by M. S. Willis
Emory scowled at Aaron’s implication. Nodding once, Emory turned and walked out through the doorway, followed closely behind by Vincent. Once Vincent’s foot had cleared the doorway, Xander slammed the door so hard, the walls shook from the impact. Eyes the color of a raging sea met eyes the color of a dark forest when Xander finally turned back to face Aaron.
“Give me the keys to her chains.” Aaron’s hand came up immediately, taking the keys from Xander.
Maddy could hear the sound of weighted footsteps approaching the room. Since having been left alone, she hadn’t stopped crying. Her shame, the grueling pain of her bindings, and the orgasms she’d been forced to experience, wept from her in the form of tears produced from a body in need of water. The salt of her tears burned her eyes as they fell, trailed hot along her cheeks before pooling at the corner of her mouth and the dip between her lower lip and her chin.
Anger a building volcano within her, she cursed herself for having given in to his commands. However, in the back of her mind, she somehow knew her fate would have been much worse in the hands of the men at Aaron’s back. She found it odd that, even though Aaron had been the one to violate her the most, she somehow trusted him more than the pure evil that’d stood just behind him.
She heard the sound of key being turned in a lock, the door being pushed open, and Aaron walking through swiftly before closing it behind him. A few large steps and he was by the bed, immediately moving to unlock the chains at her feet. Maddy silently watched him, wondered what horrors she would endure once freed. After Aaron removed the first shackle from her ankle, Maddy hissed as air met the cuts made by the metal against her skin. Aaron’s face twisted momentarily before he set out to release her other ankle. Once her legs were freed, he moved up to her wrists. Before removing the shackles from around her wrists he quietly instructed, “You’re not going to want to pull your arms down immediately when I release you, your shoulders are going to hurt. Once you are freed, I will help you lower them.” Maddy listened to the sound of the metal key being inserted into the first lock. As soon as she felt air in place of where the metal had circled her wrist, she pulled her arm down in an attempt to cover her body. The pain that shot through her shoulder and arm caused her to cry out. A low sigh sounded above her.
“When are you going to start listening to me, Ms. Clark?” Aaron shook his head, an amused grin peeking out from the corners of his mouth. Maddy scowled at him before looking back to inspect the damage to the skin on her wrist. He released the second hand, reached down to massage the sore muscles at her shoulder. She wanted to pull away, to resist his touch, but the firm grip felt good as he slowly lowered her other arm from above her head.
The bed lowered underneath, taking Aaron’s weight as he sat down beside her. His eyes watched her hands as she rubbed at the red and torn skin at her wrists. They sat silently for a while; she refused to look up at him, to acknowledge his presence beside her. Having grown accustomed to the lack of sound, she jumped when he finally spoke again.
“I need you to understand something about where you’re being held.” His voice was soft, regretful, as if confessing. “There is no person on these grounds that does not belong to The Estate. Maintenance men, maids, cooks … they all are loyal to the family. What you did this afternoon, when you banged on the glass, it endangered you more than you realize.”
His hand came up to softly grasp her chin, move her head so that he could lock his eyes with hers. Concern etched his gaze as he spoke again. “I am your Master, Madeleine, but I am not the worst nightmare you will have to face in this house. Those men … ” His eyes narrowed at his inner thoughts. “ … they will hurt you, make you feel pain that you never imagined possible. Death would not be granted quickly. The torment they would inflict, it would be endless; hours, days, weeks, that is the amount of time you would suffer at their hands.”
A chill brushed across her body, the truth of his words a stream of ice weaving through the blood in her veins.
After staring down at her for a few minutes more, he released her chin, and spoke to her in words meant to be obeyed: “You will get cleaned up and eat something. It can be different this time, not as violent as our encounter this morning.” He couldn’t help himself, even chapped, her lips called to him with the lush fullness of her pout. Leaning down he brushed his mouth across hers, reveled in the feel of the stolen kiss. He was not surprised when she pulled away suddenly, detesting the feel of his lips against hers. A warning in his eyes, he stood up, reached his hand down to her. “Follow me to the bathroom, Mouse. We need to get you cleaned and I need to tend to your wounds.”
