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Cane in hand, Dylan’s arm raised high above her head. The whistling sound of the cane sliced the air and hit Ari’s ears before connecting with the ball of her right foot. The piercing scream Ari emitted matched the unbearable pain inflicted. It was like being stabbed with a knife.
“One!” Dylan said.
Ari knew this was the beginning of their end. She planned on apologizing. She should have never walked out after their beautiful evening of lovemaking—if that was what it was. Those orgasms and spankings evoked many delicious dreams.
Now, each strike of the cane to her battered flesh erased each wonderful memory of their time together. Over and over, the cane struck Ari’s feet. Either Dylan’s strength increased, or her feet became so tender that each blow tore through her flesh.
Somewhere in the middle of it all, Ari lost her ability to keep a stiffened back and upright chin. She blubbered a river of tears with each agonizing strike, pooling at the back of her neck.
With the last of her punishment called out by Dylan, Ari’s body relaxed. People she once called coworkers delighted in her anguish. Not Dylan, whose eyes were as black as the dead of night when the cane dropped from her hand and hit the floor with a faint echo.
As Maxi strolled toward the pillory with a gleam in her psychopathic eyes, she asked, “Have you both learned your lesson?”
It was a rhetorical question neither Ari nor Dylan answered. Maxi ran her finger over Ari’s arm as she said, “I can assure both of you that if this happens again, you will witness my wrath. And trust me, you’ll wish you had chosen death. There will be no more of this ... affair. Now, clean up and get on the floor. I’m sure someone wants to fuck an already abused submissive.”
Like a gust of wind, Maxi filed out of the arena along with everyone else, leaving Ari and Dylan to themselves. That solitude only lasted long enough for Dylan to flip the locks on the pillory open. Without helping Ari to her feet, Dylan stormed out of the arena too.
Watching Dylan walk away sent Ari into a spiral of emotions worse than those she had already lived. She pulled herself up and dropped her feet to the ground. A searing pain, like walking on hot coals. Her teeth clenched as she pressed her lips to fight through each excruciating step and soldiered on. Anger infused her body as she left the stage and tore through the ballroom. Despite her battered feet, she quickened her pace to catch up to Dylan.
As Ari turned the corner, the door to Dylan’s office slammed shut, only to have Ari blast through it. “What the fuck was that, Dylan?”
Dylan twisted around, tears welling in her eyes. “I had no choice.”
“You always have a choice!” Ari said, disregarding the hierarchy between a boss and an employee. In the heat of the moment, Ari stepped forward and slapped Dylan across the face. “How dare you!”
“No, I didn’t. You don’t get it. Everything I have done for you is so someone else doesn’t do it worse. I asked you not to come back. You didn’t listen to me.”
When Ari’s hand raised to slap her again, Dylan caught it in midair. “You didn’t ask; you told me not to come back! Trust me, Dylan. If you knew anything about me, you would have asked.”
With her hand still gripping Ari’s wrist, Dylan tried to pull her close, but Ari fought against it. Gone were the days of trust. As much as Ari wanted to believe Dylan was innocent in all of this, she’d gone down with the ship named Adytum. After what had just happened, Ari had enough evidence to take them all down. The bleeding of the bottoms of her feet was proof enough.
“Ari, please. You need to leave this place and never come back.”
“I thought that wasn’t an option. I ran away once, and it got me beaten to a pulp. Is that your idea of keeping me safe? You’re the one who said people don’t quit, they disappear. I guess you ... what ... want me out of your life? Fuck and forget?”
“No. That’s not it. I’m sorry for the punishment. I’m sorry about all of it. I screwed up, and now I’m paying the price.”
Ari huffed and closed her eyes, trying to understand why, out of everyone, Dylan stayed in this world of lies and deception.
“No, Dylan. I’m paying for it. You get to sit back in your comfy office while I’m the one paying for your screwup because as far as I can tell, I don’t have a choice. Consent is a nonissue here and it’s obvious that I’m gonna be fucked either way, so I might as well enjoy it.”
With that, Ari left the office and returned to the ballroom as the dinner bell rang and the wave of patrons strolled in, looking for someone to have for dessert.
Chapter 20
As Dylan rode the train from her big city apartment toward the outskirts of the suburbs, the events from the previous night replayed in her mind. The terror in Ari’s eyes. The screams erupting from her mouth. It was as if they lived through a horror film, and this was the bloody aftermath. There was no way for her to have sheltered Ari from the wicked world in which she lived. If only Ari had accepted the offer of moving in with her instead of returning to the club, she could have hidden her away.
Not only were there consequences to her return, there was also no shelter from the lion’s den of the floor. As promised, Maxi had fed Ari to The Twins that night. As hard as she tried to hide in the shadows to protect Ari, Maxi ensured their privacy by sending Dylan on an errand, requiring her to leave the club while they had their way with her. To her own detriment, Dylan watched the video feed after the club closed. As much as Ari screamed her safe word, it fell on deaf ears. Just like every time with all the others. The Twins tore Ari at the seams, feasting on her body like she was wounded prey. And once the doors had closed for the evening, Maxi returned to Ari’s bound body to indulge herself.
As much as Dylan should stay away, she couldn’t. Ari was more a part of her being than oxygen. She needed to make things right, to do what it took to make Ari hers.
She stepped off the train and onto the platform closest to Ari’s apartment. When a trip there came up empty-handed, the streetside café was the next logical place to look. The short stroll provided time to work out what she would say when she found Ari. There was also the issue with the traitor who outed the club members. With a lot on her plate, she chose Ari as her priority.
The rain-covered glass of the café door made her survey difficult. She pulled the door handle open just enough to peek in. Almost ready to concede defeat, Dylan spotted Ari with a drink in her hand, walking from the counter toward an older gentleman sitting at a table in the corner. The hobble in Ari’s step struck Dylan with a pang of remorse. Visions of blood flowing from broken skin split Dylan’s heart, just as the cane had split the soles of Ari’s feet.
Ari sat across from the man, conversing over coffee. She hadn’t even noticed Dylan standing in the doorway, but it was imperative that they speak. She didn’t want their relationship to end, though it wasn’t starting out as ideal as she had hoped.
No longer a brute with confidence, Dylan buried her hands deep in her pockets and marched forward. The man cast his eyes upward, looking directly at her as she came toward them. His notice made Ari dart her eyes in the same direction, twisting her head until she locked eyes with Dylan. In an instant, Ari’s gaze morphed into an icy expression of hatred. Dylan was the last person she wanted to see.
