Fighting Fate Page 4

  Three days went by and they left her in her basement cell alone. Knowing she wouldn’t last long without water Bruno went down periodically to give her some, but he didn’t speak to her. On the third day Bruno brought her upstairs and made the same demands, but there was no change in her response, she was as headstrong as ever and Dax was beginning to think that she would never give in. The screaming, struggling, and sarcasm was becoming less because she had to be weakening, but that mettle remained steadfast.

  Four days later Bruno retrieved her again. This occasion was immediately different, the struggling and screaming had stopped; her ability to resist was lessening. As he usually did, Bruno released her when they got onto the rug and instead of staying on her feet, she collapsed in a heap. Bruno came back to the couch and took a handful of popcorn from the bowl beside him and stuffed it into his mouth and crunched loudly.

  From the way she barely moved except to blink and twitch Dax would say that she was on the cusp of doing their bidding. In the time that they’d had her here all of her decisions had been wrong, in his opinion, because they hadn’t gotten her very far.

  ‘You got water downstairs,’ Bruno said past the popcorn mulch in his mouth. ‘If you want to eat, take off your top.’

  Her weakened state meant that she wouldn’t put up much of a fight if Bruno took over and removed her top, or all of her clothes. Except Dax had gleaned what Bruno was doing and it wasn’t about getting her naked. It was about getting her to volunteer to do something that she didn’t want to.

  ‘Ok, your choice,’ Bruno said, wiping his hand on the couch. ‘Back downstairs.’

  He snatched her up to her feet and she objected. ‘No,’ she said and Bruno stopped.

  With what energy she had left, she took her arm away from Bruno and while meeting his eye she took hold of the hem of her top and pulled it up over her head, then let it fall from her fingertips to the floor.

  ‘Good girl,’ Bruno said, ‘and now we’ll feed you. Don’t move.’

  When Bruno turned his back on the girl to head for the kitchen he winked at Dax, who didn’t acknowledge the exchange.

  The kitchen door clicked shut, signalling Bruno’s departure, all the while Dax kept his focus on the female. She might have had difficulty focusing her eyes, because she didn’t seem to look at any specific thing, eventually her attention dropped to the floor. She seemed unaware that her generous breasts, showcased in underwired white cotton and lace were on display. Ribs were almost visible, but the definition in her abs told him that she was used to working out and so probably hadn’t weighed much to begin with.

  Her legs were long, but he’d only put her at a height of five six. The polish on her dainty toenails was chipped further, but he found himself scrutinising the tattooed black symbol above her instep.

  ‘What does it mean?’ he asked and her head only swung on her neck. ‘The tattoo on your foot, what does it mean?’

  ‘Who cares,’ she grumbled.

  ‘I do,’ he replied. ‘You answer my questions or the basement will be your home for the rest of the week.’

  ‘Don’t fight fate,’ she said. ‘It means, don’t fight fate.’

  ‘Sort of fitting.’

  ‘I don’t think that this is my fate,’ she said.

  ‘Probably last week you didn’t think that you’d have your tits out on show in my living room, but here you are.’

  ‘You’re as sick as him, aren’t you?’

  ‘You’ll grow to like Bruno, he’s not a conventional guy, but there’s plenty of time for you two to get to know each other.’

  ‘How long do you plan to keep me here?’

  ‘Haven’t decided yet,’ he said, although the truth was that he didn’t know.

  ‘Why are you doing this to me?’

  ‘Why doesn’t matter, you’re here now, and you’re here for a reason.’

  ‘What reason?’ she asked, the flavour of desperation in her tone was well hidden, but he still managed to pick up on it.

  This girl liked to think that she was tough, he remembered that from their meeting in the Vegas alleyway behind the GoldSpring Hotel. Every encounter he’d had with her since that night only reinforced his belief that she’d fight oppression for as long as she could. After spending so much time captive in the basement she had to be cracking. She had lasted a lot longer than he’d thought she would, a lot longer than certainly most women would, and more than a few men would too.

  ‘Did you get yourself another job?’

