Carnal Captive (13 page)

When
Damek
again
rake
d
the blade over her thigh, she stared at the ceiling and the restraints that
had
reduced her to
an object
for her captors to play with. At first
the icy
water on her abused skin had been more painful than the whipping itself, but after a while she’d gone numb. She’d nearly made the mistake of letting the men know, but if she
had
,
they would have
reach
ed
her somehow,
probably
by beating her again. Feeling a small measure of victory, she’d continued her helpless dance the whole time she was in the shower.
Let them believe she was utterly powerless. Only she knew the truth.

Much as she wanted to close her eyes
,
she didn’t dare.
At least
they couldn’t stop her thoughts, her memories
.

She’d rented
the rural guest house
, not
just
because it was the size
and configuration she’d been looking for
, but because a large window
ov
erlook
ed
several acres
. No matter what the weather, she
felt
connected to
her surroundings
. T
he spring day
now
blooming
in her mind
wasn’t particularly warm, but there’d been enough heat recently that plants and trees were sending up new growth.
Pale
green leaves brighten
ed
tree branches.

Damek squirted foam over her pubic area and spread it out with his gloved hand. She clenched her sex muscles, causing the men to laugh. As the blade began
its job
, she
again left
her body
. The day
in her mind
became perfect. The temperature was in the mid-seventies, and there was a light breeze. She’d returned from her run and was planting
some plants
she’d picked up at the nursery.
D
irt
was
under her nail
s
. When she leaned close to her handiwork, she
caught
the
clean
smell of violets.
Buds on t
he rose
bushe
s she’d planted last year were swelling.
Before long
she’d cut
some
flowers
and bring them inside.

Maybe she’d leave the
roses
to grow, capture the vibrant reds
, lavenders,
and yellows in a painting. Add a bee or insect as whimsy.

“I’m not sure what I make of this,” Damek
said
as he continued the relentless denuding. “
Gotta
hand it to her for being able to keep
so
still, but I prefer more resist
a
nce.”

“Me too.”

Was she mistaken or was that male breath on her thigh? Despite her resolve
to lose herself in the
beautiful
world beyond this hell
, she
needed
to see where the men were.

Reno grinned. “Well, there you are. Thought you might be taking a vacation.”

“
I’m making progress
,” Damek informed her. “
For the record,
this is going to be a regular ritual. As for whether you
’ll be
strung up every time
, well we haven’t decided
.”

Moving to her side, Reno planted his hand over her stomach and pushed down. “There are
a handful of
rewards
for
being a good little bitch.
More to the point,
it’ll take
less effort on our parts if you
spread
your legs
and take your shaving like an obedient
slave should.”

Damek closed
his fingers
around a sex lip and pulled it taut. Horrified, she held her breath.

“
That got her attention
,” Reno said. “
I wonder
what it’ll take to get her begging
us for a little attention there
.
You done?
”

“
Not yet
.” After a pinch
that brought tears to her eyes
, Damek let go. “B
ut
what do you care?”

“Just asking.”

“Hold on, cunt.” The blade touched where he’d pinched. “I believe in doing a thorough job.”

Wasn’t she already
clean-shaven
down there? Did he really have to go after every last hair
, scare her so
? Reno
was
tickling her belly
, making
staying still even harder. In some regards she was thankful for the multitude of
restraints
.

The too-sharp blade glided over her
labia
.
With every intimate touch, she felt as if she was losing more than just hair.
Herself maybe.
Damek might be
repulsed by
what he called her bush
, but he obviously had no objection to
assuming
responsibility for getting rid of it.
The bastard enj
oyed his work
, loved the awful intimacy
.

“There.” 
Damek slapp
ed
her between the legs. Caught off guard, she gasped and s
urged
against her restraints.

“Ah, that’s what I wanted to see.”
Was
Damek talking to
her? If so,
she was damned if she’d acknowledge
his comment
. Mentally cursing her loss of self-control, she vowed not to
let it happen
again.

“
There’s
her clit,” Reno exclaimed. “You finally got it to come out of hiding.
N
ot a bad size.
Y
ou done?”

