Chapter Four
Anton pulled into the parking lot of Dome at ten o’clock. Since buying the isolated mansion, he’d reduced his days to just three a week and taken on more help. He’d turned part of the spa into an apartment when he bought the place. It had seemed a good use of resources at the time, but now it was even better. He didn’t have to pay rent on a separate apartment, and he had a place to sleep in case he didn’t want to make the commute back to the house.
But right now, the house was the only place he wanted to be. He still couldn’t believe this rare beauty was his. He’d awakened with her warm soft body pressed against his, and he’d hated leaving her. He hadn’t given her any rules yet—just that Gabe was in charge while he was away and to call him Sir. The title extended also to Brian and Lindsay. He would deal with figuring out how to train her when he got back.
Both Anton and Lindsay commuted into the city to work, and both the shrink and massage therapist were looking for candidates for the house.
The shrink would probably be the most successful at first since he’d been billing himself as a kink-friendly sex therapist for quite some time now. He already had potentials he was in the process of interviewing. If they passed his screening, he’d send them on to Anton. If they passed Anton’s, they would be brought to the house and trained. They could have as many as eight or nine girls within a month or two, which meant they needed to figure out the training protocol quickly.
The spa already buzzed with activity. Anton went through his massage room to the small apartment to drop off his laptop. Then he went to the attached restaurant. He hadn’t had time for breakfast at the house even though Phyllis seemed like she was already in full command of the kitchen.
The restaurant was his favorite part of the spa and had been part the brain-child of Lindsay. The dining area was an entirely glassed-in space that looked a bit like being inside of a clear glass golf ball. It was where the spa’s name came from, because of the huge dome shape of the restaurant.
But the best part was all the plants. Lindsay had helped him pick out tons of tropical plants and trees to be housed under the glass dome. Being inside the restaurant felt like being in the middle of the jungle—except with air conditioning and nice tables with linen tablecloths and napkins.
A moment later, one of the wait staff came out. Sarah? He couldn’t remember all of their names, and this one was new. She looked nervous—probably because he was the owner.
“Mr. Volikov I’m afraid we’re out of breakfast. I was told you prefer brunch.”
A quick glance at her name tag proved his guess right. “Sarah, do you know who is in charge of ordering?” he asked calmly.
“Terrence, sir.”
“I’ll need to have a talk with Terrence, then. We should never be out of things on the menu.” Anton sighed. “What else do we have today?”
“We have a fresh New England clam chowder, sir, and our regular selection of sandwiches.”
“That’ll be fine.”
“W-which sandwich?”
“Surprise me. And iced tea.”
She nodded and quickly scurried back to the kitchen to put his order in. He sat facing the main door. Janette should be walking through it in the next fifteen minutes.
As if thought alone could conjure her, the bell over the door jangled, and she walked in. Better early than late. He’d feared she wouldn’t show up at all. He had hoped for her sake, and for her sister’s, that she’d be smart.
When she reached the table, Anton gestured at the chair across from him. “Have a seat. I was just ordering something to eat. We’re out of breakfast food, but you could have some lunch if you like. My treat.”
Janette sat. “N-no thank you. I just had breakfast an hour ago.”
“Let me rephrase that. You will have something to eat. I don’t like to eat in front of others. It’s rude.” He could see her biting back a smart retort.
Sarah returned with the tea and took Janette’s order. Lemon water and a chicken salad sandwich on a croissant.
When they were alone again, Anton said, “Have you been a good girl?”
She looked down at her lap. At first he thought she’d told someone, the police or someone else. But then he saw the tears slipping down her cheeks.
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Good.” He passed his linen napkin to her. “Wipe your eyes. No one needs to see you crying. You’re supposed to be here for a job interview. Nobody cries at a job interview.” At least no one who got hired.
She dabbed at her eyes quickly and took a long shuddering breath.
“Better.” Anton pulled out his cell phone and dialed the house. Gabe answered on the third ring. “Let me speak with Annette.” While he waited, he watched her sister across the table.
The resemblance was uncanny. He could hardly be blamed for taking the wrong girl. They were exactly the same, except for their personalities. Janette seemed more fragile and more easily spooked. Not like her sister. Annette was determined and brave.
It seemed odd to him that the determined brave sister had been deemed the one without a future and the sensitive one was studying to be a doctor. He hoped she wasn’t as skittish about blood as she seemed to be about everything else.
“Good morning, pet. Did you sleep well?” Anton asked when Annette got on the phone.
“Yes, Master.”
