Chapter Eight
Anton nudged Annette. She’d fallen asleep in his arms on the table. “Kiska, wake up. You need to eat something. You can sleep later on the plane.”
He pressed a plate with a sandwich and some fries into her hands and a soda, all courtesy of the club’s kitchen. As she ate, he noticed Katya standing off to the corner, watching him. She looked lonely. Most of the others at the party were engaged in their own play in other parts of the downstairs space while some had gone back upstairs to play on the equipment there. Many were experimenting with the arousal cream with equally stunning results.
Anton motioned for the dark-haired ballerina, and Katya made her way over to them. She still wore the pink dress she’d worn at the ballet.
“Haven’t you played with anyone tonight?”
She shrugged. “I was waiting for you, Sir.”
“I wish you’d find someone for yourself. You’re so sweet. Surely there is someone who will make you happy.”
She looked down and blushed. “Just play with me. Please?”
Anton felt his pet tense beside him. So she was jealous of Katya. Did she really think he would allow Sergio and Ivan to fuck her but then he would remain only hers at a party like this? Annette would fuck whoever he told her to fuck, and then she would watch him do the same with whoever he chose for himself. The sooner she learned that, the better.
He patted the leather table on the other side of him. “Come, sit with me.”
Katya climbed up on the table beside him.
“Why aren’t you wearing something slinky like I like?” Anton asked.
She shrugged. “I didn’t want to assume. After the way things ended with us before.”
“Take off that dress.”
Katya rushed to undo the front laces that cinched the bodice together, and then she turned away from him. “Unzip me, Sir?”
Anton slid the zipper down. The tension coming from Annette on the other side of him was almost unbearable. It infuriated him. A more reasonable side of him knew she would be used to a very different type of relationship. And there were a lot of reasons for her to be upset by this—reasons that might feel like survival reasons. Still, the sooner she learned, the better.
He leaned in and took one of Katya’s nipples into his mouth. He chuckled at the taste of the white chocolate powder she’d dusted over her breasts.
He pulled back. “You didn’t want to assume?”
She looked guilty. “I’d hoped. I would never assume.”
A moment later Annette, wrapped in the blanket, had bolted off the leather table and toward the stairs.
“Excuse me for just a moment,” he said.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to...”
Anton held a hand up. “No, it’s fine. She will not control who I play with. Stay right here. Do not move.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Anton took his time crossing the room, and going up the stairs. It had been beyond idiotic to bring Annette here before she was properly trained. He was sure others at the party had noticed these little behavioral issues. It made him look like an amateur.
When he reached the top of the stairs, he scanned the room until he found her sitting in a circular booth in the farthest corner. He took a deep breath. He had to keep reminding himself she wasn’t one of them. She’d been under an enormous amount of stress the last twenty-four hours. All she wanted was safety and security—for her and her sister. Part of him knew he was being unreasonable and pushing her too hard too fast. But another part of him was angry that he should make any concessions for her at all. She was his to do with as he wished. That was the deal. She couldn’t turn around and change the deal.
He slid into the booth across from her. Maybe he should break her all the way down. There would have to be punishment when they got back to the house.
She either hadn’t noticed him, or was pretending not to notice him as she sat there sobbing.
“Did I at any point give you permission to leave?”
“No, Master.”
“You’ve done nothing but lie to me.”
She looked up, startled. “How have I lied to you?”
“Did you or did you not promise yourself to me as my slave to do with as I wished to let your sister go? And did you or did you not make this promise only last night? You’ve got a very short attention span where it regards your sister’s safety.”
“Is my sister going to be safe if you get bored with me?”
“Who says I’m bored with you?”
Annette shrugged.
“You fucked Ivan, and you fucked Sergio. Did you really think I wouldn’t take whoever I wanted for my own pleasure? Do you think I’m some cuckhold who sits around letting his woman play around with other men while being faithful myself? No. You fucked Sergio and Ivan because I wanted to watch you submit to anyone I told you to submit to. If I told you to fuck every man here, you would do it. If I told you to fuck only me, you would do it. If I fucked every woman here and wanted you to watch, you would do it. Is all of this clear?”
“Yes, Master,” she whispered.
Anton leaned in close. He put his hand under her chin and forced her to meet his gaze. “Understand this. You are mine. Irrevocably. Any chance you may have had to escape me is gone. Every second I spend near you only makes me want to possess you more, push you more. I want you to submit to me without question or hesitation because you are so lost to me you cannot think of any other action you could take. You have NO idea what you gave yourself to, but you will find out. I can be very kind to you, but such a reward demands your absolute loyalty and obedience. Do you want to earn my kindness?”
“Yes, Master.”
“Then get yourself cleaned up and come back downstairs to me. I have plans for you.”
Anton got up from the table and went back downstairs. He didn’t turn around. If she wasn’t downstairs on that table with him in fifteen minutes there was going to be hell to pay. Something dark and twisted had awakened inside of him. Something cruel. It scared him beyond anything that had ever scared him.
