Chapter 7
Master
Sept 3rd (Day 5)
Slave Diane is distant. Distracted. Her fight is temporarily gone as she stays lost in her thoughts. On the rare occasion, she’s goaded me, looking for a reaction. She wants my marks again, but I refuse to give them so soon. Not after all the bruises I left behind in my earlier rage. And they’re plentiful, covering her back, ass, and legs. For the first two days, she was barely able to lie on her back or sit.
And it was all because of Rosa and our child. Our relationship wasn’t a typical love match, more of an arrangement and favor to her and her brother so she could become a US citizen. Had it not been me owing Raul my life, I would have never done it, but I liked her submissive nature¸ so I’d married her. Years together and we were good friends and lovers, but not much more concerning the traditional love people spoke of. The loss of her and our child had destroyed me. I’d pushed away most of the grief up until now, but my slave’s wishes were too close to my nightmares. They were resurfacing with Diane’s need to join them.
Combined with her stubbornness and the lust I held for her, it brought out the monster who lurked inside. The beast took me over completely. It was a deadly combination. Could have been if I wasn’t determined to save and not kill. I’d lost it for the first time in my life; spiraling into a person I didn’t even know. One I’d been afraid of…for good reason.
Now, with my restraint, Diane has turned away from me angrily. She wants the secret I keep locked away and I can’t deny that it tempts me beyond all rational thought. But the anger she projected is good. I had needed time to think. To process what I’d done. Her silence had given me that.
And although I’ve gone over everything, I’m skeptical on how to proceed. I can’t save her like I did with the others. I don’t trust her outside of my home. She’s schooled to behave. To pretend. If I can get her to choose life, I don’t think I’ll ever have faith she’ll keep her happy mask on. That’s not the real her anymore. She’s dark and destructive. The pain is something she’s beginning to rely on. I’d wanted her for my own and perhaps she has been reborn into the masochist to my sadist. But we’re not the perfect pair we could have been if we had met under different circumstances.
In another life, maybe. In this one…she’ll push me to my limits. Try to get me to kill her. I know it. So why do I look forward to the tests? Because I have plans of my own; plans that benefit me, just as much as her. If I can pull it off, perhaps there will be something salvageable with her when I’m done. Then again, maybe I’m looking for an excuse to keep her, after all. Keep her all to the darkness I keep imprisoning. It is a tempting thought.
Sounds had my eyes raising to the monitor. Nightmare. Of me? The thought had me smiling. It would be better than the deaths that plagued her. The cry quieted and she rolled over to her stomach. With nothing left for her to use against herself, she was safe from harm.
Without taking my gaze from the screen, I slid my hand over to pick up the antique knife she’d tried to cut herself with. Ronnie’s name was scratched across the wooden handle. My finger rubbed into the grooves. The weapon wasn’t her husband’s, though, it was his father’s. Why it was paired with her dress was only an answer I got two days after we fucked. It took me hours to get it out of her, but she’d finally admitted to hiding it in there so prospective buyers of the house wouldn’t steal it in one of their walk-throughs. It made sense, but I hated that I’d missed it during my search. What if the knife had been sharper? What if she had succeeded under my watch?
I opened the drawer, sliding the knife in and locking it behind me. It was time to start her day and I was looking forward to it. My direction was off, but I knew what needed to happen. Fear. That was the key. The bolt slid back at my pull and the soft glow of the light emanating from my room spilled over the beige carpet that covered her floor. It was only four in the morning and I knew she was a heavy sleeper. It would work in my favor. Here, she wouldn’t see the attack coming.
A click sounded as I shut us in. With small steps, I made my way to the bed. The bandage pulled against my skin as I took off the T-shirt that I’d paired with my silk pajama bottoms. My cock was already hard thinking about what waited for me.
It didn’t take long for my eyes to adjust to the lump hidden under the comforter. In one pull, I ripped the covers back and dove on top of her nude frame, my hand clasping over her mouth to muffle the scream I knew would come.
