Fuller’s jaw tightened at her lack of response. “I can’t believe you’re embarrassing me like this.” His words were a quiet snarl, the sort which dried her throat out of instinct.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Fuller.”
And at that moment, it might even have been true—Hannah hadn’t intended to embarrass him, although she had little remorse. The thought of having to complete the course filled her with so much loathing, it was worth inciting Fuller’s rage and the warning, flashing in his blue eyes.
Or at least she hoped it would be.
“You’re not sorry in the slightest,” he hissed, lifting his hand to his temple.
Hannah had never seen him this like this before, so full of rage and frustration, but she didn’t have time to enjoy the view for long. He dragged her helpless body away from the jump, and in one smooth motion, hauled her up and over his shoulder. Sawdust shavings fell from her body as she wondered whether she’d misjudged the man. Scooped from the floor like a doll and tossed over Fuller’s body, she yelped at the dramatic change of tack, her hands scrabbling for traction against the expensive fabric of his suit jacket. Perhaps it had been a mistake to push him. Maybe she should have just tackled the wooden fence, but it was too late now.
“Problem, old friend?” Lawes’ taunting voice floated past her ears, and Fuller’s grip on her tightened.
“No problem,” he muttered. “It seems Hannah requires some discipline before she’s ready for the course.”
“Shame,” came the reply. “By the time you’ve concluded, there might not be time for her to conclude the course today. Or even to start it!” Lawes’ laughter rang out at his quip.
“Then we try again tomorrow and again the day after that until she gets it.” Fury was radiating off him in waves. Hannah could practically feel them bouncing from his skin, but there was little time to muse on the concept. Fuller’s long strides had already brought them to the small carpeted area where Lawes was seated—the same place he’d brought her on that first full day of their twisted regime. Hannah blinked down at the soft pile, her gaze traveling over the length of a woman’s legs. Fuller lifted her from his shoulder and dumped her unceremoniously on the carpet. The leash fell between her breasts and dazed, she glanced around. It was April’s gaze that greeted her first. The blinkers had been removed from her face, but she was still harnessed and leashed at Lawes’ feet.
“What did you have in mind, Mr. Fuller?” Lawes’ teasing tone washed over her, and Hannah turned back to gauge Fuller’s reaction.
He’d seated himself in the large, chair beside Lawes, and as she watched from her knees, he grasped at the handle of her leash, yanking her in his direction.
“Something different, I think.” His eyebrow rose as he considered the idea. “Something Hannah will remember.”
“Hmmm.” Lawes’ response was no doubt intentionally theatrical, and she resisted the urge to glance back at him. “I see Hannah has no tail yet this morning?”
Her ass clenched right on cue, dread twisting in her belly at the threat Lawes’ words implied.
“Not yet, no.” Fuller sounded intrigued. “I haven’t had time.”
“How about we arrange a special alternative instead?” Lawes’ voice was gleeful. “I’m sure you know what I mean?”
She risked a peek at Fuller’s expression. His eyes sparkled at Lawes’ suggestion, and his lips began to curl.
“Oh, I do, indeed. Will you hold her leash for me, please?”
“Certainly.”
Hannah was forced sideways as Lawes took control of the leash connected to her neck. She scrambled toward his chair, nearly bumping into April. April blinked in her direction, her dark blue eyes intense as though they were trying to convey a message, or maybe it was a caution—Hannah couldn’t be sure. The only certainty was she was due, yet another penance and God only knew what it would involve this time—nothing about Lawes’ inferences offered reassurance.
“Thank you.”
She jumped at the voice. Between the damn sawdust and the carpet, she’d not even heard his approach.
“I’ll deal with her now.”
Hannah turned in time to see Fuller reseat himself and grasp the handle of her leash from Lawes’ hand. Her gaze flitted to Fuller’s other palm, the alarm in her belly rising. It looked like the usual tails they insisted on inserting into the women—a metal dildo attached to what looked like an animal tail. There was an array of varieties hidden away in the place, this one resembling a horse’s tail. It wasn’t the type of appendage that most troubled her, it was the metal part—the piece which would be slid inside her.
