Security Binds Her (Thalia Book 1) (The Thalia Series)

by Jennifer Bene

  Not here.

  It was a stiff walk back to his room where there were no cameras. He could smell her all over him. He could taste her with every breath, and he knew he had to shower or he’d never sleep. The shower kicked on and he rinsed his face, fighting the urge to just bite the soap to forget what she tasted like against his tongue, to forget the way she felt against his mouth.

  His hand moved down his stomach and gripped his cock, dragging down his length as he fisted and thrust into his grip. Again and again, but what he was picturing was the shape of her hips as her muscles lifted them, the way her mouth parted when she moaned, the pained expression as she orgasmed and how she panted and whimpered as she came hard against his mouth. Despite his efforts, memories of her body quaking beneath him that morning in the punishment room came back. The way she had cried out when he’d struck her with the belt. The clean pink lines on her pale skin that each strike left behind. The way her mouth had stretched around his girth when she’d swallowed him in she shower. Those soft words in her perfect voice.

  He came hard. Bracing against the shower wall as strands of his come came out with no warm place to seek but the empty shower. He groaned and leaned his head against his other arm on the shower wall.

  The girls weren’t supposed to get to him like this. He could have one any time he wanted, the one he was training shouldn’t be in any type of control over him.

  But Thalia was.

  And even as he washed himself clean, his mind was thinking of her body, the sounds she made against him, her voice as she begged him, and the taste of her on his tongue.

  And he just wanted more.

  Chapter Four

  Music started quietly at first and quickly increased until the classical was blaring so loudly that Thalia was sitting up in the bed with her ears covered.

  “I’m awake! Shut it off!” She tried to yell over the music but her voice just seemed to be swallowed by it. Her eyes scanned the walls and she saw little speakers embedded in the corners of the room.

  Surround sound as torture, lovely.

  The door across from her opened and the guard looked a little surprised by the music, then he smiled and she was shocked again by how handsome he was.

  It was just the abusive, psychotic personality that kept him from being charming.

  He balanced a covered plate on one hand and pulled his phone from his pocket with the other. Slowly the music fell to a tolerable level, and then he turned back to the door and locked it.

  “Good morning.” His voice rumbled and she remembered his mouth between her thighs, and how she’d clenched her fist in his hair to keep him there. A blush flushed up her chest, heating her cheeks and she gritted her teeth.

  “Morning, sir,” she mumbled and hoped it was obscured by the music still playing.

  “Well, now, you’re much more polite this morning,” he said as he walked towards the bed. He wore a thin white cotton shirt that didn’t veil his hard body, and black pants that reminded her of pants some martial artist might wear. As he reached the bed he flipped the cover off the plate in his hand with a dramatic flair. “And look, I brought breakfast as promised.”

  Thalia scooted away from the end of the bed until her back touched the headboard, the sore skin making her flinch. He sighed and set the plate down on the bed. It looked delicious – fresh sliced fruit, some kind of omelet with cheese and thin strips of meat she couldn’t identify. Not bacon.

  “Prosciutto.” He pointed at where she had been staring. “You need to eat.”

  “I’m not hungry.” Lie. Her stomach practically roared, she’d burned through the food he’d given her in the late afternoon yesterday and wanted more, but she wouldn’t beg.

  “Come here, Thalia.” He sat on the edge of the bed and patted the spot just behind the plate.

  Edging forward slightly she stopped just short of where he wanted her to sit. He sighed and took a plastic fork out and speared a slice of strawberry, holding it out towards her. Thalia reached forward with her hand and he pulled it back, shaking his head a little.

  “Tsk tsk. With your beautiful mouth, please.” He extended the hand with the fork again and Thalia crawled a little farther forward and bit down. He had drizzled the fruit in honey and she made a soft moan at how good it tasted. Her eyes had closed and she opened them again to find a smile curving the edge of his mouth, those blue-gray eyes looking playful as she trailed her teeth against the fork and sat back. “Do you like it?”

  “Yes, sir.” She swallowed the slice of strawberry and her tongue licked along her bottom lip to grab the errant honey that had stuck there.

  “I said I’d tell you the rules here. You know some already. First rule to discuss today is that you should really call me Master. Sir is for others. The faster you get used to saying it, the better.” He speared a blackberry and held it out to her.

  Leaning forward she almost got the blackberry into her mouth before he pulled it back. It hovered just in front of her face, and she ran a hand through her hair, pushing it back from her face. Her irritation at him not letting her feed herself was growing. The plate was only about six inches from her hand and she lunged to grab another strawberry but he caught her wrist and twisted it sharply in the hand not holding the fork. Thalia cried out and whimpered as she felt the fine bones grind in the strength of his grip.

  “What do you say when I speak to you, Thalia?” It took him no effort at all to restrain her, and she knew he’d just keep tormenting her until she said it.

  “Yes, Master. I’m sorry, Master.” Thalia said it through her teeth, but he let go of her wrist and held out the blackberry again. She took it into her mouth, and it was just as delicious.

