Nearly Broken (33 page)

“What makes you
think she’s any different in here than she was out there? Lots
of girls like to screw around.”

“Are you saying
you chose a ho on purpose?”

He shrugged
nonchalantly. “Hell if I know. She was clean. That’s all
I cared about.”

Clean. That repulsed
me. Was
he
even clean? Did he go around spreading disease to
all his sex slaves without a freaking care in the world? Or feed them
birth control so they wouldn’t have to seed his hell spawn?

Bitterly, I asked,
“How did you get her? Did you pluck her off the street when you
saw her, or did you practically run her off the road like they did
with me?”

“Neither. I
bought her at auction.”

Curious, my head
whipped his way. I hated talking to him like he was a decent human
being, but I was sure he held answers no one else could give me.
“Auction? Is that how I got stuck with your brother?”

His face tightened. He
didn’t like my tone of voice when I said the word
brother
.
Still, he let it go and answered, “No. My brother put in a
special request for a girl with your features. He never knew I knew
this, but you’re very similar to a girl he had a thing for in
college. Someone he wanted, but who didn’t want him in return.”

Special request.
Mother fucker. The police were right. I fit the profile for that
creep, so he could play out some sick fantasy with a girl that knew
what a piece of shit he was even at a young age. And if he was angry
with her, it explained why he was always so rough, why the bruises
took up permanent residence during my six month imprisonment. My head
slammed back against the wall, the sharp pain a welcomed distraction.
“You said your brother didn’t know how to handle me. Was
I supposed to be like Veronica?”

He chuckled. “You
mean
broken
? Yes, to some degree. Though different handlers
get different results.”

My stomach soured. I
knew
that was supposed to be my fate. “Why wasn’t
I broken?” I asked quietly, remembering Veronica asleep in my
lap. “Did my handlers really die?”

“No.”

No? NO? You mean those
shitheads that led me to believe they’d loved and cared for me
since birth were still alive? My jaw tensed so much I thought the
pressure would snap the bone right off.

“You were
stubborn and my brother was impatient. It took six months to strip
and begin replacing your memories. He refused to wait any longer, so
the stuff about your new life wasn’t all there yet. Then,
instead of taming you, he just threw you in the basement.” He
caught my rolling eyes. “What? Still think you can’t be
tamed?”

“Why even
bother?” I asked rudely. “Why haven’t you just
thrown me back to the brainwashers?”

Something about that
amused him, and his lips curled into a sinister grin. “And lose
that spark inside of you? You have no idea how delicious you’ll
be to me tamed. Because whether you love or hate our relationship,
you’ll have emotions coming out of you that I just can’t
get from the broken girls.” His eyes fiery, he looked ready to
devour me right there, and my insides squirmed in a bad way. “No,
Natalie. I don’t want you broken.” He quickly snatched my
wrist and I cried out as he gripped it too hard. The next thing I
knew, his other hand forced mine to grab his cock through his jeans,
and I felt firsthand how stiff he was. “That spunk inside you
has me throbbing with anticipation, and it’s driving me fucking
nuts.”

It was scary the way
he looked at me, and I worried he’d alter his ways to
accommodate raping me right this very second. So I did the only thing
I could. I turned away, refusing to fuel the fire by letting him
connect with my eyes, which he always seemed to seek out. Laughing,
he released me.

“You’re
wasting your time,” I said tiredly. “I’d rather be
brainless like Veronica. I won’t give you want you want. Not
willingly.” Raping me was bad enough. I didn’t think I
could handle the traumatic mental damage that would come along with
it if I was sound of mind.
Just break me now.

“If you
say so,” he replied condescendingly.

I sat there with my
mouth shut, completely uncomfortable. I was sitting in a slip that
gave a clear picture of my breasts to a man that was proving to be
just as sadistic as his brother. Maybe more so, because he was able
to hide behind good looks and twisted concepts.

“Veronica,”
he called firmly, waking her from slumbering in my lap. “Come.”

Oh, no.
She
obediently climbed onto his lap and began necking him.

“You want to get
in on this, Natalie?”

