Twenty-Two
When I saw Dave shoot Breech, I lost my shit. I jumped on Manny’s back, scratching and clawing at his neck. I never saw his fist coming at me ‘til it landed. Pain exploded in my skull and I felt myself falling. Lying on the ground, my vision was cloudy, but I could see Breech lying motionless a few feet from me. I wanted to scream out to him, but the blackness hovering on the edges of my consciousness was pulling me further and further into the darkness until finally it claimed me, and I sank into nothingness.
Coming awake slowly, I was disoriented and nauseous. The truck had stopped moving, which helped my stomach, but my head was killing me. Reaching up, I could feel that the side of my face was swollen and my eye wouldn’t open all the way.
It came back to me in a rush; Breech shot and lying on the ground, Manny punching me. Breech, that pain in the ass, had wiggled his way into my heart—and he could be dead, lying on the side of the road.
The tears started to fall, and I wanted to wail out my grief. I vowed that if I had the chance, I would kill Dave. He wouldn’t get away with tearing my soul in half.
During the time we spent together at the farm, I knew I’d been falling. He made me feel things I’d never felt before. Either you believed that there was a yin to your yang, or you didn’t. I wanted to explore the connection we had, and ride it as long as the spark was there. I couldn’t say forever, because I’m not really sure that humans were meant to be monogamous.
But in this time, at this moment, he was “the one” and I cried for his loss.
The truck came to a stop—I hadn’t been paying attention to the surroundings, but I recognized the barn as we pulled up to it.
Brom and Lane were standing outside the open doors. Brom had this look on his face and I felt like I was seeing a different person; he looked me up and down like a piece of meat. Walking over to me, he smiled this triumphant smile. “Nice to see you again, my dear.” When he was near enough, the smile fell, and a furious expression replaced it.
He grabbed my chin, holding it between his fingers and turning my head left and right. “Who did this?” he demanded, gesturing to my face with the other hand. “Who damaged my possession?”
Jerking my chin out of his hand, I replied, “I am no one’s property. Keep your goddamn hands to yourself, you jackass.”
Turning to me, he dismissed my words with a wave of his hand. “I will deal with your disobedience later, my dear. You will soon learn your place. Lane, take her to the house and have the housekeeper get her medical attention now. I will ask again, gentlemen, why is this woman hurt?”
Manny spoke up as Lane took my arm to lead me away. “After Dave shot Breech, she attacked me and I was just defending myself.”
Brom’s head swung to Dave. “Is he dead?”
“I got him twice at close range, so I would think he’s dead, but I didn’t stop to check. When the rig went over, the guns spilled out on the highway, and I wasn’t sticking around for some yahoo to stop and investigate. We got the girl in the truck and took off,” Dave replied.
Brom looked really pissed now. He shouted, “You hit the girl and you lost the shipment? Both of you are done here. Get your stuff and see Lane for your pay, then remove yourself from my property.”
Lane had gripped my arm and was trying to pull me towards the house. I dug in my heels and refused to move. When he turned around to face me, I pivoted and ducked under his arm, using his momentum to force him forward so he fell onto his knees.
Brom and the other two guys had their backs to me; Dave was arguing about it not being his fault. I took the opportunity and ran for the open doors—I remembered from the last time I was here that there were a couple of buildings behind the barn, which would be a good place to hide while I figured out what to do next.
Lane was shouting from behind me; putting on a burst of speed, I made it out the doors and ducked into the shadows. Running as hard as I could away from the lights and into the darkness, I could hear my heartbeat in my ears as I ran. The adrenaline gave me speed; my fear made me faster than I’d ever been. Up ahead of me, I could see some lights—behind me, crashing around as Brom’s men gave chase.
I darted into the cover of some bushes planted along the side of a path cut into the grass from multiple trips of some kind of vehicle. I didn’t dare turn around to see how close they were, but one second I was running, and the next I was on my back on the ground, the wind knocked out of me. I curled into a ball, trying to get air into my lungs. I felt a hand in my hair, dragging me to my feet, and I screamed from the pain.
“Shut up, bitch, no one can hear you scream, and it will only get worse for you if you don’t cooperate.” Putting his nose close to my face, I recognized Drake, the farm manager. He whispered, “I can’t help you, but I advise you not to fight him. He gets his jollies from punishing those that fight him. Be passive.”
His hand in my hair had loosened and I realized he had done it for show as Brom and Lane drove up in a golf cart. Manny and Dave were standing a few feet away, breathing heavily from chasing me. Both were bent at the waist, dragging air into their lungs with some effort.
Brom approached me, his eyes unusually bright. Taking my hand, he said, “You’ve led us on a merry chase, my dear, but as you can see, it did you no good. It did, however, make your punishment more severe.” The look on his face as he said the word punishment was a combination of lust and excitement. He disgusted me, but remembering what Drake had said, I held my tongue and didn’t respond. The smile left Brom’s face, and his grip got tighter. “Cat got your tongue, my dear?”
When I didn’t respond again, he gripped my chin, forcing me to look into his face. “You will soon learn to respect me, or you will regret not learning your lessons. I prefer you didn’t learn too quickly, as it’s more fun teaching you how to behave properly. But no matter; we can discuss this later, in private.”
He dropped my chin and motioned to Lane. “Take her to the house and get her looked at. Make sure she’s comfortable in the playroom. I will deal with her later.” Dismissing me, he turned back to the men.
Lane pulled me along, pushing me into the seat on the golf cart. “Slide over, and don’t try anything stupid.” He never released his hold on me, so I did what he said and slid over so he could get behind the wheel. As we drove away, I heard Brom telling Drake that he would be getting a bonus in his pay for helping with recapturing me.
