She crawled to him and pressed her lips against his boot. “P-please. I’m sorry.”
“I’m sure you will be.”
Brian strapped her into the chair while she blubbered and begged, then he pulled up a rolling leather chair and sat to watch the surveillance footage on Anton’s phone.
He let out a low whistle as he watched the trembling girl in front of him hold another girl underwater in the pool. Jessa wasn’t just fighting. She wanted to murder the girl. He knew that determination and hatred. It took three guys to get Jessa off of the victim and get them both out of the pool.
“Ordinarily I wouldn’t care, but I’m in a good mood today so I’ll indulge you… what did she do to you?”
“She called me a cunt.”
They were right. She needed swift discipline or she’d be another Sabrina, bringing the whole house down while she got away with murder. Maybe literally.
Brian rolled his chair closer to his captive and placed the phone next to the tools. He picked up a gleaming, sharp knife. He couldn’t actually use it on her today, but she didn’t know that. And even after only two days in the house, he was sure the name Brian had passed in hushed tones through somebody’s lips.
He dragged the blade against her arm, then raised it so that the point pricked and drew the smallest drop of blood. “We can’t have behavior like that in this house.”
“P-please don’t. Please.” Her eyes were wide as they took in the various instruments on the cart, convinced he was about to use them all on her.
Oh, if only.
He knew she wanted to ask what some were, but she was smart not to call attention to them. At least she wasn’t as idiotic as she’d seemed in that video.
Brian put the knife back down. Jessa let out a sigh of relief until he picked up a syringe.
“W-what is that?”
A malicious smile spread across his face as he picked the knife up, ripped through the sarong that covered her legs, and grabbed a tawse from the second shelf of the cart. He rapped her leg hard, leaving a welt. “What is that SIR?” he snarled.
“W-what is that, Sir?”
“Better. It’s my own blend. I could have been a chemist if I wasn’t so fucked-up.” It had been his major in college. And the truth was, he would have been far better off surrounded by arcane chemical compounds in glass beakers than by people.
“W-what will it do, Sir?”
She looked like she might pass out. He was going to have to pace himself here.
He shrugged. “Let’s find out.”
The contents of the syringe were relatively safe. It wasn’t wise to inject random things into the bloodstream, but this wouldn’t harm her—though she had no way of knowing that. And it was going to burn like a son of a bitch.
She strained against the straps as the needle came closer. Then it was as if she didn’t know what to do with herself. Beg for mercy? Cry? Scream? She opted for all three.
Brian put a hand over her mouth. Her breathing still came loud and panicked even with muffling. He put the syringe down and moved even closer.
“Maybe I could be persuaded to do other things instead of hurting you.” He slipped a hand between her legs. “Would you prefer that?”
She nodded vigorously as he pulled his hand away from her mouth.
“Yes, Sir. Please. I promise I won’t cause any more trouble.”
He leaned in and licked, then bit the side of her neck. Her body arched closer to him, desperate to appease. Poor little thing. There wasn’t much she could do to attempt to seduce him when he had her strapped down like this.
Brian turned her face to his and forced a kiss from her. Because it was her first time here and she didn’t know enough to know that this wouldn’t work at all on him, she leaned into it and gave him all the passion she had to give in that kiss. He took, and she gave with even more fervor.
For such a rebel with such laughable self-control, she was ready to capitulate quickly. He hadn’t even started on her yet—not a single mark except for that tiny prick from the point of the knife. But the mind fuck… that was where the real show was.
He picked up the syringe. “Now, where were we?”
He made a show of dabbing her arm with an alcohol swab and searching for the vein while she squirmed and struggled.
“If you aren’t still, it’s going to hurt a lot more, and it’s going to bruise. Do you want that?”
She shook her head. “Please, I’ll do anything you want.”
She was offering sex in her artless way—most likely a blow job, and she was just still so new here she couldn’t bring herself to say the words. How delightfully precious.
“Oh, you’ll do that anyway.”
He plunged the needle into her arm, and she screamed loud enough to wake a slumbering army. Brian breathed in deeply as if savoring the opening strains of a symphony.
Mina was grateful that she didn’t have to go upstairs to face everyone in nothing but lingerie. He didn’t have to give her dignity. He could have made her parade around naked if he’d wanted. Being dressed warmly also meant she could get out of the house to try to clear her head.
The pool was connected to the house, surrounded by high glass walls. Outside, snow drifted onto the glass, melting as it hit. The trees and ground were covered in a white peaceful blanket that didn’t at all match the turmoil inside her.
She couldn’t stop thinking about what Brian might be doing downstairs with that girl. She wasn’t worried he might have sex with her. It wasn’t as if Mina loved him. And even if she ever could, if he’d turn that attention on someone else, maybe that was better.
Annette sat next to a trembling woman near the pool. Something dramatic had obviously just happened. She looked up when she saw Mina.
“Are you okay?” she mouthed silently.
Mina shook her head. Annette left the girl beside the pool and joined her. Other girls had gathered, whispering and sending furtive glances Mina’s way.
“Do they know?”
“That Brian bought you?” Annette asked. “They know. They watched him carry you out of the showroom.”
A girl Mina had never spoken to, sauntered up. She’d been skinny dipping and didn’t have an ounce of self-consciousness about her state of undress. “Owned by the sadistic psycho of the house. It couldn’t have happened to a more deserving person.”
They’d all known about her lack of training and had been irritated that she’d been given special privileges.
“I see they finally gave up on protecting you from him. I wonder how much money it took for them not to care what the hell happened to you.”
“Shut up, Bree,” Annette said. It was meant as a dismissal but the girl just kept talking.
She smiled icily, keeping her eyes on Mina. “I’m looking forward to this show. I can’t wait to see how badly he fucks you up. I wonder if the scars will be visible or if they’ll all just be psychological. Good thing we have a free shrink on the premises. You’ll need him.”
Annette pushed Bree into the pool. “Ooops.”
“You cunt!” she screeched, when she surfaced.
“Careful, someone nearly got drowned for that not fifteen minutes ago. And remember, Brian can’t touch me.”