My stomach did a
flip-turn. That question had zero humor behind it. I most definitely
did
not
want to get in on that. I ignored him and kept my gaze
straight ahead. Sighing his disappointment, he dug for something in
his jeans. That all too familiar
snap
made me jump when he
popped open his knife. Veronica, however, was completely oblivious.
Hadn’t she learned to recognize that yet? To fear it?

“You remember
this game, don’t you?” he teased darkly.

“Just cut her,”
I said heartlessly. “I’ve seen her body. There’s no
point in stopping you. You’re just going to do it again in
twenty minutes anyway.”

“Touché,”
he commended. Unfortunately, my revelation didn’t stop him from
slicing a one-inch cut on her shoulder. What was surprising was that
she actually moaned in pleasure, not in pain. So
n of a bitch! She
got off on the cutting!
He languidly licked at her cut, sucking
and wiping it free of blood.
Gross
.

“Veronica, I
have a special toy in my bedside table. Go fetch.”

Worry crushing my
chest, I dared to watch and see what she retrieved. It was some type
of collar, and I instinctively tried to slide sideways, but his hand
reached out and gripped my knee.

“Relax,”
he said in a soothing voice, “it’s for her.”

I could feel him
staring at me, but I couldn’t stop staring at his hand, fearful
of what that collar could do.

“Unless you’d
like it, of course.” His hand slid up my thigh and this time,
he let me squirm free. He ordered her to lift her hair, which she was
more than happy to oblige. Like a fucking dog, he secured the collar
tightly around her neck.

Finally finding some
courage, I meekly asked, “What is that?”

“Something I
haven’t used since my last house guest.” He waited for my
gaze to connect with his. With a look of humor, he explained that she
was
very disobedient
. Was that a shot at me? Perhaps a warning
of a possible future? “It’s a shock collar.”

He waved the remote in
the air. “Come play with me, Natalie. Maybe you can shock some
of the sense you say she’s lacking right back into her.”

I shot him a look of
loathing but he only fed off my anger. “You’ll end up
making her worse. I thought you didn’t like dead fucks?”

Ignoring me, he
remarked, “Let’s try the lowest setting, shall we? One.”

I heard a weak buzz. I
startled when she yelped, jumping right there in his lap. She patted
at her neck, understanding that the source of her discomfort began
there. It was over as soon as it started and Veronica forgot about it
immediately, already tending to the far side of his neck again.

He held the remote
between us. “Press two,” he commanded.

“What? No!”

Firmly, he stated,
“Press the two, or I’m going to press the four.”

Don’t do it.
He’s going to do it whether you play the game or not. You’ve
already proven that.

“No,” I
whispered.

He didn’t
hesitate to press the number four. She screamed and actually grabbed
for the collar this time. I bit my tongue to remain quiet, but I felt
awful for what he was doing to her, and she was slower to recover
this time.

Holding out the remote
again, he repeated, “Press two, and before you say no, I’m
going to tell you that
we
will be shocking her four more
times. If you hesitate or refuse, I’ll punish her with a much
higher number. Now, either you press two or I’m pressing six.”

“Six!” I
bellowed.

“She’s
getting shocked either way, love.” I cringed when he called me
that. “Will it be a two or a six?”

He was dead serious. I
didn’t want to play this horrible game, but I didn’t want
her to suffer because of me either. This wouldn’t even be
happening if I hadn’t gone to the police and let him discover
my location.

I took a deep breath,
and with a shaky finger, I pressed the two. Veronica jumped, but like
the first shock, it scared her more than hurt her and I sighed in
relief.

“Time for the
six.” He buzzed her before I could object. She really screamed
this time and my hands went to cover my mouth.

“Whoo!” he
hollered. “Even I felt the jolt that time. Veronica, get off my
lap and lie on the rug.”

Shit!
She
actually did it. Lying flat on her back across from us, her gaze only
had eyes for him. I cringed when he held the remote out for me again,
making me wait while he decided on a number.

“Hit the eight.”

Eyes bulging, I
screamed, “What? You said I’d be the lower number!”

