Dark Days (Written Pictures #2) (14 page)

CHAPTER XXXII – A World Away

The uncomfortable heat of yet another steamy evening kissed the bare skin of the two bodies that lay entwined. Clothes were scattered around the room; a bra swayed gently in the breeze from an open window as it hung from a chair back, a silk blouse billowed beside it, hooked on a handle of a dresser. Shoes sat where they had spun to after being hurriedly kicked off.

A lamp lay on its side, flex partly torn out, while its former shade peeked from under the bed. A net curtain reached for it as it rose and fell in the breeze, catching occasionally on the open drawer of a bedside cabinet.

All was quiet and otherwise still, the calm after the storm that had been a tumult barely contained within the small room.

An aroma of expensive perfume hung in the air, but it was the pungent smell of sex that piqued the interest of a small black and white cat that lurked just outside, compelling it to jump through the window to follow her feline curiosity. Bobbing her head, she sniffed, her small pink nose twitching to sample the scent again. She moved cautiously, she always did when entering somewhere, needing to know whether any threats were foretold in the air.

An exploratory paw snaked out, testing the distance of the leap from sill to seat. Now more confident, the little cat sprang forward, displacing the designer blouse when she landed deftly on the chair.

Snapping her head round, the cat eyeballed the potential threat of the blouse flowing to the floor. Thinking better of trying to snatch at it with her paw, she rocked back instead to nibble at an itch now demanding urgent attention.

Another itch successfully despatched to her little tongue’s graveyard for them, she dropped to the floor. The landing dislodged fur caught in her throat and she coughed, furiously shaking her head before sneezing twice. There would be a fur ball later – she hated those but at least there was carpet and carpet was her favourite place to leave them.

Looking up to the foot that hung motionless over the edge of the bed, a dilemma struck as a solitary fly spiralled above it. Tilting her head as primal instincts kicked in, the small black and white cat gathered in her back legs, coiling herself ready for attack.

Dissatisfied with the fly’s audacity of intrusion, she twitched her tail but not quite satisfied she was ready, gathered herself again. Now she was. Poised and primed, here would be the first kill of the day. Wait though - kill the fly or nuzzle the foot? It looked so damn appealing and was at just the right height so as not to be too much of an effort. Decisions, decisions.

As quickly as it burst upon her, the dilemma of what to do passed as the fly veered and zigzagged out the window, watched by the little cat’s twisting head.

Focussing back on the foot, she strained up, whiskers twitching as she sniffed, gathering clues to what lay beyond it until turning her head slightly to the left, she smoothed her cheek against the toe. Her territory, make no mistake. Snaking out her rough tongue, the little cat licked the toe she had made twitch.

Meanwhile, a world away a new day crept into being and started to beckon Kazakhstan to wake.

CHAPTER XXXIII – Corridors of Power

Raven padded barefoot behind the burly guard, naked except for the seven metal bands that depicted her position, and the decorative white gold hoops that adorned piercings in both her ears and nipples. Moving along the corridor, she glided in that naturally easy way of hers, hips rolling to propel her forward, stepping quietly on the high arches of her feet. At least there were two things she had cause to thank her mother for.

Just a day earlier, Raven would have noticed the reduction in the degree of her bondage as she was led loosely by a chain attached to the metal band that collared her – Alexei having expressly ordered that her arms were not to be bound to help her shoulder to recover. Noticing it, she would have seen a chance, a carelessness which would have had her leaping onto the guard’s back and throttling him with the chain until he staggered and fell beneath her. Her mind now though was otherwise occupied, sifting through new thoughts, new feelings and new and unexpected options that sprawled before her.

There was no need to pull but Yuri pulled anyway, intermittently yanking on the thick chain coiled around his large hand, just because he could, jerking the naked woman forward. He wasn’t allowed to bind her and that took away an opportunity to enjoy her body, so he would take out his frustration instead. With the fourth such jag on her neck, Raven stumbled and her bare breasts brushed his broad back.

In an instant she was pinned to the wall by his vice-like grip on her slender neck. With his Neanderthal face millimetres from her own, his acrid breath seemed to singe her nose as he snarled down at her. Raven snapped her head away in revulsion.

She had been close to him before but this close he looked huge with his bull neck, wide shoulders and extra eight inches in height above hers. As his hand dug into her neck, she knew that her very life lay in that vice-like grasp.

