack of noise in the house. Normally, I would hear something from either Aiden or Rebecca, but there was nothing to break the crushing silence.
Claire was asleep when I entered, her body bruised and scratched from the beating she’d taken earlier. I hated to wake her, but I knew that her training had to continue without interruption. She needed food and water and if I had to force it down her throat, I would.
“Wake up.” I nudged her with my hand, but she didn’t move or open her eyes. Her breathing was no longer as deep as it had been and I would bet that her pulse raced a little faster.
“Very well then.”
I couldn’t help myself. The sight of her naked body stretched out and exposed made me rock hard within seconds. She was gorgeous, a true testament to feminine beauty. Her figure was the perfect hourglass shape. Soft and full, there were no outlines of bones beneath the pale wash of her skin. Reaching behind myself, I pulled the shirt over my head, stripping it off my arms and allowing it to fall to the floor. Claire refused to open her eyes, but the small ways she moved on the bed let me know she was awake and aware that I stood next to her.
My pants were next, the belt buckle slapping against the floor when the material slipped down my legs. I kicked off my shoes and climbed on the bed. When I hovered over her, she finally opened her eyes. They widened immediately.
“It’s about time you woke up. Look what you’ve made me do.”
Her eyes narrowed and I laughed.
Yes. It was the classic saying of an abuser. I knew that and she knew that, which is precisely why I said it. I wasn’t going to hurt her, though. I knew she had to be hurting from what Aiden had done. It still didn’t stop me from what I was going to do. It only kept me from being a complete asshole about how I did it.
“I’m going to make you feel good, Claire. Not hurt you or use you, but give you something back. Do you want that?”
She shook her head ‘no’.
Too bad.
Chapter Twelve
Claire
He grinned down at me like a lover. The wicked curl to his lips caused dimples to indent his cheeks and the image was wrong for what he was.
A monster.
Sure, he wasn’t to blame for the physical abuse or the beating I took in the kitchen because I’d talked back. But he had to have heard me scream.
He did nothing.
He didn’t return. He didn’t stop Aiden.
Looking up at him, I didn’t even bother to attempt talking. These men were going to do what they were going to do and as long as they could overpower me, I was helpless. They were both big men, each one looking like he spent hours working out. With my small frame, it was useless to fight physically. Fighting mentally was the only option I had.
Gaining Aiden’s trust or even his belief that I’d been broken fully would be impossible. I could tell by the two encounters I had with him that he was too skilled in this crime for me to convince him of anything that wasn’t true. He was cold, calculating; the type of man that could look pain and sorrow in the eye and smile. It was as if his eyes were empty of anything except a shrewd intelligence blackened by the bitter sting of his lack of empathy or concern.
It wasn’t that way with Holland, however.
With Holland, I stood a chance.
“You won’t always be hurt, Pet. That’s not what we want to do. It’s punishment and it’s a necessary evil for what we do, but it’s not permanent and it’s not the only thing we offer.”
I wanted to roll my eyes, but refrained. Keeping them wide open in terror, I listened. I let a tear slipped from my eye and he cocked his head to the side.
“Will you let me show you?”
Did I have a choice? I couldn’t voice those words and, quite frankly, I was somewhat glad for the tape that bound my mouth. I was an outspoken person, my thoughts rattling off my lips when I knew they were accurate and true. In this instance, I needed to remain silent. I needed to let him think that, by some chance, he’d convinced me.
Relaxing against the mattress, I straightened my expression and allowed my head to fall back against the pillow. I couldn’t watch what he was doing, not after everything I’d already endured.
His hand slipped along my inner thigh. A light touch at first, his fingers felt like they were tracing the bruises that had been left by Aiden earlier that day. The muscles in my leg flinched at his touch and I could feel him move over me, his lips lightly kissing my stomach.
Closing my eyes, I tried to imagine a lover’s touch. I was shocked to see Holland’s face in my mind’s eye. His face was the classic example of boyish charm. Full and round, it was set apart by the cut of his strong jaw and a straight nose leading down to soft lips that any woman would want to touch. His body, which I’d first seen in the bathroom this morning, was flawless. Broad shoulders and a smooth, strong chest leading down to a trim waist and an abdomen where each muscle was defined perfectly by the play of shadow and light against his skin.
In any other situation, Holland would be the example of everything I imagined a man should be. Even younger than me, I still found myself drawn to him, as if his soul was ages older than his physical body.
My body trembled slightly as he continued to kiss the skin along the bone of my hip. I knew he was trying to set me at ease, a silent plea for me to submit, to understand and buy into whatever warped reality these men had created for countless women that came before me. But I couldn’t. It was wrong. Plain and simple. There were no pretty li
es that would make me believe that stripping me of my life had somehow set me free.
“This is for you, Claire.”
His mouth was suddenly on me. His warm tongue circling my clit, sparking to life my body’s natural reaction. I’d be lying to say it didn’t feel good, but it was simple to short circuit the mind when it came to physical pleasure. The body had a way of producing hormones that defied logic, the natural inclination to accept pleasure and refuse pain.
Keeping my eyes closed, I didn’t want to imagine what he looked like. I could feel every touch of his skin on mine, every stroke of his tongue over my clit. I sucked in a breath in an attempt to return oxygen to my brain, but it didn’t help. Warmth bloomed inside me despite my scathing hatred at what was being done.
I didn’t want to let myself go to this. It wasn’t right to allow even the smallest amount of pleasure to invade the nightmare in which I was trapped. This was the worst of crimes. I wasn’t taken from my life to be granted freedom in the unknown existence that occurs with death; I was taken to be made a slave, a lifetime of years spent devoted to men who liked to pretend they could own me.
Even when I knew that this shouldn’t be happening, my body couldn’t help but respond. My hips bucked with spikes of pleasure, my breathing sped in my chest. I could feel the muscles of my core clenching greedily despite the lack of fullness inside me. In a way, this was simply another form of torture because my body was demanding something my mind didn’t want.
I was sore and I could feel where Aiden had torn my skin when he’d raped me. Both in this room and in the kitchen, he hadn’t held back or cared for me when he’d taken me. It had been about him alone: his pleasure, his thirst, his perversions.
What Holland was doing now was preparing by body for sex in ways that Aiden hadn’t considered important. I felt wet both inside and out, the natural lubrication soothing against the areas that were still on fire from what Aiden had done. The pain in my body took a back seat to the pleasure that was building.
I wanted to tell him to stop, my lips moving against the tape, but the words couldn’t come out. He tongue dipped inside me and he moaned against my core. The soft vibration felt like it was reaching through me to touch places I’d never known to exist.