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

by Jennifer Bene

  “YOU DON’T HAVE A HOME! It’s gone, Thalia! Everything is gone! Give it up and accept this life or you’re going to end up in a hell of your own making!”

  She screamed in frustration, tears threatening to choke her. “THIS IS HELL!”

  He leaned down and wrapped his arm around her throat, dragging her back with him as he sat up and her legs moved underneath her. She was pressed back firmly against his chest, his knees on either side of her, holding her in place. He applied pressure to her throat until she could barely breathe, and the blood in her head pounded behind her eyes and in her ears. She dug her nails into his arm, trying her best to draw blood, but he didn’t relent. He hissed in her ear quietly, seeming unfazed by the pain of her nails, “You have no idea how kind I have been to you. The things people have requested I do to you would terrify you. The things people want to see me do to you.”

  Thalia squirmed, whining against his arm across her throat, trying to block out the things he was telling her. He kept going.

  “I am trying to train you so you’ll have the best chance at a good life, a life you may actually grow to enjoy. But if you keep this up,” he viciously twisted her nipple until she screamed weakly through his hold on her throat, “I’ll let my partner sell you to whatever whore house in whatever country will buy you. You disrespectful, disobedient, DEFIANT little cockslut!” His voice dropped and he hissed against her ear, “And they will use you until you break completely, and then they’ll kill you! Is that what you want?”

  His words sunk in, burrowing into her as fears she’d never had words for came to life inside her. Not just one man, but tens, hundreds, doing things to her. Being forgotten in some country across the world where women being treated that way was normal. And how did those countries feel about American women? She kicked her feet in front of her, leaving streaks of blood on the gray floor. Adrenaline must have been suppressing the pain, because as it faded she felt her feet burning, her ribs aching where he’d kicked her, a multitude of bruises across her body. She was sobbing, but couldn’t make much noise behind the pressure of his arm against her neck.

  “Is that what you want, Thalia?!” He shouted it at her, and her vision started fading at the edges. Her fingers and her lips tingling. She finally shook her head and he let go of her, shoving her forward from him as she curled into a gasping ball.

  “Fuck!” He shouted and she could smell smoke. He stood up quickly and she heard him walk back to the stove, turn it off and drop the pan into the sink. He came back to her and pulled her to her feet by her hair. She buckled the moment she put pressure on her feet and screamed in pain as he dropped her back to the floor. Her knees whined at the impact and she looked up to see his fist buried in his own hair. When she locked eyes with him she cried out in fear and looked down immediately. He had never been this angry. Not even after the call.

  What had she done? Stupid, stupid -

  This slap was much harder, her ears rang and she could taste the copper of blood in her mouth. “Keep your eyes down, slut. If you move from this spot I will whip you bloody, and sell you as is, do you understand?”

  She whimpered and nodded, mumbling “Yes, Master” before she heard his footsteps retreat. It had been a stupid attempt, she would have been running through the woods with her feet sliced up with glass, completely naked under the sun, with no food, no water, and no idea where a road or help could possibly be.

  She should have just made breakfast. Her stomach growled in agreement, and she cursed herself.

  A moment later his angry steps were returning and she cowered, curling in on herself. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry -” she whimpered over and over.

  He didn’t respond, he just yanked her arm behind her back and latched a cuff to her forearm. Pulling her other arm he stacked them on top of each other and latched the other cuff to her other forearm. The cuffs pulled her shoulders back, lifting her chest, and making it much harder to move since her arms were higher. “I don’t want to hear it, slut. I warned you there would be consequences if you failed me -”

  “Please don’t whip me, Master, please -”

  He pulled her head up and slapped her hard on the other cheek, she whimpered and let her head fall forward as he released her hair. “Do not speak again unless I ask you to.” Leaning down he put his shoulder into her stomach and his arm behind her ass and stood easily, as if she didn’t weigh anything. She ended up hoisted over his shoulder, dripping blood off the bottoms of her feet across the house. Something inside her was deeply happy about tracking blood through his pristine house, as if the blood revealed the truth of the place – even though she knew he’d likely clean it up.

  He opened the door to a small room, and he dropped her hard into a chair without a back. But he immediately fixed that by sliding a thin plank between her arms and her back, pulling them even tighter as he locked the rear of the chair into place. Then came a leather strap around her waist, her neck, her ankles. Each thigh was bound separately and she could see the bottom of the chair was missing a v-shape between her thighs. She whimpered quietly as it quickly became apparent that she couldn’t move.

  “Since you can’t seem to use your mouth properly today.” He held up a small rubber ball gag, and he grabbed her face hard. “Open.” She did and he pressed it between her teeth, securing it behind her head.

  Then he mercilessly attached clamps to each nipple, a small scream muffled behind her gag each time. His fingers rubbed her clit and she shook her head from side to side, the muscles of her thighs shaking in their effort to close. He thrust two fingers inside her and her hips tried to buck ineffectively in all the bindings. He returned to her clit, pinching and rubbing it until his other hand spread her lips and the pinch of a clamp on her clit had tears in her eyes as she screamed loudly.

