by Olivia Ryann
He carries me up the stairs like it’s no big deal, like I weigh nothing at all. He puts me on my bed, gracefully pulling the tatters of my dress off. I don’t resist. I don’t do anything except for sit here, feeling an ocean of numbness rising and churning within me.
Monster disappears into my bathroom for a second, returning with a damp washcloth. As he runs it over my legs and my belly, I close my eyes. Right now, it’s the closest thing I’m going to get to a caress.
Even though it’s Monster, I will take whatever small crumbs he’s willing to offer. Just now, just in this moment. I lean into his touch, tears tracking slowly down my face.
When he’s satisfied that I am clean, he puts me in a clean dress, wriggling the thing down over my head. I lie down with a sigh, wiping away tears.
“That won’t ever happen again,” he says quietly, looking away. He’s still angry, but I don’t think it’s me he has a quarrel with. Then he pins me with his gaze, his grey eyes searching my face. “You’re for me, you understand? My property. Nobody is fucking stupid enough to harm something that belongs to me.”
I just lie there, desensitized to everything.
What does it even matter?
What does any of it matter?
Closing my eyes, I shut out the rest of the world.
He keeps talking to me, but I just squeeze my eyes and wish harder.
Go away.
Go the hell away!
Eventually, he does. I fall asleep eventually, and when I wake up, there is a comforter at the end of my bed. I kick it away, not in the mood for any kind of apology, no matter who it’s from.
14
Katherine
Monster is gone for a week or more this time. I can’t say that I miss him. I’m still reeling over the video he forced me to watch.
A blindfolded and gagged girl, being brutally raped by my own father. What’s more, I recognized the girl… it was the girl from the picture beside Monster’s bed.
Several pieces clicked into place for me in that moment, but it mostly highlighted what I still did not know.
Who was the girl?
How was she connected to Monster?
And mostly, how could anyone do what my father did to that girl? It was the most foul treatment of a human that I could think of.
I never wanted to know any of that. So I’m furious at my whole family for being the scum of the earth, yes. But I’m also pissed off at Monster for making me aware of the whole thing.
In this one instance, I think I would have preferred not to know. Now even if I had dreamed of being rescued by my family in some sort of dream scenario… I don’t know if I would go with them. Or rather, I’d let them take me out of here, and then I would promptly flee their custody.
And the book that I traded my lack of knowledge for? It’s lying right beside me in my bed. I spent about three hours trying not to read it. Then I gave in…
And I’m kind of glad that I did.
Whatever else is going on, there is nothing like the classical escapism that comes from reading a good book. It’s been many years since I read The Count of Monte Cristo, but I’m sucked in immediately. It’s hard not to read it all in one sitting, but I force myself to read slowly. I consider the words on each page for a nice long time before I turn to the next.
When Monster finally returns though, I know it. Everyone in the whole house knows it. He announces his presence by snapping demands at the maids and screaming instructions at one of the bodyguards.
I float around the edges of his frenzied activity, watching a maid scurry from his private office, tears in her eyes. He bellows commands in a different language, and expects the house staff to jump to his commands.
It’s not particularly pretty, but it is sort of fun to watch. Even Sin gets yelled at, berated for some minor thing. My lips curve up as I watch Sin leave Monster’s office with a deadly look on his face.
Though I don’t want the attention, I know that it’s only a matter of time before Monster remembers that I’m here. Most of his day is spent angrily arguing with people on the phone, but I don’t expect it to last.
Returning to my room, I keep my head down and don’t make waves. Maybe I’ll just weather this storm with no problems, if I’m quiet enough.
When has my life ever gone so well, though?
It’s late by the time that Monster appears in my doorway, rolling up his sleeves. His expression is nothing short of forbidding, signaling a rocky road ahead for me. I sit up, swallowing against the lump that forms in my throat, and hug my bare knees.
When my eyes make contact with his, I feel a direct current running between us. He’s a live wire, stripped of any sort of protection. Monster looks at me dispassionately as he strolls into my room.
“Get undressed,” he orders, his voice throaty.
Causing tension when I already know Monster’s in a bad mood isn’t high on my list priorities, but what am I supposed to do? I greet him anxiously, putting my legs down on the floor, with a quavering hand in the air.
“Monster, I know that you’re upset…” I start, but he cuts me off.
His expression hardens. “Shut up. I’m not interested in what you have to say. I’m interested in your body, and how you’re going to use it to get me off.”
He unbuckles his belt, which makes my eyes go wide. Surely he won’t whip me with his belt. I didn’t even do anything wrong!
Unless he found out about the secret passage, that is.
A shiver wracks my whole body.
He doesn’t seem concerned though. He tosses his belt to the floor and begins unbuttoning his shirt. I feel the electric contact of his eyes, piercing me and stabbing me. He growls at the fact that I seem frozen, gawking at him.
“You have until I get this shirt off to get naked. Don’t make me tell you again.”
This is it. This is the moment that I’ve been dreading, when he finally decides that he’s tired of playing around. He’s going to have sex with me, to put his giant dick inside my small body… and he’s not even going to warm me up first.
