by M. S. Willis
“Regardless … ” Xander continued. “ … It will take time, another year perhaps until we have the backing to overthrow the men who benefit by remaining loyal to your father. We must be cautious, Aaron. Losing yourself to that girl … ”
“I’d hold that thought if you wish to keep your tongue.”
A threat, yes; but Xander was not one to take threats idly, not even from Aaron. Knowing his friend would not remain silent, Aaron answered the unspoken question, “I have not lost myself to her. Our mouse has more spirit in her than I previously thought. She surprised me this morning by approaching me and putting her hands on me. I cannot show her kindness, Xander, a fact you know full well. Her behavior, her submission, is the only thing that will ensure her survival. If she were to misspeak once presented, act in any way not deemed appropriate for a whore, her death will not be a pleasant one. She has not been broken as easily as we thought.”
Xander chuckled. “No, that she has not. Although, she was very well behaved once you handed her to me. Perhaps you should continue the training yourself. Whereas she has a healthy fear of me, her abhorrence of you is far more certain.”
Razor sharp and laced with acid, Xander’s words tore into Aaron’s chest, a physical strike that left nothing but pain and rotting flesh. "No, I'll continue the training. You're correct about her hatred, she knows I'm to blame for what's been done to her. It was my face she saw that night at the concert, and it was my face she was met with when she was disgraced before a group of obnoxious drunks." His heart sank further as he thought of Madeleine, of her torment, of the torment yet to come. Even still, he knew he was not impervious to his desire for her. Fearing he would, in fact, lose himself to the temptation she presented, he needed to break rules in her training.
"She'll need clothing while we train her … "
Xander opened his mouth to protest, but swallowed his remark when Aaron raised his hand to silence him.
"If I am to remain free of the forced corruption, I must be careful in my approach. Yes, she will have to tolerate nudity when she is within view of the members of The Estate, but I believe our mouse will better accept training if she's given some concessions while in our presence alone. She welcomes the threat of death too easily. Her spirit has not been broken Xander, not when she prefers the unknown release from life to the prison she finds herself in now."
"How can you be so sure?" Xander's question rang between them as Aaron pondered the absolute truth to his statement. It was nothing she said, it was not in the way she weakly fought, or the small glimpses of rebellion in her reactions. It was what he saw in her eyes … the same look, the same plea for release from the nightmare of The Estate that he saw when he looked in the mirror each morning.
"I just am, the reasons aren't important." Aaron pushed himself to a full stand and walked briskly to his desk. While sitting down, his hand flicked out to open the laptop on the center of the desk, effectively dismissing Xander.
Knowing he'd been excused, Xander stood to leave. He paused while crossing the room. Looking back at Aaron over his shoulder, he asked, "What would you like me to buy her? I've never been shopping for women's clothes."
"Nothing fancy. Just something she can wear that isn't five sizes too big. See if she'll give you her sizes; if not, just guess."
"Aye, aye, Captain." After a mock salute, Xander turned to exit the room. Shutting the door behind him, he left Aaron to his work.
As soon as he was alone, Aaron attempted to keep his mind focused on business, but eventually found himself online researching his unintended guest. Other than pages and pages of news reports regarding her disappearance, there wasn't much beyond praise regarding what some termed a 'musical savant.' It was obvious Madeleine had been sheltered. Even in her adult life, she’d not agreed to many photos, and those that were taken always had her placed behind an instrument large enough to hide her from the world; an instrument that she’d mastered in a way that no other person could dare compete.
Aaron growled at the thought of what he would have to do to her, what he would have to allow others to do. But he’d protected her from the worst. She would not be a toy to be passed around. No. As long as she was Aaron’s, Madeleine would not be assaulted in the worst possible of ways. Her embarrassment was certain, her privacy would be shredded to tattered rags, but her body would remain whole. Of that, Aaron would make sure.
Slamming the laptop closed, he stood up from his chair. Crossing the large room with wide steps, he set out to take care of the various business meetings he needed to attend that day. Before leaving, he couldn’t help but walk back to Maddy’s room. Quietly, he unlocked the door and pushed it open just enough to find that she’d fallen back to sleep on the large king sized bed. Her body lay soft and luscious atop the silken, goose down comforter, her nakedness exposing curves so feminine that the maleness in him couldn’t help but react. His breath caught as his eyes moved over her still form. She would be a practice in self-restraint, the toughest challenge he had yet faced, but he silently promised her that no harm would befall her while in his care. She stirred suddenly, a soft, yet frightened cry escaping her full lips. He winced as he watched the skin between her sleeping eyes furrow.
His heart tearing itself from his chest, he regretted the fact that he was her nightmare.
Chapter Ten
A door softly sliding against the carpet wrestled Maddy from her slumber. Jumping up from the bed, her arms immediately went to cover her naked breasts as her eyes locked with the deep, sea blue of Xander's. His eyebrow arched as he observed her attempt at modesty.
"Normally, Cricket, I'd reprimand you for your attempt to cover yourself, but it seems your Master is allowing it while in his quarters."
