Master

by Catherine Taylor

  Still staring out at nothing, he shook his head. “Like I said, there are complications. Even if I pulled the plug on this, the Party would still go after her. That’s why I have to continue as planned until I can work out what to do.”

  “Whatever you decide, the girl is going to get hurt. Don’t make it worse for her by letting her fall in love with you, on top of everything else. You listened in on her for three months, and all those stories she told her dolls were all about a beautiful family having their happy ever after. You know that isn’t going to happen.”

  Jahn turned back to her, his gaze penetrating. “Then is it so wrong to give her a little happiness before I destroy her life?”

  “Yeah, Jahn, it is. I’m not sure it’s her you want to make happy. For the last fifteen years you’ve had a single goal and you’ve worked fucking hard to achieve it. Don’t let your feelings for this girl confuse that, or then it becomes dangerous.”

  “You think killing a mob boss’s son isn’t dangerous?”

  Natasha laughed. “That’s all part of the job. Falling in love is far more treacherous.”

  “I’m not falling in love.”

  “Yeah, well just to be safe, let’s get this van inside and get our guests all comfortable. Maybe once you get that bull whip in your hand, you’ll remember who you are and what you want. Nothing like a couple of screaming men to clear the head.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Standing at the open apartment door, Lena listened intently for any sound of approaching footsteps. When she was sure there was no one coming, she shut the door, locked it, and hurried to the bedroom.

  Bunching her dress around her waist, she rolled it under to keep it from falling down. With a deep breath, she lowered her panties to mid-thigh. Her breathing grew heavier as she picked up a wooden clothes brush, staring at the black bristles before turning it over to feel the smooth, oval surface. Moving it down behind her, she tapped it gently on her buttock, testing the hardness against her soft skin.

  Tentatively she drew it back, but cowered at the last second so that the brush only firmly tapped her. Surprisingly, there was a soft sting from the contact but nothing too bad. It gave her some encouragement, and with a new resolve she drew the brush back again and slammed it back to her cheek.

  The pain was instant and radiating. Lena yelled and threw the brush onto the bed as she danced about rubbing her bottom. For several seconds the pain seemed to worsen, but gradually died down to leave a burning tingle.

  With her curiosity satisfied, her clothes were restored to the proper places and Lena sat down on the bed. Glaring at the brush, she made a mental note to hide it away in case Jahn got any ideas. It only made sense that his hand had to be a bit softer than the brush. She regretted not trying her own hand, but she felt silly enough without experimenting further.

  By now, she had exhausted herself in trying to understand why she wanted this weird interaction between them. The closeness of their bodies was a plausible explanation, and it certainly incited arousal, but the more she thought about it, the more Lena accepted that her need was much deeper

  She wanted to be punished, not for something as simple as leaving the apartment. There were other issues far more deserving of hurt and suffering. She had made many wrong decisions, suffered the consequences and immersed herself in self-pity. If Jahn hadn’t rescued her, she would still be there, in that bedroom with all her filth and irritations. Maybe she might have died that night, alone and never knowing how good life could be.

  She loved that he had taken away her chance to refuse him. He was in charge now and would know how to deal with her. Anything he dished out would be gratefully received and less than she deserved.

  Getting up, she walked to the window and was surprised to see how dark it was outside. He had been gone several hours and her anticipation had become a niggling anxiety. It was difficult not to think about what he was doing, or whether he had found out who the girl was. Lena shuddered at the stark memory of her last breath. It was enough to drive her from the bedroom to find something to occupy her mind.

  She was hungry, but dared not eat anything with the nervous rumbling in her stomach. For a few minutes she turned on the television, but could not get interested in it. Leaving it on, she decided the noise was better than silence, but she couldn’t sit still. It was terribly frustrating that there was nothing to tell the time.

  “Nothing has happened to him,” She said out loud to the recurring notion in her head.

  Picking up Jahn’s pillow, she sat down again and cuddled it against her and tried to get interested in a movie. Eventually, she curled up and shut her eyes.

  It seemed as if she had just dozed off when she was suddenly awake. The television had been turned off and Jahn was standing over her.

  “You’re back,” she smiled.

  He nodded but his face was grim. “Go to bed, Lena. It’s late and I need a shower.”

  Sitting up, her attention was drawn to the blood on his jeans. She quickly looked back to his face.

  “I can wait,” she offered. “We can talk when you’re cleaned up.”

  “I don’t want to talk. I want you to go to bed. We’ll talk in the morning.”

  “But I’m really not tired…”

  “I don’t care if you’re not tired. Go to fucking bed.”

  Lena gasped at the anger in his voice. This was not how it was supposed to go. Slowly she got to her feet, unable to look at him any longer. She shuffled away to the bedroom but paused at the door, looking back at him.

  “Just tell me about the girl. Did you find her family?”

  Jahn sighed before nodding. “I did.”

  Lena smiled. “Were they a nice family?”

  “They were good people.”

  “I’m glad. Goodnight.”

  When the door was shut behind her, Jahn sank down onto the couch, rubbing his face and drawing his fingers through his hair. He should have been pleased that she was gone, but the room suddenly felt empty and now she had drawn his attention back to events he would rather forget.

