“I’ve never had any.”
Her response took him aback though he realized that this was probably the truth. According to the history that Marcus laid out, the opportunity for friends might have been scant in her experience given the way she’d been sheltered. She’d even avoided the camaraderie that often exists between slaves in a household. What an unknown quantity she was. She’d be a unique experience for him. Many of the women he’d trained as slaves had come to him as blank slates but it was only a matter of days before he’d learn what made a woman tick and how to manipulate her to suit his needs. Lisle, however, was a different breed of woman and he could see that she might test his acumen and his resolve—especially when he’d previously determined that his life in DC would not include the kind of maneuvering, scheming and heavy handed tactics of his old one.
“Well, I don’t have many friends myself,” he replied to her unvarnished admission. “At least not ones I trust. But whether you like it or not you’ll need friends in order to survive in the real world. You need to accept that.”
“Yes, sir.”
He wasn’t sure if she agreed just to be compliant or agreed because she honestly believed in what he said. He’d have to study her a bit more to understand her. Strangely, the thought of it fascinated him—far more than he expected.
***
Daniel gave Lisle the small bedroom on the second floor to use. He’s actually given her a choice of rooms, though he was fairly certain that she’d choose the smaller cell-like room over the more daunting guest room with the bed, dresser, chair and lots of space to move about. After living in a dog cage for several years, a real house and a real bed would be a forbidding thing for her to face, especially early in the morning and late at night when the mind can swim with anxieties left unfettered in those vulnerable hours. She would naturally crave a close and restrained lifestyle so her choice of rooms was no surprise.
“I know it’s sparse,” he said, “but it should do for the short while you’re here. Tomorrow I’ll bring down one of the bureaus from upstairs so you have a place to store things.
She stared at the room remaining as unemotional as she had been all day and appeared to accept his verdict about where she’d be sleeping.
“I showed you the bathroom down the hall—it’s yours; I’ve got my own. So,” he wished she say something, but the silence was okay too, “I’ll leave you for now. I’m sure you’re tired, it’s been a long day.”
She smiled weakly and offered a polite, thank you.
Daniel nodded then left the room, closing the door behind him.
Daniel woke the following morning and appeared at Lisle’s bedroom door. He’d been surprised to see that it was wide open.
He looked in, his dismay registering immediately. The girl was sleeping under the bed, not on top of it. She was stark naked without a blanket or pillow, shivering in the cool morning air.
“What on earth are you doing!” he blared.
Her closed eyes opened in alarm.
“I asked you a question, Lisle.”
“I was sleeping, sir.” Her voice was small and childlike.
“I see. Yes, first nights can be strange but from now on I want you sleeping on the bed and under the covers. That’s what the bed is for. This is an old house, it’s drafty and far too cold to sleep naked on the floor. Do I have your agreement about that?”
“Yes, sir,” she gave him her stock reply.
“Good. Now it’s time for breakfast. I can already hear Alice knocking around downstairs. You know where the bathroom is if you need it. Come downstairs when you’re done. You remember where the kitchen is?”
“Yes, sir.”
Not more than five minutes later Lisle appeared in the kitchen looking as if she’d just showered. Her light brown hair was plastered against her head and there were still a few droplets of water clinging to her ankles. She was stark naked.
Alice was in the kitchen filling the refrigerator shelves with food while stirring a pot of oatmeal on the stove. She took one look at the naked waif and exclaimed. “What? He didn’t give you any clothes?” She fumed as she often did and shook her head. “Let me see if I have something for you to wear.” She retreated to the back hallway where she found a pair of her cut-off jean shorts and a t-shirt. “Try these. The shorts may fall off of you, little as you are, but at least the t-shirt will cover you up.”
The wary girl reluctantly accepted the clothes but rather than put them on she stood unmoving, like a feral child incapable of understanding what was required of her.
“What’s the problem here?” Daniel’s voice forced her to do an about face.
“We’re working out something Lisle can wear,” Alice jumped in. “She was just getting dressed.”
He waited, wondering if she would act on Alice’s cheery appraisal of the situation but the girl remained motionless.
“Go on. Put them on,” Daniel spouted. “Surely you know how to dress yourself?”
Suddenly animated, she blurted out, “Yes, sir,” and quickly pulled on the shorts and threw the shirt over her head. The clothes were big, roomy, but not all that ill-fitting.
“You know, Daniel, I have a pile of clothes at home that don’t fit me anymore,” Alice jumped in. “Packing on too many pounds, I guess,” she chided herself. “Soon as I finish up here I’ll go get them. She’ll have something to choose from.”
“And perhaps in a few days you can take her shopping,” he added.
“Sure. No problem. Now how about some breakfast?” Alice closed the fridge and returned to the stove dishing up two bowls of oatmeal. She handed one to Lisle, motioning her to the kitchen table, then set the other on the table. “And you too, sir,” she said with every intention of mocking the d/s scenario playing out before them. “The smell of bacon in this house is starting to permeate the walls, Daniel Broc. Time you started the day with something healthy. I’ve been much too lax with you!”
Her eyes narrowed on him and he glared back. “I think you’ve said enough,” he said, and grumbling, he sat down at the table.