  ‘Is that supposed to be funny?’ she snapped.

  He didn’t understand her question, but he couldn’t let her know that. Upholding the façade of cool indifference made the cruelty she’d endured, and would endure, more severe because if she was surrounded by people who valued nothing about her, then hope would quickly swirl down the suckering drain, unable to cling to anything that might mean salvation.

  ‘My humour tends to be of the subtle variety,’ he said and her eyes, which were already filled with impotent rage, narrowed further.

  ‘If you’re worried about people noticing that I’m gone, then you should be,’ she said.

  ‘I’ll bear that in mind,’ he said, unconcerned, because Mauri’s men were thorough. ‘No one will ever find you here, they can look all they want.’

  Another light of hope extinguished from within her and he knew that with his indifference and Bruno’s expertise, this woman would be eating out of the palms of their hands soon enough. A part of him, a tiny part, wanted her to fight. Something about her betrayed the struggle she’d endured in life and surrendering to them now would sort of put that toil to shame. Having spent his own life waging war just to survive he felt an affinity with those who hadn’t had it easy either.

  Bruno came out of the kitchen now with a bowl of lukewarm soup that she ate slowly, as instructed, and they watched her consume every mouthful. Then drink a little water.

  ‘Time for a bath, I think,’ Bruno said. ‘You’ll want to clean out those cuts and use a proper toilet instead of a bucket, won’t you?’ She nodded. ‘Say yes, we want to hear the word. You answer every question you’re asked aloud, it’s the only time you’ll be granted permission to speak.’

  ‘Yes,’ she said.

  ‘Follow me,’ Bruno said, taking her to the hallway with the basement door in it. Instead of leading her down there as he usually did, this time he took her to the upward stairs and they ascended to the floor with the bedrooms.

  The girl was slow and unsteady on her feet, but she got to Bruno eventually and then disappeared upstairs. Bruno came back down alone a few minutes later and took the TV remote from Dax without giving him time to turn the television on.

  ‘You left her up there alone?’ Dax asked, not really caring about the TV.

  ‘Where’s she gonna go?’ Bruno asked. ‘Anyway, she can’t walk the length of herself, she’s a mess. Your bathroom doesn’t have windows, so she’s stuck in here.’

  ‘She’s in my bathroom?’

  ‘Sure, she’s your property.’

  ‘Mine?’

  ‘I’m showing you the ropes, kid. Mauri likes you and Brad trusts you, which isn’t an easy get,’ Bruno said, scooping up more popcorn.

  ‘I thought we were doing this for Tryst.’

  ‘We are, but she has to belong to someone, to learn how to respond to her owner. She’s gonna believe she’s all yours until we gift her to Tryst, then he’ll be her owner. He’s not gonna take the time to beat her into submission, that’s our job. There’s a lot riding on this. Mauri wants it done and they’re already planning a wedding. Mauri wants them down the aisle quick, as soon as Tryst is back, so that he can’t change his mind.’

  ‘You’ll do a better job than I will. You take her.’ Dax couldn’t really be bothered with a woman giving him grief.

  ‘This will be the greatest experience of your life, we’re gonna whip that girl into shape and she’ll be the best fuck of your life. She’ll do any damn thing you want her to,
any minute of the day.’

  So he was here for sexual purposes, he should have figured that out. Bruno couldn’t do the honours, so it was expected that Dax would do it in his place. ‘What you know about her?’

  ‘Mauri’s guys took blood and piss from her and tested her for everything, she’s clean. And they gave her the injection, which means you’re good to ride bareback for the next two months… it lasts three in all so even if we run over time you’re still good.’

  Getting her to agree to the intercourse wouldn’t come easy if her reaction to Trystan in Vegas was anything to go by.

  ‘I’ll be the one to break her, you watch and learn,’ Bruno said. ‘Once we’ve got her complying more times than not, then you take over.’

  ‘You want me to fuck her?’ It seemed like a waste of his time to go to all of this effort for a quick roll in the hay.

