Savages Recruit (26 page)

“We have an issue, Savage,” Hurtzwald finally approached the point of the meeting.

“Yes sir?” Savage's was a picture of perfect attentiveness, relaxed, but ready for whatever bomb the General was about to drop.

“Zora Matthews,” Hurtzwald said, standing behind his desk and placing his palms on the surface as he leaned across it to address Savage with an earnest gaze. “She's outlived her usefulness.”

A small tic in Savage's jaw was the only sign of the cold jolt that speared through him. Hurtzwald said it so casually. 'Outlived her usefulness'. What he really meant to say was 'I think we should murder Zora Matthews'. Keeping a tight control on his emotions, Savage nodded, then began the delicate process of attempting to argue a superior out of a decision. “With respect sir, I disagree.”

Hurtzwald snorted, a bullish sound. “You believe she has a function?”

“Yes. She handles herself well under pressure and she has an excellent mind. She went into the field with next to no training and performed better than most trained men. It would be a pity to...” he paused, searching for a phrase that made the subject less rage inducing. “...lose the benefit of her rare skill set.”

“Perhaps,” his commander acknowledged. “But I've seen the evaluations since then. She is not co-operating with anybody. She's not even trying to co-operate. So these skills and traits are not exactly useful to us, are they?”

Savage nodded in agreement, acknowledging the point, which was a valid one. “She does what she needs to do and little else, that is true. But she co-operated completely on the Bulgarian mission. Her work was invaluable to us and may well be again.” Though Savage spoke with a calm, detached tone, he knew he was quite literally arguing for Zora's life. People who did not serve the greater good did not live for long. The compound was extensive, but there was no room in it for anyone who failed to pull their weight.

“You have a personal component to your relationship,” Hurtzwald abruptly changed conversational course and approached the issue from the one perspective Savage really wished he wouldn't.

“Yes,” Savage made the admission readily. No point denying it. It was common knowledge, though they had not engaged in anything sexual since their return from Bulgaria. He had been too busy, and she too contrary.

“Why?” The commander's eyes twinkled lasciviously. Mention sex and all thought of death went out the window – temporarily at least.

Savage did not stoop to his level and deftly avoided being trapped into an admission of bias. “She would not have co-operated otherwise. She had no reason to do as we asked. A personal relationship provided that motivation.”

“So your decision to engage with Ms Matthews in the bedroom was purely tactical in nature? And it is not, in any way, interfering with your judgment now?” The commander gave him the old ice stare, a look designed to ferret out any untruth.

“Precisely.” Savage hoped the simple conviction in his voice was enough to convince Hurtzwald to at least agree to a stay of execution.

“Very well, I'll take your word on it this time Savage,” Hurtzwald relented. “But she shows improvement within the week or you put a bullet in her.” The commander beamed jovially as he gave the order. The deaths of others had long since ceased to weigh on his conscience. He gave such orders on a daily basis. The reluctance he'd shown to address the issue directly at first had everything to do with not wanting one of his best agents off side and nothing to do with whatever sanctity there might have been in life.

Savage left the meeting with his stomach in a knot. Hurtzwald's infamous iron fist had been removed from its kid glove and was making menacing motions at the woman who had quite inadvertently captured his heart. She didn't know that of course, even she thought his interest in her was a mere manipulation designed to elicit compliance. A life time of shielding his real emotions and playing roles on top of roles had lead him to a place where nobody could tell what it was he thought or felt. He was the perfect soldier, a machine that did what was necessary to get things done. Zora was supposed to be just another one of those things he did and if she was going to survive, it was essential everyone kept thinking that.

He made his way to the communications section where Zora was supposed to be working with Ethan. To his relief, the room did contain two occupants. She was where she was supposed to be, but only Ethan seemed to be busy at work, twirling the end of his beard in his fingers the way he did when he concentrated. Savage could tell from the door that Zora was not doing work of any kind. Instead she was lolling about in a chair, leaning so far backwards that her feet were dangling inches off the ground, staring at the roof and blathering on to Ethan, probably about a matter of little consequence.