His hand moved from behind his body and Madeleine could see that he was carrying two brown paper bags. Moving quickly to the side of her bed, he noted her hurried movement to place as much distance between them as possible. Placing the packages down, he opened the bags and pulled out clothing for her to wear.
"You were asleep when I left, I had to guess at your size. The clothes may be a little big, but nothing like what you wore last night."
"Why give them to me at all?"
Xander was surprised at the sound of her voice. Slowly he turned his attention away from the clothes and to a small face that held defiance behind the blue of her eyes.
"Now, now, Cricket. It's best you hold your tongue. I wouldn't want to see you thrown in a cold shower again."
Raising his eyebrow at the seemingly defiant, small woman, he decided to let the transgression pass as he pulled out a pair of blue pajama pants and a matching camisole.
Turning, he placed the clothes by her still body as she watched him. "Aaron will be back shortly, you should get dressed to await him."
Xander was surprised again to see a sudden depth to her gaze, one that concerned him; made him believe that Aaron had underestimated his mouse and that she wouldn't be ready for presentation once the week had ended. It would be to Aaron's dismay should she fail to prove she'd submitted, been trained to live within the rules set for the lowest member of the Estate.
"Why do you call me that? I'm not someone you care for, why use an endearing term?" Although, her voice was soft, it carried an air of authority, a challenge that should not be included in the tone of a slave.
Xander shrugged and moved away from the bed to lean against the adjacent wall. He indicated to the clothing with his hand. "What have I told you about questions?" When she did not answer, Xander simply commanded, "Get dressed."
Madeleine eyed Xander, inwardly contemplating the beautiful man who operated without concern, without a heart with which he could discern the cruelty that he was inflicting on her by his mere presence. It was unnerving to be confronted with the type of face that would make any normal woman crawl just to be near him while knowing that inside, there was only brutality and disregard.
"Will you watch as I dress myself?" Her voice dripped with contempt as she craw
led backwards off the bed, intentionally putting even more distance between herself and the man she considered her captor.
“Such brave words for a woman who is obviously scared out of her mind.” Xander's hands fisted as he struggled against correcting her behavior. But this was Aaron's fight, his mouse to bring under control.
"I'll ignore your mouth this one time, but understand, it would be best you get your bursts of temper under control before you face Aaron again. He won't be as kind." Xander's mouth twisted into a sardonic and mocking grin. "But, I guess, you already know that, don't you?"
Madeleine shivered at the forced memory of her encounter with Aaron that morning. The salt of a single tear seeped into her mouth as it trailed along the crease of her lips. She was sick of crying, of tasting the evidence of her hopeless state. Locking her eyes with Xander, Maddy pulled the camisole over her head before gripping the material of the pants and pulling them up her legs to cover her body.
Moving to the window, she glanced outside, turning her back to the monster behind her. She watched as men raked up fallen leaves, grabbing large armfuls and placing them in hefty black bags. She wanted Xander to leave, his presence only further infuriating her. The silence between the two was uncomfortable. Finally after several moments, Xander cleared his throat and began to speak.
"You know, now that you are here, there truly is no return to the life you had before. If you accept it, things will go more smoothly for you. I didn't like what I witnessed this morning." His voice carried a hint of remorse, however, even that was not enough to extinguish the small flame of anger that'd begun to burn within Maddy's soul.
She turned to him suddenly. Realizing that death could only be an escape from this life she'd been forced to now live, that small flame burst forth, raging within her blood, through her cells, through every part of her body. What did she have to lose? Her life? That'd already been taken from her the night of the concert.
"I will never accept what you've done to me. I will get free, if it's through my death than so be it, but I will never comply."
Xander grinned at the sudden fire in her eyes. It was unexpected, but glorious at the same time; this little woman, beautiful and talented, but also harboring the spirit of a fighter. Aaron would have one hell of a surprise on his hands when she finally let loose.
"You will comply, Cricket. There is no other choice."
Without another word, Xander strode to the door, letting himself out of the room and locking her in with only her thoughts for company. Maddy never turned; she simply watched his reflection in the glass as it disappeared out the door. When he was gone, his words rang in her mind. She knew he was wrong, knew that there was always a choice.
Futility, a suffocating weight on her chest, she held back the tears that burned behind her eyes. Crying wouldn't save her; she knew that. Escape was her only true hope and the choice she would make. Suddenly driven by a fight for her life, Maddy searched the room for anything with which she could break the glass. There was nothing. She panicked, thought that maybe if she could get the attention of the men who worked just a few feet from where she was held, they might call the police, might recognize her as the woman who'd gone missing just a few days before.
In a moment of desperation, Maddy banged on the windows with her fists, screaming for help as loud as she possibly could. She didn't fear the cuts she knew would occur if she were to break the glass. She didn’t care if she shed her own blood, if it would help her escape. The workers turned to look and she screamed louder, feeling that, maybe, this would be the moment she was pulled from her unending nightmare.
