CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
ANTHONY
Sera caught the eye of every man and woman we passed while touring the island. Without the burden of pain and degradation shadowing her gaze or sitting heavy on her small shoulders, she was brought to life beneath the warm sun, her dark hair shimmering with strands of deep red, her blue eyes sparkling in unison with the turquoise ocean that spread out in all directions from the island.
There was no concern that any person would attempt to approach her or flirt with her when I wasn't around to supervise. The island residents were extremely loyal to me for not only providing them their jobs and livelihoods, but also for providing them a place to live that was without war, without violence, and without the suffering and neglect many other people in the world lived on a daily basis.
I'd explained to Sera as I showed her my favorite places, both public and private, that over the years I'd lived on the island, I'd created the perfect utopia.
And now Sera caught my eye for a very different reason. Her serene face, her sexual body, her perfect submission were on display within the playroom I'd carefully constructed over the years.
She was lying flat over a bench intended for multiple uses and I sat in front of a large mirrored wall watching her legs spread, her head fall back over the opposite side, her hair trail down to touch the floor.
My elbows rested on my knees and my chin was supported on the knuckles of my folded hands, my gaze locked to the way she toyed with herself using a vibrator I'd instructed her to use.
At first, she was shy, unsure of herself because she'd never been given such freedom and the power to pleasure herself before. But after discovering the thrill of giving herself an orgasm, and also discovering how much she enjoyed being watched while she did so, Sera was enthusiastic in her movement, and boisterous with the sensual moans that left her lips.
I wasn't sure how much more I could take before the sadist within me was unleashed. My attempt to ease her back into the life of a courtesan was warring with my needs as a Master. Her perfect submission called to my demand for control, and it was that exact demand that whispered to me now telling me to rip the toy from her hands, toss it across the room and show her what a man like me could do to her.
It was that demand that propelled me from my seat. It rang in my voice when I said, "Enough."
She pulled the toy away, holding it patiently while she awaited her next instruction.
"Drop it to the floor beside you. You won't be needing it any longer."
The vibrator hit the carpeted floor with a dull thud. I laughed softly to hear that she hadn't bothered to switch it off. While it continued buzzing softly where it lay, I circled the bench, studying her body, setting to memory every mark on her skin, every expression that ran across her features as she continued to lay with legs spread open, giving me the perfect view of every intimate inch of her.
"Close your legs and turn over to lie on your stomach."
Gracefully, she obeyed, her expression as serene as it had been when she’d angled her face towards the sun during the tour of the island.
"Let your arms run along the legs of the bench at your front, and let your feet touch the floor on the other end."
My cock throbbed to be inside her, my hands gripping and releasing with the intense need to inflict pain along with pleasure. I paced like a caged tiger as she positioned herself exactly how I'd instructed.
Opening a closet off the side of the room, I found several lengths of rope I would need to transform her into the perfect piece of sensual art. It concerned me that being bound and tied would frighten her back into the world of nightmares from which she'd just recently emerged, but the speed at which we discovered her tolerances was mine to dictate. As such, I would go slowly as I tied each individual knot, but I would not grant her the freedom to cry or complain.
As her Master, it was my duty to lead her to the light, regardless of how deep the shadows were that terrified her.
Kneeling behind her, my eyes admired the cheeks of her ass and I brushed my fingers up the backs of her thighs as I spoke. I laughed softly to see that she stood on tiptoe, her legs not quite long enough for the height of the bench.
"I'm going to bind your thighs to the legs of the bench with a set of knots intended to hold your body still. I won't cut off your circulation in any way, but I want you to understand I won't always warn you before tying you down. My gift of warning is only until you understand that you are no longer in danger of bodily injury or death.”
She trembled as I knew she would, but settled more and more with each knot I tied. Once her legs were secure, I rounded the bench to tie her arms.
"I'll do the same to your arms, Sera. When I'm done, you'll be unable to move. Do not panic."
I'd never given this much explanation to a courtesan before, but in this instance, I was holding the delicate pieces of a fractured woman in my hands. To treat her without precision would be like dropping those pieces to the ground, shattering them in such a way that they could never be reconstructed again.
"Are you still with me, Sera?"
She breathed out, her head hanging down over the edge of the bench. "Yes, Master."
"Good girl," I cooed.
Although she was still with me, she trembled, and I noticed it was the loss of use of her arms that bothered her more than that of her legs. Judging by the lines of scars across her appendages, it didn't surprise me. Any person would know from her skin, how often she'd been bound by her arms.
