Beautiful Torture

by C. P. Mandara

  "If I ask you to drop to your knees and open that mouth wide, I'd bet you'd do it without a moment's hesitation. You're gagging for a big, thick cock to fill all those juicy holes, aren't you, Harper?" I let out a grunt of frustration and push him away from me. While he may be right, that doesn't mean I have to play into his hands.

  "Brandt!" I scream, twisting my face towards him. "Stop this. I'm not some plaything that can be tossed around. This is between you and me. Please don't do this." I am slightly hysterical as I back away from Gabriel, towards the bed. When my legs touch cool, rough metal, I know there's nowhere else to go. With one eye I watch Brandt on the chair, his posture rigid and tight, while he chews on his bottom lip. From the other, I can see Gabriel advancing towards me with a big smile on his face. Oh shit. That's when I realise I've made my first mistake. I've defied the monster.

  "Oh, Harper, what a naughty girl you are," he purrs, as his fingers reach behind him to pull something out of his jeans pocket. I stare at the mass of inked bones and abs before me, my eyes swimming in defeat. Brandt hasn't said a word. He isn't going to rescue me. He's going to watch as his friend fucks me in every hole I possess, and he won't move a muscle to save me. I will never forgive him for this - never.

  "Don't do this," I choke, watching as he pulls a set of black cable ties out of his pocket. That's when my limbs go liquid and I fall heavily against the thin, plastic mattress beneath me.

  "It's too late for that, Harper. Even if you spilled every thought in your vicious little head right now, I'd still go through with this part. The part where you talk comes later, much later, and only after you've seen what I'm capable of. That's how this works. It's called intimidation, and I'm very good at it." Gabriel takes one of the thick plastic ties, and begins to form it into a loop. I freak out. His legs are either side of me now, narrowing my escape route, but I still make an attempt to rush between them. Normally I'd have made it, too, but I'm sluggish and weak after the intense exercise of yesterday and I've only had one decent meal in the last two days. Gabriel easily manages to catch a handful of my hair, immediately stopping me in my tracks, before placing his legs tightly around either side of my head.

  "This kind of behaviour just won't do, Harper," he says mockingly, tightening the grip he has around my head so I can't move an inch. "We're going to have to stop all this running about, I'm afraid. It's interfering with my plans of domination. I'm going to make you beg me to fuck you every damn which-way, Harper, and Brandt will be watching every second of it. How does that make you feel, sweetheart?" It's another sarcastic jibe designed to get a rise out of me, and it does, but I can't do anything about it. He's just grabbed my two arms from under me and fastened them behind my back with one sharp tug. Now I'm held up by nothing more than my head between his legs. If he moves I'll be lucky not to fall flat on my face.

  I swear the bastard can read my mind because that's exactly what he does. Releasing the grip his legs have around my head, I fall face first because I have no hands to stop it. Bracing myself for a sharp and painful jolt, I close my eyes. But Gabriel doesn't let me fall. Shoving one booted foot underneath my chin, he manages to prevent my face getting a rather unpleasant hello from some particularly unforgiving concrete, with less than three inches to spare. He then lowers me slowly to the floor, so my chin is resting there and my ass is pointing up in the air. It's not a particularly dignified position, but I guess that was the idea.

  He gently removes his foot from under me. "Lick my boots," he orders.

  Oh, how I've missed these games. Alex and I used to play them lots. In the beginning it was fun; not so much near the end.

  "Fuck you," I grunt. It's also what I told Alex the first time he tried it. I didn't make the same mistake again, and I'm guessing I won't this time. My pride is misplaced in here.

  Gabriel bends down and wraps his hands around my chestnut curls, using them as rope to pull my head upward. He gets his face right up into mine, so close that I can almost feel his long, feathery eyelashes as they blink. His high cheekbones are sharply angled, and his wishbone lips are dangerously close to mine. When he's sure he's got my attention, he says, "As I've said before, you will be. So don't go getting impatient. Now I'm going to tell you one more time. Lick my boots."

