by Fawn Bailey
“What do you want?” he asked darkly, and I moaned in protest as he stood to watch, his cock throbbing between his fingers. “Tell me, Rose. Tell Master what you want.”
“I want to come,” I whispered, and he laughed like it was the funniest thing he’d heard all day.
“You want to come,” he repeated. “I thought I’d taught you better than that. Remind me who is the online one that matters in the playroom?”
“M-Master,” I said. “You.”
“That’s right,” he said in his deliciously dark voice. “Me… and my fucking pleasure. Have I not been kind to you, little Rose?”
I nodded, but he grabbed my cheeks between his thumb and other four fingers to make me look at him.
“Say it,” he growled, his free hand still working his cock. “Tell me I’ve been good to my slave.”
“Good,” I squealed. “So good, Master, so very good…”
“I’ve made sure you came when you wanted to,” he said sweetly, fingers stroking my cheek. “I’ve given you countless orgasms… Immeasurable pleasure. Isn’t that right?”
“Y-yes,” I whispered as his fingers dropped down my neck, over my collarbone then to my tits. My nipples were so hard they could have cut glass, and his expression was thunderous as he looked down at me, waiting for me to elaborate.
“You’ve given me e-everything,” I stuttered, and he smiled at me mercifully, stroking a hand through my hair. “Everything I ever dreamed of.”
“Would you like to have more?” he finally asked, his voice gentle and kind when we both knew it was just an illusion. “Would my slut like to have more pain… and pleasure… and beautiful torture combined?”
“Yes,” I whispered. “Please, Master.”
“Please, what?”
His fingers were gentle against my lips, tapping against my skin, turning me this way and that way and examining what he already knew was his property.
“Please give me pleasure,” I begged. “Please, give me pain…”
“Will you say thank you?” he asked, practically growling with held back passion. “Will you be a good little slut for Master like I taught you?”
“Yes!” I cried out, unable to keep my feelings at bay for much longer. “I promise, a good girl, just for you, I’ll be so good…”
He took a step back as I cried out for him, watching him pick up something off the wall with his back turned towards me. Once he finally turned back, my eyes widened, and my pupils dilated at the sight of him. In his hands, Thorn held a short whip, all black shiny leather.
“No,” I breathed. “No, please.”
I remembered the whip from when Ellis had played with me, and the second I lay my eyes on it, all those memories I’d worked so hard to bury came out to play again. His voice was so clear in my head it might’ve as well been in my ear, and he was snickering, laughing at me as I cried and begged him to stop.
I’d told Thorn he should’ve been the one to train me, but the moment I saw him with that whip in his hands, I changed my mind. I was terrified of him touching me. Shaking, I was so scared. My eyes begged him to stop.
“Remember your manners,” Thorn said gruffly. “You only beg for me to hurt you, not to stop. Say, ‘Yes, Master.’”
“Yes, Master,” I whispered as he drew nearer and nearer, gently slapping the whip over his palm. “Anything you want, Master.”
He touched the leather to my lips, the tassels tickling my chin.
“Beg for me to hurt you,” Thorn told me gently, his voice so much different than Ellis’s.
I’d dreamed of this moment, prayed we would get to this point, yet now that we were standing on the edge, I was afraid to jump. I was afraid my whole world would tumble into the hole before me.
“P-please,” I cried out.
He touched the whip to my nipples.
“Please!” I begged.
“Please, what?” he asked calmly.
“Please…” I took a deep breath. “Please hurt me. Please, Master.”
I didn’t expect the first lashing so fast, but the leather cut into my skin as he slapped me with the whip. I screamed, loudly, unashamedly. It fucking hurt. I turned my angry eyes to him, watching impassively as he twirled the whip in his hands.
“Ask for more,” he told me plainly, and I hated him with every bit of my body.
Still, my mind admitted - only to myself - that the pain hadn’t been quite as unbearable as I’d remembered. Either Thorn was going easy on me, or pain was a different kind of beast at the hands of a man I loved. I shook my head to get the thought out, but there it was, already deeply rooted in my consciousness, reminding me of itself every second I spent looking at my king. Before I could think about it further, Thorn slapped my tits with the whip, and I squealed at the sensation.
“Say it,” he reminded me, transporting me back into my reality. “Say it, slut.”
“More!” I begged. “Please, Master. More.”
And then he truly started hitting me.
My tits, my belly, my legs. He hit every exposed part of me, and because of the way I was put into my restraints, I was unable to resist a single hit. He laughed at me, but I could tell there was worry behind his eyes, and once I realized that, I knew I had him wrapped around my little finger.
The problem was… he had me, too.
He kept hitting, but the pain became bearable knowing that he was holding back, that he was still unable to let go like I’d begged him to a while ago. Suddenly the little devil on my shoulder spoke up, demanding I take action.
“More,” I begged Thorn without being prompted to do so. “Fucking more, Thorn. Give me more.”
His eyes sparkled with surprise, and he hit just a little bit harder. It made me twist in the cuffs and scream his name out loud.
“Fucking hit me!” I demanded. “Hit me like you mean it, you fucking bastard.”