“Did Phyllis make you some breakfast?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Your sister would like to speak to you.” He passed the phone to Janette before his eardrum could be busted by the surprised squeal that followed.
Janette warily took the phone. “Are you okay?” She stared him down while she listened to her sister talk. “Hold on a second,” she said when Sarah brought their food and drinks out.
When the waitress went back to the kitchen, she resumed the conversation. Anton tried the soup. At least the clams were fresh. Dome was the nicest spa in the city. They had a reputation to live up to.
“I don’t understand… but why? What aren’t you telling me? … I can’t just leave you there … but I’ll never see you again… no, I don’t understand. No! That sounds fucking crazy!”
Anton’s eyebrow rose at Janette’s language. She didn’t seem the type to swear.
“But what if...” Janette said. Her sister must have cut her off and was now going off into a long diatribe. “Fine. Fine. Yes, I understand. I get it, but you can’t just expect me to… But what if he hurts you… You can’t know that… okay… yes, okay. Bye.” She disconnected the call and passed the phone back to Anton.
“Well?” he said. “What did she say? Did she seem well?” He smirked and took another bite of the clam chowder.
“I don’t know what you’ve done to her, but she claims she’s fine and that I shouldn’t worry. She even sounded fine. This is some kind of trick. You’re going to be nice to her just long enough to lull me into a false sense of security so I can take your blood money guilt free.”
“Oh, is that what I’m doing?”
“Of course it is.”
“Well I’m glad you know my mind more than I do,” Anton said.
Sarah walked up then. “Is everything all right?”
“No, it isn’t. Tell Terrence I said to stop sweetening the iced tea. If the guest wants sugar, they can add it themselves. He’s supposed to be using high enough quality tea leaves that it tastes good without sugar. Also, this is a spa. The guests expect their food and drink to be healthier choices.”
“Yes, sir.” And she scampered off.
Such a nervous little thing, but at least she was unlikely to bother them again.
“Are you going to hurt her?” Janette asked.
“Who, Sarah? No. It’s not her fault Terrence can’t control his impulse to add sugar to the iced tea.”
“No, my sister!” she hissed.
“Of course I’m not going to hurt her. I would never hurt a pet.”
Janette made a disgusted face. “She’s not a pet. She’s a person. And my sister. I can’t just let you get away with this.”
“And what exactly will you do to stop me? You will hear from your sister daily.”
“But I’ll never see her again.”
“I didn’t say that. That all depends on many factors. Now, I will need your school schedule so we can find a few hours a week for you to work at the reception desk. I also need all your school bills and any other bills so I can start paying them.”
“I-I’ll have to get that together.”
He could tell she hated this plan, but how else was she going to be able to afford to continue going to school and not live under a bridge? She needed to learn to be more pragmatic, like her sister.
***
Annette lay beside the pool after a late lunch. This wasn’t bad as hostage situations went. She’d been surprised when Anton had given her the run of the house before he’d left instead of locking her up somewhere. She’d been even more surprised to find most of the rooms had been furnished with clothing and swim wear. Both items were made to fit more than one size—but still a pretty narrow range. The red and white striped bikini she picked fit perfectly.
She’d grabbed a pair of sunglasses, gotten some lunch from Phyllis, and headed for the pool. If this was her life now, she planned to take advantage of any bit of joy she could squeeze out of it. The older woman joined her a little while later in workout shorts and a T-shirt. Phyllis wasn’t fat, but she was definitely a little bigger than the clothes at the house were meant for, so they were tight.
“How can you just be out here lying in the sun like this?” Phyllis asked. She flung her arms in the air dramatically and then put her hands on her hips to put extra emphasis on her disapproval.
“What the hell else am I going to do?” She hadn’t found a phone in the house, just a couple of doors locked—probably where the phones were. As if they would make that mistake twice.
“Well, I don’t know. But you’re just so damn calm about all this. It gives me the creeps.”
Annette lowered her sunglasses and gave the older woman a pointed look. “Well, I’m sorry I give you the creeps.” She fixed her sunglasses back over her eyes.
“We should try to find a way out of here while we have the chance. They might do anything to us. They still might kill us. It’s not like they can keep us here forever. They have to know that. I knew there was something wrong with that Russian man when I sold him the house. Get up! We have to go,” she hissed, smacking Annette on the thigh.
“Nope,” Annette said. She leaned back against the lounger, letting the sun warm her face.
“Why? Afraid to walk a bit?”
