by Stella Hart
Stale scotch-laced breath fanned my left ear a moment later. A cold lick of fear crept down my spine. Tobias.
“See something you like, little whore?” he asked.
Another shiver rushed over my skin. I tried to think of a response, something that wouldn’t anger him, but all I could focus on was my racing pulse.
Fortunately, silence seemed to be the correct reaction.
“Good girl. Not talking back for once.” His lips curled into a smile. “I see my son finally has you under control.”
“Yes, sir,” I murmured.
“But where is your collar?”
He sounded irritated. I felt the strange, irrational need to fly to Elias’s defense. “It… it didn’t fit properly. He’s having it altered.”
“I see. Well, I hope you ensure he enjoys himself tonight.”
“Yes, sir.”
He stepped away, and I took in a deep, relieved breath. Every time that awful man came near me, it felt like all the air in the room had been sucked out.
I watched the undulating bodies around me as they pulsed and moved to the beat of the music. Gowns were strewn on the floor. Masks ripped off. Breasts on display, bouncing up and down. It was so primal, so raw and sinful. A dreamlike haze.
Elias returned a moment later. “Here,” he said, handing me a napkin stacked with little canapés. “I know they don’t give you dinner on party nights.”
I gratefully accepted it and nibbled delicately at the corners of a pastry with a rich savory filling. I was still hungry after eating every canapé, but I didn’t want to seem ungrateful or demanding, especially when Tobias was in the same room, probably watching my every move.
Elias leaned down and murmured in my ear. “Ready to play?” His fingertips traced a line down my spine, hovering just above my ass. Tingles broke out across my flesh.
I nodded. “Yes.”
It wasn’t like I had a choice. If he wanted to let fifty other men inside me tonight, I couldn’t say no.
He marched me to the other side of the room and affixed my hands to black cuffs that dangled from the ceiling. Several people started watching us with interest. I let out a moan of protest as Elias pushed my dress up.
“I thought you loved this,” Elias muttered in my ear from behind me. “That night on the altar… you came alive with an audience, didn’t you, Doll?”
He was right. Even though it felt like just the two of us out in those woods, I was still aware that we had people watching us. It was so wrong, so bad, but the thought sent wetness flooding to my core. My eyelids felt heavy, sleepy with longing.
“Is this my punishment, Master?” I asked, turning my head over my shoulder. “For trying to run away that day on the island?”
He’d told me to stop calling him that, because it didn’t feel right, but in this moment, it did. Tonight, he was still my Master and I was still his Doll.
“That was a long time ago. You think you deserve to be punished for that?” he said in a low voice, sliding a hand between my legs, stroking my pussy.
I nodded. “Yes,” I said breathlessly. I knew it was what he wanted to hear. It was just an added bonus that I liked his idea of punishment.
“Good.” Elias kept stroking between my legs, slipping one finger inside me. “Keep your eyes open. Look at everyone who wants to see you.”
I stared at the men watching us, eyes glazed with lust. I could see that some of them were hard. Elias pulled away from me, and I struggled in the cuffs, trying to move my body back toward him. He chuckled and stepped around to my front before kneeling. I squirmed as he spread my lips open and licked between my legs, and when he fixed his mouth on my clit, I let out a cry of bliss.
He kept me in place with his hands pressed firmly on my quivering thighs as his tongue traced delicate circles over me, sucking and nibbling every so often, making me squeal. He brought me close to the edge, and then he stood up, watching my eyes widen with protest.
“Please,” I begged. My whole body tingled with pure excitement. I needed to come.
Elias moved back behind me. I felt his erection pressing up against me. “You’re mine,” he grunted behind me. “I’m not sharing you with anyone.”
“Yes, Master,” I said breathlessly. I was all his. His to torment, to pleasure, to worship.
