Page 60 of Dauntless

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Dmitri was sitting on the edge of the bed when I woke. He was naked from the waist up. His chest was covered with a large tattoo of blind skeletal justice holding the scales. “Like what you see?” he mused as I recoiled, rolling as far as I could across the full bed to lay on my stomach. The top sheet was gone, and I was still unclothed. Still here with him. Surely someone had to be looking for me by now.

When was now? My head throbbed as I tried to think.

“Come back over here,” Dmitri demanded. “When I come in here, I expect you to be down on your knees at my feet or do you have a taste for chastisement?”

I licked my dry lips. I could have pointed out that I’d only just woken up, but he wouldn’t care. “You’ll hurt me anyway.”

He laughed. “Yeah, I will and every time I have to ask you it will get worse.”

I gritted my teeth. I may be forced to do what he asked, but I wouldn’t put on a show. I did it as ungraciously as I could. Scooting back over to his side of the bed and unceremoniously flopped down onto my sore knees and crossed my arms.

He chuckled. “Damn. You’re spoiled to the core. You’re just the type of clients that I like because it’s so satisfying when I see you come to your new reality and break.”

I glimpsed him and frowned. There he was working on my head again, but he was talking and not touching me. That I could deal with.

“How many clients have you had?” My voice came out coarse.

“You’re my seventh full time,” he answered.

“Is this all you do?” I rasped. “Or are you a lawyer or judge or were you one at another time. I mean your tattoo has me…curious.”

“I’m your Simon,” he replied curtly. “That’s all you need to know about me… Moving on, how about we get rid of that scratchy voice. You must be thirsty.” He reached down to his side, which was hidden from my view, and produced a bottled water and opened it. “Open your mouth, and I’ll pour you a drink.”

I was parched, and I wanted to take it. However, every time I took their water, I lost time. “I can’t take that anymore. I need real water. From what you learned about me, you must know that I didn’t take drugs. Ever. Please…”

He rose, from his seat without a word, and I held up my hands to ward off the blow should he hit me. But he went to the door and unlocked it and left but returned a few seconds later. This time, with another bottled water bearing a brand I recognized.

“I give you my word. I haven’t injected this bottle with the E-comply drug,” He stayed by the door. “It’s clean, but the only way you’ll get it is if you crawl over here and thank me for it.”

The room was quite heated now, and without ventilation, it was stiflingly unbearable. I needed the water and reminded myself this was about survival. I was unsure if the label was real or a fake, but I was going to drink it. Answering to his command was a part of his training. The thought of becoming a useless drone for Patrick made me fume. He would pay for this. That was if I returned as myself.

I fought through my misery with every move as I crawled across the abrasive, musty carpet to where he stood by the door. I stopped when I saw his bare feet.

“Simon…thank you for the water,” my voice rose an octave. I wasn’t sure what exactly he wanted to hear.

Dimitri handed me the bottle, which I took and gulped down quickly. Too fast. I covered my mouth as my stomach churned.

“Don’t you do it,” he gritted, but it was too late. I vomited the sandwich I ate earlier and the water.

He hit the side of my head, and I fell over. “You did that on purpose.”

I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. “I didn’t.”

He grabbed ahold of my hair anyway and yanked it back. “Yes, you did, but you’ll clean this up. Loren!” he called out her name.

She came inside and bowed her head to him. “Yes, Simon.”

“You’ll watch her clean up this floor,” he said. “Gia needs a lesson in appreciation. She’s too used to having it good, unlike you and me. She doesn’t know what it’s like to have nowhere to stay and to go to bed hungry. Her daddy and Patrick gave her servants, so she didn’t think twice before messing up your carpet. She was sure someone would take care of it for her.”

Loren glowered at me, and Simon grinned.

“I didn’t,” I said to her miserably. “I was sick.”

“She pointed out that you are beneath her. She bragged how she was smart enough to just say no to drugs and you couldn’t. She didn’t give it a thought that you hadn’t a choice. Or how hard it must have been for someone like you who was born addicted. Or how your junkie father sold you to his friends in exchange for drugs when you were a child.”

Loren started to cry.

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