Filthy Beast

by B. B. Hamel

  “If you have to ask, you’re not ready to hear the answer,” he says softly, and I feel a chill run down my spine.

  He pulls back, giving me this devilish smile, and I want him to come back. I want him to tell me what he’s going to make me feel. I’m flushed and excited, and I can feel my pussy is already tingling and dripping wet. It’s crazy that I feel this way. It’s supposed to be just a job, but Ethan isn’t work. He’s charming and gorgeous.

  “Good night,” he says, turning away.

  “Wait,” I say. “Don’t you...?”

  “What?” he asks, cocking his head.

  I looked away, frowning. “Nothing.”

  He walks toward the door and I watch him go, wishing he’d stay. As he opens it, he pauses and turns back to me.

  “Oh sorry, I do have one rule for you. Stay in this room. If you want to leave it, you have to get permission from me. Understood?”

  “Okay,” I say, nodding.

  “I won’t keep you prisoner, of course. And if you want books, magazines, movies, a computer, anything, just ask. But don’t leave without permission.”

  I nod. “Thanks,” I say.

  “Sleep tight, Aria.”

  He leaves the room before I can respond.

  I down my wine, place the glass on a side table, and then collapse onto the enormous bed. I burrow down into the covers, put my face in the beautiful and immaculate pillow, and I scream.

  I can’t believe that I’m here. I laugh and scream into the pillow and laugh some more, completely overwhelmed with my situation. Once I get that out of my system, I quickly explore the room. The gym in the back is pretty nice with a treadmill, a little TV, some weights, and a bench press. The balcony overlooks the city and I realize that I’m on the third floor. The view is incredible.

  I step back inside and notice that my bags were discreetly delivered while I was outside on the balcony. I walk over to them and begin to unpack, frowning at my meager possessions.

  I don’t know what I want or what I’m going to do, but I have to try and enjoy this. Ethan could still be some kind of serial killer or something like that, but I doubt it. I think the real problem is, I can’t believe that I’m in this place and with this man, and I don’t think I deserve any of it.

  But if I get through it, I’ll make over a million dollars. If I live frugally and am smart, I can be set for life. I can afford to go to nursing school, or even go all the way back and start at the beginning to become a doctor.

  Anything is possible after this. I just need to figure out Ethan and give him what he likes.

  Because there was one clause in that contract that’s been bothering me since I signed. One very important clause.

  If I don’t please him, The Syndicate won’t pay me.

  Ethan gets a partial refund. But The Syndicate won’t give me a dime. Even if there are still hundreds of thousands, I won’t see a dime if I don’t please him.

  I climb into bed, trying to figure him out. I need to start being better at this and fast. So far, I’ve been myself, which is dorky and clumsy and stupid. I need to up my game and work on him.

  But for now, I’ll just enjoy this the best I can. In the morning, I’ll see what I can do.

  5

  Ethan

  I finish cooking the eggs and plate them on the large platter. My cook, Michelle, looks on from the counter, smiling and sipping her coffee.

  “This is a first,” she says as I finish up. “You cooking and me watching.”

  “You’re enjoying this too much,” I say.

  She shrugs. Michelle is in her fifties, rotund and possibly my favorite person in the world. She’s been working for me ever since I started making serious money, about two years before Jenkins came. I don’t know how I could manage my life without her. It’s very rare that I want to actually cook for myself, but when I do she’s always around for a chat and some tips. I haven’t cooked anything in a couple years, though. I’ve been too busy.

  Today feels different, though. It’s around six in the morning and I know Aria is probably asleep, so I want to surprise her. I’m not sure why. I just want to spoil her.

  “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you cook, that’s all,” she says. “Cooking is good for you. Good for the spirit.”

  “Of course you’d say that,” I respond, grinning.

  “Look at you. You’re practically glowing.” She leans toward me over the counter. “I assume this is all for her.” She gives me a knowing look.

  “Gossip moves fast, I see,” I say, frowning.

  “What can I say, Ethan. You brought a woman home.”

  “So? I bring women home all the time.”

  “But they don’t stay until the next morning. And they definitely don’t get the second best room in the house.”

  I sigh, not wanting to engage in this, but I do need to say something. Aria is going to be in the house for the next month and the staff is going to be curious.

  I trust all of them. They’ve had opportunities to spread gossip in the past, but they never have. The ones that were more loose-lipped were fired a long time ago, and things are in a very good place right now. But still, I need to tell them something.

  “Her name is Aria,” I say. “And she’s going to be staying here for a month.”

  Michelle looks surprised, her eyebrows raised in little arches. “A month?”

  “One month. The staff is to treat her as if she owns the place. Any request will be granted. Understood?”

  She nods, a bewildered smile on her face. “Yes, sir. Right away, sir.”

  I sigh. “Just be good to her, okay?”

  She nods, face softening. “I’ll make sure she feels welcome.”

  “Thank you.” I put a cup of coffee on the tray and heft it up in my arms. I carry it over to a little cart, put it down, and head over to the elevator. I hear Michelle getting started on the dishes, which makes me smile. There are some nice perks to being rich.