  ‘No, kid, you’re missing the point. You’re not gonna just fuck her. You fuck her in every way you’ve ever thought of. You make her fulfil every dirty, depraved fantasy you’ve ever had and make her beg for more. You have to push her further than you’ve ever pushed a woman. She can’t say no to Trystan, not ever, that little fucker made a deal with his father. He’ll marry her and stay out of trouble if behind closed doors he gets away with anything that he wants. The minute she complains, or refuses him, that’s it: deal off.’

  ‘Two months to make her into a Stepford wife.’

  ‘Fifty days,’ Bruno said, ‘to make her into a slutty Stepford wife.’

  In all of his experience with women he’d yet to find one he could trust. Sure, they were good for a night or two in the sack, but to show one weakness or confide in one? Not a chance. Playing with the uptight Vegas chick might be fun and if she could keep Trystan on the straight and narrow then he’d have fewer messes to clean up. So for a break and a laugh, Dax was up for a challenge. If she did decide to fight and attempt to hang onto her autonomy then at least he’d be kept occupied and entertained, he wasn’t very good at sitting on his ass doing sweet fuck all.

  ‘I say we give her twenty minutes and then you go up there, now let’s talk about how to play the game.’

  They ended up talking for close to half an hour. In his time with the Stark family Dax had done his share of enforcing and it was one of his favourite things. Manipulating this woman would be easy, she was pliable enough now. He would put good money on her realising that being holed up in the basement limited her options.

  If he was in her position the first thing he’d want was a lay of the land, then he’d want to take a measure of the people holding him, neither of which could be done from the basement. With a plan in place Dax entered his bedroom and closed the door.

  Tugging off his tee-shirt, he tossed it into the corner then headed for his private bathroom. He couldn’t hear water or movement in the bathroom so on opening the door he wasn’t surprised to see her sitting on the floor motionless wrapped in a blue towel.

  ‘Move,’ he said, bobbing his head back into the bedroom.

  Sitting on the edge of the bed, facing the bathroom door, he waited a few seconds while she pulled herself onto her feet and came into the bedroom. She stopped a couple of feet from the bathroom.

  ‘Close that door then come and stand here,’ he said, pointing to a spot on the floor near him.

  Her velvet brown eyes simmered with a seething frustration that she didn’t voice. She closed the door and came to the place he indicated.

  ‘We start here, forget who you were before and everything that happened to you. This is the moment your life begins. As your owner I have a responsibility to you too. I’ll take care of your wellbeing, your food, shelter, and necessities. You’ll also live in luxury, I have the ability to give you anything and everything you could ever want.’ The money he had was accumulated from his work with the Stark’s and everything around them belonged to Maurice, but she didn’t need to know that.

  ‘You can’t buy me,’ she said. ‘You’ve got the wrong girl if you think that I’ll fall for that.’

  ‘Do you think we’re gonna have you turning tricks?’

  ‘I make the choices in my life. The only thing that I have to do is what I choose to do myself.’

  ‘You have a clean slate,’ he said. ‘You’ll never have to fear enemies while you’re under my claim. Being my property has its advantages.’

  ‘I see none,’ she said. ‘Let me go home.’

  ‘I am your home,’ he said, pouncing up from the bed to loom over her. ‘You’ll do exactly what I tell you without question or I’ll make you regret every minute you breathe. You’re gonna become so dependent on me that you’ll forget how to live without me and being apart from me will cause you physical pain.’

  ‘Never! I won’t ever surrender my free will.’

  Smiling down at her, the growl of perverse pleasure in his gut came from the knowledge that he’d break that fiery spirit. He would own her wrath and direct it as he saw fit. ‘You’ve already lost it, because your life belongs to me. I have the power of life and death.’

  ‘You’ll kill me if I don’t comply?’

  ‘What other use do I have for you?’ he asked. ‘Drop the towel.’

  ‘Not a chance.’

  ‘We can play this game, but you know I’ll win. Do you want to go back to the basement for five days? It makes no difference to me if you rot down there.’

