“Zero?” I asked.
“I took first watch. We didn’t think you were going to need anything for a while.”
I’m pretty sure I died at that point, only to be revived long enough to die all over again.
“How’s your circulation?”
Not sure, I wiggled my fingers. “Good, I think.”
Without another word, he brought me back to the narrow door and urged me through the opening, steadying me as he brought me down the dark stairs.
“If you need anything, yell. Don’t come up the stairs again.” His voice sounded much more dangerous than the situation warranted. “It’ll be just my luck if you fall down and break your silly neck.”
When we were back to the sandy part of the basement I shivered, my body already having forgotten how much colder it was down here despite the lack of air conditioning.
“Do you want me in on this, or do you want me to stick to playing safety monitor when he needs to work?”
In the darkness, his voice was almost a low, animalistic growl. It was far too easy to remember Vandal wrote about serial killers from their own perspective.
“It’s up to you. I know you’re not happy about me being here, so I don’t want to put you to any extra trouble.”
“Extra trouble?” he asked silkily. “If anything, this could be classified as repayment.” He grabbed the back of my hair, weaving his fingers through it and gripping it tight against my scalp.
I gasped, the chilling, terrified heat that ran through me completely unwelcome and also out of my control.
“He said your safeword is ‘winter.’” The warmth of his breath fanned my face, and I wondered how close he was. I could make out his shadow in the gloom, but barely—dark within dark. I pictured his beautiful, dangerous face sneering at me, because I was pretty sure that was exactly the expression that was currently there.
Why was that thought making this hotter?
“It is,” I whispered.
“Do you trust me enough to let me play too?”
“Do you have a habit of forgetting to stop when people safeword?”
“I don’t forget, no.”
“But do you stop?”
“That’s the whole point of a safeword, isn’t it?”
Okay, him answering my question with questions wasn’t filling me with confidence, but I was pretty sure this was all part of a mind fuck. Besides, if he had no intention of listening to my safeword, he wouldn’t bother waiting for my consent in the first place.
Right?
“Your limits?”
“No sex. No cutting me. No piss or shit. No punching me or doing serious damage.”
“Fair enough. Is that it?”
My mind raced through the possibilities. What would a guy like this be thinking of doing?
“I have a safeword if you do something I can’t anticipate,” I whispered into the darkness. “Serious damage includes decapitation and cannibalism, by the way.”
He laughed quietly. “Did you give Zero the same list?”
“More or less. For some reason I didn’t think about the possibility of decapitation or cannibalism until you got involved.”
“I’m touched. Nice to know I’m special to you,” he said, his tone thick with sarcasm rather than amusement.
Jeez, he was a dick. Why was I even agreeing to do anything with this guy?
“I don’t know either of you, so this is a leap of faith.”
“Oh, I’m aware. You’re putting your faith in two men you don’t know. No one knows you’re here. Are you assuming one of us will stop the other from getting out of hand?”
“Well… Yes.”
He snorted. “Such a little idiot.”
He grabbed my chin, and I gasped. He hadn’t even fumbled—as though he had no problem seeing me even though I couldn’t see him much at all.
“Maybe we’ll keep you down here forever. I’ve always wanted a pet.”
A rattling breath escaped my parted lips.
This was part of the game, wasn’t it? I couldn’t see his expression or try to read his body language. All I had to go on was his voice, which sounded dead fucking serious.
“You could get a dog,” I said helpfully. Maybe I really was an idiot.
His fist twisted into my T-shirt, and he dragged me closer.
“I’d have to be nice to a dog.”
Roughly, he jerked downward on my shirt, making me fall to my knees in the sand, which scratched my knees through the thin leggings. It hurt a little but was more shocking than anything else. A dull thud sounded next to me, then I was dragged facedown over what felt like his lap.
“What you doing?”
“What you think?”
The first few smacks on my ass came so hard and fast I couldn’t catch my breath. He played much rougher than anyone else I had ever done this with before, and I felt my eyes widen in shock as I weathered the first few minutes of it. He was irritated and planned on taking his feelings out on my backside.
What should I do? I tried to focus on being indignant, but he had a whippy way of using his hand that hurt worse than I was used to. Even through my leggings, in no time my ass felt swollen and hot, and before I could register much more than surprise, I was kicking and begging him to stop. He stopped immediately, and I realized he was breathing almost as hard as I was.
“I thought you had some experience with this.”
“I do! You just have a really hard hand!”
“Are you safewording or not? I don’t have time for games.”
“No. I want to know what being held captive would really be like. I—” Before I could even finish my thought, let alone my sentence, he had me screaming again, squirming in his lap, trying to block each blow with my bound hands. Apparently, he was having none of that, because he grabbed the ropes holding my wrists together and held my hands well out of the way for a few minutes. Then, abruptly, he was done, and he dumped me on the ground.
I heard him stand as I lay there, stunned.
“If you put yourself in danger again, your next punishment will be far worse. Stay downstairs. If you need the bathroom you call for help. If your arms start going numb, you call for help. Otherwise, you keep your fucking mouth shut. I have work to do.”
Did he actually care about the possibility of me hurting myself? Probably not. He was probably only worried that if I died here he’d end up in jail or someone would sue him.
Even though the sand under my belly was cold, I was sweating, and being on my side would be far too close to lying on my back and my sore butt.
“Do you understand me?” he asked, his voice stern.
“Yes, sir.”
I exhaled, feeling grit blowing away from underneath my nose. I didn’t realize I was crying until I lifted my head and some of the sand stayed stuck to my cheek.
“I’m on a deadline, little monster. Call me if you need me, but if you get demanding I’ll give you something to fucking scream about. Understood?”
“Yes, sir,” I repeated meekly. My ass felt like it was burning a hole through my leggings. I felt him get closer, and then he was crouching next to me, all big ominous shadow.
“You’re lucky you made sex a hard limit, because I doubt you’d enjoy what I’d do to you.”