Target This

by Lily White

  “What act?” I smiled. “In all fairness, you should watch your alcohol. You’ve been warned of the consequences.”

  To say I was surprised when she smiled and then laughed would be an understatement. Slowly bringing the glass to her lips, she tilted it up while still maintaining eye contact. When the wine was gone and the glass was empty, she tipped it toward me, indicating she wanted me to fill it again.

  After swallowing it down in the same manner as the first, she tilted the glass again. I shook my head in disbelief.

  “And what makes you think you would have to turn ME away? It’s not like I’ll get drunk and suddenly turn into a whore.”

  I cocked an eyebrow at her statement.

  “We’ll see about that, Ms. Cleary.”

  Autumn

  He was beautiful. There was no other word that I could find to describe him. Sitting across from me at the table, Lucas Bates spoke about many different subjects. It didn’t seem to matter which topic I brought up, he always had an intelligent and thought inducing response. Even in the instances where we didn’t agree, he was so eloquent with his argument that I had no choice but to see things from his side.

  At first, our conversation was somewhat adversarial. I asked him about his current work in progress and he was quick to brush off the question, opting to discuss another book he’d written years prior. He offered it to me, laughing when I refused.

  Eventually I agreed, because he wouldn’t take no for an answer. His ability to manipulate my thoughts was astounding and I wasn’t sure if it was the cadence of his voice or the wine coursing through my veins that caused me to be so easily convinced. Once the bottle was emptied, I felt like putty in his hands and I tried desperately to shake myself of my attraction towards him. I had a desperate need to see through him as much as it appeared he could see through me.

  “Whereas this has been a delightful evening, Autumn, I regret that I’ll need to end it early. I have work to do and Sarah will have my head if I don’t get it finished. She can be … moody … if I don’t accomplish my daily tasks.”

  I felt sloppy as I leaned forward on my elbows, holding my head up with my hands. “Are you sleeping with her?”

  He grinned, something sultry and dark, before leaning forward to mimic my position. Seconds hung in the silence as I waited for his response. Finally, when I thought he was only playing with me, and when I was convinced he hadn’t answered because he was intimate with his assistant, his perfect lips spoke a single word.

  “No.”

  “But she’s beautiful. How you can resist her? I think it’s obvious she has a thing for you.”

  Reaching across the table, he pulled a strand of my hair away from my face. He twisted it between his fingers, his attention focused on that strand for several seconds before his eyes returned to mine. “Is that jealousy I hear in your voice?”

  I shook my head ‘no’ almost immediately, slipping from my hands and catching myself again, before finally voicing my answer. “No. Of course not. I was just wondering.”

  He chuckled again and the decadent and baritone quality to his laughter had me melting onto the table. I’d drank too much, I realized it then and I straightened my body so as not to appear too interested in the words that fell from his mouth.

  “I’ve found that when a person is curious about a particular topic, especially one that involves the sexual nature of the opposite sex, it is almost always certain that their interest spurs from their desire to be intimate with the person they are questioning.”

  I blinked, my intoxicated brain attempting to develop a response. However, before I could form a thought, he continued.

  “Sarah has been my assistant for seven years. She’s moved with me from state to state, she’s been loyal to my work, and she’s kept me organized. She’s a strong woman who isn’t afraid to speak her mind. She’d be the first to rip me apart if I went soft and I appreciate that about her. However, our relationship is purely platonic because she is not the type of woman to cry or beg. She has no time for silly emotions and she would never be made subservient to the men she fucks. Whereas, I can appreciate the way her mind works, it’s not a good fit with mine in areas other than friendship and business.”

  “So she wouldn’t refer to you as ‘Master’?”

  He sat back suddenly, his arms crossing over his broad chest and the starched white material of his shirt stretching across the muscles that bulged from beneath. “You seem oddly focused on that word. Except for what I told you about the third floor, I’ve never been the one to bring it up. It always seems to be your lips that mention it. Would you like to use it, Autumn? Would you like to explore what it means to refer to me in such a way?”

