Two Loves for Alex (20 page)

She closed her eyes, trying to move past the pain, to work through it as Liam and Daniel had taught her. But the flogging wasn’t sensual. It was too rough and too fast and she was too uncomfortable, bound and tethered as she was, a bent pretzel with her pussy and ass so prominently on display.

She began to pant and whimper though she didn’t scream. When every inch of her skin felt as if it were on fire, Anthony dropped the flogger and moved to stand in front of her. “You did well. Now for your reward.”

“Anthony,” she tried again. “Please let me down. I’m not having fun.”

His face darkened and he brought his hands to her throat, squeezing hard enough to make her cough. Jesus, was this how she was going die? But he let go of her throat and stepped back.

“It’s not about fun, foolish girl. It’s about submission and obedience. It’s obvious from your undisciplined reaction you’ve had very poor training indeed.” He pulled the crop from his belt and slapped her inner thigh.

“Let’s see how you handle the crop.”

“Please—”

“Another word and I’ll gag you.”

The crop landed square on her spread pussy. Alex screamed and jerked hard but couldn’t get away. He struck her again, harder than the first time. This wasn’t erotic, it was brutal. The
slap
,
slap
,
slap
of the leather square hitting her skin became the bass rhythm to her cries. He struck her inner thighs, her pussy, her ass, her breasts, even her face.

Alex twisted and pulled hard against her cuffs, her body flailing and swaying. Her heart beat so hard it sounded like thunder in her ears. On and on he went,
slap
,
slap
,
slap
. There was no escape from the relentless crop.

Nearing the end of her limits, Alex screamed, “Let me down, let me down! You fucking bastard, let me down! Ow. Ow, you’re hurting me! Stop it. Butterfly! Butterfly!”

Anthony dropped the crop. Thank god he was finally listening to her. What a horrible mistake she had made.
God, let me get out of here and I’ll never do such a stupid thing again. Just let me get out.

Anthony released her feet first by unclipping the cuffs from the rack. Before she realized what he was doing he pushed her legs together and clipped the cuffs to each other. Next he released her arms, but instead of letting her go, he jerked them up behind her back and clipped them together.

Alex lost her balance and fell forward but he was there to catch her. He scooped her into his arms as if she were a sack of potatoes and walked with her to the corner of the room where he dropped her onto the mattress, facedown. She stiffened when she felt his hand on her ass. Something cold and hard pressed against one cheek. She realized it was the heavy gold ring he wore on his right hand.

“You’ll need far more training before you earn my mark. But one day,” he pressed the hard metal into her flesh until it hurt, “I will brand you with this insignia. That way you will never forget who owns you.”

He couldn’t be for real. He couldn’t.
Someone help me.
He spoke in a normal tone, as if branding another human being were an everyday occurrence. Alex hid her face against the mattress, trying to keep her rising panic at bay. If she could just keep her wits about her, she could find a way out.

She needed to keep her voice calm and respectful. She felt as if she were trying to soothe a very dangerous animal—a wrong word and he might attack. Taking a deep breath, she dared, “Please, Sir. Will you let me go now? This just isn’t right for me. Please take off the cuffs. I’ll just get my things and—”

“Foolish, impertinent girl. I’ll decide what you’re ready for, not you. I’ll check back in an hour, at which time I’ll expect an apology for your disgraceful behavior. If I don’t get one, then you’ll stay here as long as it takes. Games are over. You’re mine now.”

The room was plunged into darkness. She could hear him going down the wooden ladder and then the door in the floor slammed shut. She lay there, too stunned even to cry. This couldn’t be happening. No way was this happening. He’d talked about true submission, about fulfilling her deepest submissive dreams. This wasn’t about submission. This was bullying. This was brutality. It was
criminal
. She would have the fucking bastard arrested for false imprisonment and assault.

If she could get out.

She pulled at her cuffs, trying to move her arms from their cramped position. “Daniel,” she whispered. “Liam. Come get me. Please.” But of course no one came. She was alone in the house of a madman and not a soul knew where she was. Terrified, she began to cry.

