“Go eat. I’ll be back to put you to bed later.”
“Don’t I get any clothes?”
“Clothes?” He cocks an eye brow at me.
“Yeah, you know, shirt, pants, socks?” I want to spit. I can’t just walk around naked in a collar. Can I?
Kayne cuts across the plush shag rug to the dresser on the opposite side of the room. He opens a drawer and pulls something out. Then he walks back to me and kneels. “Here.” He holds up a sheer pair of panties.
“That’s it?” I look down at him.
“That’s it. Get used to being naked baby. That’s how I want you twenty-four seven.”
Twenty-four seven?
Kayne jerks my panties on, and then goes into the bathroom. A few moments later he emerges fully clothed and heads straight for the door.
“You have twenty minutes to eat, then bed. I’ll be back.” His tone is flat, almost detached.
The door clicks shut behind him, and I’m alone again, in yet another cell.
In a fit of desperation I attack the door, yanking on the handle with some sliver of hope it might open. Tears run down my cheeks. I’m a captive. Going to be forced to do things with a man I once obsessed over and now hate. I pull at the collar and scream. This can’t be happening! It just can’t. I have a family, I have a future. I have a life waiting for me beyond this room. I pound harder, yell louder. But it’s no use. Deep down I know it. I can feel it. I’m his.
When my energy is depleted, I slump down onto the floor. I can’t stop the tears from flowing as I lie there defeated. That’s when Kayne returns. Has it been twenty minutes already?
He opens the door and it jams against my body. “Ellie, what the fuck?” He steps over me and into the room.
“Not hungry?” He takes notice of the untouched food.
“Fuck you,” I spit.
“I hope so.” He lifts my limp body off the ground. Keep dreaming. I will never give my body or my will over to him. “You’re going to need your strength.” He places me on the enormous bed that can sleep ten.
“For what?” I ask dejectedly.
“Me.”
He picks up the end of the chain attached to the collar and locks it around one of the curves of the iron headboard.
“What the fuck!” I yank and pull.
“This is how you’ll sleep. New puppies need to be chained up.”
“I’m not a fucking puppy!” I erupt.
“No, you’re right,” Kayne muses. “You’re more like a frisky little kitten.” He runs one finger down my face the way you would pet a cat. I jerk my head away.
He jerks me back by the collar. Fucking thing. Rage burns a hole through my chest.
“You’ll learn, kitten.”
“I hate you.”
“We’ve established that. We’ve also established that you’ll get over it.” He kisses me quickly on the lips. “Tomorrow we start.”
“Start what?” I snarl.
“Obedience training.”
I LEAVE ELLIE’S ROOM WITH my emotions in a stir. I stand by the door and listen to her scream bloody murder for the second time tonight. Part of me hates myself for doing this. Part of me knows it’s the only way.
Part of me can’t wait to tie her up and dominate the fuck out of her. I’ll have her begging. You just wait.
The only way to keep her safe is to turn her into the one thing I’m trying to protect her from. The last three days have been hell watching her waste away in that tiny cell. They would have been worse if I had to witness her at the mercy of Javier. I may have collared and chained her to the bed, but her screams would be blood-curdling if she were confined to his room. He’d have no sympathy for her pain or tolerance for her disobedience. He’d starve her, torture her, and leave her for dead. Fuck that. I may run an elaborate whore house, but no one has the right to treat another human being like that. Listen to me, righteous motherfucker. I’m the one who has a captive on the other side of this door.
But no one can know. No one can know I had any other reason for taking Ellie than to make her my slave. Not even Ellie. It would be too dangerous. Make me too vulnerable. Make her a target.
And I can’t let that happen. There’s too much at stake.
I leave Ellie to scream herself to sleep. With the lack of food and earlier outburst, I doubt she’ll last much longer.
SUNLIGHT BECKONS ME AWAKE.
My mouth is dry and my throat is sore. Where am I? Then I remember. The chain clinks as I move. I’m a prisoner. I pull on the collar and fiddle with the lock. Off. I just want it fucking off.
Suddenly the door opens and I instinctively huddle into a ball, naked and completely defenseless.