  The girl’s parents were old. The mother had stood with her hand over her mouth as he had talked to them, nodding while tears ran down her face. The father was stiff, staring out at nothing until he had taken the body from Jahn. Then he had clutched her towards him and broken down.

  He was tempted to get Lena out of bed again, but knew it would only create another problem. Natasha was right. If he allowed emotions to become part of this equation, his decisions would be compromised, decisions that had been made long ago. Having a single purpose made it possible to do the things he did, and work for people he didn’t like.

  His introduction to the Party was something he would always remember. They had sequestered him from the army, as was in their power to do. He had drawn too much attention to himself and his false identity had been revealed, as was his time in prison. For three months they had tortured him and learnt nothing.

  They had been impressed by his uncompromising resolve and had seen his potential. Their offer to be trained for them was appealing, knowing it would give him access to the very studies he wished to pursue. Now he was the specialist, and the surveillance technology that empowered them could also be used against them.

  The collapse of the Soviet Union had changed many things, including his job, but he had adapted. Now he concentrated on the political unrest to keep them interested in his talents. The Party still held on to the belief that they could restore the former Union and rid themselves of the disease of democracy. As long as they believed him to be one of them, he could operate alone. They were arrogant enough to believe they still had power over him.

  They trusted him enough, and in the last ten years he had given them no reason to assume otherwise. He had made only one application to work in the West, and when it had been promptly denied, he had accepted their decision graciously. Now they were dangling it in front of him like a carrot, ready to wipe his history and give him another identity,
all under the illusion that he would work for them, using his expertise to revive the former regime of Lenin.

  Jahn’s only concern about politics was knowing what all these governments were up to, and he now had the ability to find out. The Internet was an amazing phenomenon sweeping the world and he studied it diligently. Already he had learnt how to break into the flimsy databases of governments. This is where the real knowledge lay; a wealth of information at his disposal and yet he had still not discovered the two things he wanted most: Makarov’s whereabouts and what had happened to his brother.

  His thoughts were interrupted by a noise in the bedroom. He listened and winced as he heard her quiet sobbing. Again, he was tempted to go to her, but his resolve to detach all emotion kicked in.

  Getting up, he grabbed some clothes and a towel and headed for the bathroom. At least this was one place she couldn’t bother him. He turned on the cold water tap and let the water run over his body, feeling the iciness enliven his skin. Bowing his head, it rained onto his neck and shoulders, easing some of the burden of his day.

  The thrill of his cruelty still pumped through his veins. What he and Natasha had done to those men had been nothing short of sadistic. It aroused him and he was inclined to bring himself a sexual release. His cock was already firm before his hand had gripped it.

  Never did he feel as alive as when he had an unwilling victim. There was something incredibly liberating about the reality of their terror and agony, which he didn’t achieve with his women. It was a primitive lust that often made him ponder the depths of his nature.

  Natasha had once joked that the only thing stopping him from being a serial killer was a conscience. He couldn’t deny it, but he was also aware of something else that existed in him: compassion. The years of seeing the gentleness in his mother and sister, and their tenderness towards people, had rubbed off on him, whether he wanted it to or not.

  It was this compassion that had stopped him from killing Ivan and his friend. Five minutes of his bull whip had given him the name of the girl, but witnessing the grief of her parents incited a need to debrief in his own way

  Jahn had returned to the shed, knowing that Ivan and the other man would not give up information on their boss easily. He had counted on it. Natasha had caged them to nurse the bleeding wounds already inflicted on them. They were not happy to see him back. Ivan could not hide his terror as Jahn had dragged him from the cage.

  Even Natasha had expressed her concern. “If you break bones or put them into shock, I will have to stay on to attend them. I would like to get some rest myself.”

  Ivan kept defiantly quiet while Jahn strapped him down, spread-eagled and naked. It was when he saw the cattle prod in Jahn’s hand that he changed his mind. As it came closer to his testicles, he screamed out that he would tell everything there was to know about Sergei Novikov.

  It was a name Jahn was familiar with, but Ivan confirmed what he had already surmised. The new club was owned by Novikov and used for the abduction of women. Men were charming drunk young girls, drugging them and getting them out to the waiting vans. From there they were taken to Novikov’s residence for him to sample the ones he liked. Most would end up in his films.

  Jahn had watched enough to know how sick the films were. Shot in dark empty buildings for horror effect, there was nothing fake about the terror and torture that the girls had endured. It angered him and made him aware of how far his own dark desires fell short. Maybe there was some decency in him somewhere. Whatever it was, he found himself unable to inflict further agony upon his captives.

  Natasha would keep them in cages at the shed, and even tend their wounds, until he had time to deal with this issue. At the moment he had enough to deal with. Novikov would have to wait.

  He had almost brought himself to climax when he froze. The noise was barely audible but his hearing missed nothing. Angry and frustrated, he turned off the shower and reached for his towel, getting it around his waist just as Lena timidly entered the bathroom.

  “What are the fuck are you doing, Lena?”

  Any hope that his fury would scare her off was quickly dismissed. She remained unmoved and looked back at him intently. “I don’t want to be alone anymore.”

