by Julia Sykes
She blew out a long breath. “I’m bored,” she admitted. Finally, a small blue spark illuminated her eyes. “You keep me chained up. I can’t even use the freaking bathroom. Do you know how fu—” She caught herself before the curse word left her lips “—messed up that is?”
She obviously remembered her lesson about cussing at me. That pleased me, as did the renewed flush in her cheeks. “There’s my angry gatita,” I said with satisfaction, ignoring her accusations. “I was worried about you.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, pushing her small breasts together. “If you were worried about me, you wouldn’t leave me alone for hours with nothing to do. I’m going crazy here. Solitary confinement drives people crazy, you know that, right? Especially people like me.”
Some of my levity dropped. I hadn’t intended to make her crazed or sad. “What do you mean, people like you? The purpose of leaving you like this is so you’ll wait for me. You’ll depend on me for everything. It helps you feel my control, even when I can’t be here with you.”
She shoved at my chest in a token show of annoyance, but I didn’t bother restraining her. She wasn’t really trying to fight me, and she clearly needed to bleed out some of her frustration.
“Do you know how many thoughts I have? Like, all at one time? If I don’t have something to focus on, they overwhelm me. I can’t live like this.”
“It’s only been two days,” I pointed out. “You’ll adjust.”
“I won’t. You don’t know me at all. I’ll go nuts if you keep leaving me like this.”
I considered her for a moment, my face drawing tight with disapproval. “If you’re trying to manipulate me into letting you walk freely around the suite, it’s not going to work. That’s a privilege you have to earn.”
“I’m not trying to manipulate you,” she burst out, exasperated. “That’s what you do, right? Manipulate people. Mindfuck them. Well, I’m not like you. I’m telling you the truth. I can’t handle this.” She tugged at the collar for emphasis. She was no longer chained to the bed, but I’d left the collar locked around her throat. I liked the way the dark leather looked against her fair skin.
Now, she had me questioning that decision. She had me questioning every decision I’d made about her today. Was I really mishandling her so badly? I’d never had so much trouble reading a woman. Samantha was unpredictable, a puzzle I hadn’t quite solved.
“No. You’re not like me,” I finally allowed. “I’ll take this into consideration.” I brushed a soft kiss over her forehead; a small, involuntary show of contrition.
A devious idea came to me. I didn’t like that I’d upset her, and if her mind was whirring that fast, I would provide her with release. “I think I have a way to calm that busy brain of yours. You were so good accepting your punishment last night and behaving for Lauren today. I never did give you your reward.”
“I don’t want it. Having you touch me is not a reward.”
“You’re still upset,” I noted, unruffled now that I’d decided on my course of action. “This will help you calm down. And before you keep arguing with me, I’ll promise that I won’t make you come, unless you ask me to. Does that make you feel better?”
She eyed me warily, distrustful. “What are you going to do to me? I don’t want to go back into that torture room.”
“It’s not a torture room,” I countered calmly. “But no, we won’t go in there. I want you to relax, not get more worked up. No more questions,” I dictated when she opened her mouth to speak. “Come with me.”
I assumed she might give me trouble, so I simply picked her up and carried her to our destination.
She crossed her arms over her chest, petulant.
I laughed, succumbing to her charms once again. As much as I wanted to treat her as nothing more than my plaything, Samantha kept amusing me. It would be a shame to alter this aspect of her personality. She really was adorable when she was feeling feisty. As long as she learned not to lash out at me and to speak to me with respect, I might allow some of this behavior in the future.
“You really are cute when you’re angry.”
“You think I’m cute when I’m angry. You think I’m pretty when I cry. You’re messed up, you know that, right?”
“Yes, so you’ve told me,” I said drily, unaffected by the barbed comment. She couldn’t seem to help herself; she’d been riled by the solitude of her day. I’d resolve that for her. After all, it was my job to take care of my pet. “I’d like to see you smile, too, but I don’t think that will happen for a while yet.”
Her jaw dropped. “You think I’m going to smile for you?”
“I think you’ll settle down and find a way to be happy with me. Once you adjust and accept your place here.”
“Accept my place?” She slapped my chest in a burst of anger.
I clicked my tongue at her, remaining calm rather than falling prey to the anger that had gripped me that morning. Now, I understood that this little fit she was having wasn’t much more than a tantrum, and a mild one at that. This was completely different from her accusations about Lauren that had cut me so deeply.
“That wasn’t very nice,” I rebuked. “But you’re not trying very hard, either. You’re upset, and I’m going to make you feel better.”
“Short of releasing me, that’s not going to happen,” she said flatly. “Do you really think I’m going to feel better about being trapped with a sadistic psycho?”
“Mind your tongue.” This order was sharper. I wouldn’t allow her to pull me into the same turmoil she’d created with her comparisons to my brother. I wouldn’t lose control again. “I’ve indulged you too much. You will speak to me with respect.”
“Right.” Sarcasm dripped from the word. “You’ve been so indulgent with me. Beating me, violating me, chaining me up. You’re so nice,” she finished with spite.