  “Hush. You’re already making so much noise and the punishment hasn’t even started.” He gathered wires from somewhere to her left that she couldn’t really see and began attaching them to the clamps. Dread filled her and Thalia shook her head, pleading through the gag. He ignored her. “My partner has serious doubts about you, and this is one of his favorite rooms in the house. Since you failed me so miserably this morning, I’ve decided perhaps my methods are too gentle for you.” A humming started somewhere behind her and she jerked against the bindings as cold fear filled her. Too gentle? Was he kidding? He stood next to her, one arm extended behind her as he stared down at her. She openly stared at him, trying to plead for mercy with her eyes for whatever he had planned. He didn’t flinch.

  “I warned you.” Pain shot through her entire body, focused on the three points of the clamps. Her muscles strained for a moment against the straps and then it stopped and she collapsed back, crying against the gag. “That was an electric shock, Thalia. You’re going to keep receiving them until you’ve learned your lesson. Once you have you might earn pleasure.”

  On the wall in front of her he unrolled a long poster, tacking down the bottom so she could see it clearly in the harsh light of the room. In large font were the rules in a long list that covered the height of the wall. Thalia started to read them in her head:

  “You are not your own, you are property.”

  “You will address me as Master. Everyone else as Sir or Ma’am.”

  The pain tore into her again and she screamed against the gag, she twisted her head to the side and saw him looking at his phone. She glanced back at the list as the pain faded.

  “You will kneel in all rooms, and again whenever your Master enters.”

  “You will crawl when told to follow.”

  “You will ask permission to speak, to ask a question, to orgasm.”

  The guard was in front of her when the pain went off this time, her nipples were pulsing with the ache, and her clit had a heartbeat of its own tied nothing to pleasure. She could feel the tears running hot down her face. He was detached when he looked at her again. Cold and furious. She couldn’t handle it, and her eyes flicked back to the wall.r />
  “You will wear no clothing unless provided by your Master.”

  “You will thank your Master for all punishments.”

  “You will keep your eyes down at all times unless directed.”

  Blinding pain, her muscles strained against the straps and a keening cry tore out of her behind the gag. She felt hoarse already. His hands were on his hips when she looked up for a moment, but she quickly dropped her eyes.

  The guard hadn’t triggered it.

  Thalia’s eyes snapped up to the ceiling, tracking along the edges until she found the small cameras in two corners. She screamed again, knocking her head into the chair back as she realized who had to be doing this. The guard grabbed her face, and she knew his contact with her skin was momentarily saving her from another shock.

  “You did this. You made this choice.” He stepped back and she tried to twist, to beg him to let her go, to take control away from his partner. But sometime during the next surge of pain that burned through her body, he had left the room. He had left her alone with the one who had control.

  A small screen turned on next to the rules and it showed her the camera feed. The cameras didn’t show the wall she stared at, because they were aimed at her. She was completely exposed in the chair. The dark leather straps a sharp contrast against her pale skin, her cheeks flushed from the escape attempt, the fight, his slaps, and her pain. She closed her eyes and pain surged through her instantly, making her scream until her voice broke behind the gag.

  She was breathing harshly through her nose when it stopped and she looked up to see text appear on a black strip at the bottom of the screen: ‘Looking away will result in punishment.’

  Thalia widened her eyes and looked up at the cameras, futilely pulling against the restraints again. The text changed: ‘Your Master has been gentle with you.’

  She rolled her eyes and a sharp shock went through her that was what she imagined a stun gun must feel like. She suddenly had sympathy for those criminals on Cops who had been brought down by the electric current.

  ‘Do not be disrespectful. It will only result in pain.’

  Thalia was breathing heavily, staring at the screen, trying to zone out from her own image. Her breasts rising and falling. Her mouth stretched around the gag, her thighs spread. She tried desperately not to think of the people watching her.

  She wanted to know where the guard was. She wanted him to come back.

  Which proved she was insane.

  ‘You must behave, or we have no use for you. Nod if you understand.’

  Thalia pressed her teeth into the gag, making her jaw ache. Another man wanting her to submit. This one from halfway across the world as far as she knew. A sharp warning shock went through her and she arched up as much as the bindings allowed. When it stopped she nodded slowly.

  ‘Good girl.’

  The clamp at her clit began to hum low with an electric current, creating a thrumming at the core of her she was helpless to ignore. It felt good despite the aching of her body. She whined against the gag, her hips lifting slightly, until she saw herself writhing on the camera and she stilled. The hum stopped and the text changed again.

  ‘Your Master is right that you are beautiful. But disobedience will not be tolerated.’

  Thalia glared at the screen, huffing out her breath as her tears dried up in her anger.

  ‘Nod if you understand.’