A cold sweat breaks out over my body as I lift my dress up over my head with shaking hands. He looks at me, his grey eyes calculating as he steps up to the bed. Flushing all the way to my roots, I try to cover myself with my hands.
I feel more naked standing here now than I’ve ever felt.
Am I tall enough?
Am I too scrawny to turn anyone on?
Are my breasts big enough?
Is my ass too big?
While I’m doubting myself, he’s taking off his shirt, leaving him stripped bare to the waist. He’s in amazing physical shape, his pecs muscular and flat while his biceps are impressively large and veiny. His abs are hard and he even has that vee of muscle that narrows to his hips.
Everything else about him aside, Monster is friggin ripped. He’s hot, and there is no denying it. He may very well live up to his moniker, but damn if I don’t look at him and swoon, just for the barest second.
It’s biology. I can’t be blamed for that, can I?
Monster looks at me for a second, his eyes narrowing. He reaches out, knocking my hands away, leaving me bare before him. I feel the weight of his gaze as he considers my breasts, my… my pussy… and my face, too.
He brushes my hair back behind my ear with the lightest touch. I become aware of my hammering heart only when his fingertips make contact with the shell of my ear, oh so briefly.
Where before he was in a hurry, now he moves languidly, caressing my collarbone in the still-sensitive spot that his knife carved my flesh. Sucking in a breath, I close my eyes against the moment of… not pain, exactly. But not pleasure, either.
What is the word for that?
Excitement? Anticipation?
As I think the words, I judge myself for feeling them. He hurts me. He kidnapped me. He makes me feel unimportant and worthless.
He treats me as if I am a slave.
So why does my heart do a little kick when
he touches me? He catches the tip of my breast in his fingertips, massaging it lightly. I squirm a little at the strange sensation he creates and open my eyes.
He moves closer, so that we’re only a heartbeat away from touching. So that I can feel the heat of his skin. My lips can feel the span of his warm breath; they part in anticipation, even though I know that it is so very wrong.
Then a throat is cleared. Monster and I both start, turning to look at the doorway. My heart freezes in my chest.
Sin is there, his expression apologetic, filling up the space with his big body. I feel immediate shame, that any other person should see me naked… Actually, that anyone should see me so… intrigued by Monster…
“The whole fucking world had better be ending,” Monster barks at Sin, looking like he’s about to murder him. I consider Sin to be a tough guy, but even he blanches at Monster’s words.
He bows his head. “Dryas is here, sir. He has some news about the Sierra Cartel. It’s worth interrupting you, sir.”
Monster squints at Sin for a moment, then shakes his head. He turns to me.
“Don’t think that this is over,” he rasps, his expression steely. “It’s not even begun.”
He turns and marches out of the room, following Sin. And I’m just left, trembling, trying to figure out what the hell just happened.
15
Katherine
I’m awakened in the middle of the night by Sin shaking me awake.
“Get up,” he says, his expression intense. He releases me, standing back. “The master wants you.”
Dazed, I sit up. “What? He wants me now?”
His expression turns caustic. “No, I’m just talking to you in the middle the night for fun. This is all a game to me.”
Scrunching up my face, I push my wild hair back. “Alright, alright.”
I push myself off the bed, moving slowly.
“Come on,” Sin says, grabbing me roughly by the arm. He hauls me off the bed and drags me out of my room. “Stop screwing around.”
Sin’s legs are so much longer than mine, it’s mostly him towing me down the hallway. He heads downstairs and into Monster’s private office, where Monster is waiting. The evening air is cool enough for me to feel goosebumps break out all over my body.
I stare at Monster, who is pacing at one end of the the office. I look at the room between us, at the straight-backed chairs and the big oak desk. And then I see Monster’s expression, the lazy humor he displays while he waits…
Now I’m really worried.
Sin deposits me on the cool wooden floor, vanishing from sight. Monster pins me with his gaze, coming closer.
“I told you we weren’t through,” he says, as if the conversation from two days before was still ongoing. “I warned you, didn’t I?”
I open my mouth to respond, but he cuts me off.
“No. I don’t need any input from you. What I need is for you to realize your place,” he says, seeming almost thoughtful. “I think I’ve been gone so much recently that you’ve been flouncing around here, acting like a spoiled princess. That ends today.”
I start to retort. “I didn’t do anything.”
Monster ignores me, walking over to his desk. He pulls out an elegant black box, the size of his forearm, and sets it on the desk. With a glance up at me, he flips the lid open with one finger.
Inside, there are two gold… devices. They are nestled down in black velvet, gleaming in the lamplight, reflecting and refracting the light as I edge closer. One of them straight up looks like a small… vibrator. The other one is shaped like an egg, and it appears to have some filmy black material underneath.
Looking up in puzzlement, I cock my head. “I’m sorry, what is going on here exactly?”
He smiles, showing his perfectly white teeth. Picking up the egg with one hand and a small remote with the other, he presses a button. The egg comes to life, vibrating in his open palm. My eyes widen a little as I look up at him.
“You’re going to wear this,” he explains, brandishing the vibrator. “I don’t believe in taking what isn’t mine. That includes your virginity. But I’m still very much a man. And until I can have your virginity, I’m going to seek other pleasures with you. You’re going to sit on my lap, and wear this vibrator, and read to me.”