I ignored Lane, keeping my eyes moving, mapping out the grounds as we sped along on the way towards the main house. He parked outside the door where I had first seen him waiting for Breech and me as we drove up on the bike.
Dragging me out of the cart, he pulled me up the steps, thrusting me through the doors into the great room. The woman who had brought me coffee appeared. “Maria, call the doctor and tell him Mr. Hensley has need of his services. I am going to put her in the guest room next to the playroom, and then I’ve got to finish up some things in my office. When the doctor gets here, come and find me; I will let him in.”
Maria had been wringing her hands, but she turned to do his bidding as soon as he stopped speaking. She shot me a furtive look before leaving but didn’t try to communicate with me.
Lane hustled me through the house, turning down hallways and going up staircases. He stopped in front of a door, pulling a ring of keys from his pocket. He unlocked the door and shoved me in. “There is no way out except through this door. Others have tried and none have succeeded. I suggest you make yourself comfortable ‘til the doctor gets here. There is a bathroom through the door on your left—you might want to clean yourself up.” With that, he left, slamming and locking the door behind him.
I heard the keys jangle as he pocketed them, and his footsteps faded as he walked away. Knowing it was futile, I went to the door and tried the handle anyway. It was locked, of course, and I kicked out in frustration. Turning around, I surveyed the room—it had a queen size bed and a triple dresser with a large TV on top. A cheval mirror graced the corner, and a dressing table with a tufted chair filled the adjoining wall. Across from the bed was a filled bookcase with a lounge chair and floor lamp next to it. There was a door on the last wall, which Lane said led to the bathroom.
Looking inside the bathroom, it had a huge walk-in shower, a large claw foot tub, toilet bowl and double vessel sinks. The window in the room must have been nailed shut, because as much as I pulled, it wouldn’t budge. There was an iron grille in front of the glass that should have been decorative, but I knew better. Even if I could break the glass, I couldn’t get through the grille.
Slumping against the side of the tub, I thought about Breech. I knew he was probably dead, but I hoped that by some miracle, someone had come along to help him. I thought about Tish; I wished I could talk to her one more time, tell her how much I loved her, loved having a sister, loved how she loved my brother.
I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. My little pity party was over; I needed to keep my wits about me and figure out how to get away from these animals. Squaring my shoulders, I ran some water in the sink, splashing my face and wiping away some of the grime I’d accumulated from the accident and my flight across the farm. The side of my face was swollen, and it was two or three different colors, but aside from that I wasn’t hurt—thank God for small favors. Drying my face, I left the bathroom, heading back into the bedroom to prowl and see if I could find anything to use for a weapon or a way to escape.
Next to the bed was a small refrigerator. I pulled a bottle of water out, uncapped it, and took a deep drink. It was cold and tasted wonderful. I wandered around the room. Stopping at the bookcase, I looked at the titles; the top shelf consisted of erotica geared towards BDSM. I snorted; figures.
The books started to blur, and I blinked a few times, trying to clear my vision, but I could feel myself sinking. Raising a hand, I could see my fingers shaking. I sank down on the lounge chair, trying to stop myself from passing out. I grabbed the bottle of water and took another deep drink before putting the bottle against my forehead, hoping the cold would help clear my head. But that lethargic feeling got worse and I realized it had to be in the water. I tried to heave the bottle, but it actually just fell from my hand.
Fuckin’ bastard drugged the water, was my last thought before everything went black.
I woke up to a sharp slap across my ass. I tried to scream, but something was in my mouth, and I couldn’t move my hands or feet. I was naked and laying across some kind of bench on my stomach. There were handcuffs and some kind of rope keeping me in that position. I couldn’t see; I had something soft tied over my eyes. I felt movement near my head, and whatever was in my mouth was pulled away.
“I’m so sorry, my dear; I do not, as a rule, use gags. I prefer my subjects to be vocal. I will make sure you will not have one when brought to our room. I will also adjust your punishment for your disobedience, because you were struck by a subordinate. For that, I do apologize.” As he spoke, he moved away from my head before I could think of an answer, and then I felt another stinging slap across my left cheek.
I squealed before I could stop it, and the next blow landed harder on my right side. I jerked, but didn’t scream; I wouldn’t give the prick the satisfaction. The leather made a whooshing sound in the air before landing on my flesh.
“You may scream, my dear; I like the sound of your voice.” The leather landed again and again. I gritted my teeth, biting down on the inside of my cheek. “I don’t understand why you make it harder on yourself, but so be it. Today’s session is just an introduction. You will learn your place. Eventually you will beg, and I might be persuaded to be lenient. For now, you will remain as you are. I have some business to attend to, but when I return I will fit you with a butt plug, and start your anal training.” His hand cupped my ass, drifting between the cleft before retreating. “See you soon, my lovely.”
I heard footsteps fading away, and then a door opening and closing. I heard a key in the lock, and then silence. Resting my head against the padded bench, I tried hard not to cry.
Brom was crazy, but crazy smart. I knew he could force me to do the perverted things he had in store for me, and I could do nothing until I was in a position to defend myself. I wasn’t without some skills, thanks to Breech’s training, but I had to bide my time ‘til I could try and escape this madman.
I tried to control my breathing like I’d been taught; I couldn’t give in to hysteria. When I was somewhat calm, I tried to come up with a plan. My butt burned from the spanking, but it could have been worse. I settled against the bench and let my mind drift. Some of the drug he had spiked the water with must have still been in my system, because I felt like I was in a fog. It drew me down towards the darkness, and I felt the tendrils pulling at my consciousness until the blackness around the edges enveloped me and took me under.