by Jenika Snow
He hadn’t forced anything, and in all honesty, she’d felt good with him, too good. He could overpower her, rape her, because he had that power, that strength. He hadn’t done anything but kiss her, and Alessandria had liked it…wanted more of it.
But that had been hours ago, and now she was in bed thinking about what she was going to do and how her life was really going to play out. When she and Zeke were together sexually, which she knew was inevitable, not because she thought he’d rape her, but because she actually felt this warmth being with him, she wondered if he’d be done with her. Was this something that he did; take in women that were hurt, heal them, and fuck them as some kind of power play?
Even after thinking that, she knew it wasn’t the case. He didn’t beat the women that worked for him, and he didn’t rape them, at least that’s what she’d heard from them and him. He’d been good to them, paid them well, protected them, and they were all there willingly.
Turning onto her side and staring out the window, she mentally traced the pattern of the drapes that could be made out through the sliver of moonlight coming through the window. This was surreal, and she knew that there was no way to anticipate what would happen; she should just go with the situation and hope for the best. Right now, she had no need to escape, especially not with Gerald still out there. Zeke would kill him, if not for her, for the fact Gerald was a threat and meant to get at Zeke. She was glad Zeke had found out even if her life had been on the line.
But what would Zeke do, and how would he react, when it came to light that she liked her pleasure with pain? Even after the rapes and beatings, she still felt that dark desire inside of her. She knew it wasn’t wrong; it didn’t make her this whore…not like Gerald claimed she was.
Closing her eyes, she willed sleep to come. She was tired, so very tired, and her body still ached. Maybe tomorrow would look better? Alessandria had no choice but to be optimistic at this point.
ZEKE COULDN’T SLEEP, not after that small, practically innocent kiss he’d shared with Alessandria. He was acting so out of character. Sitting in a chair in front of the double doors that led to the balcony, he lifted the bottle of scotch to his mouth and took a long pull from the bottle. He was already feeling the effects of the alcohol, and his arousal for Alessandria hadn’t dimmed in the slightest. In fact, he felt it grow inside of him like a raging beast. He wanted her, more than he probably should, and more than he’d ever wanted a woman before. But she was beaten, had a broken, shattered soul from the abuse she suffered, and he knew he had to tread lightly.
Would he be able to just walk away when this was all said and done? When he’d killed Gerald and she was safe to leave? He’d let her leave, give her the freedom she wanted, deserved for so long, but he honestly didn’t know if he could ignore what he felt for her.
What he did know what he was going to find Gerald, skin that motherfucker alive, gouge his eyes out, and make him suffer ten times as much as the hurt he’d inflicted on Alessandria. He was going to let the asshole feel what it was like to be beaten and raped; he had plenty of deranged, fucked up men working for him that would have no problem making a man like Gerald their bitch.
One week later
“YOU DIG DEEPER, send more men out. I want that motherfucker found, and I want it done sooner rather than later.” Zeke gritted his teeth.
“We’re digging, Sir. We’ll find him,” Boscoe, one of his men, said.
“You better, because a week has already passed. I want him found, and as soon as you have that motherfucker, you call me.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Zeke had resources at his disposal, but word had clearly gotten out that Gerald’s plan had failed. In all honesty, it had been a shit plan to begin with. Gerald was either the dumbest motherfucker around, or he thought Zeke was. Sending in Alessandria to try and get information out of his business had been a sloppy move, and it had cost the asshole. It would cost him his life.
But just going up against Zeke wasn’t what was going to get him killed; no, that would be because he had hurt Alessandria.
He walked over to the window, pulled the curtain aside, and stared down at the stone patio below. Alessandria was sitting in one of the chairs, her legs drawn up to her chest, and her long dark hair moving slightly in the wind. He lifted his cup of coffee to his mouth, took a long sip, and kept his focus on her.
Her tests had come back, and she was clean. No diseases, and aside from some internal tearing and bruises, she’d heal in the next week or so. Mentally, she’d need more time, but over this last week, he’d seen an improvement with her. She seemed happier, and that was a miracle after everything she’d been through.
She had her eyes closed, and her head was rested back on the chair. She looked… peaceful, and he was glad. He might be a bad motherfucker, a killing bastard, but he didn’t want a woman hurt. If she was innocent, she shouldn’t be touched.
Zeke wasn’t a saint and had killed men and women that had gone up against him, but he only hurt those that meant to hurt him or his family. They screwed with him, man or woman, and they were fucked.
Alessandria had been with him a full week. He wanted her, fucking hell, did he want her, but he also wanted to make sure she was ready. He’d have her eventually, he knew that, could see she desired him, too, but she was healing, trying to wrap her head around everything. He also sensed something inside of her, could see that spark of life when it came to the type of pleasure he liked. He’d been around long enough to spot a woman who enjoyed mutual, consenting pain. What Gerald had dealt her hadn’t been consenting; it hadn’t been anything but abuse. What he wanted to give her, what he would in time, was something that would have her gasping for air, clenching onto him, and coming harder than she ever had before.
Maybe he was a sick bastard for thinking about these things after the shit she’d been through, but she was warming to him, and when she looked at him, when he touched her, she didn’t show fear.
