Page 3 of Elicit (Decadence After Dark)

Last?

I swallow thickly. Maybe the time has finally come. Tonight’s the night he finally kills me. I tremble, fighting the fear with all my might.No emotion. No emotion.

You are no one.

You are nothing.

Death is your freedom.

Master clutches my face more tightly. “I smell your fear, and it’s warranted.”

He’s always told me this arrangement wasn’t permanent. I’ve known all along how it would end. I hold back the tears. Why now?What did I do wrong?

He slides his hand down to my neck and squeezes constrictively. “Tonight, I want everything.”

Everything?

He sees the question burning in my eyes.

Inching closer, the smell of the leather becomes potent from his mask.

“No holding back. When I touch you, I want to hear it. When I hurt you, I want to hear it. I want to listen to you moan and cry and whimper, garnering every single thing I make you feel.”

My head is spinning. I hear what he’s saying, but I don’t understand. I’m not supposed to convey anything.

He’s conditioned me that way.

I’ve turned it all off. Everything. Nothing’s left inside. This is the most terrified I’ve ever been—more so than from the beatings and punishments and torture.

“I told you, pet. Your fear is warranted. But you will do as I say. You know what I’m capable of.”

I nod quickly with his hand still securely around my throat.

“Get on the bed. All fours. Show me that pretty ass.” He releases his death grip, and I climb onto the bed a mass of nerves. Nothing but a thin white sheet covers the mattress. It’s not even soft. It scratches against my abraded knees.

I peek over my shoulder as he opens the closet. My tendons tighten immediately. Nothing good ever comes out of there.

I look forward before he sees me spying. My fear spirals out of control. Tears form. Silent pleading begins. I’ve been in this position so many times, but tonight, it all seems more real. More final. I breathe heavily. Pant with anxiety.

“That’s it, pet. Let it out.” He doesn’t even warn me as he lands the first blow. I grit my teeth silently and clutch the sheet. Fuck, that hurt. He chose the bamboo stick, the worst weapon in the closet. He hits me again and again, the swipe of the stick whistling through the air. And again and again, I hold it all in.

Whack!

Whack!

Whack!

He’s merciless until I relinquish what he wants.

I try. Trust me, I do. I want to scream, but the sound is buried deep in my throat. Tears pour down my cheeks as he canes my ass raw.

Whack!

Whack!

Whack!

The pain paralyzes me until my will breaks. Until everything I have in the subterranean pit of my soul erupts. Ifinallyscream, bellowing tears of agony. I sob into the mattress, begging for mercy.

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