I set her on her feet and studied her, curious rather than incited to anger. “You really can’t stop yourself, can you? You’re not capable of holding in your thoughts, even knowing they could get you into trouble. I think a little discipline will be good for you. You can learn some self-control over these tics of yours.”
She instantly clapped her hands over her bottom. “I don’t want you to punish me again.”
I trailed my fingers over her hair to soothe her. “Discipline doesn’t necessarily mean punishment. Now, try your best to be quiet and stay right here.”
I left her, walking the few steps it took to reach my desk. She remained rooted in place, but her eyes swept the room. I noticed her shoulders slump in relief when she realized we were positioned several yards away from the closed door to the playroom. I really had frightened her more than I’d intended. That was something I could work on another time.
I drummed my fingers against the desk, calling her attention to me. A wicked grin split my lips when she gasped and lunged for my laptop. I’d suspected she’d try to reach it.
As though I’d give her a chance to touch any technology.
It was fun toying with her, though.
I grabbed her waist and wrestled her to the floor with little effort, pinning her on her front with one hand between her shoulder blades. Her fingers scrabbled against the carpet, her feet kicking out wildly.
Keeping her pinned, I reached into one of my desk drawers and retrieved a pair of handcuffs, wasting no time before securing her wrists together at the small of her back.
She thrashed uselessly. “Do you just have kinky shit stashed everywhere?” she demanded on a growl.
“Of course.” My penthouse had been designed with my perversions in mind, and I’d made sure to stock restraints in various locations since I’d captured Samantha. “Settle down. This won’t hurt.”
“You think I’m going to settle down when you basically just taunted me with a laptop? Do you know how starved I am for the internet? For technology? You don’t even have a real clock, for god’s sake, and you’ve been hiding a laptop from me?”
I
curled my fingers around her nape, pressing her cheek against the carpet to still her shaking head.
“I need my laptop for work,” I replied calmly. “I’m going to take care of some business, and you’re going to be quiet and look pretty for me while I do.”
“Work,” she spat, scathing. “You mean drug trafficking and selling women.”
My fingers tightened around her neck. “Be very careful what you say next, Samantha. I know you struggle to control your tongue, but I’m warning you to try very hard. I don’t want to punish you now, but I will.”
I’d made allowances for her sass about being left alone all day, but we were skirting dangerously close to topics that would rile my anger. I didn’t like being angry around her. It made me erratic. Dangerous.
I didn’t want to harm her by accident. She was so fragile in my grip. I could damage her by exerting a fraction of my strength.
“But it’s what you do.” Her mouth was running away with her again, the words streaming from her lips. “You and your brother. That’s your business.”
“I take care of a lot of things for my brother.” My voice was rough, but I managed to prevent my fingers from tightening around her delicate neck. “I do all the things he’d rather not bother with; I deal with the boring details. I keep things running. And yes, what you’ve accused me of is part of it.”
“But you don’t like the Bliss.”
I stilled, wondering how she could possibly know that. Had she talked to Lauren? Would the devoted blonde girl have spilled any of my secrets to Samantha?
I decided Lauren wouldn’t have done that. However Samantha had come to the conclusion, her quick mind had put together some pieces of information she’d gathered.
“What I like or don’t like about my business isn’t your concern,” I finally said. “I need to work, and you need to be quiet. Your runaway mouth is very distracting.”
I’d already retrieved the gag from my desk before she began to issue her rebuttal.
“But—” I smothered her question when I slipped the rubber ball into her open mouth. She tried to twist her face away, but that only allowed me to pull the gag deeper, buckling it tightly in place.
Before she could panic, I rested my hand on the side of her head, holding her cheek against the plush carpet. I lightly massaged her head, soothing her.
“This isn’t to punish you,” I said gently. “You can’t control your tongue, so I’ll control it for you. You’ll be much calmer now.”
She responded with a fierce little growl.
“There’s no need to keep arguing with me,” I reassured her, running my fingers over her hair. “There’s no point trying to fight. Surrender. You’ll feel much better. We’ll calm that busy brain of yours.”
She started wiggling again, but she couldn’t gain purchase with her arms cuffed behind her back. Satisfied that she wasn’t going anywhere, I grasped the rope that lay coiled in my desk drawer.
“I think you’ll like this, my kinky virgin.”
My plans for her involved more than quieting her mind. Once she reached her submissive headspace, I intended to question her. All day, my thoughts had wandered back to our time in the playroom. She knew about BDSM. She’d expressed interest in being dominated, even if she didn’t yet care for my harsher methods of asserting control.
Tonight, I would learn her darkest secrets. I just had to take her to a mindless, lust-addled state, in which she’d answer all my questions just to attain release. Although I had never bound her in rope, I suspected she’d enjoy it. Rope could be sensual or punitive, depending on the tie. One day, I’d put her in predicament bondage and show her what true helplessness was. But I’d promised this wouldn’t hurt, and I didn’t intend to inflict any pain this time.
I grasped her right thigh and lifted it off the floor, wrapping the rope around it. She tried to kick out at me, but I grabbed her flailing ankle and forced her to bend her knee. I wound more rope around her calf and connected it to the bindings around her thigh, pulling tight so her heel touched her bottom.