  I get into the service elevator and ride it up to the third floor. I feel like a bellhop as I wheel the cart down my own hallway, stopping outside of Aria’s door. I knock softly then open the door. I wheel the cart inside and shut the door behind me.

  Aria is sitting up in bed, sheets wrapped around her, and I stop for a second, taken by her. The night before she was all done up for the auction and was absolutely gorgeous, but this morning she looks simply like herself. Her hair is a bit messy and she’s not wearing any makeup.

  And she’s beautiful. Fucking gorgeous. She smiles slightly which makes my heart race as I wheel the food into the main room, stopping next to her bed.

  “Good morning,” she says.

  “Morning.” I gesture at the tray. “Breakfast in bed.”

  Her smile gets bigger. “Is this going to be a normal thing?”

  I shrug and cross my arms. “It can be, if you want.”

  She looks at me strangely. “I don’t understand this.”

  “What’s confusing about breakfast?”

  “I mean...” She trails off. “All of this.” She gestures at the room. “Why give me this?”

  I smile at her and sit on the edge of the bed. I reach out and gently run my fingers through her hair. She watches me with her gorgeous wide eyes.

  “I told you,” I say softly. “I want to spoil you.”

  “I don’t mind being spoiled.” She smiles.

  “I’m going to keep you in here. In this room. And I’m going to spoil you as much as I can.”

  “If that’s what you want,” she says softly, watching me.

  “You’re my pet now, Aria,” I say. “I’m going to keep you in this little cage and use you however I want.”

  “Okay,” she says, practically a whisper. I can feel excitement coursing through my body and as I look at her, I wonder if she feels the same thing.

  Her face looks excited. I can see a slight flush in her cheeks and her breath comes quickly. But I don’t know if that’s because she wants me as much
as I want her, or if it’s because she’s just good at what she does.

  “Are you hungry?” I ask.

  “It smells really good,” she says.

  “I made it myself, actually.”

  “Really?” She laughs lightly and takes the mug of coffee from the tray. “A rich man that cooks and looks good in the morning.”

  I laugh and take the second mug, sipping the coffee. “I do what I can.”

  “I could get used to it.”

  “Good. That’s what I want.” I nod at the food. “Go ahead and eat.”

  She reaches out and takes a piece of toast, biting down into it. She chews for a second and seems to realize that she’s actually hungry as she reaches out for a fork.

  “I have to go to work soon,” I say. “You’ll be stuck in this room all day.”

  “That’s okay,” she says. “It’s a big room.” She eats some eggs and smiles huge. “This is really good.”

  “Butter,” I say. “And a little whole milk.”

  She laughs. “You really are spoiling me.”

  “Only way to make eggs.” I grin at her. “Like I said last night, you can have whatever you want. But you still have to get permission to leave this room from me directly. Understand?”

  “Okay,” she says. “That’s fine.”

  “Good.” I watch her eat for a moment, trying to see past her exterior. I can’t tell if she’s enjoying it or if she’s eating just to please me.

  That’s going to be the problem. I’m going to have to be on my game when it comes to her if I want to really see past her acting. She’s meant to do everything she can to please me, which means she’s going to suppress her own desires to do what I want.

  To an extent, I expect that. I expect her to obey my rules. But I don’t want her to simply do what she thinks I want her to do.

  I need her to want this. That brings me more pleasure than she could possibly know.

  I stand up and she watches me as I move across the room. “Have a good day, my pet,” I say to her. I watch her reaction to the little nickname, and smile with satisfaction.

  She clearly doesn’t like it.

  “Have a good day,” she says.

  I cock my head at her, grinning, but decide not to say anything. I turn and head back out into the hallway, smiling to myself.

  She’s already acting, but I can see through some of it. I’m going to figure her out and soon I’ll give her exactly what she wants. She won’t be able to resist showing herself to me.

  Only when she’s completely stripped bare in front of me will I finally give her what she really needs. I grin to myself and can’t think about anything else on the entire trip into the office.

  6

  Aria

  I lean back against the headboard as soon as Ethan leaves the room, ignoring the food beside me. It’s not that I don’t like breakfast, I just don’t normally eat much in the morning. I finish the toast and coffee at least before wheeling the cart back out into the hallway. I’m careful not to actually leave the room as I push it outside.

  Once that’s done, I go into the bathroom and start the shower. It’s a gorgeous bathroom with a full vanity, whirlpool tub, and huge shower. Everything is tiled in beautiful mosaic patterns, and part of me feels like the toilet itself should be solid gold.

  It’s not, of course, and I get into the shower to wash myself. I feel like I’m cleaning days’ worth of grime from my body even though I showered the night before, just as the auction was about to begin.

  Showers can be hard for me sometimes. It feels good, but it’s strange. I can still remember waking up in a shower, half naked, my body bruised and battered and wondering where the hell I am. That was one of the lowest points in my life when I realized what I did just to score some drugs.

  It was when I was lying on the floor of that shower, half conscious of what had happened, that I realized I was at rock bottom. It was the lowest point of my life. And I can’t help but think about it every time I get in the shower.