“No. I’m afraid they’ll hurt my sister if I break my end of the bargain. I did this to protect her.” And there was also the chance the men of the house would catch them running and kill them. Or that night would fall, they’d be out in the middle of nowhere, and a bear would eat them.
She’d keep the pool, thanks.
Phyllis shook her head as if Annette were insane. And maybe she was. She knew she wasn’t having the normal reaction to any of this. But that was who she was—never the expected response to things. An aunt had died a couple of years before, and it had taken her a week and a half to process it enough to cry. She hadn’t even cried at the funeral. And she hadn’t worn black—instead opting for a calf-length teal dress and nude sling backs. She’d been the only person there without mascara running down her face. But she’d fallen apart later in private. Maybe that would happen here.
Maybe she’d be okay for a week and a half, just trudging through, and suddenly have some kind of breakdown over her captivity. But even so, the facts of why she’d made this choice hadn’t changed and wouldn’t change. Not only had she bought her sister’s freedom from the house, but from the crushing school debt she’d otherwise have. No matter what happened here, if Anton held his end of the bargain, Annette had no regrets for protecting her sister and her future.
“It’s hot out. I think I’ll get in the water.” She got off the lounger and jumped into the pool, splashing a bit of water on the older woman. “You should join me. I bet one of the bikinis would fit close enough.”
“I can’t believe you’re not more upset by all of this!”
Annette shrugged. “It is what it is.” Though what exactly it was, she still wasn’t one hundred percent sure. Given that she’d been pulling nonsense out of her ass at the club the other night and hadn’t even known what a safe word was, she had no real idea what could happen in the Russian’s care.
If she’d paused to think about it, she probably could have figured out the safe word thing. But she’d never thought that far into it. She’d watched a few pornos with some kink to get ideas for dirty things to whisper in men’s ears over the phone, but she hadn’t studied the lifestyle in any meaningful way. Though she was pretty sure even if she had that whatever bastardized version of it Anton was using wouldn’t have been very familiar anyway.
“Do you have family?” Annette asked.
“No.”
“Close friends who will miss you?”
“I have a cat.”
“She’ll starve,” Annette said, actually feeling concern about the issue.
“No, she’s a mostly outdoor cat. She’ll survive.”
Brian came outside then with dangerous purpose in his eyes. “You two planning your escape?” he asked, carefully assessing each of them as if he could read minds by staring hard enough.
Phyllis looked guilty, but Annette said, “Not me.”
He slapped a silver metal bracelet around Phyllis’s wrist and then moved closer to the pool to put one on Annette.
“What is that thing?” Annette asked. She backed up a few feet outside his immediate reach. He’d have to get wet to reach her.
“Security. It keeps you on the property, inside the perimeter. If you cross the line… well, you don’t want to cross the line. It’s like a shock collar.”
She was glad she’d moved to the center of the pool. “I’m in the water! And I have to shower.”
“I had them specially made. They’re completely water safe. They don’t react at all to water.”
“How do you know?”
“I buy only the best tech, and I trust my guy. But they’ve also been tested. Submerged for hours. No harm to the bracelet, no zap.”
She was still wary. She didn’t trust the psychopath not to murder her by electrocution just for fun.
“Does Anton know you’re doing this?”
“Does Anton know you’re doing what?” Anton said, walking out onto the patio in a pair of black swim trunks.
“You’re home early,” Brian said.
“I wasn’t in the mood to work at the spa today, so I shifted my appointments to the other employees. So what does Anton need to know about?” he asked.
Brian held up the bracelet.
“He said it won’t hurt me in the water,” Annette said. “Did you know about them?”
“Yes, I knew. It won’t hurt you, kiska, I promise.”
She wasn’t sure why a promise from one criminal was so much better and more reliable than a promise from another, but she got out of the pool and dried off. Then she held out her wrist for Brian to lock the metal into place.
Phyllis gave her a dirty look and sulked off back into the house, slamming the door behind her.
“What’s wrong with her?” Brian asked.
“She doesn’t want to be an indoor kitty,” Annette said. And really, it wasn’t as though Annette were jumping up and down for joy over it. But it was the easiest thing. Ever since Anton had let Janette go, and especially since he’d let her talk on the phone to her that morning, she’d started to believe that as long as she held her end of the bargain, he would hold his.
Brian wandered back into the house, leaving her alone with Anton. He got into the pool, and when he’d waded in deep enough, he said, “Come back in the water with me, pet.”