“Light on,” I commanded. “Morning, slave. Did you sleep well?” Angry words were stifled even more as I pushed my palm harder into her mouth. “Were you seriously going to answer that? You don’t think I know how you slept? I watch you,” I breathed against her cheek, “almost constantly. Tell me, what did you see in your nightmare? Was it me?”
She stilled for the briefest moment before the thrashing began again.
“Do you think about me like I think about you?”
What the hell was I doing? I knew I needed to instill fear, and I wanted it to be sexual, but damn, I was enjoying this too much.
More drowned out words and then pain as her nails raked down my side. Not as hard as I knew she could have, but enough to break the skin. I growled, letting go and grabbing her arms to hold in mine.
“You want to be handcuffed again?”
“No,” she panted.
My mouth twisted at her lack of fight. Before, she would have told me she didn’t give a shit. Or she would have spit in my face. Something was different.
“Tell me your dream.” I pushed my hard cock against her and she tried to move away from our contract. It made me smile internally. Well, at least she wasn’t throwing herself right into getting me to fuck her again. That didn’t quite seem to interest her as much as the beating did.
“You know my dreams. I miss my family. Can we start the part where I do the good deed and then I can get this over with?”
My hand gripped around her wrists so tightly, she cried out.
“I’ve changed my mind. You don’t get to take that path. You ruined it with your little knife incident. Not to mention, you have yet to address me correctly.”
“But…you said,” she bit out, threateningly. “You fucking said I could die if I did that.” Power I didn’t know she possessed struggled against the hand that was restraining hers. I pushed my grip more into the bed as I glared down at her.
“Your death will come when I say. Maybe sooner than you think. Maybe years from now. You’re the worst fucking slave I’ve ever had. You don’t listen for shit. Why should I give you what you want? You deserve nothing. What gives you the right for a sense of entitlement? Nothing,” I exploded. “You’re already dead, remember? I fucking killed you when you walked through my door. What you suffered with your family is great, but not more than others have had to endure. I meant to show you that, but you’ve ruined it.”
A sob broke through, a scream taking over it at the end. Her head shook back and forth and I grabbed it, holding her still to look up at me.
“You want to be free, then become my slave for real. Bend to my every command. Address me as you’re meant to.” I licked over her bottom lip and she trembled underneath me. “You bow to me and I will grant your wish.”
“I hate you,” she gritted out. “I hate you!”
A laugh did come then. “I didn’t expect you to make it easy, but if you want death, you’ll endure the perils of hell first. The only way to experience the true meaning of that is to survive what I have in store. The real me. The one you’ve only caught glimpses of. And not just sexually, either. It’s that, or you can rot away in this room until you die of old age. No one will look for you, Diane. As far as anyone is concerned, you either ran away or offed yourself where no one could find you. They already expect it. They’ll never know to look here. If Jaime comes to your pretty little mind and you think him picking you up will lead police to where you are, you’re wasting your time. He dropped you off at your new safehouse. Doreen will testify to you showing up. But then, you left.”
She jerked.
“You left and disappeared, slave. You’re dead,” I whispered. “Just like you wanted to be.”
“I want you dead. I’ll kill you,” she exploded. “I’ll fucking—”
“You’ll what?” My fingers pushed in harder until she was crying out. “You’ll obey is what you’ll do. Now, say it. Say I’m your Master.”
A long, heartbreaking sound had the crying coming back.
“Speak.” My hand slapped her face — not hard enough to hurt her, but definitely enough to bring her back around.
“Never. Fucking, never.”
I ripped her from the bed, wrapping my arm around her throat as I let her toes search the ground for footing. I knew I was choking her, but she could still get air. Nails tore into my arm as I walked over and grabbed the remote. As I hit the buttons, changing the disc, Diane began to still in my arms. I knew she thought I was putting on more grisly suicides, but she was wrong. So fucking wrong.
Laughter filled the room, the sweet sound of a child. Her child. Weight pulled against my arm as her legs temporarily gave out. Like someone had hooked her to life support, she turned into a mad woman, giving me the fight of my life as she tried to flee.
“Mommy! Look!” Dark curls bounced as Caylee ran closer to the handheld camera, holding up a new doll. Wrapping paper was everywhere on the floor and the blue, red, green, and white lights from the tree blurred in the background.