  ‘So drop my towel and then what? You’ll force me to have sex with you?’

  ‘No one has forced you into anything. Everything that has happened here, has been your own choice.’

  ‘It wasn’t my choice to be bound in your basement.’

  ‘It was after day one. I don’t know what being down there achieves for any of us, but it was your choice not to do as you were told, that decision resulted in you going back down there. You were given a chance to make the right decision.’

  ‘I won’t have sex with you,’ she said. ‘I won’t.’

  ‘You are the only person who has mentioned sex,’ he said. ‘All I want you to do is drop the towel. When you behave you’ll be allowed to sleep out of the basement and that means sleeping in my bed. When you are in my bed you will be naked at all times, unless I stipulate otherwise.’

  ‘You’re sick.’

  ‘You’ve never been naked for a guy before? I find that difficult to believe.’

  ‘I’ve been naked for men I’m attracted to.’

  ‘And you’re not attracted to me?’

  Taking hold of her wrist, he ran her fingertips over his steely abs. ‘What are you doing?’ she asked, trying to pull away, but she was feeble against his strength.

  ‘If it wasn’t for what you’re going through, you would be attracted to me. You were attracted to me in Vegas.’

  ‘Your ego is showing again,’ she said, but she wasn’t trying to pull away now. Loosening his grip on her just slightly, she let her fingers drift up and down of their own accord.

  ‘I noticed you in Vegas,’ he said, keeping his naturally husky tone soft.

  ‘You kept staring at me,’ she said, her eyes flitted down, but he pushed her chin up with a finger to make her look at him.

  ‘You noticed me too.’

  ‘Your eyes are electric blue,’ she said. ‘I didn’t think the sapphire glow was natural.’

  ‘I’m all real,’ he said. ‘Are you?’

  ‘I don’t wear contacts,’ she answered.

  ‘I wasn’t talking about your eyes.’ Far as he could tell she didn’t see his hand coming, so when he took a handful of breast and squeezed she jumped back.

  ‘Don’t touch me!’

  ‘You’ve touched me.’

  This declaration confused her, though he knew that the disorientation and bad decision making would be influenced by her starvation and dehydration, the effects of which would still be lingering.

  ‘I didn’t… I…’ Her confusion gave him scope to manoeuvre.

  ‘Drop the towel, show me that body, and you’ll h
ave a reward. Would you like some more food and something to drink?’ She nodded. ‘You know the rules. Let me hear your answer.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Then drop the towel or its back to the basement, I’m getting bored with this now.’ He prepared himself for the latter then after three tense beats her hands fell to her sides and the towel dropped to the floor.

  ‘You’re a clever girl,’ he said, stepping back to check out the details of her body. ‘Maybe this will work out between us after all.’

  Her tits were high and round with dark, dusky nipples that lilted up toward him, in perfect placement for his mouth. They had to be double-D and her hunched forward shoulders told him that she wasn’t proud of the oversized beauties, but the vibrating pressure building in his groin was damn proud.

  ‘Push your shoulders back.’ She did a half-hearted job. ‘Unless you want me to touch you, get them all the way back.’ She did as she was told and thrust her chin up at the same time. ‘Better.’

  He took his time examining the abs he’d already seen then further down to her crotch where there wasn’t a hair in sight.

  ‘Your friend gave me cream and told me to take it all off, I assume you’re into that.’

  Though there was censure in her tone he didn’t care, with narrow eyes and a gnarled smile he answered. ‘I do and you’ll keep yourself groomed at all times.’

  Walking around her set her off-guard, just as he wanted her and after scrutinising his fill of her pert ass he found himself wanting more than he should at this stage of proceedings. But before he could think about taking it, the door opened and Bruno came in. The girl ducked to retrieve the towel, but Dax was faster and he tossed it toward the bathroom allowing Bruno to check her out too.

  His colleague’s perusal made her bristle, but she’d have to get used to it because if she was to be Trystan’s girl she’d be expected to be naked in front of most of Trystan’s friends, associates, and family members as well.