Annette hesitated for a moment. This whole thing was still so weird. It had helped having a few hours away from him to shower and eat and explore the house, but this was still so… strange. A blush crept up her neck as she thought about the things that had happened the previous night.
“I won’t bite,” he said.
She was sure that was a lie, but she left the towel on the lounger and got into the pool anyway.
“What did you say to your sister this morning?” He began to move around her in a circle. Like a shark.
“Why? What did she say I said?”
He shrugged. “Nothing. I just heard her end of things and then told her what I needed from her to pay her bills and get her set up working part time at the spa.”
“I don’t remember what I said exactly. I just told her I would be fine and that she needed to drop this and do what you said.”
“You’re afraid she’ll do something stupid,” he said, still circling her.
Annette looked away, unsure how much it was safe to say to him or what action he might take against her sister if she was honest.
“Of course I don’t think that.”
“Look me in the eyes and say that.”
But she couldn’t.
“Are you lying to me?” he asked, his voice going to a scary dark place.
“N-no.”
“No, what? I notice you’re avoiding addressing me.”
“I’m not avoiding it,” she lied again. It was too weird. If they were doing some dirty, kinky thing, and she was all worked up like she’d been the night before, then yeah, she thought she could play along and call him master, but there was no way here in the light of day she could just casually refer to him that way.
“That’s lie number two. Kiska, are we going to have a problem?”
“No. We don’t have a problem.” She wasn’t sure what it was about daylight that made this all seem so much more sordid than it had the night before when she’d been desperate.
“No, WHAT?” He backed her to the nearby edge of the pool and held her there. Even if she hadn’t been pinned in place by his hands, she would have been pinned there by his gaze. “SAY it,” he practically growled at her.
Annette looked down at his hands on her arms and finally said, “No, Master.”
His grip loosened. “And still, you lie to me. You were so brave last night. Did the sunlight swallow up your fire?”
He swam to the ladder and climbed out of the pool. “Come with me. I didn’t want to have to start your training with punishment, but you will not lie to me.”
Now she was legitimately afraid. In the back of her mind, she’d known he would hurt her; she’d just thought she could keep him distracted from it for a while. Maybe she still could. She knew all the buttons to push with men, after all.
She’d had no less than ten different clients within the past month promise her nearly anything if she’d just come meet and fuck them in person. Men were not complicated. Anton could be managed.
She screwed up her courage and got out of the pool. She put a sway in her hips as she slunk over to him. She was sure she could distract him from the punishment plan.
“Come on, don’t you want to do something more interesting than punish me?” Annette ran her hands over his wet skin, slipping one inside his swim trunks. She stroked his cock underneath the fabric. His hand closed tight around her wrist.
“No. I didn’t give you permission to touch me. Do you really think I can be led around by my dick and manipulated this way?”
“Ow, you’re hurting me.”
Anton released her wrist, and she fell backward onto the lounger. She scowled up at him.
“You’d better be wise and wipe that look off your face. Get up.”
Who the fuck did this Neanderthal think he was? He was turning down a fucking hand job? Who did that? When she didn’t get up, he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her up. Then he scooped her into his arms and carried her back into the house.
She smacked at his shoulder. “Put me down! I can walk!”
“You had your chance. Keep it up. Your punishment will only get worse.”
She wasn’t sure why she was so much more angry and embarrassed than scared. Her pride had been hurt, and at the moment, it was the injury that was real.
Brian sat at a table in the cafeteria eating a large sandwich. The tables had arrived that morning, along with a bunch of other stuff in large boxes. Brian had picked them up in a rented truck from another location and brought them to the house.
“I need to use one of your rooms downstairs,” Anton said.
Brian’s eyes lit up as he rose from the table. “Can I watch?”
“I don’t give a fuck. Maybe it’ll be a stronger lesson that way.”
Brian seemed giddy as he followed them through the house, past the entryway, and to the back staircase that led underground.
At the bottom of the staircase was a long stone hallway. Stone walls, stone floor. At the end of the hallway was a large solid wooden door. Lining the walls were several slightly smaller doors, each with a small window and bars. They were labeled, A, B, C…
“Use Cell A. It’s the only one I have set up,” Brian said.
Annette’s anger was starting to be replaced by fear. “Please, I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.” She could barely remember what it was she had done to begin with. Oh, yeah, lying. But it was such a small lie. Couldn’t he see why? She was just protecting Janette. It wasn’t as though she was being malicious.
“Unfuckingbelievable,” Anton said. “You still won’t address me. Who am I?” He put her down in the cell.