He’d show her that just because he was bad, that didn’t mean he couldn’t be good to her.
Chapter Ten
Two weeks later
HER BREATH LEFT her, her heart raced, and her palms were sweating. She couldn’t take her eyes off Zeke. He disgusted her, scared her, but even all of that couldn’t stop the sick, demented part of her that found the power he emitted arousing. She looked away, unable to watch what he was doing to the woman.
“You’ll fucking watch me, Alessandria,” he ground out, sounding out of breath.
Alessandria shook. The chains that were locked around her wrists rattled, and her entire body felt as though it had a mind of its own. She lifted her head, stared at Zeke, and saw the sadistic glow in his eyes; the pain and pleasure that came from him slammed into her.
Zeke turned back around to face the woman he was whipping. She was chained up, her arms above her head, her body naked except for the tiny pair of panties she wore. Her thighs and back had whip marks on them, slashes of red, raised welts from his belt.
“You see how much she likes it,” Zeke said. He brought the belt down on the chained woman’s back again, and she arched, moaned, and clenched her thighs, as if trying to stem off her arousal. Zeke turned and faced Alessandria again, and her breath caught, her pussy became wetter, more sensitive. He stared at her a second, a smirk of sadistic pleasure on his face.
Zeke looked at Bella again, brought the belt down on the woman’s back again and again, so many times; Bella leaned farther, as if seeking reprieve, but moaning out for more. The binding on her arms stopped Alessandria from moving any more than a couple of inches, but for some reason, that restrained feeling, the knowledge that this man, this monster, wanted her in the same way, wanted his marks on her, turned Alessandria on.
“You’ll be chained here soon, Alessandria. You’ll be covered in my marks, then you’ll be filled with my cum as I fuck you, make you mine.” Zeke was breathing so hard now, his focus on her as he beat the other woman. She lowered her gaze to his crotch and saw he was so hard. Sh
e would have thought that beating the woman was turning him on. Although she knew he was a sadist, that he liked administering pain, because it gave him pleasure, she knew that right now, he was getting off because she was watching him.
Licking her lips, she gasped as Zeke raised his belt in the air then brought it down on Bella’s back again. Alessandria crossed her legs as she watched, wishing for some reprieve. The man before her was a monster to the core. He’d bought so many women and she couldn’t even count the number of depravities he’d committed.
Zeke was a bad man, yet he hadn’t allowed her to service the clients. He’d brought her back to his house, and she’d been waiting for him to pounce.
He dropped the belt to the floor, but she knew he wasn’t anywhere near finished with Bella. The woman loved pain, and that love was clear to see with just one glance. He wrapped her hair around his fist, tugging her hair back. Alessandria couldn’t look away; she was enthralled by his harsh, brutal touch. What would it be like to have his hand in her hair, tugging on the length? He was so large there was no way he’d be able to cause anything but pain.
You want it.
You want his touch on your body.
It was wrong. He was her kidnapper, the man who’d taken her against her will, and yet she hadn’t even tried to run.
“Let’s see how much she enjoys what I did, Alessandria,” Zeke said.
She watched his hand, mesmerized, as it glided down Bella’s body. The woman’s stomach clenched, but she wasn’t trying to get away from Zeke’s touch; she wanted it, she wanted him.
His hand dived between Bella’s thighs, and Alessandria heard the wet sound as he played with her pussy.
“Ah, nice and wet, just how I like it.” He pulled his fingers out of Bella’s pussy and made her lick it.
Alessandria gasped. She’d never witnessed anything so erotic in her life.
Suddenly, he turned the woman, and she got a good look at the woman’s back. She winced at the sight; the woman’s back was covered in red welts.
“Pretty, isn’t it?” Zeke asked.
She didn’t say a word.
“I’m not finished yet. Bella’s one of my favorites. She can take the pain I like to give out, because she loves it, yearns for it. Can you handle it, Alessandria? Will you soon yearn for my belt?”
Alessandria woke with a start, her heart beating a mile a minute, her body flushed, sweaty. She clutched her hand to her chest, stared at the ceiling, and tried to catch her breath. The dream she’d had of Zeke had been so real, so vivid, and she’d even made things up. Zeke hadn’t been her kidnapper. He’d been the man who had saved her. It had been as frightening as it was arousing, and that scared her, made her want things, desire activities that could put her back in the same situation she’d been in with Gerald.
Sitting up, she wrapped the sheet around her body, thought about the dream, about how she felt, how she wanted the pain Zeke could give her. Was something wrong with her? Was her mind defective to lust after a sadistic relationship, one in which she’d find pleasure? She hadn’t gotten any pleasure from Gerald or the things he’d done to her, and although Zeke could be cruel if he chose, she had this feeling, this awareness, that being with him would be the most real thing that she’d ever experienced.
The only question was, would she trust herself, trust Zeke fully, to let herself go?
The following day
ALESSANDRIA BRUSHED OUT her hair, and couldn’t quite believe that her bruises were healing. She was still sore in many places, but her face was completely clear of any of the abuse that she had suffered. Rising from the vanity table, she removed her robe, and stared at her body, which still hadn’t fully recovered from the beatings that she’d experienced; it was getting there and the visible pain that had once littered her body was now fading.
