Abby

 

Abby awoke to see Zed walking back into the study, glass of water in hand. He was still naked, his clothes left strewn around the office in haphazard piles. For her part, she still lay on the carpet, naked as the day she was born, her back pressed against the cool wall.

 

“You're awake,” he mumbled, as he came over and offered her the glass of water.

 

Abby smiled and sat up, her eyes taking in his form. Earlier had been the first time she'd seen him naked, but even she couldn't believe what great shape he was in. He could have been a model for Men's Health. No wonder he could take her so easily and virtually toss her around the room. She accepted the water with a mumbled, “Thanks.” She sat back against the wall, her body still beautifully sore in all the right ways, and took a sip to hydrate her dry throat.

 

“I've been thinking,” she said, after taking another sip and setting the glass aside. “I can still get what you want and make the people who did this to Kai pay.”

 

He made an unpleasant face as he grabbed his clothes from the floor and began pulling them back on. “Yeah?” he asked. “What would that entail?”

 

“Just let me go back to Pharma-Vitae. With what I know, I can bring down Mark Letterman, the man who pushed Dimalerax this way. He's the one responsible, not the whole company.”

 

His pants back on, he stopped and frowned at her before pulling his tight undershirt back over his head and smoothing it down his body. “Think you could do that?”

 

She nodded. “I know I could,” she said emphatically. “I could get rid of all those people and ruin their careers.”

 

Zed seemed to consider her words for a moment. Then, without saying anything one way or the other, he bent down and scooped up her discarded clothes, collecting them in one hand.

 

“What . . . what are you doing with my clothes?” she asked, then glanced up at his glowering face. “Sir?” she corrected.

 

“I don't think you'll be going back. Not like that,” he mumbled. “You deleted those files, Abby.” He sighed and shook his head as he dropped the handful of her clothes on the desk, then turned back to her. “I can't let that slide.”

 

But, that wasn't fair. She was sorry. She scrambled to her knees, the carpet pressing into her skin. “But, Zed, I can still help you!”

 

He shook his head and made a “get up” motion with his hand. “Come on,” he said.

 

“Are you . . . what are you going to do to me?” she asked, a note of panic entering her voice as she climbed to her feet

 

“Just what you deserve for betraying me,” he said, his voice flat.

 

She hung her head and stretched out her hand to him. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer as he pulled the dog chain and collar from his pants pocket. She pulled her hair up and off her neck, just like she'd gotten used to doing, and he slipped it around and closed it.

 

Her whole body began to shake with nervousness and expectation. So many times in the collar had been so awful, but so many had been wonderful as well. It was almost impossible for her body to know which was coming. She just knew that it would be some sort of sensory overload. She didn't know whether to be terrified or overjoyed in some sick way.

 

He grabbed up the chain and left the room, leading her naked from her office. She hung her head, her eyes focused on his feet as he led her back down the long hallway to her bedroom. He stopped in front of the closet door.

 

Oh God, not the chair again! Anything but the chair. She immediately whined deep in her throat, knowing she could handle it, but that it would still be awful and humiliating. “Please, sir,” she groaned. “You can do whatever you want to me, just not that.”

 

“You're right,” he said with a resigned sigh, as he opened the closet door and led her within, “I can do whatever I want with you. And, unfortunately, your punishment is the chair, Abby. Now, come on.”

 

She sat of her own free will in the chair, still marveling at how this had become her life. He grabbed the duct tape and strapped her into the dining room chair, her back arched in an uncomfortable position.

 

As Zed worked, he spoke to her. “I'm leaving you alone, so you can think about what you've done and about the hurt you've caused me. Think about how you're leaving a man to die because of a drug your company pushed. I have to think about what to do with you now that you're useless to me.”

 

That didn't sound good. What did he mean? Was he going to leave her here? Would he kill her? “Sir,” she said, trying to convince him one last time, “I could still change things. You know I could.”

 

He didn't reply. He just grabbed his tie and went behind her, making it into the makeshift blindfold again, blotting out the dim overhead light. “I wish I could believe you, Abby,” he said, as he cinched the knot tightly. “But, look at where believing you has gotten me so far.”

 

She made a whining noise again as he left the closet and shut the door.

 

At least he hadn't put the headphones, with that goddamned music, on her again. That was something to be thankful for.

 

But, still, she had no idea what he'd meant when he'd said she was “useless.” That last part worried her. She had to either get away from him entirely and make a run for it, or get through to him. It sounded like he was losing patience with her, and she might not be able to pull it off before he did.