While the pair sparred, Lisle listened to the exchange with her bowl in hand then once Daniel was seated at the table she moved deliberately to the back of the kitchen near the door and slumped down. Setting the bowl of oatmeal on the floor she bent over and began to eat.
Daniel stopped eating with his spoon in midair, his immediate thought, What an annoying little wench she’d be. He sighed, already weary from a task he’d just begun. “Lisle.” He spoke without inflection, bereft of the resentment he felt in his gut—toward Marcus and Lady M and the Baron and the uncle and everyone else who’d played a part in the girl’s currently dysfunctional state, and the fact he’d been left to deal with her. Perhaps most disturbing was his resentment toward the little stray herself, in particular the fact he actually cared about her wellbeing.
At the sound of her name Lisle looked up from her eating. She hadn’t even used the spoon, just dug into the bowl like a dog, mouth first. “Pick up the bowl and come to the table. No one eats on my floor unless I order them. Today and every day, unless I tell you otherwise, you’ll eat at the table.”
Another spark of defiance appeared in her eyes but vanished quickly. Obeying his order, she picked up the bowl and took a seat at the table.
“And you will eat with a knife, fork and spoon unless I tell you otherwise.”
The two ate their meal in silence, content to let Alice hold the conversation virtually by herself. She rattled on about a good place to buy clothes that wouldn’t break anyone’s bank then segued into suggestions for getting Lisle out of the house and with normal people. Daniel pretty much ignored the housekeeper’s ramblings but the girl listened with some interest until Alice finally excused herself and went off to do the laundry.
“Be right back,” she announced in a sunny voice.
Finished with the oatmeal, Daniel sat back and waited for the girl to acknowledge him.
“Let me make my wishes cl
ear to you. You have some idea of what it means to live a normal life, and that is how you will live here, in this house. You’ve already informed me that you’re not stupid, so I assume you know what that means. But let me spell it out for you so there’s no mistaking what I expect. You’ll dress in clothes, sleep in the bed, and eat at a table with a knife and fork like normal people. At least while you’re here you’ll put your fetish life on hold. No sleeping on floors, eating like a dog, running naked through the house.” He stopped, looking for some sign, however small, that she was taking in the message. “Any questions?”
“No, sir.”
“Good.”
Alice’s sudden reappearance in the kitchen was a welcome sight. He shoved away from the table and rose to his feet. “Keep an eye on her for me, Alice, I have work to do.” He headed toward his office.
“Daniel…?” Alice’s voice rung out loudly.
He turned, briefly disconcerted and spat out, “Have her follow you about, put her to work dusting if she will, dishes, I really don’t care. If she’s so interested in crawling on the floor have her scrub the bathroom. Invent something!” He stalked off, the door to his office closing behind him with a decisive click.
“I’d like to say his bark is worse than his bite,” Alice said once Daniel and his blustery cloud of emotion were locked away inside his inner sanctum. “But I’m not so sure his bite doesn’t have a real cruel sting.”
She didn’t say more. The girl wouldn’t be a problem for Alice, and in fact, the housekeeper was curious to see how far she could reach inside Lisle’s pretty cocoon.
***
Several hours after the testy breakfast in the kitchen, Alice peeked her head into Daniel’s office. “I’m going now,” she announced, “but I’ll be back in a bit with the clothes. She’ll need underwear that fits. I won’t have that. Once mine’s torn I toss it.”
“How about I give you some cash, you buy what she’ll need. I’m not sure she’s ready for the shopping mall.”
Alice looked appropriately alarmed by the very idea. “You’re right about that. The place I had in mind shouldn’t be too challenging but we might be wise to wait a few days. I’ll do what I can with her but I won’t know what to do if she suddenly decides to bolt while I have her in public.”
“You could use a collar and leash,” he dryly offered.
Alice laughed. “She’d probably like that, but I wouldn’t. So if you don’t mind…”
“I was just kidding.”
“Yes, I know.” She took some time before she spoke again, thoughts bubbling up in her brain until she couldn’t hold them back. “She’s playing you, Daniel.”
“You think I don’t know that?”
“She’s making you her master, and by the sound of it you’re falling lock step in place.”
His face darkened so much that Alice could feel a cold chill pass through her veins.
“And that’s going to stop,” he snapped.
“Right,” she tossed back, sarcastically.
“She’s here a couple weeks, that’s it. One of the few times I try to do right by a woman and she’s sticking to me like glue. I’m not going to have it.”
“Hey, don’t get pissed at me. Talk to her—if it will do any good.”
“It’s not talk she needs.”
“Ooo, that makes me shiver.” Her voluptuous body shuddered on cue. “I can’t wait to see how this plays out.”
He’d had enough of the sparring, of Alice and the whole goddamn morning. “You have some place to go?”
“Sure do. I’ll be back soon.”
Chapter Five
False Starts and Missteps
He wasn’t in the mood for the tease, making nice, small talk, foreplay, or other assorted preliminaries before the game began. Valerie would have to live with his mood, but wasn’t that the idea? He pulled her in off the porch where she stood getting drenched in the torrential spring rain. Tearing off her raincoat, he was glad to see that she dressed for the occasion as he demanded, wearing nothing but bra, panties and a pair of four inch heels, the kind she wore to the office—the killer heels that gave her the haughty ‘in control’ demeanor she was after.