That one stung more, yet it was still there - the unmistakable rigidness in his shoulders, the way he held himself with so much tension it leaked out and pooled at his feet.
“More,” I taunted him.
He tossed the whip aside. He was next to me in the next second, his fingers around my cheeks again and my chest rising impossibly fast as I panicked.
“More?” he asked roughly.
His eyes blazed like I’d never seen them before.
“More,” I confirmed, and he slapped me across the face harder than Ellis had ever dared.
“More?” he asked me again as I picked myself up, staring at him through the tears.
“More,” I begged, and he forced his cock between my legs, parting them with a sticky wet sound as he sank into my center.
“More?” he wanted to know, buried so deep inside me I felt him at my cervix.
“More!” I said. “More, Master. More.”
“Tell me to let go,” he said through gritted teeth, controlling the movements of his hips with the patience of a god. “Tell me you still want it.”
“Let go,” I cried out. “Let go for me.”
He roared into life.
As he pounded inside me, I realized I’d never done this before. I’d never been used, abused, treated like an absolute whore, and finally, right before my breaking point, I was pushed into sexual madness like a worthless fucktoy, fucked and sucked and beaten into utter, complete submission.
As I lay in his arms, broken yet feeling fuller and more stable than ever, Thorn pulled me against him and whispered in my ear. I drifted off to sleep with his words echoing in my mind.
I will always take care of what’s mine.
Chapter 11
Rose
I was exhausted, my whole body pulsing with tiredness as I woke up in Thorn’s bedroom.
There was sunlight pouring through the window, illuminating the all-white bed in beautiful, sparkling colors. I rubbed my eyes and yawned, moaning when I felt the hurt from the previous night. I knew already I was alone. My body always responded when Thorn was in the room, and that mor
ning, I felt his absence in my gut.
Somehow, I understood why he’d chosen not to stay by my side when I woke up. After the previous night, it would be hard for him to face me. I’d made him let go… I’d made him hurt me more than I ever thought he could, and now it felt like we were truly attached to one another, invisible strings connecting my heart to his, as if I was some kind of marionette that could only dance when he made me.
I had breakfast by myself and took a shower after, admiring freshly blooming bruises Thorn had put all over my body. He’d said he didn’t want to hurt me, but his actions proved otherwise. However, I’d taken it all, showing him that I was tougher than I looked, and I could handle whatever he gave me.
I didn’t know what kind of plans he had for me that day, but I was ready by the time the maid took my empty breakfast tray away. I’d chosen to wear a simple pink dress that tied into a halterneck behind my back and flattered my body, tight at the top and flaring out on the bottom. I paired it with simple cream ballet flats with a small bow at the toes accented with a pretty, sparkly bracelet. While I struggled to put it on, I found myself wondering whether the diamonds were real.
“They’re real,” a voice interrupted my thoughts, and I looked up to find Pia standing in the doorway, a smirk on her face. “I know a girl like you isn’t used to luxury like this, but they are real. Too good for you, of course. Not that I had a say.”
“At least you’re aware of your own unimportance,” I replied in a sweet voice while Pia stepped closer to me, reaching for the bracelet with cool fingers and snapping it in place on my wrist.
“Looks beautiful on you,” she replied in her icy voice, and we exchanged false smiles. “So, what is Thorn’s little captive going to do today?”
“I hardly see how that’s any of your business,” I told her coolly. “I’m planning to see whether I can go outside, though.”
“Outside?” she stepped closer, looking at me closely with the light pouring through the window. “What is there outside that you want to see?”
I wondered whether I should tell her, but knew full well she had less than pleasant ways of finding out if I refused her.
“I want to go to the garden,” I admitted. “The rose garden.”
“Ah, yes.” Her eyes sparkled with darkness and mischief. “Well, I’m sure you’d be allowed to go.”
I was about to move out of her way, but her hand stopped me dead in my tracks, her claw-like nails going to my cheek and gently stroking the skin.
“Silly girl,” she said softly. “Obviously I meant in my company. You’ll never be permitted to go by yourself. You do know that, right?”
I seethed quietly, choosing not to give her an answer, but then my anger got the best of me as I muttered, “Why not? It’s been so long. I wouldn’t do anything stupid.”
“No?” she mocked me. “Oh, poor little Harlow…”
She was the only one in the house who occasionally still called me by my real name, and we both knew it wasn’t because she cared about me so deeply. Instead, it was because she was convinced I was not a permanent fixture in Thorn’s life, and I’d go back to my real name once he got sick of me. I clenched my jaw at the thought.
“You don’t think you’d be tempted?” she asked softly. “So many others have been…”
“To run?” I asked, thinking of the possibilities.
“No, silly girl,” she laughed in my face, coming closer once again and showcasing her incomparable beauty. “Tempted to jump… to hurt yourself, tumble down those cliffs, throw yourself over the edge. You don’t think you would?”
“Of course not,” I replied primly, feeling anger surging through my body in waves. “What the hell? I would never hurt myself.”
“That’s what you say now,” Pia went on sweetly. “But many girls have claimed the same and weren’t true to their word. So you can see why we’d be hesitant to let you out there by yourself.”