  “And I want five minutes of peace. Now get back to bed.”

  She shook her head and her voice was strained. “You said that you would deal with me… that you would punish me for disobeying you and now you’re not, and I don’t know what that means.”

  “It means that I’m fucking tired, and don’t want to put up with your shit, but fine, if you want to be punished, then go wait for me, bent over the couch. I’ll be there with my belt in a minute and make sure you’re fully satiated.”

  “Lena’s lip trembled. “Do you want me to remove my underwear?”

  As much as he could see how afraid she was, he could also see her determination and need. She was ready to subject herself to anything he could dish out, and not out of any weakness, but out of the trust she had for him. His anger didn’t stand a chance against this and it was time to change tactics.

  “Lena, please, go back to bed. You’ve had a terrible day and your emotions are confused. You need sleep and all this will be forgotten tomorrow.”

  “Sometimes I wish I could forget, but I can’t. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. All I know is that you keep your word. That’s as stable as it’s ever been for me. Please don’t take that away from me.”

  Her sincerity was slowly eating away at him. Jahn stared at her, still hoping that he could end this without tears and grief.

  “Lena, you don’t know what kind of man I am. All you have seen is a side of me that knows how to care for another human being. That is the least side of who I am.”

  “I’ve also seen the side that can kill a man,” she replied. “That must mean the rest of you is somewhere between, and that’s enough for me.”

  Jahn shook his head. “I can’t give you what you want.”

  “And what is that? A life of commitment, a happy ending like those in fairy tales?” Her sorrowful smile widened thoughtfully. “I already know that there are no happy endings, there are only moments. In the end, we all die. I have a lifetime of horrible memories that plague me. Is it so wrong to want ones that I can remember with happiness?”

  “Inflicting punishment on you would not be a happy memory.”

  She looked up at him. “It would be for you. Isn’t that what you enjoy?”

  Jahn sighed and shook his head. “Somehow the thought of hurting you doesn’t bring me any satisfaction.”

  Her face fell. “I thought… I’m sorry. I’ll go back to bed.”

  Jahn frowned in confusion, but as she started to leave, it suddenly dawned on him how she had interpreted his words.

  “Lena, wait. I didn’t mean…

  She had given him the way out. If she thought that he was not attracted to her, even in his perverted sexual desires, all this would be over. Lena would shed a few tears and then they could co-exist without the complications. The plan would be back on track.

  She was waiting silently, not looking at him. All he had to do was tell her that he didn’t want her, even if it was a lie, but as he looked at her, so small and vulnerable, the plan didn’t seem so important.

  “Take off your dress.”

  His quiet demand made Lena tremble, but her fingers gathered each side and the dress was drawn from her body, leaving her in just her underwear.

  “Everything. Take it off.”

  Without hesitation, she removed her bra and panties, and instinctively she crossed her arms over her breasts.

  The severity entered his tone. “Don’t cover yourself.”

  Her arms fell away and his eyes moved over her body, studying the large breasts pert with youth, the fullness of her hips and rounded belly. What he wasn’t expecting to see was the plump naked mound at the apex of her thighs, with a few stray hairs still present. He nearly laughed until the significance of what she had done dawned o
n him. She had shaved to please him, to give him what he desired. It was a gift that both disturbed and excited him.

  Taking her hand, he pulled her towards him and looked down at her. She was like a frightened animal, shivering and uncertain. He had never seen anything more beautiful and the adrenaline pumped through his veins.

  Turning away, he adjusted the taps of the shower until the water was running warm, before guiding her under it, with her facing the wall. Grasping her wrists, he brought her arms up high and wide, placing her palms on the tiles.

  The warm water eased her shivering, but her legs were shaking. Lena gasped as strong arms went around her and his body pressed against her. The towel was gone and she could feel his cock brushing against her lower back. His foot pushed at her feet, widening her stance, and making her aware of how much her vagina was exposed to him. Her hips were grasped and her body pulled back, so that her bottom was thrust out.

  His mouth moved closed to her ear. “You don’t move. You don’t turn around. You face the wall and obey me. Is that understood?”

  “Yes.”

  He moved away from her, and for a moment that seemed to last forever, there was only the sound of the water flowing over her body, trickling between her buttocks and tormenting her clit. Any second she expected to feel his hand between her legs, and she braced for the sensation it would bring.

  Instead it was her buttocks that received the first attention. Lena gasped and her eyes widened as she quickly realized what he was doing. Jahn was crouched behind her and his palms were splayed across her cheeks, gently spreading them apart. His close proximity was easily judged by his breath on her most intimate parts.

  Her legs shook harder as she was subjected to his examination. She could almost feel his eyes boring into her. Slowly, he allowed her cheeks to fall back in place, but his hands remained where they were, softly caressing and squeezing as if testing their firmness.

  With her mind clouding over, she was barely aware that he had stood up again, until his lips brushed against the base of her neck and over her shoulder. Any doubt of his attraction to her was put to rest as she felt his unyielding cock push into her spine. His hands were gliding up her sides until they were cupping her breasts. Her nipples were captured between his thumb and forefinger, where he pinched and tugged at them, encouraging them to swell.