“Ah, you’re up.” A tall, nice looking man with turquoise eyes and a shock of blond hair saunters toward me. I recoil.
“There, there,” he coos. Pulling on the chain once he reaches the bed. I resist him. “Aren’t you a pretty thing? No wonder Kayne wanted you. Come here.”
“No. Who are you?” I fight him.
“Jett.” He yanks harder, forcing me closer to him. “I’m your keeper.”
“I don’t need a keeper. I need to go home!”
Jett grabs my face, ignoring me. He moves it around like he’s inspecting me.
“Sweetheart, the only place you’re going is into the shower.”
“I took a shower last night,” I say bitterly, recalling the way Kayne manhandled and spanked me.
“It’s time for another. You also need to be groomed.”
“Groomed! I’m not an animal!” I try to snap my head back.
Jett looks into my eyes, clutching my face tighter. “Technically you’re owned, so you’re the equivalent.”
Tears threaten.
“Ellie. I will tell you this once. Cooperate with me or I will tie you down and spank you until you do.”
“Is that my life now? Beating after beating?”
“It doesn’t have to be. But you have to listen and do as Kayne and I say.”
“Do I belong to both of you?” The words slice my tongue as they roll out of my mouth.
“No. You’re just Kayne’s. But I do have the authority to punish you if you don’t behave.” His pretty eyes flash with something dark. Jett looks like he belongs on a beach with a surfboard. But it’s clear he’s no laidback surfer.
“So, what’s it going to be sweet thing? We can be friends or we can be enemies. It’s up to you. Personally, I’d like to be friends. It will make things easier for everyone involved.”
I only stare up at him. I can’t bring myself to submit. It’s not who I am, it’s not who I was raised to be. After a few drawn out moments Jett nods, then pulls out a set of keys from his pocket and unlocks the padlock linking the chain to the collar. I just sit until he tells me to move. At this point I don’t know what else to do. I don’t want to get hurt.
“Bathroom?” he points. I get up and walk into the room. Covering as much of my nakedness as I can.
“Good girl,” he says in a condescending tone as he walks behind me. I hate it. Once in the bathroom, he turns on the shower. “We’ll groom you first, then breakfast.”
“Groom?” I repeat curiously.
“Mmmm hmmm.” He pulls out a table from the linen closet and opens it up.
“What’s that for?”
“You’ll see.” He pulls the key ring out from his pocket and unlocks the collar, removing it from my neck. I immediately rub my sore throat. “In you go.”
I step into the stall and allow the water to scald my skin. The temperature of my shower is about the only thing I have control over at the moment.
“Wash,” Jett instructs. I stick my tongue out at him as I turn for the soap.
“I saw that,” he says amused. I guess better amused than pissed off.
I wash my hair and my body slowly, elongating the shower as much as possible. The smell of eucalyptus engulfs my senses, but the calming scent does nothing to unwind the anxiety coiled around me.
“Done,” Jett announces. He opens the door and turns the shower off.
“Hey!” I immediately jump and cover myself. He pulls my arms away from chest. “Get over the modesty. And get used to being naked.”
“Why?”
“Because that’s how Kayne wants you.” He wraps me in a towel and dries me off. I feel like I’m losing all self-sufficiency.
“Why me?” I ask forlornly.
“He has his reasons.” Jett works to dry my hair.
“I wish someone would share them with me.”
“You don’t need to worry about his reasons. All you need to do is what you’re told.”
“What if I can’t be submissive? Then what?” I challenge.
“I don’t think you want to know.”
My lip quivers. “He’s going to hurt me, isn’t he?” An image of the table in the other room flashes in front of my face.
“Not if you listen.”
“What does he want from me?” I demand with my emotions bubbling over.
Jett gives me an I think you know look. “Don’t be naive, Ellie. It doesn’t become you. You know exactly what he wants.” Your obedience, your submission, your body. “You’ve been acquired as a sex slave.”
“Don’t use that word!” I scream with my head in my hands, tears bursting from eyes. The word slave sounds like nails being dragged down a chalkboard. “I can’t do this. You have to let me go!” I sob.