Painfully, her arms came down beside her as she attempted to push herself up into a sitting position. The jolts of shocking pain traveled down her arms, causing her to fall back against the mattress. Aaron reached down as she tried to move away from his touch. “I’m going to pick you up, Madeleine, carry you to the bathroom due to your weak state. Do not fight against me. I’d hate to have to correct your behavior while you’re already so injured.”
His arms slid underneath her, the tips of his fingers trailing along her back and underneath her bottom. A slight thrill of remembered pleasure ran through her body at his touch, and Maddy winced in shame at the feeling. Aaron’s eyebrow arched, his knowledge of her reaction an unhidden thing. His mouth came to her ear, the warmth of his breath tickling the skin, trailing down her neck. “I hope there comes a day when my touch does not disgust you; that, rather, you can smile when my hands rub along your body.”
Lifting her easily, he removed her from the bed, carried her naked body out of the room, but turned right instead of left; taking her to a different room than the bathroom he’d taken her to that morning. He balanced her weight while using his hand to open the large double doors at the end of the hall, passing quickly through a bedroom dressed in decadence and excess, into a bathroom just as beautiful and stunning to the eye. Placing her down on a chair near a marble counter, he moved to the large, claw-foot tub in the center of the room. While his attention was turned to filling the tub, Maddy looked around the large expanse, noted the dark marbles and stone surfaces, a place dripping with masculine colors and materials. Even the tub in the center was colored a deep black; veins of gold and silver wrapping their ways through the stone from which the tub had been fashioned. Behind the tub, stood a glass-encased shower with steps leading down into a sunken floor below. The walls of the bathroom were painted a stunning red, broken up only by the dark countertops and floors, the brilliant whites of the linens spread throughout the room.
Aaron turned back to her, but quickly moved to a closet behind her, taking out a large white box before approaching her again. Placing the box on the counter, he moved to pick her up. Her body went to flinch, but she remembered his words from earlier, how she needed to learn to accept him so that she wasn’t thrown to the wolves. Resigning to her fate, Maddy reached up, wrapped her arms around his shoulders and allowed herself to be carried and placed in the warm waters of the bath.
Maddy hissed when the water met with the open skin on her ankles and wrists. Immediately pulling her legs and arms from the water, she draped the injured appendages over the sides, allowing the cool air to soothe the burn inflicted by contact with the water. Aaron stood up, walked to retrieve the white box from the counter before moving the chair over to sit next to the bath. Placing the box on the floor, Maddy watched as his eyes heated while he looked over her body, his chest moving quicker in time with his hurried breath. Forcefully wrenching himself from his perusal of her skin, Aaron reached down to open the box, pulling out an antibiotic salve to use on her broken skin.
“This ointment will clean your wounds, keep infection from settling into the cuts.” Quickly his hands moved to unscrew the lid, his fingers dipping down into the colorless contents of the container. Spreading the cool gel along her right ankle, she hissed out again, her head falling back from the pain. Aaron’s eyes raked over the subtle bounce to her breasts as she moved
, his teeth coming down on his bottom lip as he fought to not take what could so easily be his. He continued massaging the salve into her skin, moving from one leg to the next, then up to her wrists.
Maddy watched him as he worked to smooth the medicine over her injuries. She noticed how the light shone onto his hair, making the black color appear like it had hints of blue in its depths. The angle of his jaw was sharp, deadly, but so beautiful in its shape that she could imagine the feel of running her hand along the skin. When he looked up, she looked away quickly, a blush racing across her cheeks from having been caught staring. A grin formed over Aaron’s lips as he watched that blush turn into a heat that traveled along the silken white of her skin, over her breasts and across the flat expanse of her stomach. Her curves were so intimately feminine that he longed to sink his teeth into the fleshy parts of her chest, her hips, and the heart shaped perfection of her ass. Shaking himself of his desire, he dipped his fingers into the water of her bath, cleaning them of the remaining gel before screwing the lid of the container back in place.