As soon as he let go of her, she bolted toward the exit, but Brian stood in front of the door, blocking her way and smiling like a demented maniac.
“What are you going to do to her?” Brian asked.
“I’m going to break her.”
Annette spun to face Anton. She felt the blood drain from her face. A darkness had fallen over the Russian’s features. If she’d been asked in this moment to say who was more dangerous, Brian or Anton, she wouldn’t have been sure who to pick. If she’d been told to run to the safe one, she wouldn’t have been able to move at all.
“Impressive,” Brian said. “I didn’t think you had it in you.”
“It’s the only way she’ll take this seriously and truly see herself as my slave. Right now she thinks she’s going to play me and get her way.”
Any other time she might have gotten angry people were talking about her like this, like she wasn’t even in the room, but she was too afraid to say anything.
Finally he turned his attention back to her. “Last night I thought you were serious about being my slave in exchange for your sister’s release. Have you forgotten her already? Have you forgotten I will see her every week and that me continuing to write checks is how she will eat and pay for school?”
Annette looked away, unable to bear his scrutinizing stare. Why the fuck should he look so wounded, as if she were somehow betraying him by behaving like a normal human? “No, I haven’t forgotten.”
“Motherfucking… No, WHAT?”
“M-master. P-please, I’m sorry. I-I’ll do better.” She wasn’t sure anymore if she was lying. She wasn’t sure what had made her think she could do this. Even with the insanity of the kidnapping… even with them being criminals, the way he’d been last night, she’d thought it was all just kinky games to him.
It wasn’t.
She thought she’d just play along, but he wanted obedience and servitude from her all the time. She’d had the best intentions when she’d bargained for Janette’s freedom, but talking a good game and playing it were two very different things.
“No. The only way this will be real is if I train you properly,” he said.
Annette glanced at Brian. He looked like a hungry wolf about to get something good to eat. When she turned back to Anton, he had much the same look on his face. The two of them behaved as though they were circling prey, a coordinated hunt.
“Did you have lunch, kiska?”
“Y-yes, Master.”
“Good. It’s going to be a long afternoon for you.”
He moved closer, and she backed away until she’d backed into Brian’s arms. He held her tight, and Anton leaned close to her ear.
“Pet, I will not damage you. But I will break this urge you have to control me. I am the one in control here. You will not play me again—not after today.”
Her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest, the walls seemed as though they were closing in, and a flush of heat moved up her neck and over her face.
All at once the tears started to fall. It was the first time she’d cried for her own predicament since she’d gotten here. Half an hour ago Phyllis had asked her to run, and they’d had the smallest window to freedom. Should she have taken it? But there was still Janette out there. If it were just her, she might have run. And now with the silver metal band locked around her wrist, it was far too late for that.
“Master, please. Just one more chance. I promise I won’t play you.”
Anton shook his head. “Sorry, kiska. How can I trust a liar? Your word is no good here, but it will be soon enough.”
Brian’s erection pressed against her hip. She could see the outline of Anton’s through the black swim trunks.
For the millionth time, she wondered why she’d played with fire at the club. Why had she said those things? Right or wrong, she was sure he never would have taken Janette if she’d acted differently. She never should have gotten on his radar. It wasn’t as if she didn’t know how men could be. She’d seen it play out over and over with work.
“What do you think I should do first? Pain or orgasm denial?” Anton asked.
“Pain,” Brian said. “It softens them up more. Make her hurt, then make her want you.”
Anton nodded. “Yes. I think you’re right.” He untied the strings on the red and white striped bikini and let it fall to the floor.
“Oh, pet, you’re trembling,” he said, rubbing her arms. She’d been too scared to notice the shaking that had started.
His concern sounded real, but she was sure it was fake. After all, if he truly cared how she felt, he wouldn’t be doing this at all. He led her over to what looked like two large wooden beams formed into an “X”. There were ropes attached to all four ends of it. Anton stretched one of her arms over the beam and bound her wrist. Brian did the same on the other side. Then they did the same with her ankles so that she stood spread-eagled.
It was too exposed. Somehow much worse than the previous night with four men gawking at her on the pool table. This time there was no arousal cream driving her out of her mind.
Anton stood back to look at her, his arms crossed over his chest. “Tell me, kiska, do you still think you’re going to play me?”
She shook her head. “No, Master. I swear.” Maybe he was bluffing. Maybe he just wanted to scare her. If so, mission accomplished.
But he didn’t untie her. Instead, he crossed the room to a large black box and started rummaging through the contents. Occasionally he said “hmmm.”
