Carnal Captive (35 page)

Silence wrapped around her
, yet
the room h
e
ld the echoes of her screams. From the
beginning
, she’d hated revealing her pain, but tonight it no longer bothered her. Master Bay had hurt her. He needed to know.

Her legs wouldn’t stop shak
ing.
He’d left enough slack that she
could
put five, maybe six feet between her
self
and the machine. Although the darkness hampered her, she felt around until she
located
the padded bench and sank onto it. Leaning forward, she assessed. The crotch rope was
still
making its presence known. The strands around her waist dug into her, and she couldn’t lift her hands off her ass. Straining, she extended her fingers and felt her but
tocks. P
unishment had left
welts
in numerous areas.

He could have killed her. Had come close to
it.

Beyond all reason, her pussy was wet. If she was going to be mastered, let it be by a real man. A powerful beast.

Beast.

Chapter Twenty-five

About
an hour
later he returned, freed her from the equipment
without speaking
, and led her out of the room. After
getting rid of the crotch rope and
letting her use the toilet, he took her into his bedroom.
Still silent, h
e
neck
-
tied
her to the footboard, changed
things around
so her hands were against her belly, and pushed her onto the carpet. After throwing a blanket over her, he crawled into bed. A
moment later he dropped a pillow next to her. Wide awake and hurting, she waited for his breathing to lengthen, but it never did.

As morning light seeped into the bedroom, Bay got
up
and slipped
naked into the bathroom.
His slave
probably needed to pee, but he
had to have some
coffee before
approaching her again
. His routine since retiring had
begun
with turning on the news and reading the paper. Today, while waiting for the coffee to perk, he wandered
into
a seldom-used wing of the house.
The bedroom/sitting area and adjacent bathroom had been designed as guest quarters, but from the time he’d first contemplated becoming a slave owner, he’d started making modifications. He’d kept the queen-size bed frame with its heavy head and footboards
, adding
eight
metal rings
.

Depending on his mood, he could spread-eagle his
possession
with
her limbs
on the mattress or lift
ed. H
e’d bought a cage at an online domination site and set it up where the interior decorator had placed a recliner and small table. 

Other
improvements
included a sawhorse-like contraption also from the domination store and a floor-to-ceiling wooden X he’d fixed to the wall. He’d intended to
add other items recommended by Carnal Incorporated, but his business had taken off, leaving him with no time.

Frowning, he put his mind to remembering what day it was. Wednesday, right, which meant he had an afternoon Skype meeting with the attorney handling the incorporation details. That still gave him time.

Suddenly restless and uncomfortable in his skin, he headed toward the kitchen. Before he reached it, however, he turned toward his bedroom. She was kneeling on the floor where he’d left her
,
facing the door.
Let her stare at his naked frame, let her
absorb
what it meant.

If it
was
him, he would have draped the blanket over his shoulders for warmth and modesty,
hidden her marked body,
but then he had use of his hands. Also, he hadn’t spent the better part of the past month
wearing nothing
.

Her flesh bore
inescapable
proof of what had gone down last night.

Standing with his hand braced against the door jam, he mentally replayed several TV interviews
he’d been part of
after a
game. No matter how beat up he’d felt, he’d shrugged off certain questions. “Don’t you feel pain?
How would you judge
your pain tolerance?”

Studying
her
, he
was
tempted to ask her the same thing. Instead, he walked over to her
with his half erection swaying between his legs
.
She tried to shrink away. Of course she did. H
e’d lost his temper
last night.

No, damn it! I didn’t.

Carnal had done a pretty good job of preparing him for slave ownership. One thing they hadn’t told him was how to carry on a conversation.

What was he thinking, he chided
himself
as he
loosened the knot around her throat. They weren’t friends or lovers, damn it. He owned her.

“Into the bathroom. You need to get cleaned up.”

And then what?
her eyes asked.

He didn’t answer because he didn’t know. She was having trouble getting her feet under her which prompted him
grasp
her bent elbows and
lift
. Shoulders back as if she had something to prove, she started toward the bathroom. Seeing her limp made his stomach gr
ind.

Once in the bathroom
, h
e freed her wrists and slid the rope off her waist
. Then
he leaned against
a
wall. Shoulders still back, she rubbed her wrists. Was she waiting him out, wanting him to bring up last night? By his reckoning, the standoff lasted the better part of a minute. Then she sat on the toilet and peed, watching him the whole time. After flushing the toilet, she eased over to the sink and washed her hands. Only then did she look at herself in the
expansive mirror
. Nostrils flaring, she touched the
cut
on her cheek.