“I believe so. I’ll wash her off, then we’ll know
for sure
.”

Please, n
o more freezing water, anything but that!

To her surprise, Damek gently wiped the remaining foam off her sex with a warm, damp washcloth
while Reno
teased
her belly. Afraid of
what
was
com
ing
next, she held her breath.
If only she could mentally go back to spring planting.

“Much, much better.” Damek
again
slapped her pussy. “And it’s a lovely cunt. Those lips of hers are just begging for decoration.”

Reno s
cratched
her stomach, then joined Damek between her splayed legs.
“
You’re right
.
It’d be a damn shame to ignore them
.” As she died a thousand deaths, he pushed
her labia
around. “
And that’s not all.
”
Chuckling, h
e ground his finger
against
her clit.
Oh God, good!
Shocked at her heated response
,
she clenched her teeth and stared at
the ceiling.

“
This poor little nub’s been ignored long enough
,
”
Reno announced
. “It can hardly wait to get its due.”

Chapter Nine

Shari and her torturers were in a pace
that took her back to
the
worst nightmares
of her childhood when there
’d been
no escaping her
step
father’s anger
. After freeing her from the table, they’d refastened her hands behind her and led her down a dark set of stairs to this—this what? What
illumination
there was came from several low-wattage
lights
fastened to stone walls.
The air smelled of unwashed bodies, urine, and fear
.

A dungeon. Either that or a madman’s idea of jail cells.

The
y’d
stopped in
a common
area
with
several straight-backed chairs, what
looked like
a large sawhorse, a pillar with chains
attacked to it
.
A
half dozen
small cells with
thick
bars
flanked the open area.
No one was in the
m
but thin blankets
on the
narrow
cots
told
her that
several people—probably other women like herself—had been in there
. Staring at the
dismal enclosures,
it took all she had not to vomit.

While Reno ran his fingers over the marks left on her breasts by the leather strap, Damek walked over to a metal
cabinet
,
opened
the
door
, and brought out something in a cloth bag.

“Good choice,” Reno said. “However, I
assume
you don’t intend to keep them in her long.” He ran his hand under his shorts’ elastic waistband. “This is what belongs in those holes.”

Please, no
!

“The timing of this part of her indoctrination is inexact, surely you know that.”

“Indoctrination? We’re turning her into a whore, a hungry sex slave.”

Shari’s stomach rumbled, distracting her from
the hideous words
she’d just heard. She
didn’t think she was
hungry. However, she was thirsty. Hoping they wouldn’t notice, she worked saliva into her mouth.
The worst of her thirst taken care of at least for now, she reluctantly acknowledged her
just
-
denuded sexual organs. Women really did this willingly?
H
er captors could see everything.

She felt less than human.

“A whore spreads her legs for money.” Damek
again
sounded like a teacher. “
This slut will learn to spread hers to keep from being hurt. And because she hopes to get a little pleasure out of the deal.
Otherwise, there isn’t much point to being alive, not that she can do anything about it.
”

Don’t say that!

Walking over to her, Damek
all but
shoved the bag in her face. She tried to turn away only to have him grab her neck chain and yank her head down. “
For the record,
I
want to
commend you on your ability to keep your mouth shut.
The rest of you
r miserable body
, unfortunately for you and fortunately for us, needs a hell of a lot of work.
”

“She screamed
in the shower and
when I was
giving her her first lesson in pain
,
” Reno pointed out
. Closing his thumbs and forefingers over her nipples, he helped keep her bent over.
“She’ll do it again.”

“True.” Damek tugged her even lower. “At least she hasn’t
been asking the damn questions so many of them do
.”

“But she eventually will
, unless we make sure she
can
’t.”

“That something you want to do now?” Damek asked.

“Seems like the thing to do. Adds to
the sensation
overload
.”

She could be a dog for all the
credit
they were giving her
mind
.
S
he had no choice but to
whatever they wanted her to, but they
also
spoke as if
her opinion didn’t matter—because
to them
it didn’t.

“What if you
keep
her
company
while I get
what we need to keep her quiet
,” Reno s
aid. “
Then we can get to the fun stuff.”