AllFreeNovel
Share Us
In fact, he was sure right now she'd tell him whatever she thought he wanted to hear. It was such a shift from Holly. If this were Holly she'd be smarting off, pushing his buttons, irritating the shit out of him until he just wanted her to leave.
Ari stood there, waiting for Claire to speak, to beg, to ask questions and demand answers, to scream, to curse, but except for the soft crying, she was quiet. She didn't look up at him. She did nothing but wait. He could feel the words radiating off her, but she never let them escape into the air. What in the hell was she thinking? What was her strategy? Was she quietly planning her own escape? Giving him an artificial surrender to lower his guard?
He wasn't foolish enough to underestimate this woman.
A few months ago, he never would have thought he could be the kind of man who enjoyed and wanted this. He'd always been concerned that everyone had a safeword and wanted to play the game. There were good subs out there. They weren't all brats. Just because his last few had been didn't mean he had to resort to keeping a terrified woman captive.
He should be questioning his own behaviors, not hers. She was just trying to survive. And he'd only offered her minimal reassurance so far.
Maybe shehadbroken him. She'd definitely broken his conscience. When he'd woken, he'd half expected to feel guilty, to go soft on her and make no demands. But instead he found no emotion inside him except the satisfaction that she now lived at his mercy.
Ari withdrew a piece of black silk from his pocket and tied it around her eyes. She jumped when the silk touched her, but she didn't pull away. She didn't beg. She seemed to have the crying under control. For now. A few silent tears slid down her cheeks every few seconds. He shifted her to uncuff the thick piece of metal from her ankle.
Then he scooped her up and carried her down the stairs. He wasn't ready for her to see the rest of the house yet. When he reached the main level he crossed to his attached master bathroom beside the walk-in closet. Neither door was visible from her small perch.
She would enjoy this room when he was ready for her to see it. The bathroom had white and light gray marble tile in intricate patterns that mirrored the patterns on his vaulted ceiling in the bedroom. There was an oversized garden tub with generous counter space for candles and soaps and gels and lotions.
Behind the tub was a large floor to ceiling window with an expansive view of the property and some of the closest-to-the-house trees the estate had. A large glassed-in shower stood along another wall with floor-to-ceiling windows on either side. Despite the openness of this room, his large property and gated security ensured privacy—even if one felt exposed.
Ari sat her down on the toilet. “Do what you need to do. Don't remove the blindfold.”
She opened her mouth as if she might protest but closed it again. He knew she wouldn't want him to watch her. It wasn't as though it gave him a thrill, but he couldn't leave her unattended yet. Soon enough, privacy would be a distant memory to her anyway.
He opened and shut the door, then remained very still, his breathing slow and quiet. She turned her head as if trying to see he'd left. He expected her to remove the blindfold. Why wouldn't she? Surely she was curious and thought he'd gone. At the same time, she no doubt knew he could return just as quickly as he seemed to have left. She didn't touch the blindfold. She just used the restroom and flushed.
Ari opened and shut the door again. “Did you remove the blindfold?” It would be the normal thing to ask if he'd actually left the room.
“No, Master,” she said.
“Good girl.”
She flinched as though she expected some blow to come despite her obedience. It unsettled him. This was wrong in every way a thing could be wrong. But he hadn't been able to leave her alone in a world she could no longer navigate, and he wasn't noble enough to pass up this opportunity or just keep her as his indefinite platonic house guest.
If someone had asked him three weeks ago, he would have been sure he was that noble. He wouldn't even recognize who he'd become in this short span of time.
He picked her up and carried her out of the bathroom. This time he took her out of his room and down the large front hallway, brightly lit by the sun shining in, bouncing off chandeliers. At the far end of one wing was a door that led down to the dungeon. He had a playroom on the first floor with all the same accoutrements except with a softer color palette and windows. But he'd told her he had to punish her for what she'd done, so it had to be the dungeon. He didn't want to confuse her.
Ari set his trembling captive on her feet in the dungeon. He regarded her, watching her shaky breaths moving in and out of her. He couldn't decide if he should leave the blindfold on or take it off. He was intrigued that she hadn't tried to cover herself. The normal thing to do would be to try to hide herself from his gaze. Especially with her history.
No begging. No running. No screaming. No fighting. What cocktail of things inside her psyche could make someone this compliant? Even the tears had seemed involuntary. She seemed determined to give him total obedience despite her fears. It made his hands clench and unclench at his sides because he knew what had made her this way. And now he was just a second monster holding her captive.
Maybe he shouldn't punish her. She was trying so hard even with little direction. But she needed to know what it would be like, and early. She needed to know that he wouldn't break her skin. He wouldn't torture her. He wouldn't starve her. He wouldn't share her. Today was an opportunity to show her.
“Claire,” he said quietly.
Her face rose to his. He could see how intently she listened.
“Do you know why you're being punished?”
“Yes, Master,” she said quietly, the tears once again slipping past the confines of the blindfold.
“Tell me why.”
“F-for what I did to you,” she whispered.
“No.”
She flinched, again as if waiting for a blow for getting the wrong answer.
