“Three.” I cringed.
Two more strikescame down, and after each time, he massaged where he made contact,only dulling the pain for a short second before delivering thefifth and final strike.
“Five,” I groaned.
But then anotherone came and I wasn’t prepared for it. Completely blindsided by hislie, I screamed in agony as the last one hurt more than any of theother ones had. My ass felt as if I had dipped it in acid, and asingle silent tear fell down my cheek as he finally put his beltbackthrough the loops ofhis jeans and pulled my dress back down over my throbbingass.
“That last one was for hesitating. Don't ever do it again,understand?”
“Yes, Darren,” I said, still keeping myself bent over at thetree.
“Good girl. Now, let’s go.”
He took my handand my ass pulsed with pain the whole way as we walked back to thehouse. Every step brought with it a wince and an uncontrollableurge to cry, and it was the first time I actually found itdifficult to keep up with his pace. He eventually took out hisphone, texted something, and placed it back in his pocket. If onlyI could get to that damn thing, I might have a chance at gettingthe hell out of here.
When we got backto the house, our lunch was already set out for us on the patioand, by the grace of God, there was a rather large pillow restingon one of the chairs with two large bags of frozen peas. Darren satdown and I slowly eased myself into the chair. The frozen bags didwonders for me. It did not numb the pain entirely, but I found iteasier to deal with.
As we ate ourlunch in silence, Darren fiddled on his phone and I watched thewaves of the ocean crash over one another, spreading all over thepowdery white sand. I wanted to explore the entire beach, theforest, and everything else that surrounded this beautiful fuckingprison of mine, but I doubted I would be allowed the privilege anytime soon.
At least I had wonmy ability to continue training, assuming I was ever afforded theopportunity. If I was going to be stuck in my room all day, I’dhave to adapt to a new way of training if I wanted to stay fit andkeep my skills sharp.
Once our lunch wasfinished, Darren stood quickly, a smirk growing across his face.“Come on. I have an idea on how we can spend ourafternoon.”
Oh,no.
ChapterTwenty-Three
ALittle Game
“Let’s play a little game,” Darren said, selecting a pool cue.He had brought us down to the basement and directed me to the pooltable. I leaned against the bar while he moved to rack the cueballs. “For every ball we sink, we get to ask the other a question.Any question they want. Sound fun?”
“Sure,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him and walking over tothe cues. Luckily for me, I was an ace atpool. “What happenswhen I win?” I asked confidently.
The smirk on hisface was priceless, and he laughed a little out loud. “Well, isn’tthat cute,” he said patronizing me as usual. I shrugged it off, notletting him get to me as I stared at him seriously. “How about Ilet you decide what color you want your nails painted next?” hesneered with a smart-ass smile on his face. I feltmineheat up with rage.
“And if you win, how about I let you decide what color pen I’mgoing to stab you with?” I said quickly with a smile without eventhinking. And then I instantly cringed withregret.
Goddamn it, wherewas my filter! I was suddenly terrified after what I said, butDarren laughed as if it was the funniest thing he’d everheard.
“You just love getting your ass beat, don’t you?” He chuckled,shaking his head at me.
My eyes lit up ashe gunned it for me and I almost ran for it out of instinct, but hewas at my side before I could even turn my body away from him. Myinsides curled in as he grabbed the back of my neck and bent meover the pool table. I gasped in fear as his hand came down andswiped hard against my ass. I groaned loudly at the contact,digging my nails into the table as I bit back my cries, painflaring up in my ass all over again.
“You’re a slow learner, Jaden. I thought you would have hadthis figured out by now,” he said walking away from me and grabbinghis cue.
I righted myselfand rubbed my ass. “Yeah, well, I’m still installing my mouthfilter.”
“Well, you’d better get it taken care of before I install itmyself,” he warned.
I nodded, my eyesnow finding comfort in the floor.
“Would you like to break?” he then asked me, eying mecarefully.
I suddenly pausedat the question, almost taking it completely in another direction.I felt my breath catch in my lungs as my heart skipped a singlebeat. Did I want to break? Fuck, no. Not possible. But I wouldbreak this fucking set.
“Sure,” I said, glancing at him only briefly as I walked overto the table.
The only thing Iwanted to break right now was his fucking skullopen.