  I’m disgusted by the person I was. I’ve been clean for two years and have no plan to go back, but I still feel that stupid junky deep inside of me, begging to get out.

  I made mistakes. I’ve been weak and frail and stupid before. But I pulled myself up off that shower floor, got the fuck out of that house, and checked myself into a rehab treatment facility.

  Six months in there and I never looked back. I still owe them, which is actually just one small part of my debt, but it’s one debt that I won’t mind paying off. They saved me there, saved my life, showed me that a life without drugs is the life I want to lead.

  I shut off the shower and get out, toweling myself off. I stare at myself in the mirror and wonder how I got from the bottom of that shower to this place. I run my fingers over the marble countertop and although I know that I’m just this man’s plaything, I can’t help but imagine that I’m something more.

  I can’t let myself indulge in that, though. Ethan doesn’t care about me. He just wants to play a game. He wants me to be his pet and to stay in this room. Sure, he’s spoiling me, but it’s still his game that I have to play. He doesn’t want Aria, he doesn’t want the real me. He would turn and run the second he found out about me.

  But maybe I can pretend, at least for a little while. I’ll have to pretend harder than I have been so far. I need this to go well.

  Once I’m dry enough, I wrap a towel around me and head back out into the main room. I look around for my bags, but I don’t find them anywhere.

  Instead, the drawers have clothes already in them, but they’re not my clothes. There are bras, panties, and some tops and bottoms. In the closet, several dresses hang, and it all looks to be in my size. For a second I panic, afraid that he took away my phone and my things. If I don’t have my phone, I can’t contact The Syndicate, and that would be bad.

  But tucked in the back corner of the closet are my bags. I breathe a sigh of relief as I fish out my phone and shoot a text to the number they gave me, just letting them know that I’m fine and taken care of.

  When that’s done, I go back into the main room and get dressed. I put on a matching bra and panty set, looking at myself in the mirror. I want to be pleasing to him, so I pick out a cute, revealing top and short little jean shorts.

  Once dressed, I stand there and look at the room. The clock next to the bed says that it’s eight in the morning, and I realize that I have all day to kill.

  I get my laptop from my bag, but there’s no open WiFi. Nervously, I grab the phone and hit zero before listening to it ring.

  “Yes?” It’s Jenkins’s voice from the night before.

  “Uh, hi, it’s Aria,” I say.

  “Yes?” he asks again.

  “I, uh, was wondering if there was a WiFi password?” I ask.

  “No internet,” he says.

  I pause. “No internet?” I repeat.

  “I was instructed to keep you off the internet.”

  I frown, disappointed. What the hell am I supposed to do all day then?

  “Okay,” I say. “Thank you. Are there any books you could bring up?”

  “Of course,” he says. “Will that be all?”

  “Uh, yes. Thank you.”

  The phone disconnects and I flop back onto the bed.

  “No internet,” I groan to myself and roll over onto my side.

  Jenkins brings up a box full of books not too long later, but he doesn’t stick around. He simply places the box outside of my door, knocks twice, and then leaves. I pull the box inside and start fishing through it. They’re mostly trashy romances, but that’s good enough.

  I spend most of the day reading. It’s boring and slow, but it’s all I have to do. Eventually I figure out how to work the television, so I switch from reading to watching TV and back again all day long. Jenkins brings me lunch and dinner, but that’s the only human contact I get all day.

  The food is good, so at least there’s that. After dinner, around eight that night,
I start getting really antsy.

  I haven’t heard from Ethan all day. I know he’s a busy man and probably works late, but still, I thought maybe I’d see him more. He hasn’t even touched me yet, although it hasn’t been a full day. Maybe he’s just easing himself into it, working up to it. Maybe he just likes a little suspense.

  I don’t feel suspenseful. I just feel bored.

  Eventually, midnight rolls around, and I’m exhausted. I turn off the television and toss my book aside before changing into pajamas and climbing into bed.

  I stare up at the ceiling, disappointed. I thought that being an escort was going to be more exciting than this. So far, it’s more like a boring vacation. I want to make Ethan happy, not just sit around in this room alone and read books.

  Then again, this is what he told me to do. He wants me to stay in this room and only leave with his permission. If that makes him happy, knowing that I’m safe in here, well, then I guess it’s what I have to do.

  Still, I’m disappointed. I want to see him again. Maybe that’s silly, but I want to see his cocky smile and his handsome face. I want to see the muscles under his perfectly fitting suit. I want him to take me, let me please him in the way that I know I’m supposed to.

  Instead, I’m stuck in here. His little pet. I frown at the nickname.

  I don’t really like it, but I don’t really hate it, either. It just makes me feel strange. My heart beats fast and part of me likes the idea of being a pretty thing sitting in a cage for him, though the other part of me doesn’t want to be kept.

  As I start to drift off to sleep, the phone starts to ring. It’s sudden and it pulls me from sleep with a start. I crawl over to the side and pull it off the receiver on the third ring.

  “Hello?” I answer, glancing at the clock. It’s around one in the morning.

  “Hello, pet,” he says.

  I smile despite myself. “I was wondering if I’d hear from you.”