  “Good girl.” He stabbed another piece of fruit and held it out, smiling as she took it. “I’m only trying to prepare you for what’s to come.”

  Swallowing the fruit he’d offered she spoke, “What do you mean, Master?”

  Thalia could tell he was consciously being patient with her as he took a breath. “Second rule is that you really shouldn’t speak unless it’s ‘yes master’ or ‘no master’. If you want to ask a question like that, first ask - ‘May I ask a question, Master?’ then only if you’re given permission you may ask it.” He held out a bite of the omelet this time and it was also heavenly as she bit into it. He had to be the one cooking, she hadn’t heard or seen anyone else, and she was kind of impressed.

  “May I ask -” Thalia started but he cut her off.

  “It’s fine, I’ll answer you. I’m teaching you how to behave so that when you meet others like me, they will want you.” He held out another bite of omelet but Thalia didn’t move to take it.

  “Others? You’re bringing others here?” She was starting to panic at the idea of other people being here, touching her like he did.

  He was planning on sharing her with his friends. The ones who watched her on the cameras.

  Her mind was racing when he leaned forward and grabbed her by her hair, tugging just hard enough to get her attention. It silenced her mind as she waited for him to yell, or hurt her, or something.

  “Thalia, you’re not behaving. I’m trying to have a nice conversation over breakfast with you since you did so well last night. If you won’t behave then I can’t be nice.” His voice stayed calm even as he gave her hair a sharp tug. Then he relaxed his hand and ran his fingers over her scalp where it tingled and he leaned back.

  “I’m sorry, Master. May I ask a question, Master?” She felt fear stirring in her stomach, but she knew the best way to get answers was to follow his rules.

  “Go ahead, Thalia.” He seemed irritated, but not so much that he’d hurt her.

  “Why don’t you just let me go, sir, I mean, Master? I’m not good at being obedient, and no one will want me, I’m sure they won’t. You could just let me go home, and I won’t say anything.” She pointed at the ceiling, tears threatening to spill over as she fought the panic in her, “I mean you’ve got me on video doing - things - an
d I don’t want those videos out. That guarantees my silence! Just let me go, Master, and I promise I won’t tell anyone. Ever!”

  “Even if I were to let you go, which I won’t,” his voice was solid as he slammed the door on her request, “it’s not like you have anywhere to go.”

  What did he mean by that? She opened her mouth to speak and he held up his hand to stop her.

  “Thalia, listen to me, you have nowhere to go. You resigned from your job two nights ago via email.” His eyes were watching her steadily.

  “I didn’t!” She stared at him in shock but he pinched her thigh hard and she yelped. His irritation showed on his face as the red mark bloomed on her pale skin.

  “Don’t interrupt. You did resign as far as anyone knows. The email came from your work email address, you told your boss you were moving back home. You’ve also given your apartment a 30 day notice and have already paid the last month. The apartment will be empty by the end of this weekend, and your car is already on its way to Mexico.” Every time he calmly crossed off one of the tether lines to her life, it felt like a hammer ringing a bell in her ears. Each time shutting down more of the hope that had been keeping her together. She didn’t even realize she was crying at first until she felt the drops on her arm.

  “Someone will look for me.” Thalia said and sniffled, trying to hold in the urge to cry even harder.

  “Who? Your coworkers never talked to you outside of work, you have a few people you might call friends but you rarely saw them because you worked all the time. And you haven’t talked to your father in two months.” He tilted his head like he was concerned. It was obviously an act. How long must he have followed her to know all this?

  “Someone -”

  “You’re mine, Thalia. The sooner you accept that, the easier all of this will be.” His voice was falsely comforting, but nothing about what he said was okay. Underneath the panic and the desperate urge to scream, she was so very angry. It bubbled up inside her, burning underneath her skin, stretching it until she thought she might explode if she didn’t do something.

  “I do NOT belong to you!” Thalia shouted as she kicked the plate to the floor. The sound of the plate breaking made her pulse race even faster, her rage making her shake.

  “Yes, you do, Thalia.” He was talking through his teeth as he tried to maintain his calm. “You haven’t accepted it yet but you were always meant to be a slave, I know you’re not ready to hear that yet, but you need this. No other relationship would ever fulfill you like submitting will.” His fist was clenched next to him, the only outward sign of his anger towards her.

  Thalia’s breaths came in shallow gasps as his words sunk in and she fought against them. That wasn’t true. It wasn’t. Unbidden, her mind reminded her of how frustrated she had been by the boyfriends she’d had. How they were so syrupy sweet, wanting to cuddle with her on the couch and in bed. It had actually turned her off, and she’d thought something was wrong with her, because they hadn’t acted like she wanted a guy to act. She wanted - she slammed on the brakes on that train of thought. She did NOT want this man in front of her, she did not want him at all and she wasn’t going to fall into some twisted version of reality that had her as his slave and him as her Master. No way.