  There will be consequences to my disobedience. The question is: will I be able to handle them? I don't have the measure of him yet, but I'm sure I will have in the next hour or so. That's usually all it takes. Normally I'd just obey, but I want Brandt to see what this asshole is capable of. If he does something really stupid, there's a chance that Brandt will get rid of him.

  Gabriel lowers my face to the floor again, his shoes just in front of my nose, all polished and shiny. The scent of leather makes me want to throw up all over them, but I sit there quietly and stare at them, standing my ground. The ball is in his court, and I want to see what he's made of.

  He doesn't give me more than three seconds to obey before he steps back from me.

  "Excellent. You and I are going to have a whole heap of fun together," he says, not deterred by my disobedience in the slightest. He then moves behind me and I can hear him playing with the cable ties once more. Soft clicking hums in my ears as he forms them into loops. I can feel one loop go around one ankle, and then he threads the next cable tie through that one to cuff both my ankles together. It doesn't look like I'm going anywhere in a hurry.

  "Want to know what happens next?" He pats my head like I'm a dog. If that hand comes anywhere near my mouth I'm biting it off.

  "Not particularly," I reply, as sweetly as I can.

  Gabriel lavishes me with an arrogant smile. "Well, Miss Bullets and Nails, I look forward to doing this the hard way. You two have a lot in common, you know." He flicks his thumb over to where Brandt is sitting, giving me pause to wonder what went on between those two. I'm not sure I want to know. I feel guilty enough about that as it is. Brandt merely grunts in response. Now they have me intrigued, damn it. My eyes must drift off into the distance because the next thing I know Gabriel is clapping his hands together in front of my face.

  "OK, Harper, here's how it's going to go. I'm going to drag you across this concrete floor by your hair, and as soon as you think you're up to the challenge of boot licking, all you have to do is yell. We clear?" Gabriel doesn't give me a chance to respond because he's already carrying out his threat. My knees are being scraped across the abrasive floor, and my skin melts from my body almost instantly. This is not the kind of pain I can sustain for any length of time, but it takes me a few moments for my mouth to figure out how to get a word out. Having your skin almost sandpapered off by concrete makes any speech kind of tricky, in my humble opinion. This kind of torture is crippling.

  "Stop. Give her a second." This comes from Brandt. He can see that I can't catch my breath.

  Unfortunately, either Gabriel doesn't hear him or he doesn't want to. He continues to drag me around in a circle, and I cannot say a word to save my life. The pain is excruciating. Yes, I've had worse, but it's still impressive enough to rob me of the power of speech.

  But Brandt, my hero, isn't taking this lying down. Getting to his feet, he stomps to the bars and shouts, "Stop!" Thankfully this captures Gabriel's attention, and he stops mid-stride.

  "Give her a moment," he says warningly, but the two share a look.

  "Fine," says Gabriel, his lips thinning. "Anything you want to say to me, Harper?"

  I open my mouth to speak, but no sound comes out. I try again and am rewarded with a small squeak that is nothing near what he wants to hear.

  "See? We're not there yet," Gabriel says to Brandt. "This is no time to be squeamish. Get a cup of coffee and take a breather. She'll still be alive when you get back downstairs." Brandt glares at his ex-lover and waits.

  "I promise," says Gabriel exasperatedly.

  "Give her a moment. Let her speak." Brandt bends down so he can examine the damage through the bars. I have no idea how bad it is, but it feels like someone's taken a re
ally sharp vegetable peeler to my knees. Now I like pain, but this one was a little too much even for me, even though it doesn't change the fact that I'm hornier than hell right now. Oh, woe is me.

  "Last chance. Have you got anything to say?" Gabriel looks at me as if I'm something unpleasant he's just wiped off his shoe. He can't stand me, and I have to say, the feeling is mutual.

  Still, I don't make the mistake of defying him again. Having been given a second chance I don't intend to abuse it.

  "I'm sorry," I croak. "I'll lick your boots. I'll do every damn thing you tell me to the instant you say it, just please don't drag me any further." I already know there'll be no more disobedience. If this was what he went with for starters, the main course is looking exceedingly unappetising.

  Gabriel is not amused. "Damn it, Brandt. You're spoiling all my fun. Do we want her to talk or not?"