Then he was inside me in one savage thrust, and I cried out, my arousal rising to a fever pitch. I lost control of my own mouth, streams of words flowing out involuntarily as I begged him to keep going, begged him to make me come again and again. I didn’t care about the audience watching us; I was no longer capable of feeling that kind of shame. In fact, I liked knowing they were watching us, wishing they could be us. Wishing they could join us.
We didn’t need drugs to get to this place, like so many of the other men and women here. No matter how we started off, there’d always been a magnetic attraction between Elias and me. There was no need to pretend. No need to use anything to heighten our lust and desire. Every time he touched me, my knees turned weak and I melted like candlewax into a hot puddle of pure need.
I kept my eyes open as Elias had commanded me. The party was turning darker, wilder. Almost everyone was naked now, and women were moaning and yelping as men bent them over and fucked them, using a variety of toys, whips and paddles on them. Across the room, a couple was sharing one of the wide sex swings, the woman shrieking with pleasure every time the man’s cock filled her.
My desire to come was almost unbearable now. At the same time, I wanted this moment to last as long as possible. Elias felt so good inside me, so thick and hot. So intense.
“Please,” I finally choked out, my voice thick with lust and emotion. “Let me come.”
“You think you deserve to?” Elias asked, slamming into me again with a brutal, punishing thrust.
“Oh!” I yelped and jerked forward. “No… I don’t deserve it….”
“You’re right. You’re a bad girl. But I’m going to let you come anyway. I like being a generous master sometimes,” he muttered, hot breath skating over my left ear. “Don’t I?”
“Yes,” I said breathily. “You’re the best. I’m so lucky to be yours.”
“Come, Doll. Come on me right now.”
My breaths came faster and faster until my body tensed. I almost sobbed as the pleasure ripped through me. “Yes!” I cried out as my body shook with release. “Thank you, Master!”
The convulsing muscles inside me sent Elias over the edge, and he let out a groan and slammed inside me one last time as he juddered through his orgasm.
When he let me down from the cuffs, three men approached, muttering something at him. He shook his head and they walked away, looking irritated.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. I could feel his cum leaking down my leg, sticky and hot.
“They wanted me to give you to them next,” he said. “But like I said earlier: I don’t share. Not when it comes to you.”
“Thank you,” I said softly. I was so lucky compared to so many of the other girls here. Nearly all of them were getting shared around the room by their masters, some of them taking two or three cocks at the same time.
We went and sat down by the glittering indoor pool, watching the action continue to unfold around us. Now that I’d reached a climax, I was getting sleepy, and I couldn’t stop my mouth from dropping open with multiple yawns. Elias finally reached for my hand and pulled me up. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
We wound our way back through the writhing crowd, toward the same door we initially entered through. We passed by Tobias at one of the bars. He was sipping at a glass of scotch, and his eyes narrowed slightly as he saw us, but he didn’t say anything or try to stop us from leaving.
When we got back to my room, Elias took a quick shower with me, washing all the sweat and juices from our still-feverish bodies. Then he tucked me into bed.
“Are you staying with me?” I asked, my eyes wide.
As I spoke, he reached into his pocket and pul
led out a black keycard with a gold Crown and Dagger emblem on it. I knew what the answer to my question would be before he even replied, because it was a keycard which unlocked all the doors to the Lodge. They were locked after eight p.m. so girls couldn’t get outside and try to run away in the night, when there was far less visibility for the security guards.
“Sorry, I have to get back to New Marwick. Lots of shit to do,” he said, brows furrowing. “I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon. I’ve got a few things to do with my father first, but how about we have a proper dinner in the evening, to make up for tonight? I’ll sleep here afterwards.”
I nodded. “That sounds good,” I said softly. Truthfully, I was disappointed he was leaving me to sleep alone again. Or maybe I was just grumpy from the lack of a proper dinner. God, I’d kill for some food right now.
Food…
Some dark part of my mind switched on brightly all of a sudden. The seeds of an idea had just taken root.