When one leg was fully restrained, I grasped her shoulders and pulled her into a kneeling position.
She wobbled slightly, and I knew she was trying to wriggle free. She didn’t stand a chance.
I wasn’t nearly finished with her.
I continued to bind her, drawing the rope around her waist and looping it between her thighs, framing her swollen pussy. The first signs of desire shone between her legs, so I tugged the binding a little tighter. The slightly rough fibers grazed her labia, making them puffy and flushed.
I tied off my work and moved up her body. I began to wind a second length of rope around her, passing it beneath her breasts, wrapping behind her back, and coming back over her chest. I looped it over her neck and through the lengths that framed her breasts.
When I pulled the bindings tight, her lashes fluttered, and a soft gasp left her lips. The rope hugged her chest, accentuating her breasts so they were on display for me. They rose and fell quickly as her breathing turned more ragged.
I trailed my fingers beneath the soft swells, knowing they’d be growing achy and sensitive.
Her head dropped back on a groan, and she arched into my touch, seeking more decadent stimulation. She stared up into my eyes, her own cloudy with lust and a touch of confusion. She didn’t understand what I was doing to her, how I was subtly restricting her blood flow to heighten her awareness of her most vulnerable areas.
“You like being bound, don’t you, kinky virgin? Has anyone ever tied you up before? Of course not.” She didn’t have to respond for me to know the truth. I traced the line of her lower lip with my thumb, making her shiver as I stimulated more of her sensitive nerve endings. “So innocent,” I rumbled. “And so beautiful in my ropes.”
She blinked several times, shaking her head slightly as though to rid herself of my influence.
I wouldn’t allow her to evade me. Her clever brain needed to be shut off, lulled into silence as she became fully focused on the pleasure of my touch.
I fully cupped her breasts and pinched her nipples with just enough pressure to call her attention back to her body. She moaned, her lids lowering as lust rolled through her.
“That’s better,” I praised. “You don’t have to fight me. You don’t have to worry or think.”
She tried to shake her head again, but the effort was weaker this time. It took a handful of seconds for her to still and soften in my hands as she succumbed to my control.
She didn’t seem aware of what was happening when I briefly stopped toying with her breasts so I could unlock her handcuffs. She remained pliant and supple as I directed her to grasp her elbows behind her back. I bound them in place with the length of rope that remained from her chest harness. She hissed in a breath when the harness tightened farther as I finished securing her arms.
Her breathing stuttered, and she began to sway. She was falling deep into her submissive headspace, her mind finally accepting that she was powerless against me. All she could do was surrender.
Judging by the desire dripping down her thighs, she reveled in the release.
I placed one hand on top of her head, lightly gripping her hair to steady her. With my other, I pressed the button beneath my desk that would lower my suspension point. The metal ring glinted under the lights as the thick cable unwound, bringing it to the desired level.
Samantha’s eyes fixed on the ring, and a high giggle slipped past the gag. The sound made warmth unfurl in my chest, a deeper burn than the heat of my lust for her.
I rubbed my fingertips over her plump lips. “That’s a lovely sound. I’m almost sorry I gagged you so I can’t see that pretty smile.” A slightly cruel grin twisted my scar. “Almost. You’re very sweet when you can’t do more than moan and whimper.” I loved having her like this: completely vulnerable to anything I wanted to do to her.
My pretty fucktoy.
The word stuck in my mind. It didn’t elicit the same sense of excitemen
t as it had when I’d first captured her. I might still want to tame her, but I wanted her to be more than my sex object. Now that I’d heard her laugh, I craved to savor the sound again.
I’d thought of her as mine from the very beginning, but now, my plans for her shifted slightly. I’d still train her to please me, but I’d be more careful with her. I’d keep most of her personality intact. The prospect posed a fresh challenge for me, but I looked forward to facing it. Dark anticipation raced through me as I imagined this clever, quick-witted woman choosing to place her trust in me and submit to me.
Yes, that was much better than shaping her into something solely meant for my twisted pleasures. She would give me everything, and she would cede all herself willingly.
Eventually.
Her brow wrinkled, her formidable mind threatening to start firing in every direction again. I wouldn’t allow her to escape this submissive state.
I tapped her nose in light reprimand. “Stay just like you are. Focus on me.”
Her eyes glazed over slightly as she sank back down into submission, but they remained fixed on my face. She’d succumbed to the first part of my plan: quieting her mind and bringing her to a state of calm.
It was time to prepare her for my interrogation. She’d be mindless by the time I questioned her. I wouldn’t have to intimidate her to get the answers I desired. She’d give them eagerly in exchange for her reward.
The metal ring dangled a few feet above her head. I retrieved one last coil of rope and began looping it through the metal, weaving it between the knots on her body at strategic points. I focused on her right side, intent on suspending her horizontally. She could maintain the position for much longer than an inverted suspension, and I’d be able to keep a closer eye on her expression, assessing her mood and wellbeing.
I fed the ends of the rope through the ring and pulled. She let out a strangled cry as her bonds shifted around her, wrapping her in a tight embrace and stimulating her in new ways.