Fighting all her normal instincts of self-preservation, Raven froze and looked down, heart pounding, a porcelain doll at the whim of an ogre. She shook slightly with the battle that raged within her at such an act of contriteness, faked or otherwise.

The smile that slithered across his lips told her that he had noticed her trembling, misconstruing it as her growing weakness. But had he misread what he saw? Or was that actually the woman she now was?

How could it have happened? How could her guard have been so eroded, so shattered? Questions tumbled inside, turning and twisting into knots of self-doubt. They debased and destabilised her. Raven could do nothing but endure, nothing than be pinned immobile in his strong hand until at last an image of Alexei once again invaded her mind and drew her focus inward.

“You. Much pain. Today.” The grunted words from Yuri stretched his English to its limit. Seemingly unsure of his accuracy, his free hand shot to her right breast by way of a physical demonstration, pushing it up and out as thick fingers clutched and bit into delicate flesh.

A moan of satisfaction escaped his lips, feeling her soft skin and the way her natural breasts felt in his hand, not the whore’s implants he was more used to handling. His fingers rolled, pushing Raven’s pained breast up higher even as she forced out a moan of her own just to create the self-preserving lie that she was enjoying his touch.

His grunt told her that her contrivance had worked and when he released his grip and slapped his ham of a hand down hard on her breast, the gasp she gave was as much in relief as in anguish.

Raven’s eyes screwed tightly closed as she coped with the impact of the blow and she barely noticed the release of the constricting grip on her throat until the snap of the chain around her neck spurred her forward.

So, on they moved, brute and slave, each understanding their place in their immediate world. One leading, the other following, a red handprint burning her breast. Both focussed on obedience, one to prevent another assault, the other to fight one back.

The force of the tugs on the leash seemed to grow each time and it was hard not to fall into him again. He strode with purpose, forcing her to scurry now to keep up, the rhythms of her natural pace exceeded, making her hips ache and breasts swing.

Passing out into a cloistered courtyard, the bright sun licked Raven’s bare body and reminded her of the overexposure to its rays in all the days strung from the pier. She winced to the prickling of her skin. The crunch of gravel under his heavy feet should have been a warning yet the sharpness of the stones still came as a shock. Raven stiffened as the angular grit bit into the soft flesh between her toes but the sharp pull on her neck jerked her forward again and fully onto the rough surface.

“Come!” snapped Yuri, yanking Raven’s leash afresh, making the thick metal dig deeper; his order booming, undeniable. She tried to step carefully, feet rolled to the sides to minimise the impact of the stones, but unfortunately it was a move that made her hips thrust out left and right. Turning, Yuri didn’t see a woman treading with care, he saw instead in his primal mind a slut who invited a fuck but he held back, just - he was under orders.

Hauled through a narrow doorway, Raven was fully expecting yet another fetish fantasy to open out before her, and was taken aback to see only two rows of tall, metal lockers with a slatted pine bench running the length of the room between them.

The room could so easily have been at a local gym or perhaps a changing room to some upmarket health spa. But this was Alexei’s house and its apparent innocence knocked Raven backwards before the now familiar tug on her neck dragged her inside. Even the smell spoke of the room’s athletic purpose. Liniment, medical sprays, the sweetness of energy drinks, all were hinted at in air that was dank and heavy, no doubt due to the showers lined up to her right.

It was out of place and Raven knew there would be an alternative purpose for the room, a purpose for her to have been brought there, every act had a purpose here. Moving forward, hooks hanging from a roof mounted rail winked toward the nature of the room’s usual occupants.

A wrench on her neck and she looked up. Seeing herself tethered reconfirmed that this place was fitted with optional extras to fit Alexei’s taste. When Yuri strode away to punch controls and retract the hook upwards, the possibility of escape was again taken away, before her mind had even ventured far enough to consider it as an option.

Her natural reaction was to tug on the chain of course and that she did. Both hands reached up to clutch at it, pulling to test the radius of her newly defined place. Hauling as hard as she could, Raven could just about reach the gunmetal grey locker to her left. That was her radius that way, unless she wanted to choke herself.

Eyes fixed on her, the heavy-set man strode back, his lustful gaze roaming up and down unchecked over a body that had no choice but to stand straight and be on display.

A hot meaty hand squeezed onto her breast, rekindling the burn of his earlier slap. He was back invading her personal space, filling it with stench of his breath and the sound of his heavy breathing. She stamped her foot in protest as the vice that was his hand closed and twisted.