My eyes drifted across the room to the coffee table, falling on the carnations Elias had delivered to me this morning. I might not need to wait for the Artemis Festival after all, in terms of an escape opportunity.
I had a new plan.
11
Elias
I narrowed my eyes and took aim with my rifle. The gunshot cracked in the air as loud as thunder. I took the target down easily, smiling with satisfaction as countless gray shards plummeted to the snowy ground.
“You’re getting better,” my father said, watching with one hand pressed against his forehead, shielding his eyes from the bright sky. It was gray, but the sun was peeking through a cloud right above us.
I nodded and took aim at the next target as it shot out from the trap thrower. I hit it perfectly.
I knew why I was getting so much better. Since that fateful day on the island all those weeks ago, when I pulled Tatum off that cliff, the whole world seemed sharper and clearer to me. Colors brighter. Sounds louder. Music sweeter.
Every day, our relationship seemed to improve. She spoke more, kissed me more, begged me more. Her passion for me was fiery and constant. It seemed real this time, unlike the games she used to play where she pretended to want and obey me when all the while she hated being with me and constantly plotted behind my back.
She’d really settled in here, and she seemed to love being mine now. All mine. I was beyond pleased with the miraculous turnaround. I guess my father was right. She just needed some time to get used to her new life. She chose it for herself, after all.
Didn’t she?
A sharp jolt shot through me at the thought. I was only ninety-nine percent sure right now. Close to absolute certainty, but not close enough.
My recent conversation with Dr. Paulson was still playing on my mind, raising all sorts of doubts about the secret society. I wanted to believe there was an innocent explanation for all the weirdness surrounding the missing woman who turned out to be my biological mother, but I couldn’t shake the creeping feeling that something strange was going on.
I’d always been told that every woman at the Lodge was there willingly. That the guards were there for their protection, not to keep them trapped inside. But now I kept wondering if Camille Gorham was brought here against her will and forced to donate her eggs to my parents. Why else would she have vanished like that before I was even conceived? It didn’t make any sense.
I’d looked up the case online. Camille came from a seemingly decent family, and when she went missing, all her friends and relatives were shocked and distraught. Some of them were still searching for her and hoping for new developments even though over two decades had passed since she disappeared. They all said she wasn’t the type to run away or get in trouble.
Like Dr. Paulson suggested the other day, there was a chance she wanted to work for Crown and Dagger and simply didn’t want anyone to know. She could’ve signed all the contracts and taken off without a word to anyone, then changed her name after her service was complete so that no one could ever find her again. But why would she do that? By all accounts, she loved her family.
So as horrible and outrageous as it sounded, it was beginning to seem like she may have been forced to give up her eggs as a captive with Crown and Dagger. There weren’t many other explanations as to how I was conceived using her genetic material in mid-1993 when she went missing in early 1992.
If that were the case, then there was a chance Tatum was here against her will too. Any number of the other girls as well.
I didn’t even want to think about the ramifications if that were the case. It was too shocking, too appalling. All I could really do was wait until I reached the third level—if I ever did—to find out the truth. It was the only way I’d ever know for sure if something was rotten at the core of Crown and Dagger.
“Pull!”
I gritted my teeth and fired at another target, trying to dismiss the insidious thoughts. Jesus. I was starting to sound like one of those nutjob conspiracy theorists who stood on street corners in major cities, ranting and raving about a New World Order and the Illuminati.
Clearly, I was overthinking things. Spinning in pointless circles, forging connections where there were none, overreacting to everything.
I mean, Christ... of course the Lodge girls weren’t secretly captives. That was ridiculous. The cover-up my father and the other society members would have to engage in over the years was enormous. Besides that, Tatum had admitted to selling herself here, back when she was still on the island. I’d even seen the contract with her signature on it.