  She held her head still. All they wanted was her body. They thought she was pretty to look at, they were happy to use her body, but wanted to crush everything inside her. It didn’t matter if the guard may have been right about some things, that some of the things he’d done with her had felt incredible. Had filled a need she was unaware of. Maybe she did crave some of this, but not at the risk of losing herself completely. And this asshole, sitting behind a computer somewhere, he didn’t know her at all. He’d watched her on cameras making decisions about who she was. She didn’t have to bend to him. Even if –

  Pain. All encompassing pain. Her brain shorted out with it, her vision went white, she felt a sharp pain in her throat and then there was nothing.

  Some time later she became aware of shouting. It seemed to come from far away. She couldn’t really feel her body; it was like she wasn’t fully connected to it, but floating half in and half outside of it.

  “Thalia?!” The guard. His voice came into focus a little and it sounded panicked, concerned. About her. He cursed and she heard his voice moving away again.

  She wanted to open her eyes, but her body didn’t react. What had happened? She remembered the pain, the text on the screen, the chair.

  “Fuck you! It’s done. No! No more, I’ll handle it!” His voice came from the hallway. He was angry with whomever he was talking to. Suddenly his voice was close again, filled with an odd mix of concern and leftover anger. “Thalia. Can you hear me? – Shit! Come on, wake up.”

  Something popped near her and the sudden scent of ammonia and a strong lavender perfume hit her and knocked her back into her body. Her head slammed back into the chair, and she winced. The guard was crouched in front of her, holding a small white thing in his hand. Smelling salts. Relief washed over his face for a second, and then it disappeared as he schooled his face into a blank expression.

  He dropped the packet on the ground and started untying the straps from her. He wasn’t talking anymore. Thalia stared at him, her body shaking. She had never felt pain like that, never been in so much pain she’d fainted. When her legs and her body were unstrapped, she heard two clicks and the chair back slid up and he set it aside, allowing her arms to relax a little. Her shoulders ached from the strain they’d been under and she noticed all of her muscles felt like she’d run for hours. She realized the clamps must have been removed while she was unconscious, but the pain from those points seemed to blend into the overall pain of her body.

  He didn’t even try to make her stand, he just scooped her up over his shoulder and walked out of the horrible small room with that chair. She felt a twisted sense of relief at being back under his control. He had tried to warn her about the others, but she hadn’t believed him. There were worse things, and she was sure there was more than the chair.

  He had stopped it though, but she didn’t know what he would do with her now. She wanted to tell him thank you, to beg him to not hurt her anymore, to apologize for trying to run – but he’d left the gag in. He was clearly not interested in letting her speak. He brought her into the dark toned room again, and she whimpered against the gag as the door shut and locked. The guard stepped into the bathroom and the bright lights hurt her eyes as he laid her down on the tile next to the tub. With her arms bound she ended up uncomfortably arched off the floor, but he didn’t care.

  The silence was driving her crazy. She tried to say she was sorry but it came out as nothing more than a garble and her throat burned at the effort of making the small sounds.

  “Stop. I don’t want to hear you talk.” His voice was cold again, all the concern from when she was unconscious gone. He walked back to her with a handful of first aid supplies. Sitting on the edge of the tub he grabbed one of her feet off the floor and, using a pair of tweezers, he pulled out a sliver of glass that made her scream. The screaming hurt worse than her foot. There was something wrong with her throat. His handsome features were pulled together in concentration as he slowly went over her foot, pulling out glass. Then he did the same with the other foot. Lifting her again he laid her down in the tub and began to run warm water, letting the tub fill a few inches.

  She’d been an idiot to try and walk over broken glass naked and barefoot. She was lucky that when he’d yanked her back he’d thrown her clear of the glass and she was cut nowhere else.

  He gently rinsed the blood off her feet, and then grabbed a razor. She started to close her legs, but he pinched her thigh and she winced. He didn’t even speak to her as he lathered between her legs and began shaving her most private place smooth again with confident sweeps. She looked up at
the ceiling and started counting to ten thousand, anything to not be present in this humiliating moment. “You will keep yourself shaved. Understand?”

  She just nodded. He continued and shaved her legs with a surprising confidence, moving the razor in quick swipes. He rinsed her off and then let the water out. He dried her off in the tub, tucking the damp towel under her. He checked the soles of her feet once more, tilting them both. When he was satisfied he used an antiseptic that made her wince and writhe, and he pinched her calf to still her but he still didn’t look at her face. After wrapping one foot in a bandage, he repeated the process with the other.

  When her feet were bandaged he picked her up under the arms, like you might a child, and set her on her feet. It hurt, but not impossibly. She had a new scale for pain after the chair. He still scooped her up and brought her into the bedroom. Dropping her on the bed, he spoke coldly, “Don’t move.”

  She swallowed behind the gag, the excess saliva pooling and threatening to choke her if she didn’t. She was perfectly still, aware that it was only him keeping his partner at bay.