Page 23 of The Escape Artist

Claire took a long shaky breath and met his gaze again. He knew the choice she'd made. She could see the recognition in his eyes. He nodded at her. It was the barest sign of approval, and it caused something to flip low in her stomach. And then the arousal was stronger than the fear again. She couldn't decide which of those feelings she wanted to be in control. Both of them were overwhelming. Both of them caused her shame.

She put the whip in her mouth and crawled carefully across the floor to him, stopping on her knees between his spread legs. Her hands shook as she laid the whip across his thighs. All the while her mind screamed What are you doing? Run. Run. You have to try!

But she couldn't run. A man with this much money had some type of security. She'd never get past it. He was faster than her. He was stronger than her. She couldn't run. She'd barely been able to crawl. And all she could think was that running would only make it worse.

She flinched when he bent closer. But he only touched her hair, petting her like the good dog he obviously thought she was.

“Good girl,” he murmured.

“Master, p-please don't hurt me.” If only she could stop this stammering, this tremble that came to her voice.

Ari touched the side of her cheek. “It will hurt, but I won't damage you. Now go back over to the St. Andrew's Cross, and stretch your arms and legs out for me.”

He took her hands in his to help her stand. Then she turned and walked like a robot over to the giant X-shaped contraption he was going to tie her to.

Run. Run. Run. Run. Run.

But she didn't. She couldn't. Where could she go? If she had to go to another family function where they treated her like a stranger and told her she looked fabulous, she was going to die. If she had to work up the will to leave her apartment again by herself, she was going to die. What did it even matter at this point if Ari killed her? Wasn't she already dead? What was she so afraid of? What could he possibly do to her that hadn't already been done?

It should make her brave. Strong.

But she just wanted to be safe. She'd somehow forgotten her nudity in the midst of everything. There were so many bigger things now than her lack of clothing. Besides, she'd kept him naked in a cell, shivering while she blasted air conditioning on him. This was fair. It was fitting and appropriate. She couldn't bring herself to be indignant about it. She'd done the same to him. Worse.

At least he'd given her a warm bed and a fire roaring in the fireplace. He hadn't left her cold.

She stood facing the giant X and spread her legs and reached her arms out over her head.

Then he was next to her, binding her arms and legs while she cried.

“Shhhh,” he said, stroking her back. “You will be fine. Everything will be okay.”

Why would he say that to her if it wasn't true? But how could it possibly ever be true?

He wrapped another strap around her waist at the center point of the X, securing her further. She could only whimper as he made escape even more impossible.

“This is to keep you safe. If you're squirming, you could get hurt.”

Hurt. He was about to whip her. Of course she was going to get hurt. But she knew what he meant.

You know why we're here.

Had she been concerned he would get hurt when she'd used a similar whip on him? No. He'd had to protect himself with his own force of will not to move so the whip wouldn't cause even more damage than she'd intentionally delivered. That thought made her shudder.

Ari stroked her back again. He ran his fingers through her hair, then he was wrapping an elastic hair band around first the hair on one side, then the other, making low pigtails. She didn't know where he'd gotten the hair bands. Were they in his pocket?

“We don't want your hair in the way,” he said as he pulled the secured hair forward over her shoulders.

“How many lashes?” he asked.

“Ten, Master.”

“And you will count them?”

“Yes, Master.”

He pressed a kiss to the middle of her shoulder blades, just below her neck. “Good girl.”

She wished she could squeeze her thighs together, but such a thing was impossible in her current position. She was too vulnerable to him, and that twisted thing inside her mind responded with even more excitement. He would see it. He would know. It was too shameful for him to know this was turning her on. What in the fuck was wrong with her?

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