Page 50 of Reclaimed

“Mark’s right. We don’t have time.” Ray grabbed my arm and swung me around to bend me over the desk. The cool wood was hard against my cheekbone as he pushed down firmly on my back with one hand while the other lifted my nightdress. “Mark, third drawer down.” Ray held out his free hand and gave an extra warning push down on my back with the other.

I didn’t struggle against his hold, I knew better than that, but I continued to plead with him in whispered sobs. He ignored me. I watched as Mark pulled a cane from the drawer on the other side of the room. He met my widened eyes as he handed it over to Ray, and he seemed almost apologetic.

“You could still leave,” Ray said to Mark. But Mark only shook his head, his eyes not leaving mine.

The cane came down sharp and without warning. I screamed and my knees buckled. I would have fallen if Ray hadn’t been pushing down so hard on my back. It was pain like I’d never known before. I wanted to curl into a ball and shrink away into nothingness. I had been so stupid to let myself trust Ray again, stupid to feel bad for causing him heartache. No one who loved me could cause me this much pain. This had never been about me; it was about sex, and ego, and control. But it was too late for that realisation. Ray had what he wanted. I hadn’t realised it before, but he’d had my loyalty. Why else wouldn’t I have used this opportunity to escape? What kind of fool could still feel something for a man like Ray after this?

I felt utterly broken, but despite that, the tears had stopped. I was too shocked to cry or move or think. I reopened my eyes and balanced myself back on my legs. If enduring Ray’s wrath was the only way to find dignity in the midst of all this shame, then I was going to do whatever it took to get through it. That was really the only power I had left. And even that was faltering. Mark was still watching me intently. I knew he didn’t owe me anything, but I didn’t understand how he could watch this and not intervene. This wasn’t kink; this was just straight-up violence. Even if Mark’s interest in me had only been sexual, wasn’t there a tiny bit of compassion in him that wanted to stop this?

“Master, please, you’re too angry. Don’t—”

“I’m beyond angry, Callie. I finally thought I could trust you again, and now you’ve taken a risk that could jeopardise everything we have.” The cane landed again. “Tell me what you did.” He was shouting now, and the sound of his rage trapped my breath in my throat. I felt like I was going to pass out. But Ray was only just getting started. Another strike landed, and I screamed. I’d never heard myself make a noise like that before. There was no option now of trying to appear dignified. The fear and pain were too much to handle.

“Nothing. Please—”

And another.

“You expect me to believe that you broke into my office, stole your phone and then changed the code for no reason? Do you think I’m a fool?”

He didn’t wait for a response. He wasn’t giving me a chance to gather my thoughts and explain. If I had thought he hated me before, it was nothing compared to the loathing radiating from him in that moment. I understood why he didn’t believe me. I almost didn’t believe it myself. Why hadn’t I called someone, done something – anything at all that might have helped me to escape?

“You can beat me as much as you like,” I whispered brokenly. “I’m telling you the truth.”

The strikes moved to my legs – three in quick succession. I screamed so loudly it finally seemed to stir something in Ray, and he removed his hand from my back, allowing me to sink to the floor. Despite the pain, and despite instinctively wanting to get as far away as possible from Ray, I forced myself to turn so that I was kneeling at his feet. I hoped my show of submission would help prove my loyalty.

“Why were you in my office?”

“I was worried about you. I wanted to find out… where you were.” It was hard to speak. I had to take frequent breaths to try and calm my voice.

“Why were you worried?”

“You’d been gone so long, and Mark told you to be careful when you left… I thought something had happened.”

“So what were you doing with the phone?”

“I found it when, I was looking for information about where you were. I wanted… It’s been so long… I missed people.” I knew I wasn’t making any sense.

“So you called someone?”

“No!” I swallowed hard and then looked up into Ray’s eyes. “I only looked at the messages people had sent me. I know I shouldn’t have. But I swear, I didn’t call anyone.” I let his stony eyes search my face for any trace of a lie. If he didn’t feel like he could trust me, hopefully he could at least trust his own ability to know when I was lying.

“Mark?” Ray didn’t break eye contact with me as he sought confirmation of the truth it seemed he didn’t dare believe.

“No outgoing calls or messages. No emails. GPS is off.” If anything, this information only hardened Ray’s gaze. I could see that he was struggling to know what to think.

“Why didn’t you try to contact someone?”

I broke eye contact and stared down at my knees. I didn’t know how to answer that – I didn’t know the answer myself. This was the only real escape opportunity I’d had, and I’d thrown it away. If I’d had more time, I would have called someone. I felt a pang of guilt deep in my stomach. I would have called David if I hadn’t been discovered so soon.

“It’s against the rules.” It was a feeble answer, and I could tell Ray wasn’t satisfied by it.

“Why change the code if you had nothing to hide?” asked Mark. He sounded curious rather than accusatory, and I felt a glimmer of hope that they might finally be starting to believe me.

“I just wanted to feel like I had some of my privacy back.”

Mark turned to Ray.

“You can’t stay here now; it’s too risky.”

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