“What? No,” I scowl. My hands grip my dress, anxiously creating two damp wrinkles in the fabric.
“It’s between this and the box beneath your bed.” He cocks his head at me. “I could honestly go either way.”
My heart starts to race. I quail at the very mention of The Box. “Please! No, not that.”
“So it’s the vibrator, then?” He holds up the gold egg so that it gleams in the lamplight.
“I—” I start, then swallow hard. Eyeing the egg, I feel… dirty, just looking at it. “I don’t know.”
He drops the egg back into the box. “It sounds like you want the box.”
Claustrophobia threatens to take me over, just thinking about going into The Box by choice. “No! No. I… I’ll do whatever it takes to avoid that.”
Monster sits down in his office chair, patting his thigh. “Come over here, then. Show me you can be a good girl for once.”
Biting my lip, I hesitate. If I go to him, if I choose the vibrator over The Box, it’s still my choice. I would be consenting to it, at least somewhat.
Then again, I didn’t choose to be trapped here or to be with Monster.
He lowers his brows. “This is the last time I want to tell you to come over here, Fiore. I can promise you won’t like what happens when I stop being nice.”
Shaking, I make my way over to Monster on legs that feel like they’re made of jelly. He watches me as I slowly make my way over to him, a smile flitting across his features. I stand only inches away from him, looking down at his lap, dreading the contact with him.
“Good girl,” he says, reaching out and grabbing my hip. He squeezes it, biting his lip. “You know, if you would just relax, this will be very good for you too.”
My only response is a shudder. He grasps my hips, surprising me by twisting me as deftly as a salsa dancer. He turns me around so that I’m bent over his desk, pressed against the solid wood. As I make a noise of protest, he forces my thighs apart with his knee.
“What are you—” I complain, until he hikes my dress up to my waist. I’m left perfectly naked, available for his inspection. “Monster!”
I can feel my face burning hot and red. It’s so embarrassing, I don’t even know what to do with myself.
“Shhhh,” he orders, his hands caressing my ass, framing it. “Just be still.”
He kneads my ass, running a knuckle down the seam of my body, over my pussy. I squirm as his finger passes over my clit.
It’s not that I want him to touch me again, really it’s not.
It’s just… my clit aches.
What am I supposed to do with that?
A tremor starts deep within my body, and before I know it I’m shaking everywhere. I look back at him over my shoulder, panicking. He seems not to notice, too entranced by his hands on my body.
“Monster—” I try again.
He stops me with a slap on the ass. “That’s enough of you. I’ll tell you when you can speak again.”
Blushing furiously, angry at how he’s violating me, I put my head down on the desk. The sooner I get this over, the better.
“I like when you submit like that,” he says. “You know what I like even better?”
I can’t speak through the knot in my throat, so I just shake my head. The next second I’m shocked again when I feel his fingers tease the seam of my pussy.
It’s not dry. Actually, more than that… it’s wet. I know that I must be fucked up, because I’m aroused by everything he’s doing to me.
“You’re a fucking dirty little girl, you know that?” he laughs into my ear. “I think you’re going to like what I have in store for you.”
He removes his hand and picks up the e
gg again. I watch as it disappears behind my body, closing my eyes and swallowing. He nudges the seam of my pussy with the golden egg, teasing my clit with it.
Nothing, as I expected. The egg is just probing my pussy lips, not easing the ache that I’ve got in any way. Monster fumbles around on the desk, and then suddenly the egg comes alive with a buzz.
My lips seem dry all of the sudden. My eyes pop open.
That feels… it feels.. different. No, it feels…
Good.
As he continues to touch it gently to my clit, I have to suppress a moan. He moves it back and forth, setting a little rhythm, and damn if it isn’t hard not to move my hips along with it. The ache I feel increases, spreading outward, but I have too many things to focus on to be mad about that.
Monster pulls the egg away from my clit, nudging my entrance. Though my face is burning with shame, I widen my legs a little, encouraging him to push further. He slides the egg smoothly inside me, just as far as the entrance, and then leaves it there.
He brushes my hair away from my neck and then makes me stand up. After kissing my neck delicately, he nibbles the tender spot just below my ear. When he works his way up to the shell of my earlobe, I cry out, fingers gripping my dress.
“Mmmm,” he husks in my ear. “You like that, don’t you?”
It’s a statement, not really a question. I clamp my mouth shut, trying to pull my dress down around my hips.
“Uh uh. Who said you could do that?” he asks, swatting my hands away. He unzips his pants, pulling his throbbing pink dick out, and sits down in his chair. “Now get the fuck over here and sit on my lap like a good girl.”
“No!” I say, jerking away from his grip. “I’m not going to have sex with you!”
He raises a brow, gripping my arm hard. “First of all, I can fuck who I want, whenever I want. I fucking own you, and I can do whatever the fuck I want to you. Second, I didn’t say we were going to fuck. I said come sit on my lap.”
He twists my wrist painfully, and I acquiesce. I perch my ass on his lap, sighing when he releases my wrist. He pulls me further back, until my ass cheeks are kissing his long, hard dick.
