She expected the doctor to demand verbal surrender, making her accept he was right. But he didn’t. Instead he helped her to her feet. His finger moved to her lip and lingered there.
“Does it hurt?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
She shrugged.
“Not after all this progress, Vivian. Tell me.”
“I knew what you wanted, and you knew I’d been hurt. But you still wanted it.”
“I might have let you off the hook until you healed if you’d asked.”
“You would have been disappointed,” she said.
He smiled. “And that matters to you, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, Sir. I don’t want it to matter. It’s wrong that it matters.”#p#分页标题#e#
He nodded. “Do you understand why Anton brought you here now? You belong to us, and soon you’ll belong to one man who can give you what you need. Is that what you want?”
She looked into his eyes for a long time, the banshee screaming and trying to get out again. He must have seen it too.
“Forget your old life and that world. The moment you can truly shut that door, you’ll be free to feel what you feel. You’re safe here.”
She nodded, finally. “Yes, Sir.”
“Are you going to trust us to take care of you and place you with a good master?”
“Yes, Sir.”
He nodded. “It’s almost noon. Why don’t you go down to the cafeteria and get a sandwich or something? Maybe sit by the pool and get some sun. You’re a little too pale.”
She left the room, not sure why she felt so floaty and calm, but tired of fighting it.
THIRTEEN
Without Sabrina to rule the roost, most of the cattiness had ceased. A few bikini-clad women splashed in the pool while Vivian lounged beside a small table. Taking Gabe’s diet restriction threats seriously, she’d gotten chicken salad on a croissant, a bowl of pineapples, and a glass of water with lemon.
When she finished eating, she peeled her shorts and top off to reveal a pink and white polka-dotted bikini. Vivian reclined in the lounger and closed her eyes, absorbing the warmth of the sun. The doctor was right, she didn’t get outdoors enough, which was ridiculous since she used to stay home all day. What would have been so hard about finding fifteen to twenty minutes to lay out and soak up the rays?
Calm was easy to come by with the sun warming her skin and a light lunch in her stomach. A shadow fell across her, and she lurched as fingers trailed down her thigh. She opened her eyes; a smile drifting across her face when she saw Gabe looking down at her.
He handed her a bottle of sunscreen. “I want you to get a little sun without lotion, then put this on before you burn. After that you can get your exercise in the pool if you promise to swim and not just splash around.” He tossed a glance at the women playing in the pool.
“Yes, Sir.”
“When you’re finished, come back to your room. You’ve still got a punishment coming for climaxing without permission.”
Her cheeks flushed as she looked around to make sure no one else had heard him, but everyone seemed engaged in their own activities. Then the embarrassment died away, and a lump formed in her throat as she started worrying about punishment and what it might entail.
Before she had a chance to respond, he slid his sunglasses over his eyes and went back into the mansion.
Vivian swam like a mad woman as if swimming laps in the pool could help her escape whatever Gabe had planned. Her faith in him being the good one was dwindling at the same pace as her energy. When she could go no more, she dragged herself out of the water. Her body ached as she trudged to her room, questioning the wisdom of causing herself so much pain when she no doubt would get more.
Gabe looked up when she stumbled in. He frowned. “Did you think I’d take pity and choose not to punish you if you wore yourself out?”
“No, Sir.”
“Come here.”
It was a relief to crawl across the floor, to not have to hold herself up after the abuse she’d heaped on her body in the pool. When she reached him, she pressed her lips to his boots, then waited, every muscle exhausted further from anxiety.
“Good girl. I didn’t expect you to remember.”
She wasn’t sure whether she should be offended by that. Was her emotional resistance to the training that strong, or did he find her stupid? Between him and Anton she was going to develop a complex about her brainpower.
He was quiet for several minutes, and Vivian waited, unwilling to break the silence and make him more upset with her. Finally, he spoke again.
“Come with me.”