  "Not like this. I can't watch this. Play fair, Gabe." He taps one of the bars with his index finger in agitation. A high, tinny noise rings through the cell.

  "I never play fair, you know that." Gabriel's tone is dark.

  "And wasn't that always the problem?"

  I can't help but notice there are sour grapes between the pair. The tension in the room is ratcheting up at a rate of knots.

  "You didn't want me anyway. You made that very clear from the start." Gabriel turns his back to Brandt. Interesting. That means he doesn't want him to see his face. I can still see it though, and from the corner of my eyes I note that it's drawn and pinched.

  "I did, didn't I? Maybe that was because I saw you for what you are, even back then."

  Brandt turns away and I hear the chair legs scrape as he settles himself back down, but it takes a few more seconds for Gabriel to compose himself. When he does, he looks at me with fury. Great. He's about to take his anger out on me. This is just what I need.

  "So, what are you waiting for, little bird? Isn't there something you should be doing right now?" His voice is downright lethal, and my head drops instantly, not that it has any choice because his hand is now circling my neck and pushing me down as far as I'll go.

  When my chin hits his boots I begin licking them, thankful that they're already reasonably clean. The taste of leather is unpleasant in my mouth, and brings back memories of Alex. I want to gag, but I daren't. I'm in enough trouble already.

  "Make sure you give them a good clean, and don't rush the job. When you've finished, you're going over my knee. Don't think I missed the look you gave Brandt earlier. Disobedience around these parts will not be tolerated. Your eyes are for me and me only." He uses his hand around my neck to make me bob my head up and down like a puppet. One minute my nose is being ground into his shoe and in the next he's trying to pull my neck off its hinges.

  He lets me lick his shoes for the better part of five minutes before he becomes bored. Actually, I suspect he was bored after the first ten seconds but has decided to let the threat of his spanking loom over me. He's achieved his intended result. I am now quivering like a leaf.

  "Move over to the bed." Gabriel walks three paces and sits himself down on my paper-thin mattress. It almost disintegrates under his weight. He's in for an uncomfortable afternoon, but nowhere near as uncomfortable as mine, I suspect.

  When I don't move an inch, mostly because I'm tied hand and foot, he looks at me with irritation.

  "Don't make me come over there and drag you, Harper. Once I start again I might not stop." The sound of that voice, completely devoid of emotion, makes me want to throw up. This man is a killer. What's he going to do to me when he's got what he wants? Mind you, if he did kill me, wouldn't that actually be a blessing in disguise? My life is so fucked up right now, I'm not sure I can figure out who the bigger asshole is. Do I want to take on Mal or Gabriel? I definitely know the answer to that question - neither.

  Shuffling on my knees I let out a mewl of pain every time I connect with the floor. Gabriel laps it all up, and I swear he's almost rubbing his hands together in glee. When I finally reach his feet I lift my head defiantly to look at him. Show me what you're capable of, you bastard.

  He does. Picking me up as easily as if I were a two-pound bag of sugar, he slings me over his legs with my ass up in the air. This is just like old times. If they think they're going to get me to talk by spanking me, they're much mistaken. I can take far more than that.

  "Anything you want to say to me before we begin?" Gabriel's voice has dropped an octave; now soft and seductive. It doesn't impress me. If he wants me to talk he's going to have to try harder.

  "No," I reply, already braced for the worst. I know he's not going to take it easy on me, but I also know Brandt is watching. Brandt won't let anything too dreadful happen. I don't know how I know that, but I do.

  Gabriel runs his hand over my already reddened ass and squeezes it, making me gasp out loud. Oh God. This is going to hurt so bad.

  "Good. I'd hate for you to spill your secrets at the first hurdle," he says. "It takes all the fun out of things." He digs his fingernails into my ass again and scrapes a long path downwards, towards the top of my thighs. I bite my lip to keep from yelling. I am not giving him what he wants.

  His fingers repeat the action several times, but when he receives no reaction he moves on. This time he begins kneading my flesh heavily, literally pulling large chunks of my ass cheek into his hands, and it's just as bad as the fingernails, if not worse. I honestly wish he'd just get on with the spanking. At least I know what I'm dealing with there.