The light flicked on and Alex’s eyes flew open, her heart flopping against her ribs like an engine suddenly turning over. She lay very still, not sure what was expected, terrified to find out.

A gentle hand touched her shoulder. “Alexandra. Your Master is here.” She could feel him releasing the clips at her wrists and her arms fell limply to her sides, numb from lack of circulation. He released her ankle cuffs and pulled her over onto her back.

She closed her eyes, trying to push the panic rising in her gut back down into a manageable ball of fear. “Look at me. I’m ready to hear what you have to say.”

That I fucking hate you? That if I had a gun I’d kill you?

In the time he’d left her alone she’d begun to make her plans. She would lull him into believing she was going for his crap. Then when his guard was down she’d make her escape.

She looked at him, not having to feign the fear she knew showed in her face. “I’m—I’m sorry, Sir.” The tremble in her voice was real.

Anthony stroked her cheek, his dark eyes on hers. He was movie-star handsome but she never wanted to see his face again. He rubbed her arms and blood tingled back through them. Her wrists ached and she wanted to pull her hands away from him but she didn’t dare.

“That’s good. A good start, Alexandra. I must confess I hadn’t realized how poorly they had trained you.” He shook his head. “No matter, I like a challenge. Now tell me just exactly what you are sorry for so I can be certain you understand your errors and won’t commit them again.”

Shit.
She hadn’t planned on having to make a speech. She was thirsty and her face felt swollen and hot from the tears she had shed. What did he want her to say? She closed her eyes a moment to collect her thoughts, praying she would get it right.

“Um, I was disobedient, Sir. I, um, I struggled and didn’t flow with the pain.”

“Yes. What else?”

What else? What else?
“I said I needed to be let down, Sir. I should have waited for you to make that decision.”

“That’s correct. And you used your
safeword
.” He spat the last words as if they were a curse. “That tells me you don’t trust me. I demand your trust.”

Alex had to bite her lip to keeping from screaming. She clenched her fists to keep from pummeling him.
You can’t demand trust, you fuck. You earn it.
Aloud she kept her voice as meek as she could, forcing the underlying rage to remain at bay. “Yes, Sir. I’m sorry, Sir.”

“And that’s not all. You insulted me. You called me a name. Do you remember what you called me?”

Fucking bastard. And it’s what you are, you fucking bastard.
“No, Sir,” she lied.

He stared at her hard. “I don’t believe you. Let us be clear. I don’t ever want to hear such language from that beautiful mouth again, do you understand me? If you speak to me with such disrespect again I’ll be forced to keep you gagged at all times except when I choose to feed you.”

He traced a line with his finger over her lips. Alex quelled an urgent desire to bite him. She had to play her cards right. She had to pretend to go along. It was her only hope.

“Yes, Sir,” she whispered. It was easy to let the tears well into her eyes. “I’m sorry, Sir. Please forgive me.”

Anthony smiled gently and wiped away her tear with his fingertip. “Don’t cry, lovely girl. This is your first experience with a
real
Master. I will teach you. You have finally found a man who will take you where you need to go.”

He stood and held out his hand to her. Alex took it and allowed herself to be hoisted upright. Her legs felt rubbery and a wave of dizziness assailed her. As she swayed, Anthony caught her in his strong arms.

“It’s past dinnertime. You must be hungry.” The moment he said it her stomach roared into life, rumbling and twisting. She was starving.

“Yes, Sir. And thirsty too, Sir.”

“Excellent. I’m sure you’ll be earning the right to eat and drink very soon. Let’s go downstairs.” He helped her down the folding stairs, keeping his hand firmly on her shoulder as she picked her way down in front of him.

“Do you need to use the WC?”

“The what?”

“The bathroom.”

“Oh. Yes, please.”

She was dismayed when he followed her into the bathroom, though she wasn’t surprised. She sat on the toilet and closed her eyes, willing her bladder to void. She managed to pee and was relieved he let her wipe herself. She flushed the toilet and moved to the sink to wash her hands and splash cold water over her face. She managed to slurp several handfuls of water. Nothing had ever tasted as sweet.