Once she was sufficiently restrained, I waited beside her long enough for her body to quit shaking, for the muscles to relax, and for her breathing to even out. It took several minutes for Sera to achieve a peaceful calm, and I stood up to circle around, to stand behind her and instruct that she lift her eyes to the mirror so that she could see me in my position at her legs.
Sera’s eyes lifted obediently, widening as she watched me unbutton my shirt and slip it off my shoulders and arms. When I reached for the button of my pants, a shadow crossed her features, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared.
Stripped naked, I allowed her a moment to study me, to see me, to know it was her new Master that would take her body without need of invitation or permission.
Moving slowly, I circled again, stood at Sera’s head and instructed her to relax her neck so that her head would lower back into position. She did as I asked, her hair sliding forward to conceal her face.
I was hard as a rock, my cock rigid and hot, just waiting for the moment it would sink inside her body.
"Your mouth," I decided. "I'll take that first."
Stepping up, I grabbed the back of her hair and pulled her head up. Her eyes lifted, but at the angle I held her, she couldn't reach my eyes. "Open your mouth."
She did so without complaint, and as I pressed the head between her luscious lips, she suckled the tip, her tongue sweeping out to lick the skin, drawing an appreciative sound from my throat. It took every bit of self-restraint I had not to pry open her jaw and shove myself fully inside.
"That's right, my little slut, show me what a obedient and filthy whore does for her Master."
Slowly, she took my length, careful not to scrape the skin with her teeth. And with my fingers fisted in her hair, I fucked her face, chasing a climax I knew I wouldn't reach.
I needed more.
Pulling out, I grinned to hear her mouth pop with the break of suction. I released her hair and lowered her head gently into position, kneeling down so I could whisper, "I'll fuck you until you scream, and then when you can't take any more, I'll fuck you again."
Circling behind Sera, I admired the wet glisten between her legs, how ready she'd become for me.
My fingers ran through the skin, sinking inside her wet heat, thrusting in and out until she was writhing against her bindings. It pleased me to know she couldn't move, that she was helpless and exposed, and that despite the feeling of having lost control, she was getting off on my touch.
"Are you ready for me?"
She moaned out her answer.
A smile tipping my lips, I warned, "I refuse to shackle my violence for you, Sera. You'll just have to accept it when I'm rough."
The bench was the perfect height for me to stand behind her, grip her hips, and thrust myself inside without warning. She cried out in pleasure and surprise, and I gave her body only a second or two to acclimate to my girth, for the intimate muscles of her body to ripple over me before I pulled out and slammed in again.
She cried out, pain mixing with pleasure, necessary roughness bringing her nerve endings to life, allowing her to feel every inch of me inside her, the way my fingers slid up her back, the grip of my hand in her hair as I lifted her head and commanded, "Watch us in the mirror, Sera, see how dirty you are and how much I want you."
Her eyes opened, her neck bent back as I held her head in the perfect position to see my body moving behind her, the sway of my hips as I thrust inside her soaking wet sex. Her lips parted on a guttural moan, her eyelids fluttering open and closed as a climax overtook her.
Muscles tense, she tightened around me so hard and fast that I was forced towards my own climax. I couldn't help it with her, couldn't help that the beast inside me had finally opened its eyes and unfurled its wings bringing with it the violence and fury that had always been a part of me.
When I looked in the mirror after growling out my own release, I saw tears running down her cheeks, her lip quivering as sobs overtook her.
"Fuck," I whispered, knowing exactly why she cried. I hurried to pull myself free of her body so I could untie her from the bench.
For many people, sex is just a physical act, a moment of relief that helps drive hormones and chemicals through their body. But for others, sex is deeply tied to emotion, and an orgasm, especially one of the magnitude that just overtook Sera's body, could open floodgates to emotions trapped inside.
Sera's gates had been torn open, and her tears, the violent quaking of her body, were all the emotions she'd held inside for many years forced to the surface of her mind.
My hands moved quickly to untie the ropes, and when the final one was free, I lifted Sera into my arms, cradled her against my chest and carried her to a couch on the opposite side of the room. I was quiet as she sobbed. I held her tight while her body quaked with every heartbreaking moan that tore from her lips.
I whispered to her quietly, reminded her that she was home now, that she was safe, that she no longer had to fear the men who'd abused her all her life.
The fissures in her psyche cracked, her body releasing all the torment and pain, the nightmares and memories of the abuse she'd suffered at the hands of monsters. And when she finally quieted, when she balled into herself as tightly as she could, I continued to hold her knowing that this moment was a catharsis of sorts, a bloodletting that was the beginning of the process she needed to heal.