Without a flicker of emotion, he watched. Raven’s mouth opened ready to scream but her pride helped her hold back, not wanting to give him the sound that he wanted to hear. His other hand grabbed a handful of her butt, grasping equally tight, sampling her as he would sample anything he considered available to buy or simply take. Raven rose to her toes to escape the worst of it.

And so he squeezed and as he did, Raven’s foot stamped again but her hands stayed to her sides, fingers clawing into her own hips, knowing that if she fought this animal, it would probably be all the reason he needed just to snap her neck as easily as he would snap a twig, and break more than just her resistance.

So Raven bit her lip, taking it as best she could, fearing that at any moment her body would simply give up and be torn asunder. But as quickly as it started, he let go. She sagged until the chain from her collar stopped her short.

“Slave. Dress,” peeled the next thundering order, accompanied by a jabbing finger in the direction of the only locker within Raven’s reach. With that he strode off, the stench of his breath lingering to add to the smells that already hung heavily in the damp room.

CHAPTER XXXIV – Locker Room

Shuffling back directly under the hook, Raven found she could at least look down. Slowly she lowered her head to look at her reddened breast and gingerly cradled it, flinching as she did. Gently kneading it to encourage the flow of healing blood back, she resolved to be doubly careful around Yuri in future. There was one word for him, dangerous.

Raven had met animals before but she had left them muzzled and knowing their place. There would be no taking this one down, despite his lust. Such was the strength of his hatred for her, it still hung heavy in the air even though he had left.

A swift prick of discomfort while she looked around the room reminded her to touch her breast only tenderly. Apart from the hooks in the ceiling and her being chained, there was nothing untoward, nothing else looked out of place. There were no clues as to what lay to her right behind the opposite door. Slowly turning, Raven drew the chain and hook along its rail until it snagged and refused to go further, still some way short of the end.

Hauling at the chain again, she was frustrated to find it sticking on the short guiderail and Raven pulled it to try to pull it free. She yanked again but both failed to loosen the hook.

Her next tug though was harder and the pent up resistance suddenly let go, making her lurch forward, out of control. Stumbling, her knees buckled and she grasped at the chain in panic to take the pressure off her collar. In minutes she had gone from thinking that Yuri might snap her neck to apparently trying to do it herself. Okay, take time, compose yourself woman.

When Raven’s breathing had steadied, she realised she could perhaps reach the locker more easily now. Stretching, she flapped a hand toward the latch and as she finally gripped the cold metal, her curiosity was piqued. A workout? She had certainly been given a working over since arriving in Kazakhstan, but somehow doubted that just seeing a woman sweat would be another of their kinks. It wasn’t brutal enough. She had used gym equipment to try to break Katarina in the manor, and that had worked in the short term. Yet long term it had proved a mistake. It had inevitably made her fitter, which had played a part in helping Katarina ultimately take her down. Chalk that one down to experience – Raven doubted they would make the same mistake.

Katarina. Raven was growing to regret what she had put that woman through now she was being subjected to similar treatment herself. If she ever got out of this hell, there was an apology to make, though how she would even start to ask forgiveness for changing a life so irrevocably was beyond her.

A spa treatment perhaps? She knew that she had made a connection with Alexei but no, that couldn’t be it, it didn’t fit what she knew of his style and certainly didn’t fit with anyone else in the house – they were more nail guns than nail files.

The locker, perhaps that would offer more clues. At first, the locker door stuck. She tugged again and with a metallic scratching of steel against steel, it swung open to reveal its contents.

== ~ ==

Yuri paused outside the door, rubbing his stubby thumb over his fingers before raising them to his nose and drawing in the scent of the American woman. He smelt her on his fingers still but as he moved his hand away, he imagined a hint of something else and narrowed his eyes in a struggle of concentration.

Fear. The American bitch was afraid of him. He would feast on that as he took his own personal revenge. With a smile, he turned away, deep in what passed for thought. She was the reason Tomas was gone and he would take something equally precious from her. Heading back down the corridor, he ignored the clatter from back in the locker room. He would have to speak to Natalia and with that thought Yuri started to struggle together a crude plan.

== ~ ==

Stretching, the chain at first held Raven’s inquisitiveness back until she dragged it forward along the rail to allow enough scope to peer into the shadowy recesses of the locker. Inside lay four carefully stacked boxes, all distinct in shape. Each sparkled in the same red metallic wrapping, the uppermost topped with the flourish of a red silk bow.