She took the offered hand as he helped her to her feet and guided her through the mansion and down a steep flight of stairs until they reached the dungeon Vivian had known Anton would have. It was smaller than she’d expected, which led her to believe there must be more than one, for people who wanted some measure of privacy for punishments or play.
Gabe led her to stand between two sturdy poles that came up out of the concrete. A metal ring jutted from the top and bottom of each one, with a short length of chain attached to it.
“Take off your clothes.”#p#分页标题#e#
He went to a large trunk on one side of the room without a backward glance. It was obvious he didn’t want a show. Gabe was all business, and clothing would only get in the way of his plans.
Vivian removed and folded the gym clothes, then untied the strings of the still-damp bikini. She shivered as the air hit and hardened her nipples. He returned first with a blindfold and covered her eyes, preventing her from seeing what else he was bringing from the chest.
She stood still as he took each wrist and fastened a cuff around it, then brought it up to the chains on the poles. He repeated the action with her ankles until she was stretched wide, whimpering from the pain pulling her muscles.
“Next time perhaps you’ll think twice about pushing so hard in the pool right before punishment. What were you trying to accomplish?”
“I don’t know, Sir.” But she did know. It was just too stupid to put into words that she’d been running from him and the punishment that had now caught up to her. She’d sound like a head case.
The room was quiet. Tension curled around her, a tangible thing, as she waited for whatever was about to strike her. Instead of pain, she felt Gabe’s lips kissing a trail over her neck and shoulders.
“When you get close to orgasm, tell me. If you come again without permission you’ll be punished in front of everyone in this house, including Sabrina. And it won’t be pretty. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“What’s about to happen is mild because this is all still new to you. Remember that after it’s over.”
Then he set to work on her, his fingers skimming over her skin, dipping inside her, circling insistently around her already swollen clit. Her arms were killing her hanging in the chains, but it still only took minutes for him to manipulate her almost to the point of orgasm.
“I’m close,” she whispered.
He immediately stopped, as she’d known he would, leaving her hips to buck helplessly against the air, her body begging for release.
Moments later several strips of leather struck her back. She’d remembered the things she’d seen in the chest in her bedroom and his earlier threat about flogging. He brought the flogger down over and over until what started out an almost pleasant sensation, turned into a painful sting as her back became more raw.
She whimpered and cried out, “Please, Sir.”
“Please, Sir? You disobey a direct order from me right after I told you not to this morning, and all you’ve got is ‘Please, Sir?’ You little slut. Give me something creative and maybe I’ll stop for a few minutes.”
Tears were already streaming down her cheeks, dropping from her chin and onto the concrete. “This slut is very sorry.”
He laughed. “Third person speech. Aren’t you the little overachiever now? More.” The flogger cracked against her back again, drawing out a scream.
“Please, Sir. Your dirty slut is sorry she was bad. She won’t disobey again.”
She heard the flogger as it fell to the ground, and then his mouth was kissing over the skin of her back, soothing away the pain he’d just caused. It was wrong but also right to feel the softness of his lips caressing welts left by his hand.
Gabe went back to teasing her, his fingers stroking over her labia but not touching her clit or venturing inside. She twisted and turned to try to get his hands to bump against the right spots. Vivian knew it was foolish. He wasn’t going to let her come, so striving for contact that would stimulate her wasn’t her best move.
But she couldn’t help it. He pulled his hand away, leaving her whimpering. The glass toy he thrust inside her next was long and wide, with large ridges. He fucked her without mercy, knowing exactly how to angle the toy to torment her the most. His mouth was next to her ear when he growled, “Don’t come. Warn me first.”
She nodded, biting her lip against the onslaught. He used his other hand to manipulate her clit. She was tempted to try to have a little orgasm. Maybe he wouldn’t notice. But he would notice. And then she’d be punished in front of everyone, including the bitch who’d busted her lip.
That thought killed her libido enough so she could think straight again. “I’m close,” she said.