For years he’d been playing a role. He’d had a beautiful, polished exterior. He’d been smooth and polite. He’d had his subs over the years and played by the rules. Everything by the books. He’d lied so well he’d convinced himself that this was who he was. But from the moment Annette had driven up to the house, the moment she’d walked into his lair and offered herself in trade, a dark, howling wolf had stirred inside him. Suddenly all moral reasoning had flown out the window. She would earn every kindness. She would obey him perfectly or she would be punished. He would not let her make him weak.
Too late, said the wolf in his mind.
When he returned to Katya, the anger must have still been on his face because she flinched. Even watching his little ballerina flinch filled him with a sense of power. He felt as though some warning light were going off in the back of his brain, warning him to reign this back in. Whatever had been unleashed from its cage had to go back and quickly.
“I want you and Annette to perform for me. I want to watch the two of you fondle and paw at each other. I want to see you get each other off. Are you agreeable to this?”
“Y-yes, Sir.”
He prowled closer to her and whispered “Does this side of me excite you?” He only had to put his hand between her legs to know that it did.
At that moment, Annette arrived.
“Drop the blanket and come here, kiska.”
She did as she was told.
“Good girl.” He’d spent so much time trying to convince himself he wasn’t a monster, wasn’t a predator that he’d never paused to consider how good he would feel out of his cage. He pulled the tube of arousal cream from his pocket. “Both of you, sit on the edge of the table and spread your legs.”
Both Katya and Annette did as he asked. He rubbed some of the cream between first Annette’s legs, then Katya’s.
“Now both of you scoot up to the middle of the table together.”
They did, and then both looked to him for further direction.
“Well? Entertain me.”
***
Annette had slept some on the plane, but she was still exhausted when they reached the house. She just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep this very long and confusing day off. But Anton didn’t lead her upstairs to their room, instead he took her down to the dungeons.
“Please, Master. I’m sorry. Please just let me sleep.” If all he planned to do was endlessly punish her for the smallest infractions, she didn’t think she could handle it.
“Oh, I’m letting you sleep.” He unlocked the door to cell B. “Get in.”
As soon as she stepped inside, he shut the door and locked it. The room was dark except for the light from the hallway that shone in through the barred window.
Despite being alone in a dark cell her mind kept going back to the party and Katya. She wanted to hate the woman, but the ballerina was just so… likable. Annette couldn’t blame Anton for wanting her. Annette had kind of wanted her.
It had been a strange realization—the moment her jealousy had turned to lust and she’d suddenly lost all inhibitions. She’d never been with a woman before.
Anton had ordered her to spank Katya. She’d assumed it would be the other way around, given how irritated he’d been with her, but the ballerina seemed to like it. Then they’d petted and caressed and kissed each other for the amusement of Anton and the small crowd that had gathered around them. Annette had felt a bit like a porn star. It was intended as a performance, but in the end, she’d liked playing with the other woman. And now she was having all sorts of questions about what that meant.
She’d once taken a quiz in one of those sex-focused women’s magazines. “How Bi are you?” The results had proven inconclusive. Tonight’s activity had been the same mixed bag. But whatever her orientation may or may not be, she couldn’t deny that touching and being touched by the slight ballerina had been far more pleasant than she’d imagined it could be.
So when Anton had fucked Katya right there in front of her, she hadn’t been able to work up the same jealousy and hurt as earlier in the evening.
The lock turned and the door opened again. Anton tossed a couple of pillows and some thick blankets at her. Then he came inside and handed her a small black box with a button on it.
“That’s a panic button. If you push it, it will notify me. Do not push that button unless you are in a dire emergency.” A moment later the steel band was locked around her wrist again, confining her to the property, possibly forever.
“Master, please don’t leave me down here.”
“Sleeping down here is your punishment for earlier tonight. In the morning all will be forgiven and we start fresh.” He didn’t say another word to her. The door shut. The lock turned. Footsteps receded, and she was alone in the dark cell.
Annette began to cry again. She should have been out of tears by now. These weren’t nice, polite, quiet tears. Being so alone for the first time since she’d gotten here, she suddenly had the space to release all the emotion pent up inside her. She wasn’t even sure what every emotion was, only that loud pathetic sobs seemed somehow cathartic.
When she’d finally worn herself out and wrung every complicated emotion out, Annette arranged the bedding and pillows, slipped out of her dress from the ballet, and lay down. Once she was settled, she thought she could hear classical music coming from down the hallway. Piano music. The song sounded familiar, but she couldn’t quite place it. A door opened, and the music got louder for a moment, then the door shut, and it muffled into the background again.
Brian’s face appeared in the door’s window all of a sudden, a dark, maniacal smile shadowed by the light at his back.
“Are you a present for me? Were you a bad girl tonight? I couldn’t sleep and then I heard the most beautiful music… no, not the piano… crying.”
Annette’s hand closed over the panic button wondering if she should push it. This seemed like it could quickly turn into a dire emergency.
“Brian, I think you should go back to bed.” It was Gabe’s voice, the one man in this house who was possibly not a complete psycho.
Annette’s hand relaxed against the panic box and she let out a relieved sigh.