  “No. I won’t. I won’t be your slave, I won’t be anyone’s, I WON’T!” She started off talking calmly but it quickly rose until she was shouting at him. He reached into his pocket and pressed the button again. She heard the soft beep of it.

  “I already told you I don’t like it when you tell me no.” He was almost growling at her, his eyes blazing, and she knew she should be afraid, that she should stop, but she couldn’t shut her mouth.

  “What does that button do?! Does it turn off the cameras? What don’t you want them to see? Don’t want them to see that I’m never going to be a good girl?” She was yelling as she threw his words back at him. He brought his hand back and slapped her hard. The pain shocked her as it spread across her cheek, and she grabbed her face and whimpered as he started shouting at her.

  “I’m trying to help you, Thalia! I’m trying to teach you what they expect so you can perform well and someone will want to buy you who will actually take care of you!” He was yelling at her now that the cameras were off, his calm facade slipping away. “You think I’m bad? I’m NOTHING compared to some of the men out there, Thalia. And if you keep acting like a defiant little brat, the nice Masters won’t even want to look at you, you’ll only get the harsh ones interested, the ones who want to punish you, just to see if they can break you.”

  “YOU said you want to break me!” She shouted and his shoulders rose and fell as he made himself breathe deeply.

  “I am so much more gentle than some of them. You have no fucking idea, Thalia.”

  “I don’t care!” She shouted through her tears, while still trying to shield her face in case he hit her again.

  “You better care, Thalia, I’m the only one who can teach you what you’re supposed to do, and right now I am your Master no matter what you choose to think.” He was trying to maintain his calm again, but she didn’t care. Her self-preservation had disappeared somewhere between him telling her she no longer had a job and him reminding her no one would even report her missing for months, if even then. It’s not like her dad and her were ever close. The fear and anger at her situation rose up and she looked him straight in the eye, sitting back up and dropping her hands to her sides in fists.

  “I hate you, I will NEVER be yours!” She screamed, and he was on her in an instant. His hand ripped into her hair, pulling her backwards to hold her to the bed. His knees were between hers quicker than she could try to close them, and he pressed her there with the lower half of his body until she lay squirming beneath him, unable to do more than push at his shoulders and then try desperately to unwind his fist from her hair.

  “Don’t say that to me, Thalia.” He growled down at her, his mouth barely inches from hers. “I could do so much to you, things you can’t imagine.” His hips were pressing against hers, and she could feel how hard he was, and she hated herself for getting wet in response.

  “I DO hate you. Why wouldn’t I hate you?!” Even pinned under him, knowing it wasn’t going to do anything but make things worse, she kept yelling at him. She hit his shoulders but he didn’t even shift above her. She hated feeling so weak, and hated even more the little part of her that was aroused. Her body was a traitor.

  He let go of her hair and grabbed her arms, pinning her wrists to the bed above her with one hand. His free hand grabbed her chin and he made her look at him. “I’ll let you decide your punishment for this outburst. Tell me the rules you can remember. Based on what you can tell me I’ll decide what you’ve earned.” His voice was controlled rage, and her body was shaking underneath him despite all her bravado in shouting at him. The adrenaline was just making the panic worse. “Now, Thalia.”

  “Please -”

  He gripped her chin harder, shutting her mouth as he angled her head up. “Rules. Name all of the ones you can remember since you arrived.”

  She tried her best to nod against his grip and he relaxed his hold enough that she could speak. “No clothes.”

  “Are you going to make me hurt you? You know how to address me.” He growled out the words at her.

  “No clothes, Master.” She blinked away the tears, feeling them slide down her temples into her hair.

  “Continue.”

  “I must call you Master. I must always respond with ‘yes, Master’ or ‘no, Master’. I must ask for permission before I ask a question, Master.” She hiccupped as she tried to talk through the urge to cry, “I must never come without permission and I must crawl when you tell me to follow you, Master. I must kneel in a room if you do not tell me otherwise, Master.”

  He smiled down at her, but it was cold, and he continued to hold her chin as he placed a kiss on her lips. “You are smarter than you pretend to be. Now that you’ve admitted you know the rules, I will not acce
pt any further mistakes. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, Master.” Now that the anger had left her she felt cold with fear. She couldn’t decide if it was brave or completely stupid for her to fight him the way she did.

  His hips pressed against her again as he pushed himself off her and slid off the bed. She sat up slowly, staring at the floor because she didn’t want to meet his gaze.

  “Clean up the mess. I’m going to make a phone call.” He walked to the door without looking back at her and she heard it unlock, shut firmly, and lock again. She was still shaking when she slid from the bed and started gathering the remnants of the plate into a pile, and then gathered the food onto one of the larger pieces of plate. She quickly ate the food that still seemed clean, trying to fill her stomach before he came back. It took longer than she thought as she tried to clean up the smooth wood. She carried the mess gently into the bathroom and put it in the trash, and she was washing her hands when the door opened again, and his voice thundered out. “Follow me. Now.”