She reached for my arm, and when I tried to snatch it away, she dug her claws deeper into my skin, making me cry out. I watched in shock as she snapped a small chain to an O-ring in my bracelet, creating a short leash from my bracelet in seconds. She tugged me closer, and I stumbled towards her helplessly, unable to stop.
“There we go,” she said pleasantly. “Now we’re really together so I can take care of you. Now, rose garden, I think you said?”
I looked at her with every ounce of contempt in my body, hoping my eyes conveyed how much I hated her damn guts. Then I nodded, and she returned a saccharine smile.
We made our way through the house and down the same path Thorn had led me on when he first took me to the rose garden. I followed Pia obediently, but not meekly, hoping my expression spoke for itself and made it clear enough how much I despised her.
Once again, I found myself scared and overwhelmed as we made our way outside. It was cooler than it had been and windy as hell. The breeze whipped my hair over my face, and I quickly came to regret my choice of going outside as Pia led me to the garden like a lapdog on a leash.
“Nice weather today,” she said with a big smile, and I glared at her.
“Don’t even try to small talk me,” I managed to get out, feeling braver now that we were away from the house and from the cameras. “I’m not in the mood for it.”
“Suit yourself,” she shrugged, probably mentally adding the word “bitch.”
Not that I gave a shit. Our opinions of one another weren’t much different.
“What would you rather talk about?” she yawned as we reached the garden.
It was as beautiful as I remembered it, the addictive scent of roses even heavier in the air than it had been when I visited the place with Thorn. Right away I thought I could use Pia to my advantage. Thorn hadn’t been forthcoming with information at all, but if I could convince Pia I was jealous, maybe she’d reveal more than he had.
“The garden,” I said. “He told me this is how he makes his money.”
She side-eyed me, and I sighed, going on to say, “Stop being so doubtful about everything. I’m in a relationship with him, you know.”
“Yeah,” she laughed out loud. “That’s what you think, silly girl.”
I stopped in my tracks and crossed my arms in front of my body, yanking her closer with the chain she still had in her hands attached to my wrist. She gave me an annoyed glare.
“What do you mean?” I asked defensively. “Of course there’s a relationship there.”
Had she never seen us together? Was she so delusional she’d deny the attraction I felt was so strong that sparks flew between us?
“Maybe,” she said dismissively. “Maybe there’s something. But why on Earth do you think it will last?”
“I…” I started but found myself lost for words. Instead, I glared at her when she gave me a triumphant look. “You don’t understand anything.”
“Oh, but I do,” she said icily. “I’ve seen girls like you come and go for too long to be under any illusion about the man you call ‘Master’ so freely.”
She made me feel weird about my feelings for Thorn, like there was something wrong with me submitting to him, with letting him have what he wanted from me. She made me feel… ashamed.
“How many girls?” I asked, because I couldn’t help myself. I hated my own mouth the second it blurted out the question, but here was my chance to find out the truth. The more painful it was the more eager Pia would be to relay it and hurt me, but maybe she’d deny it all together… try to lie her way out of things like she usually did. Maybe that would finally convince me Thorn was serious about me. Maybe even shared some of the feelings I felt deep down in my soul where my doubtful thoughts had no entry.
“How many?” she laughed as if the question were a joke. “Take a look around you, silly girl. How many roses do you see?”
I glanced around us. The sky was heavy with rain-filled clouds, the waves below crashing against the beach loudly. There were endless flowers there, probably dozens of rose bushes.
“Too many to count,” I admitted, and she gave me a triumphant smile.
“Exactly,” she said. “And you know Thorn a little by now, don’t you, Harlow? You know he likes mementos.”
I cocked my head to the side, waiting for her to go on while my heart pounded painfully in my chest. She seemed to notice and drew out the moment until I was in physical pain from the torture.
“Let’s just say,” Pia went on in her too-sweet voice. “Every rose bush here signifies a woman in Thorn’s life. Do you want to take another look around, sweetheart? Do you need a reminder how many there were?”
I didn’t.
I looked at my feet, my arms falling down by my sides defeatedly as Pia came closer, cruelly tugging on the leash on my wrist to make me stumble forward.
“Yes,” she said. “Too many to count, indeed. But there’s another thing…”
I looked up at her, gearing up for another secret that would feel like the ground had been pulled up from under me, but what she gave me instead felt so heartbreaking it couldn’t compare to the previous statement from her lips.
“Where do you think the little roses go once he’s done with them?” she taunted me.
“I… I don’t know,” I whispered. “He sends them back home?”
In truth, I had never imagined Thorn letting me go. I knew that while he was breathing, he’d want me by his side. But what if the unthinkable happened? What if he grew tired of me and escape wasn’t an option anymore? What if he sent me away willingly?
I knew my heart would be broken beyond repair, and I hated myself for it.
Pia stepped closer, viciously whispering in my ear. “They don’t go back, Harlow,” she said. “They stay right here, on the property. And they turn into roses. All the ones around you. Do you smell them in the air, Harlow? I could fucking swear I still sense the scent of the last one…”
I cried out, tearing myself away from her, but she tugged on the leash harder, making me look at her with my eyes brimming with tears.
