Page 97 of Dark Duet: Platinum Edition
“Are you ready?”
I whimpered and nodded. “Yes, Master. I’m so sorry. I won’t do it again.”
“You always say that, Kitten, but then you refuse to follow the rules and I have to punish you all over again. Didn’t I tell you Celia isn’t allowed to speak to you?” he chided.
“Yes, Master. I know you did. I’m sorry.”
“Well, if you weren’t before, at the very least I know you are now.” He sat on the bed and held out a glass of water and some pills. “Sit up and take these.”
I sat up slowly, sobbing. Part of it was the pain, but there was also a sense of shame involved. Caleb was disappointed with me. He’d told me the rules; he’d explained. I hadn’t listened. “I can’t believe you left me this long. It fucking hurts,” I cried.
“I didn’t choose to leave you, Kitten. You made that choice yourself,” Caleb said. It came as a surprise he wasn’t yelling at me or promising me more pain. He was very matter-of-fact about the whole thing. I wondered if it was just another way to mess with my head.
“Where were you?” I asked before I could stop myself.
“Just now? Bed. Earlier, I went out. Felipe has horses and I’d never ridden one,” he smiled.
“Me neither,” I whispered. Now that Caleb was near, I felt calmer. I was angry with him, of course, but I’d come to live for these moments with Caleb. I felt protected. I felt kept. Without him, my life was a giant question mark.
He smiled a little and pushed an errant lock of hair behind my ear. “Maybe when you’re better, I can take you.”
My heart seemed to swell in my chest. “Will I be here long enough? With you?” I met Caleb’s clear blue eyes and they appeared wistful. I would have given anything to know what he was thinking, but I knew better than to ask.
“Maybe, Kitten. Sometimes…” he paused.
“Sometimes?” I tried to urge him along.
“Sometimes.” He smiled and stroked my hair with so much silent affection I felt like crying again. “Are you hungry, Kitten?” he whispered.
I inclined my face into his hand and closed my eyes, trying to hold on to him and knowing there was no way I possibly could. “Yes, Master.”
Then we ate, Caleb feeding me pieces off his plate. It was strangely…comfortable. Afterward, he rubbed my sore body until I fell asleep.
***
I slept, but I was having that horrible dream again. My stomach felt like a tight, hot knot of pressure weighing me down from the inside. I turned and turned, the knot only getting tighter and hotter and heavier.
They held me down, and the smell of beer and cigarettes came off of them in waves. Their rough hands blazed a trail along my skin as they pulled at my clothes, and the sound of my protests fell upon deaf ears. The horror played in slow motion, coming in random flashes of what I remembered and what I still felt. Then the nightmare took on a life of its own, no longer bound by the facts.
I couldn’t fight them. My fists moved in slow motion, unable to land solidly. My voice wouldn’t rise above a whisper. One of them held me down as the other kissed me. I yelled for someone, but I wasn’t sure who – all I knew was this person could only help me if I made a loud enough sound. I fought with every ounce of my strength. My wrists were limp and my voice was small, but I fought. I started crying.
The worst was about to happen when the dream unexpectedly changed again. It was faster now, faster even than real time. Caleb opened the door and asked what the hell was going on. The arms holding me let go. They backed into the corner behind me. Free, I stood and ran into his arms. I wrapped my arms around him and I told him what they had meant to do.
They tried to deny it. Caleb told them to shut their mouths. He lifted me into his arms, telling them to stay put, and carried me past the decrepit room filled with air-mattresses and clothes–into a room I recognized as his.
He set me down beside the door as he looked me over. “Are you okay?” he asked. I nodded, only slightly aware he ran his hands over my nakedness as he searched for injuries. He seemed satisfied I wasn’t hurt and hugged me again.
“What do you want me to do?” he asked. The moment slowed and I looked him in the eyes.
“Hurt them for me,” I whispered.
“I’ll make them pay,” he said. His hands continued to move over me, and my hands held on to his shirt tightly. The tension in my belly transformed from solid to liquid, and it ran down toward my thighs. The knot came undone and now felt like a cord stretched taut from my nipples to my sex. When he touched me, the cord tugged, and the feeling was overwhelming, savage, and strangely welcome.
I took my hands off of his chest and shrugged off the open top I wore. “I could’ve been really hurt if you hadn’t helped me,” I said. His eyes fixed on me, mixed with shock and lust. He pinned me against the wall with his body, and the heat of his breath warmed and moistened my neck. I wanted to say something, but his right hand cupped me, down low, and my body felt paralyzed. The invisible cord inside me pulled taut. A lascivious yelp escaped my throat.
He pressed his lips close to my ear. “Don’t fuck with me,” he growled.
“Fuck me,” was my only response.