There was something slathered all over the metal.
It could have been lubricant. Even though they were sadistic fucks, the men here were usually pretty good at lubricating the implements they chose to insert inside them, but her instincts told her it wasn’t as simple as that. It didn’t look the same. Hell, it didn’t smell the same.
Hannah gulped as she qualified that notion. Whatever was rubbed all over the metal did have a familiar scent, though initially, she couldn’t place it. It was only when Fuller shifted the thing toward her, the smell registered.
Ginger.
Fuller leaned forward, waving the butt plug in her direction. “Into position, please, Hannah. You know how this is done.”
She flashed him a wary glance, still unsure how significant the odor her brain had identified was when she turned and presented her backside to him. Hannah had never heard of ginger being used with sex toys, but then, what did that prove? She’d had a reasonably stale sex life in the past, her most extreme adventures involving the kinds of crap hand cuffs you bought in a joke shop—nothing that rivaled the debauchery that happened here.
Nothing that had prepared her for it.
Pressing her nose to the carpet, she waited. She considered turning to look at April, but she didn’t dare. Whatever was coming next was going to push her in some way or another, and acting on reflex alone, her body tensed.
“No!” Fuller’s tone was curt as one of his large hands landed a swift swat to her prone ass. “Not like that. You know you need to relax.”
Hannah fought to hold in the whimper, wanting to escape, keeping her eyes closed as she forced the air in and out of her mouth. Slowly, the calmer breathing took effect, and just as she exhaled for the fifth time, she felt the cold metal of the plug nudging at her anus. She tensed again without thinking, unable to prevent the instinctive response to the intrusion, and it took every fiber of her will to persuade her muscles to relent.
Just enough to assist Fuller’s task, rather than hinder it.
Just enough to get this over with.
Hannah knew he would make her take it, anyway. Better her body relax into whatever trauma awaited. He pushed the plug into her at her next release of air, and all at once, she was struck by the normal feeling of fullness the thing inspired—if you could call such a sensation normal. Swallowing, Hannah compelled herself to settle. She knew she could handle the tail. She had done so many times before, so there was no need to put on a show for Lawes and Fuller.
That thought had barely resonated when a new sensation burgeoned—a burning heat seemed to rise from the metal lodged in her ass and radiate out in all directions.
“Fuck.” She muttered the word into the carpet, clenching around the unwelcome interference.
“Indeed.” That was Lawes’ smug voice, and as Hannah’s throat dried, she could imagine the arrogant beaming smile which accompanied it.
“Just an introduction to figging, Hannah.” Fuller’s voice was gentle, but she scarcely even noticed. “Not a real ginger root, but just the extract drizzled onto the end of the plug.”
Hannah gasped, unsure if she understood him correctly. He had put the juices of ginger root on the metal? That was why she had caught the scent of the spice in the air, and now, it was that same juice burning inside her ass. The feeling increased, the sensation consuming her every thought and feeling as s
he struggled to find any place which was comfortable, but every time she wriggled and clamped around the plug, it seemed to make the desperate feeling worse.
“Oh God!”
She lifted her head, knowing her face was flaming, and there were tears in her eyes. She was vaguely aware of April’s insistent gaze and of the tug on her leash. Frantically, she lurched backward, trying to prevent the leather from choking her, but there was only the stinging hell provided by the tail. The coarse hair attached to it hung at her thighs, a further reminder of Hannah’s shame, but it was nothing compared to the embarrassing punishment playing out inside her ass.
“Take it out of me. Please, sir!” She twisted her body toward Fuller’s legs.
Hannah no longer cared how pathetic she sounded. Everything depended on getting the plug out of her and stopping this torment, and she’d have done anything to achieve it. She’d have clambered over each of the fences—hell, she’d have fucking flown over them.