“Zora.” He growled her name as he stepped into the room, hoping it would telegraph the general idea of taking him seriously.

It didn't. She pushed herself forward in the chair and planted her feet on the ground, a pout on her lips. “Where have you been?” Her eyes swept up and down his body. “Looks like you got out. Nice for some.” Attitude rolled off her in waves.  He had to give it to her. Zora knew how to stand her ground. Lesser women would have crumbled by now. Not her though. He wondered if she had it in her to take a subordinate role. Was she capable of even the slightest submission? He hoped so.

Taking the opportunity the moment gave him he stood over her, using his imposing bulk to intimidate. “No more,” he said in his most menacing voice. “No more fucking around, you got it? Run those numbers.”

She cocked her head to the side and looked at him. Gazing down at her, he saw the eyes of the woman he had made passionate love to and, just for a moment, his expression softened. He was fast realizing that the sex had probably been a mistake. It had given her the impression that they were equals on one level or another. He saw the impending refusal in her gaze before she opened her mouth and gave voice to her rebellion. “No.” To add insult to injury, she had the audacity to raise her hand and flip him the bird.

Even if Hurtzwald hadn't been threatening her life, that would have pissed him off. He reacted by grabbing her wrist and slapping her hand hard enough to leave red finger marks on the back of her knuckles. Years of hard living had callused his palms to a texture like iron, being slapped by him was no small matter. She gasped with the pain and her eyes flew wide open, her mouth parted in an 'o' of surprise and dismay. He had a fair idea why. Yes, he'd been spanking her for weeks on end, but he'd very rarely come close to using anywhere near his full strength on her. He still hadn't in fact. The slap she'd just experienced had fallen with a fraction of the force that was at his disposal. But it had shocked her. He waited to see if it would be enough.

The moment her eyes narrowed he knew it had failed. “Is that what you're going to do now? Just hit me for every little thing?” She started in on him, her voice dripping with very real derision. She thought him a bully. She was about to think him an even bigger one.

“Yes,” he growled, yanking her up from her chair with one arm and laying another very hard slap across her ass. It landed like a gunshot and she screamed as he started thrashing her right there in front of Ethan, who had rolled away from his terminal and was gawping at the scene unfolding in front of him.

Zora was too busy fighting to see Savage's expression as he laid several more viciously hard blows across her bottom, each one slightly harder than the one before. He had gritted his teeth, not enjoying his task in the slightest. He willed her to give in, the silent voice in his head screaming along with her. Give in. Just give in dammit. Stop fighting. His arm rose and fell over and over again, a repetitive solid movement outlined by frantically kicking legs and windmilling arms. Zora screamed with what could only be described as rage, her face turning beet red as she struggled against him.

Finally, when he was sure he must have bruised her, tears signaled the end of her resistance. He'd never been so glad to see her cry. Even when she pulled away from him and cowered next to Ethan sobbing deep breaths, he was happy. He might finally be getting through to her. She wouldn't understand why he was being harsh, but she'd know not to cross him. He'd rather she hated him and lived than loved him and died. He would be the very devil himself if that was what it took to keep her breathing.

“Get back to work.” He ground the words out mercilessly. When she didn't move he took her by the and yanked her down into her seat. “Work. Now.”

She put her hands on the keyboard, her fingers trembling as she cried. As the urge to sweep her up in a hug and reassure her caught him, he gritted his teeth and turned away without another word. There could be no affection. Not whilst her head was on the chopping block. It was better this way for both of them. Knowing that did not break his heart any less as he strode away, the muffled sounds of her weeping into her cupped hands following him all the way to the door.

***

“God, are you okay?” Ethan hissed the question urgently once Savage was well clear. “He beat the hell out of you.”

Zora nodded wordlessly. She was in shock emotionally and perhaps physically. Her bottom was throbbing and aching but she didn't dare get up from the chair for fear that Savage would return and beat her again. What had happened to the almost tender spankings? The gentle explanations? The hugs afterward? He'd promised he would never spank and leave her, but he had. He'd lied. Her sense of betrayal was the only thing deeper than the fear and pain that racked her body as she sniffled and tried to make out the numbers on the screen through the haze of her tears. “He's a fucking liar,” she whispered, tapping away as she finally began the task she'd been assigned.