  Opening my mouth to answer, my words were cut off by a hiccup.

  His smile disappeared when his expression became unreadable, even his eyes hiding the reaction he had to my apparent intoxication.

  “I warned you about your alcohol. At this point, it’s probably in your best interests that I get back to work.”

  Standing from his chair, he moved closer to where I was sitting and placed his hands on the table. He brought his face down to mine, placing a chaste kiss on my lips. A shudder rolled over me and I pulled back, not wanting to embarrass myself by leaning forward to kiss him again.

  “You might want to go sleep that off, beautiful. However, if you are unable, there’s a theater room down the hallway to your left. Feel free to watch something, or if you want, feel free to read in the library. I’ll be in my office if you need me.”

  He walked away, heading in the direction of a hallway on the opposite side of the room. I called after him, my bravery induced by the wine. “I thought I wasn’t supposed to disturb you when you are working.”

  Stopping in his tracks, he didn’t turn to look at me when he answered, “It would be in your best interests considering your current condition.”

  His form disappeared down the dark hallway and I was left alone at a table large enough for thirty, an empty bottle of wine in front of me, and another one, completely full, left open for me to see.

  “Prick.” I spoke under my breath and he didn’t return to indicate that he’d heard me.

  With his absence, my thoughts returned to the reality that awaited me outside the doors of his house: the fire, the investigation, Mary Beth’s disappearance. It was all too much and worry burrowed its way into my thoughts. The nagging notion that Lucas had something to do with all of it snuck in as well, but I pushed it away, realizing that he was all I had to help me at the moment. At this point, suspecting him would only lead to the loss of my best ally.

  Grabbing the second bottle of wine, I didn’t bother with the glass when I lifted it to my lips. “Fuck it.” I mumbled. Pushing up from my chair, I grabbed the table to steady myself, and then my bottle and I walked down the opposite hallway from where Lucas disappeared in search of the library.

  When I entered and flicked on the light, I was once again taken aback by the sheer size of the room. Bookshelves lined the walls from floor to ceiling crammed with books on every topic: fiction, non-fiction, classics, modern works, romance, suspense, horror, you name it. Seeking out the titles with Lucas’ names affixed to them, I grabbed the book he’d discussed with me earlier. It was one of his first, but as was his normal style, it was a dark book about a woman stalked and eventually captured. He claimed to have based the book, in part, on truth. When I’d objected to his profiting off the horror that the real-life victim endured, he’d smiled and reminded me that he borrowed the psychology and not the events. He reminded me that reality is more frightening than fiction and to study and use the thought patterns of true killers and sadists, he could more accurately depict the circumstances of the crime.

  Prior to opening the book, I took another swig from the bottle, and another, and another after that. I don’t know what had gotten into me but I wasn’t in the mood to be the prim and polite little ‘darling’ any longer. Thinking of how it got me nowhere with
the police, I was tired of being perfect if there was no benefit in the end. Trying to read from the beginning was a lesson in futility. The individual letters and words appeared to hop up from the page and run around until I blinked my eyes for them to return to their place. I was too drunk to read, too drunk to process, and too drunk to understand the complicated plot that was built from the first page. So, I laughed to myself before skipping to the good stuff.

  His cock filled me, stretching me to a point where pain mixed with the sensation of skin against skin, my muscles rippling against his hard flesh, powering into me and taking me for his own. I was so tired – tired of fighting against him, tired of hanging on the thought that enjoying his touch was wrong. Weeks of abuse fell to the side when his hands gripped my breasts, the heat of which caused me to cry out to finally feel his grasp. I was on all fours, my hands bound and the ropes cutting into my skin, but all I could feel was his teeth raking across my spine, his hands caressing me as he took what was his; owning me – dominating me – a slave to his Master.

  “Master, huh?” I laughed, the sound a little too loud as it was forced from my drunk lungs.