 

The idea of that, somehow, seemed to pierce her heart even worse than all the physical pain, sleep deprivation, and humiliations he'd inflicted on her. Yeah, sure, he was fucking psycho. But, still, deep down, he was a good man who loved his brother and missed his extended family. He was just broken inside, the same as her. Anyone who had been through what he'd been through and seen what he'd seen would be a little off, too. Wouldn't they?

 

She knew it wasn't love that was making her feel this way. It couldn't be. After all, how could she love a man who'd done all this to her?

 

It had to be lust, then, she realized, as she felt him begin to leak out from inside of her. Lust, as her body tried to push her into exploring this new type of forbidden pleasure he'd helped her discover, this dark, rough, painful love-making that lit her mind and body on fire.

 

That and likely a heaping dose of Stockholm Syndrome, of course.

 

But, still, no matter what her unknown reasons, she hoped he wouldn't leave, or worse. At least, not yet. Not till she could get just a little more time with him. Even if he was fucking psycho.

 

# # #

 

Zed

 

He didn't know what to do. His whole life seemed to be a waste. All this time spent had been nothing but a wild goose chase. To have the information right there in front of him, then to have it just disappear right before his eyes was too much. It was too shocking and depressing.. What was the point of it all?

 

He left Abby in the closet and went back into the living room. He grabbed the bottle of bourbon, twisted off the cap, and took a long, full drink. He swallowed it down, savoring the burning numbness it left behind. At least the bottle hadn't failed him. Not yet, at least. Of course, it wasn't like it had ever done much good for him, either.

 

Zed tried to push Abby from his thoughts, but she wouldn't go. He could leave her in that closet till hell froze over, and he still knew, deep down in his bones, that she'd always be there, crowding out everything else. She was something else, that was for sure.

 

Another mouthful of whiskey, then he slammed the bottle down on the coffee table and swallowed down the brown liquor. There was just something about this Ice Queen who'd begun to thaw under his r attentions. She was still defiant, still strong, but she'd begun to soften around the edges and melt in the center. He just knew it. But, still, she could take anything he threw at her—the days in the chair, with the music blaring, the spankings, the degradation of the dog collar. And she still touched him tenderly, crying out as she submitted to his will. Even after she'd seen him at his weakest.

 

He took another drink and gave another shake of his head. He hissed in the cool air, biting back against the burn in his mouth. He needed to decide what do with her and how to proceed further on this fool's quest of his.

 

He could just leave, he figured. He could untie her, then just walk out the door. She wouldn't go to the cops, not after what she knew. Any sort of investigation into his actions would just open Pandora's Box for Pharma-Vitae, and it would suck Abby Winters into the middle of a shit storm she could hardly conceive of. He shook his head again. No, there was no chance of her going to the authorities over him.

 

But, still, he couldn't bring himself to leave her. Not just like that, and especially not after their moment on the office floor. Goddamn that had been amazing, too. The softness of her skin, the way her teeth felt, the way her fingernails had grated across his skin. There were so many things he still wanted to do with her and so many things he could do to her. Just the thought of her smell filling his nose, of the way she cried out for more when he spanked her ass, was thrilling.

 

He readjusted himself in his trousers, pushing his erection down to a more comfortable position. All these memories and fantasies had started to get to him, especially now that the liquor was infiltrating his system.

 

And it wasn't just about the sex. It was the way she looked at him, too, and the way she made him laugh. The way she could cut to his core. Love and hate were sometimes the flip-side of the same coin, his mother had always said. “The ones who love you the most are the ones who hurt you the most.” Abby definitely had the second part down, that was for sure. He couldn't help but think that she had the first part, as well. It felt like she did.

 

Why would she care about him? That was just crazy. He wiped a hand down his face and took another drink of liquor, grumbling at his own insanity. She was just faking it, using some old tricks she must have picked up from her mother. She was the enemy, and had just destroyed another cache of evidence he'd managed to discover.

 

She didn't love him, and he didn't love her. How could he? She was his captive, not his fucking soulmate!

 

This was just pure lust, a product from his long dry spell and that tight body of hers. What had happened in the office was either a fluke, or part of a carefully calculated plan on her part. Either way, it was nice, but it wasn't a sign of something bigger.

 

Did he believe her about her wanting to take down the company? Yes, he thought he did. But, how? Letting her go back to work, to try and ferret out the corruption on her own, wasn't going to work. That wasn't an option.

 

He took another pull off the whiskey bottle, then pushed it aside as he choked down the burning liquor. He'd figure out a way to use her to bring the company down. He knew there was a way. He just hadn't quite figured it out yet. And he couldn't quit until he figured out a way to manage it.