While Anton was deciding what he was going to do to her, the door to the cell opened. Annette craned her neck to see who it was. She barely glimpsed the shock of surfer-blond hair as Gabe moved into the room. He came around to the front of the beams so that he could look her in the eyes, but she looked away.
He touched her chin and raised her face, concern in his eyes. Real concern. “She looks terrified.”
“She should be. She’s being punished,” Anton said.
“For what?”
“It’s not your concern.”
“For what?” Gabe repeated, unwilling to let it go.
Of the men at the house, Gabe seemed like the most likely to help. Annette had seriously miscalculated who she should be appealing to.
“She lied to me. And she needs to be broken anyway so she’ll acknowledge who I am.”
Gabe made a disgusted face after the word broken. He seemed the least likely candidate to be part of this group of deviants.
“Lied about what?” Gabe didn’t seem convinced any high crimes had been committed. He stroked the side of her face and brushed her hair out of her eyes.
“Don’t comfort her,” Anton said. “In fact, I want you to go.”
“Brian gets to stay.”
“Brian isn’t going to argue with me about everything I do.”
Annette watched Gabe. She was smart enough not to try to appeal to him verbally, but she was doing everything she could with her eyes, hoping he would stay. Maybe he would hold Brian and Anton back.
He looked at her, then at the other two men in the room. Finally, he said, “Fine, but I didn’t sign on for this shit.”
“Oh, please,” Brian said. “You knew exactly what you were signing on for. You’re in as deep as the rest of us, so put away the fucking halo.”
“Fuck you,” Gabe said. And then he was gone.
There it went. Her only chance or hope of rescue. Even if Lindsay barged in next, she didn’t believe he’d help her.
During the exchange with the blond, Anton had selected several items from the box. He laid them all in a nice, neat row on the stone floor in front of her where she could see them all.
“Since you didn’t know what a safe word was, I assume everything you said at the club was just something you heard or saw somewhere, and you don’t know anything about anything in my world. Am I correct in assuming that?”
“Yes, Master.” She didn’t dare lie to him again. Not now. He would know.
Now that he’d been paying far closer attention to her reactions to things, he seemed able to tell when she was lying—a gift that wouldn’t do her any good. Why did she have to be held captive by the one man who could tell if she was lying? He may have fallen for it once at the club, but it was unlikely he would let his guard down with her again.
Anton pointed at each item in turn. “Flogger. Single-tailed whip. Riding crop. Nipple clamps. Paddle. Knife.”
She would have rolled her eyes. She knew what a paddle and knife were. But she was too afraid of what he planned to do with that knife to make any comment.
“Let me… oh, please let me,” Brian said. He was bouncing back and forth from foot to foot like a kid at Christmas.
“No!” Annette hadn’t meant to say it. It just slipped out. She hadn’t meant to say anything at all.
“No?” Anton said, one dark eyebrow raised in mock surprise. “I don’t believe I heard you right. Yes, Brian. Go ahead. Since my little pet thinks she’s in charge, it can be another lesson.” He dragged a chair over from the corner and sat in front of her.
“Let’s blindfold her,” Brian said.
“No, I want to look at her.” Anton crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in the chair, his legs sprawled as if he were settling down to watch a good game. “And more importantly, I want her to look at me.”
Annette craned her neck to try to see what Brian was doing behind her, but he was careful to remain out of her line of sight.
“I still vote for blindfolding,” he said.
“No,” came the Russian’s flat answer.
She thought about trying to reason with Anton, but the expression on his face was so resolute that she was afraid whatever was about to happen would only get worse if she tried to negotiate.
Brian came around in front of her and picked up the knife. He picked it up slowly, a smile spreading across his face as his eyes met hers. It was a rather large knife with a sharp edge on both sides. The handle was made of a shiny black stone with a dragon carved into it. He held the knife in his hand as if testing and feeling its weight. Then he moved back behind her.
“Master?” Annette tried to keep the hysteria out of her voice. What? Was he going to just let this psycho cut her?
But Anton’s only response was another raised eyebrow.
She jumped when she felt the flat of the cold blade resting against the center of her back.
“We’re going to play a game,” Brian said. “It’s called Truth or Bleed. I will ask you a question, and if your master thinks you’re lying, I will cut you. Sound fair?”
“No, it sounds psycho,” she said.
Maybe it wasn’t the wisest response, but Brian only chuckled behind her.
“First question. Did you think you were going to manipulate Anton and get your way in this house?”