“You are,”
he replied matter-of-factly. “I’m about to hold the eight
down for five seconds. You’ll be doing her a favor getting her
used to it.”

My jaw quivered,
anticipating the pain an eight would cause. He was heartless, staring
coldly at me like that.

“Please,”
I begged, a single tear trickling down. “Leave her alone.”

Clearly disappointed
in me, he held the eight down. I yelled my protests but they were
drowned out by her screams. She writhed around on the floor, trying
desperately to remove the collar, not understanding that she couldn’t
even if she could comprehend how to unlock the latch.

Those were the longest
five seconds of my life and I wasn’t even the one in pain. That
round took a lot out of her and she lay there whimpering and crying.
Zombie or not, she could still feel pain, and because I hesitated, I
increased her trauma. Her tears instigated mine and she looked up at
me pathetically.

“Last one.
What’s say we go out with a bang? Hold the ten for ten
seconds.”

“Fuck you!”
I screamed. “Look at her! She could barely take the last one.
You want her drooling into a damn cup for the next week?”

He dangled the remote.
“Do it. Or I’ll hold it for a minute.”

“You wouldn’t
dare,” I snipped.

He tilted his head at
me, accepting my challenge. “Now you have to hold it for twenty
seconds.”

Gasping at his
brutality, I smacked the remote from his hand, knocking it clear
across the room. My face constricted, the muscles in my body cringing
all over, expecting to be slapped at any moment. At least if I was
unconscious, I wouldn’t have to partake in this cruel game
anymore.

But he surprised me by
smiling. Unnerved, I didn’t know what to expect. “Now
that’s going to cost her the whole minute.”

My heart beat
furiously as he collected the remote, then pulled my ass away from
the wall so he could sit behind me. He wrapped around and grasped my
hands in his, trapping me.

“And you’re
going to be the one to do it.”

I knew the moment he
surrounded me that he was going to say that, but I still wasn’t
prepared. I broke down right there, my hands shaking violently in
his. I shook my head. “No. You can’t make me do it. I
won’t do it.”

“Oh, you’d
be surprised what I could convince you is in your best interest to
do.”

He easily, and very
painfully on my part, squished my finger down on the ten. I tried to
wiggle free, tried to block out the blood-curdling screams I was
inadvertently causing, but I couldn’t do either. All I could do
was close my eyes off to the jerky, seizure-like movement before me.

He counted in my ear,
releasing me after just ten seconds. Veronica collapsed lifelessly to
the floor. I trembled in his arms, refusing to ask why he stopped
fifty seconds shy of the one minute mark.

“Let’s
give her a minute to rest.”

How could he say that
so calmly? It just sickened me how one minute he could seem caring,
then cruel the next. “Why?” I croaked, drainage clogging
my throat. “Why are you doing this to her?”

His mouth nuzzling my
ear, he whispered, “There’s a way you could end this
right now, if you’re interested.”

Shit
. My head
fell forward.

“You know I’m
going to fuck her after this regardless. I’ll drop the shock
therapy if you’ll help me get off again.”

I closed my eyes and
rolled forward in his grasp. My intestines ached from all the heaving
I’d done the last two days. Was this the whole reason for the
damn game? To get me to watch again? To get me to
play?

I looked to the
remote in my hand and considered my options.
Always two fucking
options with him
. Watching her have sex, which she seemed to
enjoy for some horrible, unfathomable reason, was definitely the
lesser of two evils here.

“Natalie?”
he asked, pushing a decision out of me. Weakly, I nodded my head,
already filling myself with regret.

The bastard didn’t
even let her recover. He leaned over and stuck his fingers inside
her, her eyes opening so wide she looked like a freaking cyborg being
activated for the first time. Veronica didn’t seem to mind
though, already enjoying the attention.

Fucking sick.

He played with her a
bit, literally shaking the wooziness from her body. I couldn’t
watch as he stripped off his clothes and pulled her on top of him.
She must’ve been anxious to get going because he instructed her
to wait.

Then he called for me.
When I forced my head to turn, it confused me as to why his hand
reached towards me. “Come sit in front of her.”