Page 15 of His Black Onyx

Chapter 8

Malia

This can't be a coincidence, can it? Of all places, they are going to send me back home to help them complete their mission?

Once again, I'm feeling fooled by karma. Or fate.

I can't ignore the fact that I will be able to get home, and the sooner I'm willing to cooperate and do as he tells me, the sooner it will be. Not that this means I'll be safe and sound, back in Newport, back with my family and the only friend I ever really had.

But at least I'll be close. Rhode Island is small and I've lived there all my life. Just the prospect of being back in my home state fills me with hope and an elation that I wasn’t sure that I would ever feel again.

"So...," I say softly, finally gathering the courage to speak. "Where do we start?"

I look up at him then, my lips pressed together and my eyes narrowed with earnest resolution. I hope he doesn’t see through my charade of self-confidence and determination and call my bluff.

He studies my curiously, visibly puzzled by my sudden resolve and willingness to cooperate. And for a moment I fear that he doesn't believe it. That he'll laugh at me, or worse, lay another hand on me, choking or touching me in private places just to intimidate me and make me say things I don't mean. After all, who am I kidding? I am no superwoman.

I'm just a scared little small town girl, away from home for the very first time in her life and trapped in a situation that is worse than anything she could have ever imagined.

But I want to be more than that. I so desperately need to be the tough and composed woman who can survive this mess.

Based on what I've learned from him so far, that small deed alone will be incredibly hard to achieve.

I need to be alert. Observant. Calm. I can't let my fright turn into panic and cause me to become helpless.

I can't.

I repeat that mantra inside my head, urging myself to take calming breaths. I can’t afford for my breathing to turn erratic again, betraying my will to appear strong.

His eyes are fixed on me, watching, assessing, and penetrating my mind in a way that threatens to crack my facade.

"Where do we start?" he repeats my question, adding a sinister sneer that freezes the blood in my veins. Why does he have this effect on me? He didn't even hurt me. It's the simple threat alone that keeps me on edge, always on alert to receive a blow that never strikes.

"How about a shower?" he suggests, his eyes caressing every inch of my body as I sit with my hands and ankles tied before him, unable to escape his scrutinizing gaze or even change my position in the slightest. "And some fresh clothes."

"I don't have any."

"We do," he says as he gets up from where he has been sitting this entire time on the bed. "And don't worry. They'll fit."

"Because they're Lailah's?"

The question slips out before I can stop myself, and again, he makes sure to make me regret speaking out of turn. He moves abruptly, leaning down grabbing a fistful of hair and yanking my head back into my neck. I yelp out in surprise when I feel his other hand right below my chin, drawing along the skin on my collarbone and removing the strap of my dress. He pulls it down over my shoulder, exposing my right breast. He doesn’t waste a moment before repeating the same thing on the other side. I curse myself for not wearing a bra underneath the evening gown. I lift my bound hands on instinct, trying to cover my nakedness, but he slaps them away.

"Don't you fucking dare!" he hisses. "You need to remember your place, girl."

"I do!" I insist, my lower lip trembling. I feel such shame to have such an intimate part of my body exposed to the eyes of a stranger.

My humiliation is amplified when he squeezes my right nipple between his fingers. He pinches it so hard that it hurts, and I shriek out in pain.

"Why are you doing this?" I plead, my eyes watering. "What does this have to with an-"

"Hush!" he cuts me off. "I told you, you'll have to become as close to Lailah as possible. And you know what...."

He pauses, his fingers still closed around my nipple as he leans down to my left ear, placing his lips so close that I can feel his warm breath when he whispers, "Our Lailah was a seductive little minx, and I need you to be the same. She knows how to please a man, and you'll need to learn how to do it, too."

A lonely tear rolls down my cheek. I try to fathom what he's saying, as the question replays over and over again inside my head.

"Why?"

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