  My body remains still, and my lips don't utter a sound as he continues to work my ass. I concentrate on staring at the wall in front of me and count back slowly from five thousand. It gives me something to do. I need to keep my mind busy or I will go crazy. When Gabriel's hands finally stop, there is a long pause as I wait for the inevitable spank to come crashing down. It doesn't. Instead, Gabriel leans back and there's a soft jingle of metal. Four thousand and twenty-two. I can't figure out what it is. Is he tapping something against the bed? Then I hear a very distinct sound. One I've heard several times before, and my stomach drops. My mouth opens on a silent wail of horror as he lifts his hips in order to remove the leather belt that encircles them.

  He shuffles a little as he tugs the belt around his waist free, and there's a soft slap as the end flops on his thigh. Silence follows, but I know exactly what he's doing. He's looping the belt carefully around his hand so he can swing it at me. So much for the warm-up; the man is going straight for the jugular.

  Painful seconds tick by as I wait for the slice of that belt to cut into my flesh. I already know how much it's going to hurt, and I would have given nearly anything to stop it - anything bar Brandt's life. I've already taken far too much from him. I can't take anything else. This much I have promised myself, and it's a promise I intend to keep.

  "Are you ready, Harper?" Gabriel purrs in my ear.

  I turn my face so I can get one last glance at Brandt, though my ass will probably suffer for it.

  Raising my voice, I say, "When this is all over, I want you to remember that I did this to protect you. I've watched too many people die, and it has to stop." I know he won't believe me, but in time he will. I just hope that after I'm long gone and buried, he remembers that I tried to do the right thing.

  Brandt stands up and walks to my cell. "I don't need protecting, Harper. I just want the truth." My lips thin. He does need protecting, he just doesn't know it yet.

  "You don't understand. Neither of you understand. Every time I try to tell you, you automatically think I'm lying, and I get it. I get it, Brandt. You don't trust me, and you have no reason to. But I never meant to hurt you." I turn my head away. I've got nothing more to say to him. His hands slam on the bars in front of him in frustration, but I don't turn back to see the disappointment in his eyes.

  "I don't understand because you won't talk to me. Talk to me, Harper. That's all I'm asking. You took five years away from me. All I want to know is why?" Brandt is nearing his own breaking point. He
doesn't want to watch this, but he needs answers. I understand that. I just hope he doesn't let his friend go too far. It took eight weeks for me to recover from my last session with Mal. If anything like that goes down again, I'm not sure I'll be able to come back. Brandt begins to pace, but the silence between us drags on. I have nothing more to say.

  "Sit down, Brandt," Gabriel eventually says. "We're doing this the hard way and you need to toughen up. That was always your problem, by the way." He runs the loop of the belt over my exposed ass and I shudder. I hear the sound of a chair being thrown across the room, before Brandt swears.

  "Do what you want to her, Gabriel. I'm done playing nice." He then storms from the room.

  "Oh dear," Gabriel says slowly, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "it's just you and me now. Don't worry, though; I'm pretty sure we're going to have lots of fun together."

  That is exactly what I'm afraid of.

  When the first crack of the belt explodes on my ass cheeks my insides begin to splinter. I'm already broken. Nothing can change that. I just hope these two will leave enough pieces so that I can glue myself back together again. Then again, maybe it's better if they don't.

  Chapter 14 - Gabriel

  When Brandt flies out of the room like a tornado, I silently celebrate. I now have free rein to do whatever I want to the girl, and there's lots of unpleasant shit going through my head right now. That's the one good thing about prison. If you have a dark side, there's plenty of opportunity to use it on the inside. When you're on the outside looking in, you have to be slightly more careful. I'm not worried about Harper telling tales on us once she's released, though. This is mostly because I'm going to kill her shortly after. If I'm trying to get back with Brandt, the last thing I need are loose ends hanging around. I'll make sure Brandt never knows. All I need is a big hole and whole lot of mud, or a bathtub and some lye, or failing that, a few pigs. There's more than one way to get rid of an annoying body.