Page 81 of Ashes of Sin and Stardust

The rest of the evening was a blur of pain and shouting. I knew I was in trouble when he tossed me down into the dungeon in his basement garage and locked the door, killing the lights and leaving me in there. I don’t know how long he left me there, but when he came back, I’d fallen asleep, shivering on the cold cement.

I woke up groggy. The first thing I felt was him pulling me up by the hair. The second thing I felt was a metal collar locked around my neck.

“No,” I shouted. I didn’t like collars. I never had, because they always made me feel like I couldn’t breathe. “Scarlett! You hear me? Red! Scarlett! That’s my safeword! I’m done! I want to go home! I don’t consent to this!”

“You trusted me to use my discretion, Alice. I know what you need right now, and I’m going to help you through this.” He hauled me up by the collar to my feet, and I struggled against the rising panic. He chained the collar to the rack behind me and locked my hands in cuffs above my head.

I couldn’t see him from the brightness of the overhead light. But I could see the whip in his hands.

“Scarlett, Peter!”

The whip flicked out and struck me hard across my breasts.

“Scarlett!” I shouted again.

“Alice,” he sighed. “You’re mine now, honey.”

I continued to scream and shout, begging to be released, using my safeword over and over. Finally, my voice began to tire and my tears ran dry. He got tired of my sobs, and he gagged me with a thick piece of rope through my teeth.

“Alice, here’s the thing. You have no job now, but that’s okay. We’ve been working towards this for a while now. You’re going to move in with me, and I’m going to be your Master. You’ll be my full-time slave. You don’t need to get another job because I’ll take care of you. You trust me, remember? I’ve always taken care of you. Let go, cupcake. Let go and let your Master have your trust.”

Iwas in and out ofmyself after that. An immeasurable amount of time passed. I remember him taking me to my apartment and packing my things and turning in my notice to terminate my lease. He gave me a list of rules and things he needed me to do every day, and punished me cruelly if I neglected even a single detail. He took away my phone, laptop, wallet, keys, and all my legal documents like my ID, birth certificate, and social security card, locking it all up in his office.

I remember him taking me to The Underground a few times for play parties and public scenes. I attempted to use my safeword while I was there in front of other people, but he made a huge scene about me constantly using my safeword incorrectly, making sure everyone knew I was topping from the bottom.

He punished me intensely every few days, calling it training. He was cruel to me for no reason. Things I used to enjoy became torture. Scenes we had done before almost in exact detail were no longer fun. They were terrifying because I no longer had a way to stop it.

“Let go, cupcake. You’ll find your slavespace soon. I promise.”

The best thing that could have possibly happened, happened. He took me to The Lounge at Reuben’s, since we weren’t allowed to scene at The Underground anymore. At this point, I hadn’t spoken a word in days, maybe weeks, because speaking did no good. He didn’t listen. Anytime I tried to talk or reason with him, he punished me. Anytime I used my safeword, he punished me. Anytime he felt like it, he punished me.

We were waiting for our turn on the spanking bench. He was sipping an iced tea that he’d snuck two mini bottles of rum into and was trying to get a buzz. I was dizzy with fear at the idea of being abused and hurt, and I desperately wanted to find my voice, to scream, to shout for help.

Becca saw us and waved, smiling.

Did she know? Maybe she knew and she didn’t care. At that moment, I hated her. She had betrayed me just as badly as Alex Victor, Bruce Hawking, Michael Lewis, and Peter Woodrow.

Because that’s what people did. Even Simon Pierce hadn’t come looking for me. I’d seen him at The Underground the day we got kicked out, and he’d looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn’t. So fuck him too.

The bench was free, and someone wiped it down. I tried to find my voice to use my safeword just one more time. I felt it on the tip of my tongue, desperate to escape, but I couldn’t open my mouth.

Scarlett. Scarlett. Scarlett.

Suddenly I was jerked forward. Peter was screaming, and he’d fallen backwards and hit his head. Blood was pouring from his nose. He was clutching it with two hands.

I looked down and realized he was no longer holding the end of the leash that was attached to my collar.

Before I could second-guess myself, I turned to the door of The Lounge, ran down the stairs to the ground floor, flew out the door of the restaurant, and ran into the night.

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