  An audience of five men stood around us, each laughing when they heard the slap of his hand against my ass, their rough hands caressing my body when he pulled away. He wouldn’t let them fuck me, wouldn’t dare to give up what he considered his – but he would let them tease and fondle me as he stood back to enjoy the way my body shook from being left exposed. Cold air brushed across my damp skin and I bit down on the leather strap of the harness to which he’d attached me. I could feel him kneel down beside me, but when I turned to look, I remembered that my sight had been obscured by the silk blindfold he’d tied around my head.

  “How’s that feel, my love? You’ve grown wet to have so many men enjoy your beauty. Each man wants you, each man looking upon your naked skin with the desire to fill you. Should I let them touch you more? Should I let them prepare you for what I have to give you?”

  I shivered at his words, the soft hush of his voice when he whispered so that only I could hear. “Answer me, Claire.” His hand was around my throat, moving my head so that my lips brushed his ear.

  I knew he wanted me to beg for release – to beg not to be taken by the faceless men that he’d allowed into our dungeon, but I’d learned better. My will was his will – I had no say, no voice, no thoughts in what was done. He would pleasure me in any way he pleased and I was to sit back and take it, thankful to be driven to heights of ecstasy, a student being taught the feral nature of his lust and the submissive nature of mine.

  A month ago and I would have cried, but now, after what had been done and after learning the benefits of his pain, I smiled.

  “I want what you want, Master. I am yours.”

  “That’s a good pet. I want to watch another man taste you, but you better not come. That is for me alone, understand?”

  “Yes Master.”

  I was afraid I would fail – my body already hot from when he’d fucked me earlier. Suddenly paralyzed by fear, I let him pull me up to my feet, binding my hands with chains only to hoist me off the ground hanging from shaky arms. Applause sounded, but I couldn’t see. Turning my head, I tried to listen to their whispered conversations. The lash of the whip against my legs told me I’d displeased him.

  “You are an ornament, Claire. Do not attempt to peer into the conversations of those who own you.”

  Tears streamed from my eyes, but my body still hummed from the slap I’d received. I was sick – a monster like him that had been conditioned to seek the pain. Two hands grasped my ankles and my legs were spread, my knees bent as my legs were placed over his shoulders and the weight of my body was taken from the chains. I felt his breath first and my head fell back. He teased me first, flicking his tongue out, but stopping as soon as I moaned.

  My hair was grasped in another man’s hands as my head was pulled back, my breasts tight and exposed to the air. His lips met my ear as the other man’s met my cunt. A tongue running through the slick skin as my Master whispered, “Do not enjoy it, Claire. Do not moan, do not cry out and DO NOT come. You’re mine and now is the time to prove it.”

  I dropped the book and noticed that I’d grown wet. I wasn’t thinking straight, there was no reason that filth should turn me on. My head wobbled on my shoulders, and my chest heaved with my heavy breath. Almost finishing off the bottle of wine, I stood on weak legs, stumbling from one side of the room to the next, escaping the nightmare of a book to seek out the arms of the man who’d wrote it.

  Lucas

  “I wanttoseethethirdfloooooor.”

  I closed my eyes against the intrusion before turning my head to look at the door. Autumn stood slumped up against the frame, a bottle of wine hanging from one hand with the other perched on her hip. Her hair was wild at the sides, as if she’d been running her hands through it or had just crawled out of bed. “I see you found the second bottle.”

  She shrugged her shoulder and started to slip down the frame from the motion. After straightening herself somewhat she responded, “I’m fine. I want … to see … the third floor.”

  Leaning back in my chair, I closed my laptop with one hand while removing the glasses from my face with the other. Throwing them on the desk, I responded, “You’re sure? Don’t you think you should sleep off the wine before making that type of decision? I fear you’re getting yourself into something larger than you can handle.”

  She laughed and the broken quality told me she was intoxicated to a point where she’d completely abandoned her prudish persona.

  I’d warned her. She drank anyway. I couldn’t be blamed for what was about to happen.