I suppose Camille Gorham could’ve donated her eggs and had them frozen before she went missing. I knew Dr. Paulson said it was unlikely as the egg freezing technology wasn’t as good back then as it was now, but I’d done a bit of research into it. There were cases of frozen oocytes being used for IVF as far back as 1988. So even though it was incredibly rare back in those days, it still happened on occasion, and my parents would’ve had access to the best doctors and most cutting-edge medical tech due to their wealth.
Camille could’ve donated her eggs to my parents in late 1991 in return for some cash to help her out with expensive student loans, and then she could’ve gone missing in early 1992 under circumstances that had nothing to do with being hauled off to captivity. Perhaps she got unlucky and ran into a psychotic killer on her way home one night. Terrible as it was, it happened sometimes.
Yes, that had to be it.
But even though there was likely an innocent explanation for everything, and the girls were all here willingly, I still wanted to get to the bottom of it. Just for peace of mind. As always, that meant keeping my thoughts entirely to myself and trying my best to get to the third level of the society.
Right now, I wasn’t sure I’d even be considered for it, given how short my father had been with me today. He’d invited me to the Lodge for some shooting but he’d barely said two words to me all afternoon.
I had a sneaking suspicion it was because of last night. I was expected to share Tatum with the other men at the party, but I didn’t want to let any of them touch her. She was mine. The thought of any other men laying their hands on her made me want to punch someone’s teeth out.
I also didn’t participate in any activities with the other women at the party, which was considered quite strange at those events. But I didn’t want to do that either. Why touch anyone else when I already had the perfect girl to satisfy all my needs? No one else’s lips could possibly be sweeter than Tatum’s. No one else’s pussy could be tighter or warmer or wetter.
“Nice of you to attend last night’s party,” Dad finally said. His voice was stiff and sour, confirming my suspicions. He was pissed.
“Wouldn’t miss it,” I said, pretending I didn’t notice his attitude. As far as I knew, Lodge party attendance was mandatory for anyone who wanted to be considered for the third level. So even if I didn’t particularly want to go to any of them, I had to.
“You left early.”
What he real
ly meant by that was ‘you didn’t share your girl or take part in fucking multiple other girls’.
I shrugged nonchalantly. “Yeah. It was our first party, so I figured we’d ease into it. I’ve also been working on my thesis, so I was pretty tired from that.”
“You know there are people who can do that for you,” he said sharply. “There’s really no reason a King should have to stoop to essay-writing.”
I snorted. “Maybe I actually want to learn. Yeah, it’s boring as fuck sometimes, but I’d rather pass on my own merit instead of cheating just because I have money.”
“Hm. I suppose that’s actually quite admirable.” He paused and cleared his throat. “I noticed Tatum wasn’t wearing a collar last night.”
Shit. He didn’t miss anything, did he?
I didn’t want Tatum to wear one of those slave collars. It would be hot as fuck to see her crawling toward me with one around her neck, sure, but at the same time I worried she’d revert to that terrible vacant state again if I pushed her too hard. So I had to wait. Take things slow. Let her get used to the idea of submitting to me in every way in her own time.
It wasn’t something I expected my father to understand, given his feelings toward her. He still hated her for what she’d done to our family, as far as I knew, so he’d be beyond pissed if he found out I didn’t hate her anymore.
I didn’t want to anger him like that. I was his only son; the only one who could carry on his legacy, as he constantly reminded me. He wanted me to be exactly like him. Even though I wasn’t, it was easier to lie and keep him happy rather than tell him the truth. What he didn’t know couldn’t hurt him.
Besides, the truth wouldn’t get me any closer to the third level.
I distracted him for a moment by firing my rifle at another target, and I came up with a decent bullshit explanation as the dark shards rained down on the patchy snow fifty yards away.
“I decided not to make her wear one. That way she’ll think she’s extra special. That I really care for her and feel something for her. She’ll eventually fall in love with me, thinking I’m on her side, and then I’ll pull the rug out from under her by telling her the truth: that I still hate her and she’ll never be anything more than a lowly slave to me. I can’t think of a better way to truly destroy someone. Can you?”