Annette sighed. “Yes.” What else could she say? She had thought that. And before this moment, she’d still held out some hope that she could manage him somehow.
Anton watched her intently, but there was no need for him to scrutinize because it was an obvious question with an obvious answer. If she’d said no, no one in the room would have believed it.
“At least she’s not testing you,” Anton said.
“She’s smarter than she looks. Second question. Before last night, how many men had you been with?”
There was a pause while she tried to decide the best course of action. Two was the truth, but it didn’t sound true. She thought about lying with a higher number, but if she did that, and Anton could tell she was lying…
“T-two.”
Another raised eyebrow from Anton. “That’s the story you’re sticking with?”
“It’s the truth,” Annette said. Why the fuck would she lie about something like that with a knife blade at her back? If there was any chance Brian would honor the rules of this stupid game, she wasn’t about to give him reason to start slicing her skin into ribbons.
“Well?” Brian said. “What do you think? Is she telling the truth?”
Annette held her breath while the Russian contemplated. He stared at her so long and so intently she thought she might catch fire from it.
“Yes, I think she is.”
She let the breath out.
“Question three. Are you attracted to your master?” The point of the blade pressed lightly against her skin as if Brian was sure he’d get to start cutting now.
She was quiet for a long time. She couldn’t even look at Anton. Was she attracted to him? After this? How the hell could she be attracted to him now?
“You will give us the truth or you will bleed,” Anton said. His voice was calm. “I don’t care what the truth is, but you will give it to me, and you will look at me when you say it so I know if you’re lying or not.”
“Well?” Brian said. “Tick tock. Three seconds or you forfeit that question and we count it as a lie. Three, two...”
“Yes,” Annette blurted out.
“Truth.” A dark smile spread across Anton’s face.
“Dammit,” Brian said.
“See?” Anton said, “She can tell the truth when properly motivated.”
“Okay. Question four. What about the rest of us? Are you attracted to us?”
“In what way?” Annette asked. “I find you repulsive.”
Brian laughed. “Yes, but do we get your motor running? Are you physically attracted?”
“Yes,” Annette said, barely above a whisper.
“Truth,” Anton said.
Each time she answered a question, she tensed, afraid that Anton would call her a liar or that Brian would just disregard the rules. He buzzed with a malevolent energy. She could feel that he was itching to do her damage.
“Last question. Do you want Anton to set you free?”
The correct answer was Yes. It was the sane answer. It was the expected answer, and again she worried if she didn’t give that answer that Anton would think it was a lie, some kind of flattery, and Brian would finally be able to use his shiny new knife.
Especially in light of her current circumstances, the answer to that question had to be yes. But if he kept his end of things, Janette would graduate from college and then medical school without debt. She had been paying as best she could for her sister’s schooling in unconventional sexual ways before today. This was just another step with an even bigger payoff. As long as she was safe, it felt worth it.
Annette felt the blade press harder against her back. She was far from sure she was safe.
“Three… two...”
“I don’t know,” she said, agitated. Her nerves felt frayed on the edges.
“Sounds like a lie to me,” Brian said.
“It’s not a lie! I don’t know!”
There were too many moving parts to the question. It wasn’t a simple yes or no. If she had no sister, yes, of course she would want them to let her go. Though when she thought it, even that felt a little bit like a lie. What was it about the Russian that made her want to throw all reason and self-preservation out the window just for a few more minutes with him?
The way he’d touched her last night… she hadn’t been touched like that ever. Never had a man known how to touch her. It was as if her body had spoken for her, and his hands had responded. There had been no awkward, clumsy fumbling. Only calm assurance and a power that caused a drunk sort of feeling, not only in the person who wielded it, but also in those it spilled out over. There had been no need for conversation to pass between them. It was only that electric spark that flared to life when his hands were on her.
She’d told herself this was about protecting her sister. But she wasn’t sure that was the whole story. Annette didn’t understand any of these feelings. Playing men had been so much easier—to only have to deal with men she didn’t care for, men who didn’t spark anything inside her… to lie, to collect payment… that was much easier. She wished now more than anything for distraction. Her job. Anything so she wouldn’t have to think about any of this.
“Anton?” Brian said finally, interrupting her thoughts.
She looked up to find the Russian watching her, almost as if he could read the thoughts right out of her head as they occurred. She tried to make her mind go blank to stop him from seeing any of this. She’d always thought she was such a good liar. People were so easy to fool. Now that Anton was paying attention, it seemed like he knew everything, and there was nothing she could conceal from him.