  “Come here, Autumn.”

  It took her three attempts to right herself before she attempted a sexy stroll in my direction. Due to her lack of coordination, her swagger looked more like a limp and I bit my lip to stifle my laughter. The bottle clanked heavily on the wood of the desk where she placed it and she finally stopped when she was within a foot of my chair.

  “Closer and take off that ugly shirt you’re wearing.”

  I expected her to walk, or stumble, away. I expected her to yell at me and tell me where I could stick my command. I expected her to attack me with insults about how I was a chauvinistic bastard who didn’t deserve to see her tits. What I didn’t expect was for her to remove the shirt and stand before me, her breasts still bouncing from her movement despite the support of her bra.

  Laughing, I realized this would be easier than I’d originally thought. Although Autumn carried herself as if she were completely comfortable in her skin, I could see her struggle to hold back her arms from covering her breasts. They kept lifting at her sides, but would be drawn back quickly. Had she been sober, I’m sure the struggle wouldn’t have been as obvious, however her jerky motions peeled away the disguise of her inner struggle.

  “Why did you just do that?” I couldn’t help but inquire as to her sudden willingness to do as I’d asked.

  “Because you told me.”

  Shock ran along my spine, but I brushed it off, happy to see her so agreeable. “Excellent. You understand the first rule.” Pointing to the baggy jeans that covered her lower half, I instructed, “The pants, remove them.”

  She hesitated, finally gaining some sense of herself and the fact that she was stripping naked in front of me. Her head shook ‘no’ and I reacted by picking my glasses up from the desk, replacing them on my head and opening my laptop to continue working. “Then I have no use for you. Go sleep it off, Autumn.”

  “But …”

  Turning back in her direction, I steepled my fingers under my chin as I stared her down. She wobbled in place, her heavy eyes barely open from the amount of wine she’d consumed. “When we are on the third floor, what I say goes. If I say ‘take off your clothes’ – you take off your clothes. If I say ‘drop on all fours’ – you better be on the floor with your beautiful ass waiting for me in the air.” I paused so that she would und
erstand before adding, “And if I say ‘suck my cock’ – you open wide. That is how it works on that floor. If you refuse my command, if you so much as hesitate, punishment will be delivered in any form I choose. Those are the terms on that floor and I will not waste my time playing around with a little girl who cannot follow them.”

  Returning my attention to the screen, I scrolled through an article on a serial rapist and murderer who was killed by his last victim. I was interested in him because of the manner in which he tortured his victims once his crimes had escalated to a period of captivity. After reading an article from the survivor that described his method of torture, it’d given me an idea.

  Autumn cleared her throat. In response, I swiveled my head just enough to indicate that I was listening, but without giving her my line of sight.

  “You made me wet.” Slurred words, spoken slowly and that were barely a whisper. It took me a minute to register my attention, but once I realized what she’d said, she had my attention. Removing my glasses again, I turned myself fully in her direction. “Excuse me?”

  “Your book.” She wobbled again and pointed to what I believe was meant to be the door leading into the hallway. “I just read it.”

  Blinking, I breathed in a deep breath, amused to hear her stumble over her words. “I’m surprised you were able to see the page. Would you like to elaborate or better yet, why don’t you just tell me what you want, Autumn. I don’t have time for game playing.”

  Really, I did have time, I just wanted her to stumble back under my control. I didn’t need to force my women to do as I instructed, I simply manipulated them into believing that’s what they wanted all along.

  Chewing on her bottom lip, her eyes looked everywhere, but at my face. I was tired of her indecision and decided to take matters into my own hands. “Step forward, Rabbit.”

  When she didn’t move, I reached out, grabbing her by the waistband of her pants and jerking her towards me. She let out a gasp and lost her footing. Catching her, I made quick work of the button and zipper, slipping the material down her legs until they were puddled around her feet. Before she could react, my hand was between her legs, my finger pressed firmly against her cunt. She hadn’t lied, the silk of her panties was soaked completely through.