Several minutes passed as she stayed silent, and when her breathing slowed to an even beat, I lowered my head to hers and asked, "Are you okay?"
She nodded her head, sniffled loudly and moved to wipe away the tears steadily streaming down her beautiful face. "I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice cracked and broken from the emotion still thundering inside her.
My arms tightened even more and I kissed her softly, chasing one of the tears with my lips so I could taste the salt of her pain, so I could take it inside myself and destroy the nightmares with the heat of my fire.
"For what?"
Sad laughter bubbled out of her. "I think we've had this conversation before."
My shoulders shook with soft laughter that joined hers, my mind racing back to that day on Aiden's lawn.
I didn't respond to the joke she'd made, but eventually she was brave enough to admit, "I didn't mean to cry. I don't even know why I did. I want to be with you. I never want to leave. But sometimes, those men come back to hurt me. Even when they're not in the room, they still have their claws buried so deep inside my body."
Kissing her again, I explained, "It's natural. Your course in this life hasn't been a normal one. Your pain, like so many others, will take time to heal. And I'll be here every step of the way. Guiding you. Protecting you. Wanting you just how you are."
“I fought so hard against those men. Every day, I risked everything just to hold on to a piece of myself. And by the time I finally escaped them, all I wanted was to end it all. I was so afraid of being dragged back into that Hell. So fearful of waking up to find out I never escaped at all.”
Lips pulling up into a shy smile, she asked, "We're both broken people, aren't we?"
Giving the question some thought, I sighed heavily and confessed, "We are, but it's our cracks and splinters that help fit us together. You can rest now, Sera, knowing that if those men ever try to come back after you, they'll have to get through me."
As her head rested against my shoulder, she grew silent again, and in the deep quiet of the room, cradled against the warmth of my body, Sera fell asleep, her energy spent, her consciousness lost to the release she'd experienced.
. . .
The next week was a steady improvement for Sera. During the day when I tended to business and the management of the island, Sera explored her new home. The men and women who lived on the island looked out for her, befriended her, and would report back to me to tell me what she had done during the day and how often she'd smiled.
Our nights were spent in the playroom exploring the lengths she could safely go. Each night broke her a little bit more, but by the seventh night, her tears were gone and she finally found the freedom in submission that should have been there all along.
This night was the same, and after tucking Sera into our bed, after kissing her head and promising her I would still be there in the morning, I found that I couldn't sleep, that my own sorrow had found me once again.
In many ways, Sera reminded me of Elise. They were both so delicate, so haunted by their inability to outrun the cruel missives of their innermost fears. Sera, however, was proving to be stronger, to be more determined to survive the nightmares that plagued her, to fall faster in love with the man she called Master, and to use that love as a means to fight for what she wanted.
For Sera, Aiden was a distant memory, her connection to him lost when he became one of her monsters. It didn't take me long to figure out exactly why he'd done what he'd done.
I still hated the bastard for how he'd abused her, but as a Master, I understood the game he'd played.
While Sera was expelling her own demons each night she spent with me, I knew it was unfair to her that I held on to my own. Walking the length of the halls, I found myself in the kitchen, my eyes seeking and finding the key to a lock that had been closed since the day I had the fence installed.
Grabbing the key and a rose from a vase on the table, I set out to finally say goodbye, to come to terms with the loss I suffered that nearly destroyed my life.
The winds were whipping past me, the night angry as I forced myself to walk to that gate, to unlock it and push it open. The hinges screamed from lack of use, the sand in front of me blowing in soft waves down the beach. This stretch of land wasn't the natural landscape. Many years ago, Elise had complained there wasn't a beach close to the mansion. As a surprise, I'd had white sand trucked in, and I'd given her exactly what she'd wanted.
In the distance, I could see the cliff, could remember so clearly the flowing white nightgown Elise wore as she fell backwards with my child inside her body.
My jaw clenched at the memory, my heart aching to know that, after tonight, I had to let them go. Forcing myself across the distance, I reached the cliff and looked down at the breaking waves beneath. I tried not to remember the horror I felt to see her body on those rocks, to know that within her, my child was lost on those rocks as well. But it flooded me regardless, sweeping in like a tempest storm to drag me back to that moment, crushing my heart all over again.
I lost track of how long I stood on the cliff beneath the light of a full moon, but before I had the chance to release the rose to rest on the rocks where my life had almost ended, a sound caught my attention, a shadow moving quickly in front of the open gate.