“I didn’t mean—“ Shocked, he pushed away from the wall. “Into the shower, now.”

According to
her
file, she’d
held her own during
the daily workouts. They’d found her to be strong with admirable endurance. Watching her gingerly lift
her
leg
s
as she stepped into the shower, he was hard-pressed to reconcile what he was looking at an
d her reputation as a
runner. She touched
her breasts
with the soapy washcloth
, winced
.

“Go on,
” he demanded. “
What are you thinking?”

“You want to know, Master?”

Of course she was afraid of him. “Yes.”

“What
if
I say something you don’t want to hear?”

He was used to staring at other big, aggressive men, not a naked and whipped woman. “I won’t hurt you.”

The way she looked at him, he knew she was trying to decide whether
to believe him
.
“You don’t know what you’re doing, Master
.”

“Don’t I?”

She
brushed
her cheek with the washcloth.
“
When the handlers
whipped
me, it
hurt, but they didn’t injure me.”

“I don’t see any broken bones, damn it.”

“No,” she whispered. Instead of going on,
she put down the washcloth and started shampooing her hair. Thinking that long hair would give him another way
to
control
her,
he’d
stipulated
he didn’t want it cut. Her
s
had
some
wave to it, making him wonder what could be accomplished with a professional cut.

That was something else he hadn’t thought about. How the hell did a master handle his slave’s personal grooming? He made a mental note to ask Carnal staff about that followed by a
reluctant
return to the debate that had kept him awake most of the night. Should he tell any
one
what he’d done?

Although soap obviously
stung her
, s
he didn’t rush her time in the shower
, but
then
he wasn’t in a hurry to face the rest of the day. Only a day ago he’d fantasized about endless hours of being sexually stimulated by a willing and cowed slave.
H
e
knew
he’d come hard and fast
at
first. Then they’d get onto the fun stuff—for him anyway. He’d look
ed
forward to judging her performance and punish
ing
her
any and every time that performance fell short of his standards. Hell, he’d make her suffer no matter what she did simply because he could.

Because, finally, no one was there to make him follow the damn rules.

Steam enveloped him, drawing his attention back to
the room
. She’d stepped out
of the shower
and was holding a towel
long
enough to cover her pubic area to her breasts.

“What did they tell you about covering yourself?”

“That I should never…”

She hated having to say those words. Strange. He’d think that after not wearing a damn thing for weeks she’d have gotten used to parading around naked. Besides, she had a beautiful body—all except for the bands circling her neck, wrists, and ankles.

And the countless marks he’d left on her.

“Come here.”

After a too-long hesitation, s
he did as he ordered.
Breathing in her freshly washed scent, he pulled
the towel
out of her hands and began drying her off. Watching her reaction, he lightly patted her cheeks. She didn’t wince. H
owever, she sucked in her breath when h
e ran the towel over her
whipped
shoulders
. H
is cock brushed against her
. S
he trembl
ed
but
whether from
fear, anticipation—yeah, right—d
iscomfort
,
or something else
he wasn’t sure.

“Spread your legs.”

A barely
audible
moan slipped from her. “Master?”

“
Don’t think, just do
.”

The instant he touched her
pussy,
he
wondered if he’d made a mistake. His intention
had been
to determine whether she was hurt
there
.
When she remained in place and her breathing leveled out, he tried to relax. Instead, he wanted her. Now. Here.

A marriage of pain and pleasure was responsible for Carnal Incorporated’s impressive track record
of
turning out well-trained sex slaves. With her body so sensitive, would she be even more receptive
to sex
?

Working slower than his cock wanted, he repeatedly glided the towel over her crotch
. She’d curled her fingers into fists when he started. Now, moment by moment, they straight
ened. H
er breathing picked up
, and she swayed slightly
. A part of him acknowledged he was trying to atone for last night, not that he’d tell her.

Curious about how she’d react, he
carefully
worked the towel down the inside of her right thigh.
R
each
ing
her knee, he moved over to the other leg and began an upward journey. She widened her stance
,
continued to
sway. The height discrepancy meant he had to crouch and bend over at the same time
. H
is back objected.

“Into the bedroom,” he ordered.

Her repeated blinks said she hadn’t expected him to speak,
maybe
because she’d slipped into th
e
zone
her handlers had warned him about. Knowing his tender administration
might have been
responsible confused him. Did he want to do that to her?