“I don’t know,” he said, proving at least that he wasn’t a mind reader.
“I’m counting that as a lie, then.”
Annette went rigid, waiting for the inevitable. She couldn’t even bring herself to beg him to protect her from Brian. It was obvious the two men had known each other for a long time. Who was she to presume the Russian could care more about her safety than his demented friend’s amusement?
“No, you will not,” Anton said. He stood from the chair and moved closer. He touched the side of her face and met her gaze. “Kiska, I think the depths of the places you want me to take you are unknown even to you.”
He leaned down and pressed a kiss against her lips. Annette felt her body go slack, despite the threat of the knife still at her back. And she opened to him. She kissed him like he was the only person who could save her. Which was probably much more true than she wanted to admit.
Anton pulled away first and took a couple of steps back from her. He gave her the most unnerving stare for the longest time. Then finally he sat back down. “Truth.”
Brian threw the knife on the ground, then he gripped the front of Annette’s throat and leaned close to her ear. “This isn’t over. We will play again someday.”
But not today.
“Don’t look too relieved, pet. He’s mad now, and you still haven’t had your punishment.”
Brian went back to the row of objects Anton had lined up earlier and selected the shiny silver clamps. She shrieked and jerked in her bonds when the metal snapped closed on her nipples.
“If you think that’s bad, wait until they come off,” Brian said.
Annette closed her eyes and breathed slowly in and out until the pain faded away. While her eyes were closed, she could detect absolutely no movement or sound. Brian waited for her to open her eyes again, then he picked up each item still on the ground in turn, inspecting it like Goldilocks looking for the perfect mattress support.
“I don’t like these options,” he said. “Give me your belt.”
Anton slowly rose, his eyes never leaving Annette’s. He removed his belt and handed it to Brian. Just like that. No argument or discussion. Then he sat back down.
“While he punishes you, I want you to only look at me. Do you understand, kiska?”
“Yes, Master.” She wasn’t about to be stupid right now. As awkward and strange as it felt to refer to him that way when sex wasn’t involved, this moment it felt more than real. There was nothing silly about this moment.
She jumped when Brian popped the belt at her. He laughed and moved behind her. A strangled cry left her throat when the belt connected with the back of her thighs. Even with the power of a full grown man behind it, it was so much worse than she had anticipated. Even a single blow caused the tears to begin to slide down her face.
“Have you ever been struck before?” Anton asked.
Annette shook her head. “No, Master.”
“Not even as a child?”
“No. My parents didn’t believe in it.”
“Hmmmm. If they had you might not be such a little liar now.”
She didn’t have anything to say to that. She knew she’d been coddled and protected as a child. Even the whisper of pain had not dared to disturb her bubble of safety up until the moment her parents had died. Then she’d had to figure out how to be an adult quickly. They’d had an inheritance, but it didn’t last long because she didn’t learn enough about money until it was nearly too late. Annette had been concerned for her sister’s future and had pulled them back from the brink weeks before they would have been homeless and hungry, to say nothing of the final blow to Janette’s education.
The growing sting of the belt ripped Annette out of her thoughts. She was sure she felt the welts forming—overly sensitized flesh going warm and raising as if trying to escape the confines of her skin. All she could do was cry. Suddenly, she couldn’t think about anything but the pain Brian delivered and Anton’s inscrutable stare. If her wrists weren’t bound, she would reach out for him, no matter how pointless the act would be.
The tears crept silently down her cheeks for what felt like forever.
The blows came harder as if Brian were disappointed she hadn’t started begging. But she couldn’t process words any more. All she could do was sob.
“She’s had enough,” Anton said.
“Are you fucking kidding me? I barely got started,” Brian whined.
“I said she’s had enough. I want to be alone with her.”
“Aren’t you going to use the cream? She’s at least softened up.”
“Not now. Go.” Anton pointed imperially at the door.
Brian ripped the clamps off Annette’s nipples, and she shrieked, fresh tears welling in her eyes. She wasn’t sure if the pain was from the way he’d just yanked them off or if it would have hurt no matter how it was done, but he hadn’t been kidding about it being worse coming off. Of course he would squeeze one last bit of sadistic glee out of the day to spite Anton.
“I knew you wouldn’t break her. All talk, no action,” Brian said, shooting a disgusted look Annette’s way as if Anton’s choices were somehow her fault.
Anton got up from the chair and stalked Brian across the floor. “I said get out!”
Brian left, and Anton slammed the door behind him. Then he returned to the chair and sat and just watched her.