Page 23 of Fear and Desire

“The only problem we’re having is with Marco, sir. The new slave he collected was a friend of mine. He not only violated the understanding we have about family and friends, he took someone who has extensive connections, both family and community. There will be a hell of a lot of people looking for her. He’s endangered all of us.”

“He says he did it as a favor to you. He thought you would appreciate having her around—help release your tension a bit. If having her here is a problem for you, though…”

“I assure you, sir,” Dan said tightly, “having her here is no problem. I remain as committed to this organization as ever. She will be just another slave, no more, no less, just like all the others. My concern is only for the security of this organization.”

“Glad to hear it. Marco may have made a poor decision, I admit, but it’s done, so we’ll just move on. I think that perhaps the best way to make her disappear without a trace is for me to take her as my own, instead of auctioning her with the rest. There won’t be any finding her after that, I can guarantee.”

Dan grew cold. “Sir?”

“I saw her processing video. She intrigues me. I have some specific things I want done to prepare her for my needs. I’ll send the list to Marco, and I’ll pick her up when I arrive for the auction. It’s a loss of a sale, yes, but it’s safer that way.”

Dan was paralyzed, almost unable to breathe.

“Dan? Anything wrong? Do you have an objection to my plan?”

He took a deep breath. “No. No, sir. None at all.” The phone was shaking in his hand.

“Good.” The connection broke.

14

Laura:

Afterlunchwas“P&P”as the masters called it—Pain and Pleasure. The day before, Laura had experienced pain, but today someone must have taken pity and figured she was in enough pain already. They assigned her to pleasure, or what passed for it in this place.

Laura crawled after Master 4 into the room with the Sybian. She was absurdly grateful to see it, reasoning that even pleasured torment was better than more pain. She was right, though it didn’t mean she exactly enjoyed a solid hour of orgasm denial. After that, they put her to work cleaning floors, since she was already down there. By now, her knees were red and raw from the unforgiving concrete.

But at least she wasn’t being punished. It was amazing how her perspective had changed in two days.

Dan:

“Jackie’s almost finished with her kitchen training,” Josh reported. “We’ve had some interest in her already. You don’t get a fully trained cordon bleu chef every day.” Dan and Josh had some bizarre conversations each day for DeLeo’s benefit, in case he was listening.

“What could she possibly need training for? She was qualified before she got here,” Dan asked.

Josh grinned. “Cooking without the use of knives or sharp implements. It’s been a challenge to figure out how to get around it, but we’ve gotten creative, and we’ll supply her new master with a ‘manual’, so-to-speak, of how to take advantage of her training without giving her the means to murder him at the same time.”

Dan shook his head. It had been his idea to change the training of the women from simply brute force obedience to developing their talents. It also helped the women cope and gave them a non-sexual activity for a little while each day. Even the sex training had evolved into how to please a man in different ways, some nonsexual. It was what had made DeLeo notice him, and in the several months since Dan had taken charge of the training facility, the anticipated value of the women had skyrocketed. DeLeo, skeptical at first, stood to make more money than God when he auctioned them off, though Dan had no intention of letting that happen.

Dan had emphasized over and over the necessity of keeping the ‘merchandise’ in good working order to bring the best price. He’d lectured the men at length, as his stomach threatened to rise into his throat, that discovering each woman’s talents and unlocking her sensuality would make the women much more valuable. Anyone could break a woman; only the best organizations could turn her into a pleasing slave with skills in different areas that might attract the eyes of men who didn’t want to own a broken object.

Indeed, the change was visible to anyone looking through the sales videos sent to the prospective buyers. Instead of trembling, underfed, and broken women covered with bruises, they saw soft, curvy women, dressed in silky translucent dresses, hair shining down their backs and spilling over their shoulders as they knelt quietly and submissively in front of the cameras. DeLeo had intended to save most of the women for the auction, but five times he’d unexpectedly sold a woman to a friend or associate. It gutted Dan, who could do nothing but rage in his private text messages to Josh. A carefully placed tracking device inserted under her skin, along with her birth control implant, meant that each one could be tracked and rescued when the time came. Dan prayed that by giving them some skills, he had made them just a little more valuable to their new owners, who would be less likely to harm them.

After the first couple of those unexpected but wildly profitable sales, Dan had convinced DeLeo to give bonuses to each of the men as a reward, which meant they’d become much more invested in training rather than raping. The biggest grumbling came from the fact that Dan had decreed that only he or Josh could dole out severe punishments. Both of them gritted their teeth and accepted the idea that the other men could administer lesser punishments. To forbid the men from giving any at all was to foment rebellion, and would cause DeLeo to wonder about the reasons for the restrictions. The two men intervened when they could.

A knock on the door brought Dan back to reality. Marco pushed it open and, with undisguised arrogance, strode over to the desk. His nose looked a little crooked from Dan’s assault earlier, and his stench suggested that he’d been drinking. He thrust a paper at Dan.

“These are the requirements my uncle has for the girl. If you can’t do them, I get to.” He wheeled around and walked out.

Dan had a list of men he wanted to personally kill when this was over, and Marco was at the top of it, right after DeLeo. They were all sadistic pigs. He was pretty certain the Agency wouldn’t permit him to commit homicide, and that would be one of the greatest disappointments of his life.

He wasn’t going to like what he saw on the list, so he braced himself as he sat down, and Josh peered over his shoulder. He was right.

Now hewasgoing to kill them both, no matter the personal cost. He crumpled the list and threw it at the wall.

Fuck.

He was going to go mad. He could not—would not—let Marco and DeLeo get their hands on Laura. And though he was certain that Laura would never truly end up in DeLeo’s hands, he didn’t know how to get around DeLeo’s orders.

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