Now that they were down here, scared didn’t begin to cover what was going through her head. Where was that stupid anger from before? As terrified as she’d been at Dmitri’s house, it was nothing compared to right now. As bad as all that had been, she’d learned pretty early on that nobody was going to beat her, and if she didn’t try to escape they wouldn’t kill her.
And as horrible as what she had to do was, she could play mental games in her head to make it sort of okay. Sometimes. And there were the other girls with her. But right now she didn’t know what Gabe was going to do to her… what he was capable of. And with the surroundings in this room, things didn’t look hopeful.
She took several steps back until she ran out of space. Oh good. Smart. Let’s stand in a corner like a dumbass where there’s nowhere left to run. Not that there was anywhere for her to run anyway. The door locked with a key, and that key was in Gabe’s pocket. And otherwise, besides the bondage equipment and big boxes of nightmare fuel, there were just four solid stone walls.
“Gabe, please. Be reasonable. Please don’t hurt me. I swear I’ll be good. I won’t do anything like that again, I promise. Please.”
He crossed the room to her, and now there really was nowhere to go. He pressed his thumbs gently against her face and wiped the tears away. “Breathe. I’m not going to do anything to you that you can’t take. I’m not going to do anything sexual to you so you can stop worrying about that. But there are consequences to behaviors in this house.”
“C-can’t I have a warning? Just this once? I swear I will never do anything like that again.”
“Arguing about your punishment will make it worse. You don’t have to accept my collar or sleep with me or anybody else in this house. You don’t have to call me master or submit to any kinky whims I have… unless, of course… you accept my collar. But there are rules, and you will be punished if you break them. The rules are: no physically or verbally abusive behavior toward me or anybody else in this house. And no disrespecting me.”
“What does no disrespecting you mean?”
“It means be polite. If you have a problem with me, keep it private between us. Don’t make our business other people’s business and don’t start fights or arguments in public. I might not have Brian’s reputation in this house, but I do have at least some reputation. You can’t undermine me in front of the other girls. You are being punished not just for what you did, but also for doing it in front of someone else. Our business is our business. It’s not a show for the other people in this house. Understand?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
She half expected him to make her call him sir or something like that other girl had. But he made no comment on lack of address. She already knew what word he wanted her to use, and he could keep on dreaming. As if anything he did in this room was going to endear her to him.
“Gabe, I-I know you have the power here and can do what you want, but if you want me to do anything with you willingly ever, then you won’t do what you’re planning because I promise you I will never willingly do anything you want if you do this.”
He laughed. “I see we’ve moved to the bargaining phase. I’ll take that as a challenge. Let me warn you now that negotiation is over. It’s time for acceptance.”
She’d started crying again as he pulled her away from the wall and led her to one of the poles. And now she was shaking again.
“Are you cold or scared?”
“You know the answer to that.”
“I’m just checking. You’re about to be naked.”
“What?” By this point, Julie was sure this was all a bad dream. Maybe it was the tea. Could peppermint tea cause strange dreams? She was sure she was still upstairs napping and only thought she’d woken up. Maybe this was all part of the dream.
“Raise your arms.”
The stupid part of her brain that couldn’t ignore his demands caused her to raise her arms over her head. Gabe peeled the white T-shirt off, and she shivered.
“It is a little cold down here.” Gabe stepped over to the wall and raised the thermostat a couple of degrees. “Let me know if it gets too hot and I’ll turn it down.”
Why did he care about the temperature? He was about to hit her. What the fuck was wrong with this guy?
He opened one of the boxes and pulled out a long strip of black cloth. Julie flinched and took a step back but he caught her by the wrist and pulled her back to him. Then he used the cloth to blindfold her. He pushed the shorts down over her hips and removed her bra and panties. She just stood there. It was like that first night in the house with Dmitri when he’d wanted to ensure she hadn’t marked herself up with tattoos and piercings.
She remembered how she’d closed her eyes, as if it could shield her from his gaze. Was Gabe giving her space with the blindfold? No. She couldn’t let herself ascribe kind motives to him. Gabe wasn’t kind. He was no better than Dmitri. And possibly far worse. And to think she’d spent months praying and imagining Gabe somehow finding and rescuing her. Him finding her was the last thing she should have wished for.
He put soft leather cuffs around her wrists and ankles and then attached her to the pole.
“I wish I didn’t have to do this to you,” Gabe said. “Especially so early.”
“Nobody’s making you,” she said, not sure if that would rile him up more.
He sighed. “If you really knew and understood me you would know I can’t let something like this go. You don’t have to be my slave, but you have to show basic respect, and these kinds of power struggles are not okay with me.”
She could feel him getting inside her head. As if this was normal and okay. As if she somehow deserved what he was about to do. He’d started this shit. He’d spied on her. He could lie all he wanted, but he had plans for her, plans she’d told him repeatedly she wasn’t interested in participating in. And she was the bad one in need of punishment? He was in need of a jail cell, like all the men back at Dmitri’s house.
She jumped when Gabe’s large warm hand pressed gently against her back.
“This is going to hurt. There will be welts, but I won’t break your skin. And you will only get ten lashes. Count them. Let’s get this over with so we can enjoy the rest of our evening.”
She thought about arguing with him or saying something snide, but his tone was so utterly serious and… different… that all she could bring herself to say was, “Okay.”
There was nothing she could do to get out of this. All she could do was hope that he kept these promises. If he didn’t… what then? And if he did… what then? He said he liked to whip women, so if he liked it, why did he act like this pained him somehow?
A solid strip of leather snapped hard against her back, taking her breath away for a second.
“Count, Julie. Or I have to start over.”
Sure he did.
“O-one.”
“Good girl.”
Despite the shock and indignity of the pain he’d just caused, when he said good girl, something weird happened in her stomach. It was like a small glowing warmth… this weird sort of… pleasure. What the fuck? No! No. This was not who she was. She had managed to get through everything at Dmitri’s house. She hadn’t liked any of it and that was the part that somehow allowed her to keep herself together. She didn’t like this either, obviously, but why did hearing him call her a good girl cause that reaction?