Packing the box of medical supplies back together, he moved to the closet to replace the box. Grabbing out a large, soft white towel he moved back to Maddy, placing the towel on the chair before picking up a washcloth and soap she’d not noticed before. He glanced over to her, the light sparkling off the emerald color of his eyes. “I’m going to clean you, Madeleine and you will allow it this time, understand?”
She did understand, knew that there was no place on her body safe from this man’s touch. Disgrace washed over her mind as she recognized a small bit of longing for the feel of his hands, the return of the sensations he forced upon her while she’d been chained. Her heart sped in its beat, her breathing becoming quick and shallow as he used the soap to build a thick lather on the cloth. Reaching over her, his arm brushed across the tip of her breasts as he massaged the soap into her neck, along the soreness of her shoulders and down along her arms. She watched as his lips parted, became impossibly more full as he worked his hands across her skin, the silence between them deafening and weighted.
The rough feel of the cloth rubbed down over the tops of her breasts, finally rubbing across where Aaron’s teeth had left their mark when he’d corrected her earlier behavior. Sucking in a jagged breath, Maddy noticed how her body pushed upwards into his touch, a sleeping demon aching for the sin his hands had forced through her body when she’d been bared to his mercy before.
Chapter Thirteen
Aaron watched as the tips of Madeleine’s breasts pebbled under the rough texture of the washcloth. His tongue felt full and rough in his mouth as he moved the cloth lower, along her stomach to the juncture of her thighs. A small moan escaped her perfectly shaped lips, her hips thrusting forward begging for his touch. Pulling himself back from the intensity of his desire, he rubbed the cloth along the sensitive skin, noticing how it swelled at his touch. Instantly confused, he looked up into her blue eyes, the swirling colors muddled by the haze of desire, her lids fluttering closed as he washed her.
Confusion clouding all logical thought, he watched as her body writhed before him, her legs barely spreading, inviting his continued touch. He stopped momentarily, but then started to move the cloth down the interior of one thigh when she whimpered, her eyes fluttering open again, the force of the churning blues burning into him. His hand stilled, her full lips parting, the begged whisper barely loud enough for him to hear.
“Please … ”
Slowly, Maddy’s hand smoothed down the skin of her own body, her fingers lightly brushing over his as she pulled his hand back to a spot she’d never explored, but one where he’d shown true mastery over her spirit. Aaron’s mouth parted, his breaths forcing their way over his trembling lips, his pants tightening impossibly full as he dropped the washcloth into the water and ran his fingers between her slickened and swollen flesh. Was it possible that his slave already craved his touch, the sensations no longer forced, but welcomed? When he pressed down on the swollen bundle, a higher pitched, yet soft cry escaped her lips, her back arched, pushing the bountiful weight of her breasts upwards, the tight peak of her nipples poking out just above the water.
His neck moved as he swallowed the lump stuck in his throat. His heart pounded against his chest, feeling like it would push through as he watched her respond to the pleasure he gave her. Remembering his place and hers, he pressed on, knowing full well, her compliance would push him toward a dangerous edge, one he was not sure he could back away from if too closely approached. “Please … what?” His words were slow, the low baritone adding strength to the rasp of his voice.
Opening her eyes, she pulled up her head, the corner of her mouth curling up at one end. Only the sound of their breath and the light swirl of the water, before she opened her mouth and breathed out, “Please … Master.”
Losing his control, a shudder ran through his body. He bit his lip, forcing back the desire to drive his hand deeper, taking a piece of her that could not belong to him, not while she was his captive, an unwilling participant to his desire. Speeding up the motion of his hand, his breath caught when he saw the shudder of gratification vibrate along her body, saw her cheeks fill with a sinful glow, her eyes roll under the thin lids above them. Her body tensed suddenly, her chest stopped moving as she held her breath, was delivered to a place of pure hedonistic pleasure and pain.