“Look at that, Caylee.” Diane walked onto the screen and a man laughed. The voice was close and it was evident he was the one holding the camera.
“No more,” she said, slowing. Sobs were shaking her so hard that I felt them deep within my soul. Fingers pushed into my bloody skin, holding on for dear life. The pain I had felt only moments ago was nonexistent as I watched her heart break right in front of me.
My grip loosened as I pushed her to her knees and positioned myself behind her, still keeping my arm around her throat, just in case.
“Kneeling is crucial. I expect you to do this for me. Now, embrace your memories, slave. That’s your daughter. You turning your back on her is the worst thing you can do. Face your fears,” I said, turning my voice into a whisperer. “Look at how beautiful she is.”
Weight rested into me as she continued to hold on and watch. The fight in her was gone as she stared at the TV, crying. The contrast of the laughter and sobs broke through my walls and I made my other arm wrap around her stomach as I pulled her closer between my thighs. To have seen her, to have known her in her happy past, to have had something like that for myself…
My eyes closed as I rested my forehead against the crown of her head. Rosa and I might have had something like that had our child lived. She’d been so excited about the birth. The arrival of our son. Just as I had been. Six days. That’s all we got to enjoy before Sudden Infant Death Syndrome took him away from us.
“Here, open this one,” Diane’s voice echoed around me. “Ronnie, put the camera down and come sit with us.”
The darkness that surrounded me literally seemed to embrace my body. My lids opened and I lowered more to the side of her face, content to stay quiet as the scene unfolded before her.
“I miss them so much. God…” Her fingertips pushed back in for only the fraction of a moment. “Why would he take them away?”
I didn’t have an answer. It was one I’d asked myself too many times. “I don’t know. But you’re not alone, slave.”
She jerked. “How can you say that? Without them, I have no one.”
“You have me.” I held my tone neutral as I looked back up at the screen. “Your pain…” Did I tell her about me? Share a part of myself that I hadn’t done with a single slave I’d taken? My arm gripped around her tighter as I hugged on for dear life. The words wouldn’t come no matter how much I tried to force them out.
“You lost someone, didn’t you?” There was almost hope in her voice. A longing to connect that I knew I could help her with.
“Yes.” The details evaded as I stared ahead and watched Diane pull her daughter into her lap. The husband was sitting beside her as they sifted through the presents before them. How happy they looked. No…how happy they were. There were no fake emotions going through them. Their love was as clear as day.
A sniffle had me blinking rapidly. My slave hadn’t pressed me for answers and I was thankful. But what did she get out of me telling her we shared something so deep? I was starting to think maybe I should have kept my mouth shut.
“Honey, you shouldn’t have.” Diane reached for Ronnie, her hand settling over his, only to press them against her lips. Tears shone in her eyes as she stared down at the necklace that rested in the long box she held in her hand. In front of Caylee.
“I remembered you taking extra-long while looking at it when we were walking through the mall. It’s going to look beautiful on you.”
She took it out, handing it to him as he pushed her hair out of the way, clasping it around her neck. The diamonds sparkled in the light and the heart that rested in the middle was full of them.
Diane’s hand left my arm as it lowered, her fingers pressing into her chest.
“Where is it?” I asked, lowly.
Her head leaned more into me and she took in a deep breath. “With Ronnie. I…he...had my heart. He deserved to take it with him.” With a small shake, she lifted to look back at the screen. “No more. Please.”
“I can’t turn it off. You have to watch. Every day.”
“No.” The word dragged out, anger breaking back through. “Don’t do this. End this right now. You have the power. Squeeze tighter around my neck. Let me go while watching this. It would be the perfect ending knowing I’m going back to them. Master, please.”
My pulse jumped at her addressing me the right way. She’d submit concerning death. But she wouldn’t give in while living it. Unacceptable.
“No. You know my rules. Give me what I want and in return, I’ll grant you your request.” I let go, rising to my feet. Diane didn’t move from her kneeling position as I left the room. As for the rest of the day, she’d spend it with her family. All that was left of them.