“No, Hannah.” Fuller’s hand reached for her cheek and wiped her tears away. “The plug stays for the whole morning. That is your punishment, little pet.”
She gulped at the finality of his conclusion.
There was to be no relief.
No mercy, and as that realization dawned, Hannah fell into despair.
She had to get out of here.
She had to escape from the unrelenting regime before it crushed her completely. She turned her head toward April, and their gazes briefly locked. April’s face was impassive, her expression giving nothing away to the men above them, but even through her tear-stained lashes, Hannah could see the significance in them.
April understood. They had done this to her, too, and she knew precisely how it felt.
Please, April. Hannah sent the thought to her mentally, praying her eyes would convey their meaning. Please persuade him to treat your tooth tomorrow. Trick him—do whatever you need to do—but get us the hell out of here.
Nineteen
April
Twenty-four hours later, Lawes carried April’s compliant body up to the treatment room. It had taken days to persuade him her tooth was aching badly enough to require his professional attention. Days of fawning over him and doing his bidding. Days of smiling sweetly when he demanded her attention and days of biting down on her every natural instinct. But still—they were here. Her whimpers and pleas had paid off. As they passed through the threshold of the sterile space, April realized it had been a while since she’d been here—her original dental issues paling into insignificance, once the true horror of the place had unfolded.
“Here we are.”
Soft, cajoling words met April’s ears as they entered the spotlessly clean environment, the whiteness of the place hurting her eyes and forcing her to turn away toward Lawes’ shoulder.
“It has been weeks, but I guess we never did resolve that filling, did we, April?”
She swallowed, feigning her new subservience. Evidently, she was better at acting than she’d first thought if Lawes had believed the tooth was really causing her pain. The only things doing that here were the men.
“No, Mr. Lawes.” April’s chin rose to find his dark brow risen at her response. “Sir.” She added the word quickly, ignoring the way her heart raced at his expression.
After everything that had happened—all the unspeakable things he and Fuller had done to her and the others—it was these peculiar moments of intimacy that seemed to jar the most. April could rationalize the other times—the brutal punishments and humiliating regimes. She had almost become accustomed to being hosed down every few days, the private parts of her body being displayed and shaved by virtual strangers, and being made to eat naked from a dog bowl.
Almost.
Even if she hadn’t accepted them, she certainly understood them. April knew why those things happened—it was the same reason everything in this dreaded place happened. It was what Fuller and Lawes intended—what they wanted.
These quiet moments were much more difficult to tolerate. April knew from experience how alluring both men could be when they turned it on, their tender tones having lulled her into a false sense of security on numerous occasions at the start of her ordeal. But not now, not anymore. April knew better now. She was smarter. She’d have to be if she sought to survive—if she wanted this pretend ache to be the catalyst to the things she and Hannah had been planning. But still, even for all that knowledge, April could feel her weary head succumbing to his gentle words. She understood there was a fragment of her which could still be fooled—still believed in the romantic notion that every man was redeemable, and Lawes would sweep her from the dental chair off into the sunset. She swallowed miserably at the thought. Believing in that idea was all too fucking easy.
Easier than the fight, she knew lay ahead.
“Well, it’s time to address it now.” Lawes’ determined tone drew her back to the stark white walls of the treatment room. “I must apologize for being so remiss in my duties as your dentist, though if I may say so, you do seem significantly calmer at being brought here.”
April blinked up at his face. The same face she had seen hundreds of times before, with its arrogant, smug expressions and the cruel smiles which widened whenever he inflicted some new torment on her and the others. It was odd how, in another time and place, Brandon Lawes would have been the type of guy she would have pursued. Tall, dark, and handsome, he was obviously well-educated, and despite the reality of the things he’d overseen, there was no denying his kinks more than aligned with her own.