A frown creased her brow. Presents? Everything was getting weird and out of place seemed to be the new normal. She looked up. Hell, she was in what could easily be a room where everyday people came to do everyday things but she was chained by the neck and naked. Normal? She wasn’t even sure there was such a thing anymore.

Bending, she retrieved the first box and, tugging on the chain, slid the hook back along the rail to allow her to place it on the bench, repeating the process for the second and then the third. The fourth was more of a challenge – her hand just wouldn’t reach, even with the other gripping the chain to ensure it was flush against the stop at the end of the rail.

With a frustrated grunt, Raven carefully stretched out a leg, balancing precariously on the other and tried to nudge the box closer with a pointed toe.

== ~ ==

He had to look. After all, she was his and the temptation was too great not to. Coffee in hand, Alexei cracked open his laptop and prodded the power button, drumming his fingers on the case as it fired up. While not as reliable as Tomas, Yuri would have delivered her to the locker room by now in his own bullish way - he respected authority at least and would do as he was told. He wasn’t complicated, he just needed guidelines clearly spelt out. That had been Tomas’ trouble. He had used his brain as well as his physique, and while that had often been useful, the one time he allowed his body to lead had cost him his life.

All too slowly the screen flickered and started to brighten to a chirpy Windows jingle before he could mute the inane sound. He drew his finger carefully over the reader to access his desktop, then again as technology proved it was not quite as reliable as it should be.

Smoothing his finger over the touchpad, Alexei double tapped on the security icon and guiding the cursor over a list of locations, double tapped again to select the locker room camera. There was a brief pause as his laptop processed the command but soon enough a new window stretched onto the screen to reveal his growing obsession squarely in the middle of it.

Concentrating intently, Alexei leant forward, watching her as she moved back and forth with the boxes. Even when not trying, she was a sight to behold and he soon found himself enjoying the silk of her movements, even chained as she was to the short length of the guide rail. Each stretch was mirrored in a movement of his head as he studied her feline grace, while each glint of the fluorescent lighting on the seven steel bands that signified her slavery spoke to him of possession.

As she straightened her leg, Alexei looked along the exquisite length. The pointing of her toes only served to stretch them toward infinity and hurriedly sliding a finger across the touchpad to move the cursor, he maximised the window to improve his view. Leaning closer to the screen, he inhaled, running a finger along the image on the screen as if in rehearsal for what he would do in the flesh.

Her muscles sharpened in definition as she twisted and stretched to try to reach the last box. It was an unforgettable sight that burnt itself onto both his memory and his computer hard drive with the click of a button to capture the image - not that he would really need an electronic reminder.

In his mind, he pictured her stretching that luscious leg as he luxuriated in front of her on his bed, legs splayed either side of hers, just watching. Bending forward, her eyes wouldn’t move from his as her manicured fingers expertly gathered a silk stocking before inserting those pointed toes and smoothing it up that leg with a special languid allure in preparation for him. In preparation for sex.

As she bent forward in his mind, he could see into the depths of her cleavage, her straight bob-cut hair framing her striking features with eyes that did far more than merely hint of pleasure. Without pause, her exquisitely nailed fingers would take the first strap dangling expectantly from the heavily boned Basque that gripped her even tighter than he would, slipping it into the silken stocking to trap it and hold it ready for his pleasure.

Smoothing those sensuous fingers still higher over the flare of her hip, she would seize the strap’s partner to the rear and twisting as much as she could in the Basque’s clinging embrace, she would slide the fastening into place to finish the erotic framing of her naked sex.

His attention was now totally wrapped by her and he barely noticed the taste of his favourite roast of coffee, swallowing another mouthful. Eyes locked on the screen, Alexei placed the steaming cup to one side, half safely on a mat, half scorching the deep lustre of the polished antique cherry wood table at which he always enjoyed his first coffee of the day.

In his head, she was a seductress without equal, lusting after the man that lusted after her, hunting, wanting, needing him, slinking cat-like, stalking him to the accompaniment of plunging guitar chords as Lenny Kravitz sung his own homage to
his
American Woman.

Hunching his broad shoulders, Alexei leaned further forward still as if wanting to climb into the screen. His better eye strained to study his possession and such was his focus that the trudging entrance of his younger sister passed him right by.

== ~ ==

Usually engrossed in papers or scanning the web’s news sites for something to help him create his next project, it was nothing extraordinary that her entrance did not even raise a grunt from her beloved brother. It was gratifying to see him so intensely focussed after the drama of the night before and Natalia grasped the handle of the coffee pot she carried and continued toward him with a smile.