The bedroom door slammed open. Maddy didn't bother to turn to see who entered, she just kept screaming, kept banging against the glass so hard that the shock against the glass hurt the fine bones in her hands. Two large arms came around her, pulling her from the window just as the men outside began to talk, began pointing back in her direction.
Tossed to the floor, the impact reverberated through her hips and shoulders as they forcefully met the ground, even the plush carpeting not enough to absorb the shock. A large hand came over her mouth, her lip splitting where it met with her teeth. Having lost complete control, she thrashed against her assailant, the tears in her eyes obscuring the identity of the person fighting above her.
"What the fuck are you doing?!" Xander's voice bellowed out, echoed through the ringing in her ears. A hard slap, the sound of skin against skin, and a sharp pain across her cheek followed. Continuing her struggle, Maddy didn't care if he hit her a thousand more times, she couldn't exist in this life they'd chosen for her. Escape had to come.
Xander's hands found Maddy's and wrapped tightly around her wrists before pinning them above her head. His legs came down on hers, the weight of his body securing her in place. She continued screaming, refusing to submit to the monster above her.
"Cricket! Stop right fucking now before I have to chain and gag you!"
Barely concerned with the threat, Maddy kept fighting, the animal instinct for survival taking over her logical thought. Releasing her wrists, Xander moved his hands to her head before saying, "forgive me." The impact of her head with the floor jarred her thoughts, sent shooting pains through her skull and down her spine. The next blow left her again in darkness, the tunnel wrapping around her, wrenching her from the present.
~ ~ ~
Maddy's body went limp beneath Xander. Her eyes rolled back as her eyelids fluttered closed. He winced when she finally lost consciousness, but his violence toward her could not be avoided. Turning her head to the side he watched as the evidence of his slap grew across her cheek, red and angry. Letting out a slow breath he removed himself from her, left her lying on the carpeted floor as he moved across the room. Walking out into the hall, he quickly traversed the long corridor to retrieve the chains he'd brought into the apartment the night before.
He knew Aaron would be furious, would become enraged to know that not only had he struck the woman, but bound her like an animal while awaiting his return. But Xander had no choice. Those men outside Maddy's window would undoubtedly talk, would spread the rumored truth that Aaron was allowing a slave to wear clothes, to move about a room unrestrained. Grabbing the chains, he walked back to find Maddy still unconscious where he'd left her. Quickly, he moved her small body to the bed, binding her hands above her, only to bring the chains down below the bed so that he could also bind her feet at the base.
Once her body was stretched taut across the mattress, immobilized by unconsciousness and chains, Xander grabbed another camisole from the bags now lying on the ground from where he'd knocked them off placing Maddy on the bed. Ripping one of the thin shirts into shreds, he fashioned a quick gag to tie around her mouth, to keep her silent until Aaron could return to decide how they would handle this less delicate side to their captive.
Satisfied that she could no longer make a spectacle of herself, Xander closed the curtains, blanketing the room in a hazy gray, not quite dark, but not quite light. His eyes traveled over Maddy's still form once more as he noted how her chest rhythmically moved with her shallow breath. She'd wake eventually, probably injure herself trying to free herself of her binds, but until she understood her place, there could be no mercy for this small woman who had the hidden spirit of a survivor. Closing the door, Xander moved quickly to the living room and sat back into the leather sofa. A sigh escaped him as he enjoyed a moment of peace.
Within the hour, Aaron walked through the front door. The hem of his shirt hung partially out at his waist, the top buttons were undone and the splattered stain on the crisp white of the material was unmistakably blood. Instantly, Xander was on his feet, an unspoken question in his expression.
Aaron turned and walked to the bar, picked up a decanter of dark liquid and poured its contents into a crystal tumbler. Slamming down the first drink, his eyes never left the decanter as he quickly poured another. Finally, Aaron turned to look at Xander. Death haunted Aaron's eyes, the cold and empty shadow of anoth
er life ended, absent of regret for having been the one who sent that poor soul into the bowels of Hell.
"I take it the business meetings didn't go well." Xander spoke without emotion. It wasn't unusual for Aaron to return home covered in the evidence of someone else's violent demise.
Aaron slammed back his second drink, the muscles of his throat moving to push the alcohol down. The sound of the glass hitting the surface of the bar top broke up the resonating silence between the two men as Xander patiently waited for an explanation.
"Theo Hollis regretfully met his maker this afternoon. He thought it was wise to steal from the business over the past year. The accountants finally discovered how he'd been pinching off small amounts here and there, until there was no doubt he'd acquired a small fortune by his efforts."
Xander nodded, not in the least surprised. "Theo was never a smart man." He paused, reluctant to inform Aaron of the incident with Madeleine. Breathing out a deep breath, he confessed. "Your mouse caused quite the scene while you were absent. You'll undoubtedly be pissed once you see what I had to do to contain her."
Aaron's shoulder straightened, the muscles of his chest going rigid underneath his shirt and the tendons of his neck becoming clearly defined. "Explain."
"She’s found her voice again, this time screaming for help while banging on the windows of her room. I knocked her out, chained her to the bed to await your return."