In another story, Lawes might have been perfect for April—he might have been the hero—but not in this story. Not in her story. There were no heroes for April. If she wanted to get out of here, she was going to have to save herself. In the real world, Lawes was nothing but a twisted and sadistic villain, who, along with Fuller, deserved everything that was coming to him. She mustn’t let that notion slip too far from her head, no matter how soft and goading his replies became.
“April?”
There was that tone again and the arching brow that caused her pussy to clench in an instinctive display of obedience, making her want to cringe.
“Are you calmer?”
“Yes, Mr. Lawes, sir.”
Her response was immediate and true. April wasn’t lying—she was calmer than the woman who had first innocently wandered into the lion’s den, but not because of the twisted logic Lawes inferred. He and Fuller seemed to actually believe their so-called techniques were effective, that they had cured the women they held of their crippling phobias with their disturbing distractions. She inhaled, her mind musing on the notion. Perhaps on some insane level, they had cured her? It was true, this room no longer held much anxiety for April. Her heart was pounding harder than it had been before, but she reasoned that was due to what was coming next. It was no longer the dental treatment that held fear for her nor the man who would expedite it, but the uncertainty of what would transpire after.
Could she make this plan a reality for her, for Hannah, and ultimately, for all of them? Would she be able to turn the tables on the men who had held all the cards right from the beginning? That was April’s concern as Lawes carried her into the center of the room, and that was what filled her senses when he lowered her into the horizontal chair.
“I’m glad. It’s always satisfying to see the results of our program being so beautifully demonstrated.”
He flashed her a seductive smile, and even though April was well aware of the armory used by the men here, she couldn’t help but react in the same predictable way he’d no doubt hoped she would. She returned his smile, lowering her gaze to the length of her naked body as she settled into the chair. Pulling in a deep breath, she recalled the plan.
Stay calm, play the game, and for once, lull him.
“Mr. Lawes.”
Her heart hammered wildly as she forced the words out, but April suppressed the spike of tension in her body. This was it—this was her chance—and it wouldn’t
do to fritter it away with meaningless nerves. Yes, she could be anxious. She supposed that was to be expected, but if she was bound to be, then let her use that apprehension for something good, something useful.
Lawes tilted his head at her inquiring tone. Usually, he wouldn’t have accepted it. The women here were not permitted to speak unless spoken to, and despite the fact April had consistently ignored and broken the rules, she knew them better than anyone. The rules had been drilled into her in more ways than one. But this was different, one of those strange private times when it was only the two of them, and the normal etiquette of the place seemed suspended. April could tell he felt it as well—the unspoken electricity that sizzled between them when no one else could taint it, the hunger that burned in his green gaze.
She sucked her lip between her teeth, sensing the chemistry as it burgeoned.
She needed it now.
She was counting on it.
“What is it?”
April’s heart thumped harder at his reaction, threatening to leap into her throat before she pushed it back down where it belonged.
“I wanted to thank you. Sir.”
There was silence as her admission fell between them, Lawes’ widening gaze the only symptom of her statement. That lack of response did nothing to quell her growing nervous energy. Had she taken it too far by thanking him—was it too much? Perhaps she should just have expressed a level of pleasure at her new ability to be calm while reclining in the awful dentist’s chair. Maybe that would have been enough?
She held her breath, her focus fixed on Lawes’ face as she awaited his verdict.
“You want to thank me?” In the end, his sardonic tone was what April had expected, and the relief that coursed around her veins was palpable.
“Yes, sir.”
His brow rose. “Well, that’s unexpected, April.” Lawes lifted one, then her other wrist onto the arm rests, presumably preparing to strap her down to the chair. “Excuse my tone, but you’ve never seemed too keen on being part of our program. Of all our patients, you have led the resistance with your impetuous perspective and consistent attempts to leave us.” Lawes paused, the power of his stare pinioning April’s body into the seat. “So, I have to admit, I did not expect you to thank me.”
Countered: A Dark Suspenseful Gothic Romance (The Rule of Lawes Series Book 2) Page 11