Three complete weeks had passed since she’d become Zeke’s companion. She preferred to consider herself Zeke’s companion rather than anything else. He didn’t treat her like a prisoner. There were always guards around, but from what she knew about Zeke, he needed them.
Some of the men were ex-military, and going back into a normal nine to five job wouldn’t work for them. Others were just insane, but were loyal to Zeke. He respected loyalty above everything else, and for that, she respected him. Providing she kept her bargain with him, and didn’t betray him, she’d be protected.
On one hand, Zeke was a deadly man who no one should mess with. On the other, he seemed to keep a part of him hidden. He could also be gentle to her, well, gentle in a way only Zeke could be. He loved his daughter, Daniella, and was learning to adapt to becoming a grandfather. Alessandria smiled as she’d thought about the times she’d walked by his office, seeing him staring at his reflection, and calling himself many names: granddad, grandfather, g-man, as if trying them on.
She found it endearing to see another side of him, one that didn’t have men begging for their lives. Of course, she knew all about the darker side of his personality. Zeke was deadly, but he had this softer side to him, one she’d realized he only showed to her, one that was hidden beneath the sadist he was.
She stared at her body again. There was bruising across her ribs, but they no longer caused her pain. She turned and glanced over her back to see the scars. Gerald had sharpened one of his belt buckles, and every time he whipped her with it, he’d cut her up so bad she’d bled. He’d almost killed her twice and she wore the scars as witness.
“He shouldn’t have put his hands on you,” Zeke said, making pull her robe together and turn.
“I didn’t hear you knock.”
“I didn’t knock. I didn’t think I needed to knock.” He leaned against the doorframe with his arms across his chest. Zeke looked so calm, collected. He didn’t frighten her anymore, and she didn’t know if that was the scary part.
“I wanted to see how bad the bruises were.”
“The ones on your face have gone. Your lip has healed.”
She licked her lips and smiled. It would be nice not to feel pain when she tried to eat something. She loved her food, and living with Zeke, she finally got fed regularly. Gerald liked to starve her, laughing, taunting her, making her wait to the point of passing out, unable to stand, before he’d let her have anything.
You did that!
You gave Gerald the power.
You could have tried to leave again, not caring if it meant death.
She should have run again, tried, even if she knew it would have mean death.
But Alessandria had stayed, terrified of what he would do if she tried to leave again.
Would it have really been worse than staying to see what he’d do?
She didn’t know the answer to that. Gerald had made her life a living hell, and finally, away from him, she was able to see that more clearly than ever before.
“It’s nice to finally see what I look like without all those bruises and cuts covering me.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “I’ve always had the marks.”
She saw one of his hands clench into a fist; he was clearly finding it hard to keep it together.
“When I find him, I will make him pay for everything he’s done to you.” She liked the way his eyes looked when he talked about revenge. Alessandria thought about Gerald, and she thought about everything she’d witnessed, of what he’d done. Gerald deserved a slow, painful, horrible death.
“Can I be there?” she asked, feeling sadistic herself for wanting to see his death.
“I’m not going to let him die quickly.”
“I know; I’m glad. He doesn’t deserve a quick death, but something slow, painful, and horrible.”
“I can promise you that.”
“You still can’t find him?”
Zeke didn’t answer right away. “I’m working on it He’s gone underground, and even though I have a long reach, in this, he’s being smart.”
“I’ve seen what he’s done to girls that are just teenagers running away from home. If you want to find G
erald, follow the girls who work on the street corners. Gerald likes to collect what belongs to him.” Although she knew Zeke would know how to find Gerald, had more knowledge of these things than she did, she had been very personal with Gerald. She’d heard things about him, seen things. She knew him more than she wanted to even admit.
“Does he give any of the money the girls earn back to them?”
Alessandria snorted. “No. It was his money. He paid for the rooms and gave us barely enough food to keep us going. If we needed anything else, we had to find other means of getting it.”
Turning her back on him, she gripped the edge of the vanity table.
“Are you all right?”
“No, it’s hard. This wasn’t supposed to happen. I wasn’t supposed to have to deal with men like Gerald. I was going to go to college, study, become something, and then I fell for his shit. I’m embarrassed, and I’m ashamed. I could have helped those girls, yet I did nothing. I was so scared all the time.”
Closing her eyes, she gasped when Zeke grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back against him. “It’s not your fault. You’re not responsible for everything that happened to those girls. You were just like them.”
She turned into his body, grabbing the lapel of his suit jacket, burying her head against his chest. It felt so good to hold him, and his masculine scent soothed her in ways she didn’t want to think about. One of his arms was holding her back, and the other stroked through her hair.
Alessandria gave way to her tears. They soaked his shirt within seconds, and she continued to sob. She sobbed for the girl she once was, and for the woman she should have been. If she’d not fallen for Gerald, she wouldn’t be in this position now, afraid to leave Zeke’s home.
Many times, she’d found herself staring at the gate, and wondering what it would be like to walk the street as a free woman. She didn’t want to run away from Zeke, but she did want to be free.