Brian grumbled. “Anton stole my key anyway. I should get more keys made to my own dungeons so I can play with the bad girls.” He smiled one last time at Annette, then went back to his room; the piano music got louder when he opened the door, then faded down again.
She caught a shock of surfer-blond hair as it bounced off the light, and then the key was in the lock and Gabe stepped inside. He locked the door behind him. A moment later there was a snick sound and a single light in the middle of the room came on.
***
Anton had changed out of his suit and was checking spa email, trying to unwind, when there was a knock on the door.
“What the hell, man?” Gabe said, barging right in. The knocking must have just been a courtesy.
Anton sighed and closed the laptop, placing his reading glasses on top. “It’s five am. I’m very tired.”
Gabe seemed to have enough energy at that moment to fuel them both. Anton had never formed a very strong opinion of Gabe despite their close interaction over the years. He didn’t know him as well as Brian, but he’d known him well enough to think he could be trusted. Anton expected to have conflict with Brian. That was almost a given with anyone and Brian, but not with the usually calm and collected surfer.
“You obviously have things you want to say,” Anton said. “So say them. I’ve had a very long day.”
Gabe rolled his eyes at this. “You are the most schizophrenic motherfucker I have ever met. What the hell is wrong with you? Annette told me everything that’s gone on since she got here. You’re running hot and cold. I may be newer to all this but I’ve seen you with other subs. This isn’t how you are. It’s like you… went evil or something.”
“Annette is not a sub. She is my property.”
Gabe had by this point begun to frantically pace back and forth across the floor of the large suite. “Well, I don’t treat things I own this badly. I don’t scratch up my car just because I can. I never threw a surfboard against a wall just because it was mine. When you truly own something shouldn’t you take better care of it, not worse? She isn’t there yet, but she is going to hate you. And once she does there will be no coming back from it.”
Anton glared. “Are you finished?”
“I don’t know why I even bother.” Gabe started to leave in the same swirl of angry energy he’d erupted into the room in, but Anton’s voice stopped him.
“I shouldn’t have taken her out in public so soon. I let my ego take over. I should have kept her here until she was trained. There were too many moving parts tonight that I couldn’t control, and I lost it with her. Okay?”
“You know you’re not the good guy, right?”
Anton had figured that out hours ago. It was chilling to wake up into your own story as the villain. “I know.”
Gabe gave him a disgusted look and left without another word. Anton turned off the bedside lamp and tried to sleep, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t stop thinking about Annette in that dark cell by herself. What were her real crimes? Being human? Being scared? Of course she didn’t trust him. Of course if she was attracted she might feel jealous. Of course she’d worry he might lose interest and both her and her sister’s life might be at stake. It was unreasonable to expect so much of her so soon. What was he afraid of?
And why was he so hell bent on destroying this before it could really start? He’d never thought of himself as self-destructive.
In the desperate urge not to lose this almost magical scenario he’d stumbled into, he’d forgotten there was a very real human woman at his total mercy. And he wanted a genuine bond with her. He shouldn’t have taken her out in public so soon. What was the rush?
Why was she in the dungeon? For insulting him at a party she wasn’t prepared to deal with, two days after she’d met him? He was the one at fault here. Not her. He just didn’t know how to fix it while still maintaining control.
This may have been uncharted territory but it wasn’t as though he’d never had a long-term sub. He had to let go of the idea that Annette was something completely different. She wasn’t. The only difference was that she couldn’t just leave him. If he couldn’t handle that level of power then he was never the person he thought he was.
Anton was at a crossroad. If he didn’t fix this immediately, he’d become Brian. Brian actually had a history that made his behavior almost understandable. What was Anton’s excuse besides simple corruption of power?
He’d never be able to sleep until he fixed this. Reluctantly, he got up and went down to the dungeon. He couldn’t apologize. It would show weakness, and she’d only manipulate this loophole later. He would have to show her by his actions over time that she could trust him. And hell, he wasn’t sure he could trust himself so why should he expect it of her? He felt beyond shaken by his recent behavior. He’d always thought he was more in control than this.
The cell door creaked as he pushed it open. Immediately, she stirred. Had she somehow actually managed to fall asleep?
“Annette, come to bed.”
Without a word, she gathered her blankets and pillows and clothes and walked out of the cell, avoiding his gaze like a puppy who’d been kicked by its master—as if he needed more reminding of what he was.
In their room, she still didn’t speak.
“Leave the blankets on the floor; they came from another room. The pillows go in here.”
She left the blankets and took her pillows to the bed and silently got in. This was possibly beyond repair.
“Go to sleep. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
Anton turned off the lamp and got in on his side. The bed vibrated every few seconds from her crying. He hesitated, but then moved in closer and gently touched her shoulder. She stopped crying for a moment and tensed.
He didn’t know how to comfort her. He was the monster she needed comfort from.
“Do you regret trading yourself for your sister, now?”
There was a long pause. He thought he might have to repeat the question, but finally she said, “No. Knowing what I know now, I’m just glad it’s not her having to be trapped with you.”
Everything was broken.