“That’s enough. Come on.” He gestured for her to follow him. They returned to the bedroom. He stood beside the bed and pointed to the floor. “Kneel. I want to see if you’re as bad worshipping cock as you are taking a whipping. Maybe you’ll be able to redeem yourself. If so, I have a nice steak waiting for you. If not, you go to bed hungry.”

He opened his pants and slid them along with his underwear down long, muscular legs. His cock dangled, only partially erect, its skin darker than the rest of his body. Something was wrong with it. It looked like a loose bag of skin was covering it. Then she realized what she was seeing. It was foreskin. The man wasn’t circumcised. She had never seen an uncircumcised penis before.

She couldn’t help but stare, at once fascinated and repelled. Was she expected to suck on that? He put a hand on his shaft, drawing back the skin. His cock emerged, engorging and lengthening before her eyes. At least it was looking more like something she could handle. It wasn’t as thick as either Liam’s or Daniel’s beautiful cocks. It was long and bent slightly to the right. The balls beneath were heavy and covered in dark fur.

She closed her eyes and knelt forward, praying she could pull this off and at least get some dinner. She’d need her strength to make her escape. The scent of his musk was strong and she hated it at once. She wasn’t sure if she hated it because she hated the man or if it was just another sign of how wrong he was for her.

She nearly cried aloud recalling Daniel’s sweet erotic scent and Liam’s compelling sensual taste. She’d run away from the best thing to ever happen to her. Instead of trying to work things through, instead of being patient with what they were going through, she’d taken off like some spoiled entitled brat.

Anthony put his hand on the back of her head and pushed her forward, recalling her abruptly to her task. She opened her mouth and let him slide his unwelcome shaft into it. She reached up to caress his balls but he slapped her hands away.

“No hands. Show me your skills with your sluttish mouth alone. If I feel the slightest hint of teeth I’ll use a metal mouth-spreading gag. And make sure you swallow every drop or pay the consequences.” While he spoke, he continued to guide her head, entering her mouth in a slow, deliberate way until she was nearly gagging.

She focused on the technique Daniel had taught her, willing her throat to relax, opening herself to receive him. She tried to pretend it was Daniel’s lovely hot shaft.

“Look at me while I fuck your face,” Anthony demanded.

Alex opened her eyes, forcing herself to gaze up at the handsome man while he choked her with his long, hard cock. She was staring up at him but she didn’t see him. Purposely she blurred her vision, focusing instead on the images inside her head. She saw Daniel and Liam laughing and talking at the dinner table. She wondered if they were thinking about her.

~*~

Liam reached across the small table at their favorite restaurant and put his hand over Daniel’s. Daniel smiled, realizing he’d been lost in a daydream. “You’re thinking about her, aren’t you?” Liam said gently.

Daniel thought of denying it, but Liam’s expression was so kind and open. He understood Daniel’s missing Alex didn’t affect what they shared and would always share.

“Yeah,” he admitted. “Remember when we brought her here? She was cute, all squirmy with that butterfly thing on her clit, trying so hard not to come while the waiter took our order.”

Liam laughed. “It’s hard to believe that was only a few weeks ago. It seems like a lifetime in some ways.”

“Yeah.” Daniel fiddled with his bread and put it back onto the plate. The food was delicious and it was nice to get out but he just couldn’t seem to find his appetite. He honestly hadn’t expected to miss Alex as much as he did. How had she become such an important part of his life in so short a time?

“You know, she might come back, Daniel. She’s only been gone a few days.”

“Five days.”

“Tell me again what she said when you called her.”

“The first time she said she just needed some time alone. The second time she said maybe this was better and she understood we were a couple first. She said she had thought she wanted what we offered. You know, to be our sub girl but not our partner. She said…” he paused, finding it hard to form the words past the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat, “she wasn’t able to be with us anymore because her feelings were coming between us and she knew we could never return the love she felt.”

“She said that? The love?”

Daniel nodded. “Yeah.”

“Maybe we should talk to her face-to-face.”

Daniel shook his head. “She was very clear about needing time away from us. I don’t want to be a bully. And she’s right in some respects, you know. If we’re honest. How can she ever share the kind of love we have for each other?”