When she relaxed, he pulled his hand away, closed his eyes, and attempted to distance himself from her display. The friction of his pants against his hardened length pained him; it begged to be released, to be wrapped within the soft heat he knew existed inside this glorious beauty, which sat sated and satisfied before him.
“I believe you’re finished. Stand up, I’ll dry you.” Aaron pushed himself forcefully out of the chair, needing to put distance between him and the temptation of her body as quickly as possible. Maddy’s brows furrowed momentarily before she pulled her legs into the water; she pushed herself into a standing position before him. He wouldn’t let his eyes meet hers, couldn’t let her see the desire dominating his thoughts. After wrapping a large towel around her, he held out his hand to help her as she stepped over the lip of the tub onto the stone floor below.
Once she secured her footing, he dropped her hand, the friction of her skin against his was too much contact. “Follow me.” Taking large steps out into his bedroom, he led her to the large closet, and pulled her clothes from the chest where he’d hidden them. Separating out the clothes that had been destroyed earlier in the day, he handed her the untorn set and motioned for her to get dressed. When Maddy complied, Aaron’s eyes perked up at the movement of her body, his breath was so hot over his lips it burned. He shook his head, replaced an indifferent mask over his expression as he stood over her, shadowing her small form by his size.
“If I allow you modesty, you must obey me in all other areas. Do not flinch from my touch, when I ask you to speak, you’ll do so.” Staring down at her, he smiled shyly as she nodded her head in understanding of his orders. Satisfied that they reached this point, Aaron placed his hand against her back, led her from his room and down the long corridor to the dining room. Xander sat up from the couch as they entered, his eyes widening to see Madeleine easily complying with the commands barked out by Aaron.
Aaron indicated for Maddy to sit in a chair he pulled out from the table before he moved to the bar and poured himself a glass of scotch. He lifted the glass to his lips, worked the bite of the liquor down his throat with one forced motion and slammed the crystal tumbler back down on the dark wood surface of the bar. Taking care not to look back down at Maddy, he turned to Xander, barked out an order that Madeleine be fed, then in several large strides, he crossed the room, threw open the doors of his office, slamming the doors behind him as he disappeared into the dimly lit room.
Xander turned back to look at Maddy. Her eyes were locked on the wooden doors through which Aaron had just passed. A hint of sadness furrowed her brow, and Xander was left wondering what the hell h
ad just changed between the Master and his slave. Looking between Madeleine and the door one last time, Xander shrugged his shoulders and crossed through the kitchen to pull her dinner out of the large refrigerator. He poured the contents of the dish that had been delivered earlier onto a plate and placed it in the oven to heat.
“Does he ever eat?”
Shock tore through his body at the soft sound of her voice, the innocent question that revealed so much more than she’d understood. Stunned silent for a split second, a single laugh barked out from his chest, his lips turning up at the appearance of a woman, completely opposite of the wild beast he’d just earlier left chained to a bed.
“He eats.” A quick glance between them before, once again, looking away. Xander kept his eyes trained on the oven as he heated her food. “I’m a little surprised, Cricket. Was that concern I heard in your question?” He chuckled. “Has your Master drugged you?”
She sat so quiet for so long that Xander thought her speech just moments ago had been a rare moment now lost. But when her rose colored lips moved again, she gave him an answer so weighted with hidden meaning, he almost lost his hold on the plate as he lifted it from the oven.
“Something like that … ”
Steamed billowed up as Xander used a fork to release the trapped heat in the food. Picking up the plate, he turned and placed it on the table in front of Maddy. He handed her the fork, his mouth once again curling into an amused grin. “Can I trust you with this, or should I be concerned about suddenly having an eating utensil shoved in my back?” He handed her the fork and returned to the kitchen to pour her a glass of cold water.
Placing the glass in front of her, he stepped back, waiting behind her as she ate. She took a few bites then grabbed the glass, damn near polishing off the entirety of its contents. When she replaced it on the table, Xander picked it up, moved into the kitchen and began to fill it again. He turned to look at her over his shoulder. “Apparently, you’re thirsty.” He walked over, placed it in front of her and took his place standing behind her.