“They all are,” Ethan agreed, pushing away from his workstation and settling his chair next to hers for the purposes of commiseration. “They say whatever they need to say.”

She snorted through her tears, tasting salt in her mouth. “And if you don't do what they want they beat you?”

“Not usually,” Ethan glanced at her. “Usually they just...”

“Just what?”

“Get rid of anyone who doesn't play by their rules.”

She wiped her eyes on her shirt and looked at him, her red rimmed eyes tinged with a spark of hope. “You mean they go home?”

He gave her a quizzical look. “No, they go dead.”

Her face grew pale. “They go dead?”

“Yeah,” Ethan looked worried, as if he'd said something he possibly wasn't supposed to say. “It's not exactly a secret. I thought you knew.”

The news made Zora felt very dizzy and very ill. “I did not know that,” she mumbled through her suddenly dry mouth. “I definitely did not know that.”

“Oh shit. I'm sorry.” Ethan squeezed her shoulder. “You're still here though, that's a good sign. Just keep your head down and do as you're told and you'll be fine.”

“Keeping my head down and doing as I'm told isn't exactly my strong suit,” Zora muttered as she bent her head to the assigned task. Her tears slowly dried on her cheeks as her fingers tapped ferociously at the keyboard. The task was too simple to be engaging, it felt like busy work. Perhaps it was. Maybe they were just trying to keep her busy before they killed her.  As she worked, her ass continued to throb and burn, a constant reminder of the hell Savage had unleashed on her. But why? She didn't get it. He was like a different person in this place. Outside the compound he was personable and kind, loving even. Inside he was a tyrannical monster. Which Savage was the real one? Did he care about her at all?

“There's an upside,” Ethan whispered at length, apparently as an afterthought.

“Yeah?” Zora doubted that there really was an upside.

“Make yourself useful and you can get away with an awful lot. It's a meritocracy. A really harsh one, but if you know how to work it, well, let's just say life isn't unpleasant. If you want out of here, you need to play by their rules.”

“You're starting to sound like a plant, Ethan,” Zora pointed out dryly.

He smiled shamefacedly. “I'm just telling you how it is. I'd rather you not disappear, you know? You're good value.”

“Tell them that,” Zora said.

“That's something you're going to have to do on your own.” Ethan winked. “I'm sure you'll find a way.”

Zora smiled slightly. Ethan was fast becoming her only friend. Brian had disappeared since the mission. That made her sad, but Anja had gone too and that didn't. It was lonely with nobody in her corner though, and she'd take Ethan's slightly awkward attempts at friendship, even if he wasn't exactly prepared to help her when she was in a tight spot. He'd made himself damn scarce when Savage had started whaling on her.

Biting her lower lip nervously, she promised herself one thing. She wasn't going to let any of them see how scared she was. They weren't going to win. She'd beat them at their own game if it was the last thing she did. Resolution made, she turned back to her newest friend. “So Ethan, want to teach me more about these systems?”

***

When Savage returned to check on her progress, he found Ethan and Zora very buddy buddy, snuggled up at the same terminal and laughing at something.

“What are you doing?” He snapped the question from the door, expecting a fear based reaction. She'd flinch, or cower, perhaps even squeak in concern. None of that happened.

“Learning.” She looked him right in the eye, no sign of fear whatsoever. For a moment he wondered if he'd really spanked her as hard as he thought he had. Then he saw the slight redness that still lingered about her eyes, the dew on her eyelashes. Damn she bounced back quickly.

“Have you completed your task?”

“Yes.” Again a straight answer, delivered without even blinking. There was nothing he could complain about in her demeanor, but he still felt as if he was somehow being told to fuck right off.

Next to her, Ethan was grinning like a chimpanzee. “She's done some additional work as well actually.”

“Good,” Savage nodded. “Then she can help you analyze the data from the Somali mission. I need it by midnight.”