She must have changed from work to slut clothes in the office restroom, or maybe she just doffed the business suit in the parking garage before she climbed in her car. Either thought was good fodder to fuel his pressing need.
With the fire in him clawing at his insides and ready to explode, he smashed her against the door, grabbing one arm and holding it behind her as his free hand fished between the plump twin mounds of her suntanned behind and pulled free the dildo lodged in her ass. She hadn’t missed a trick. The dildo clattered as it hit the floor and half bounced half rolled until it finally stopped, where it would lie in wait for someone to stumble on later. Held tight against the wall, Valerie could barely breathe as Daniel settled in behind her, cock hard and impatient, drilling her nether hole to the sound of her pained grunts.
She was too stunned yet to settle into sex. “What happened to…” she started to protest.
He grabbed her by the neck, pressed her face to the wood and seethed his response: “Shut the fuck up, bitch.”
He shoved his penis further forward in her rectum while clutching her ass cheeks and squeezing until his nails dug into the pliant flesh. Her body seemed to fall to pieces at that moment, limp for a second, and shifting into a place of surrender. She wouldn’t regain the stiff boardroom manner until long after Daniel shoved her back into the real world.
Valerie did shut up, one warning was enough. His authority over her was so persuasive that her natural defenses lowered and she gladly melted against his fiercely virile form while he banged her hard against that wall. She wanted to be taken and he took her like he owned her. Soon the fucking vaulted him into convulsive spasms that quickly triggered her own and the climax crashed through their bodies. He finally pulled out, backed away, and tired to the bone, he peeled her sweaty body off the wall and dragged her with him into the living room.
Both were aware of the barely clothed Lisle huddled at the top of the stairs watching like a prisoner through the stairway spindles. A glance in her direction sent the girl running for cover.
“Do you really think it was wise to let her see us?” Valerie asked, as she languidly sipped her nightcap.
Daniel was less agitated than he’d been when she first arrived, though he continued to brood about the girl. Valerie was the kind of woman he needed at that hour: near his age, unambiguously sane, mature and not interested in complicating either of their lives with a messy affair. He abided the feminist crap she preached—it’s what kept her in control in the business world where she needed to be in control. When she needed to let down her guard, she needed Daniel to wipe away the arrogance, her zealous drive, and the imperative to be in charge. Nothing like a good anal rape to do that. No different than the infrequent but blistering moments of sexual dominance over Alice with her grumpy moods, his arrangement with Valerie served a need in them both. The pretty brunette was a different but just as desirable package as his sexy housekeeper.
Valerie knew why he’d called her. He spoke of the girl and she could feel a discordant energy rise up in a man known for his steely control. Rarely had she seen that control falter as she did now.
“She’s probably listening at the door,” he said with a wry smirk.
“You going to let her?”
He shrugged, then stood and walked toward the living room door, his shoes signaling his movement. He heard the scramble of bare feet on the other side, and when he jerked it open Lisle’s backside could be seen slipping into the shadows of the second floor for the second time in a half hour.
He shook his head in disgust and turned back to Valerie. “She’s like a mouse creeping about the house, scampering here and there looking for crumbs, for something, though I’m not sure what.”
“Maybe just idle curiosity?”
“She was used to comb the old mansion
where she spent her last ten years, same way, darting in and out of rooms, sneaking about at night like a thief.”
“That doesn’t seem so bad, really,” the languorous Val returned. “What else?”
“She’s sullen, listless, uncommunicative and not particularly responsive to attempts at drawing her out. Even Alice is running into a big fat zero. If anyone’s going to get inside that girl, Alice should be able to. She’ll wear clothes because I say so. She’ll eat at the table like a normal human being because I’ve made a point to see that she does. But I tell her to sleep in her bed and every morning I find her back on the floor underneath the bed, huddling like a beaten slave.”
“And that’s so bad?”
“I want her using the bed, for crissakes. I want her thinking about something other than the goddamn cage they kept her in. That period of her life is over and she has to move on.” The more he spoke of his dilemma, the more it aroused him.
“So what are you doing to control her?”
“Nothing in particular. I’m patient, consistent and civil. I was hoping she’d just accept a few basic rules of the house and not make a mockery of them.”
“You think she’s that perceptive?”
“She’s not dumb, and I’m not asking anything that’s all that difficult, just what’s normal.”
“Ah yes, but normal in this house is far different than the normal she knows. If she isn’t snapping to your orders like a good little subbie maybe you need to be more forceful.” She lifted her brows to emphasize her point. “Treat her a little more like a slave.”
He bristled immediately. “She’s not my slave. Nor will she be.”
“Then why make sleeping in bed the straw that breaks the camel’s back? If you don’t want her, if she gets thrown back at Marcus in three days, whatever, let her sleep on the floor if she likes. You can’t have it both ways.” As the conversation heated up, the bliss that followed the rough sex faded with the opinionated Valerie coming back to life much faster than usual—it showed in her bold speech.
Little Savage Page 7