“You will. Because I will ask you to.”
I backed away from the bed, desperate to not have Yury insert the tampon. I never realized bleeding was such a personal time for a woman until the privacy was about to be violated.
“Link will be a valuable addition to my sales.”
My feet stopped moving.
“Shredding his pride during training will be a once in a lifetime pleasure.”
Walking back toward the bed, I felt Link’s freedom on my shoulders. It was eerie to offer myself, over and over, day after day, for someone I most likely wouldn’t live long enough to ever see again. But this someone was that special to me. This someone was my whole world.
Lying on the bed, I closed my eyes and visualized Link swimming in the blue waters…
“Open your thighs.”
The sun shined on his wet body as nature got to hold him, like I wanted him to hold me.
During my cycle, I had only two slices of bread, four pieces of cheese, and one bottle of water. Yury had also forced me to swallow a multivitamin. “Master, please, I don’t want to be drugged.”
“It is a vitamin. You look pale.”
Anger spiked through me as I grumbled, “I wonder why.”
Yury laughed. “Still some fire left. I like that.”
I swallowed the pill. He left with a huge smile.
Waking me was the door unlocking. Yury’s voice sliced through the darkness. “I have good news.” Again, I hadn’t been fed in two days, so the only news that would have been good was a triple layered cheeseburger.
Shielding my eyes against the light he turned on, I quickly got out from under the blanket and out of bed to kneel in front of him. I sat back on my bent legs, my bare skin breaking out in goosebumps due to the cold air and concrete under my naked body. I folded my hands in my lap, sure not to cover my privates because that was a rule breaker, and kept my stare down.
Yury was pleased. I knew this because, this time, I received no lecture on what I was doing wrong. Instead, he continued to talk. “In case I change my mind, and choose to sell you, you are still to enter training.” I jolted. “But,” his low voice rumbled, “you are pleasing me so much, already so obedient, that I will go easy on you.” I sighed. “And…” He paused, knowing the torture—the not knowing what was coming—was almost painful for me. “Let me see those eyes, Fire.” Slowly, I peered up to him. His shoulders softened. “You are a true beauty.”
“Thank you, Master.” My eyes locked on to a bottle of water in his hand.
He squatted in front of me. “One lesson before I tell you of your reward.” I nodded, my tongue bobbing in thirst. “Keep your knees apart.”
Full of shame because I knew I would follow his orders, I cringed.
“If I don’t keep you, your new owner likes to be teased so he can punish you.”
My bottom lip began to tremble as my eyes welled.
He winked. “Yes. Cry, Fire. I love it when you feed my darkness.”
I swallowed my fear and set my shoulders back, refusing to feed him shit because he didn’t fucking earn it. My knees parted.
Yury took a casual gander. “Fire burns everywhere.”
I bit my Whit tongue and stared past him.
“Oh, don’t disappoint me. Say it.”
Begging myself not to do it, I growled, “You already know this.” My voice was dry and hoarse.
Suddenly, I was on my back and he was on top of me, smiling. “Don’t let me break you.”
“Fine. Get off me.”
His muscles were heavy, pressing me flat against the cold floor, sure to rub his body against mine, and then he slid off. As he stood, I didn’t miss him readjusting his growing arousal.
I returned to my trained position to not press my luck because my Whit attitude had returned. “I never got to hear the good news.” Clearly, his erection wasn’t it, not for me.
He held up the bottle of water. I opened my mouth only to be denied. “Training first.”
Back in the hallway, I tried to ignore the comments from a few men I didn’t recognize. Cash was being placed in their hands as if they had just made a delivery. They were speaking Russian and most likely nothing about me, but I was at their mercy—which didn’t seem to exist—so I was more than naked. I was utterly exposed.
One naked woman who looked to be in her early twenties walked past me. Her stare was to the floor, but she was being led by a leash a guard was holding. I noticed none of the men being paid dared to say anything in her direction.
Entering a room I had never been in, I waited for Yury to close the door before asking, “Master, may I ask a question?”
“Yes.”
“Why was that woman on a dog leash?”
“It is not for dogs. It is an honor. Only her true owner can put it on her. Only her owner can touch it. She has been officially claimed. She is a lucky one.”
“But, doesn’t that guy work here?”
“Yes. We are permitted one claim. It is a rarity, seeing how we have many at our disposal.”
“I’m confused.”
“The leash means no one else is allowed to touch her without his permission.”
God help me, I actually prayed for a leash from Yury.
The room I was guided into was not the filming room and no one was with us when he locked the door. There was no bed, but my heart still raced. I stared at the chains and leather cuffs hanging from the ceiling. On one wall, there was a row of what could only be described as whips. That was it. No soft lighting like I had seen in a movie to create a much-needed mood for such torture devices, only more coldness.
I didn’t know my shoulders had seized until I felt Yury’s hands rest on them. “Breathe.”
I wanted to ask if I would have scars but it didn’t matter. If I lived through all my upcoming training, I would be someone’s slave until my new owner killed me. A scar wasn’t going to change anything.
Absolutely vulnerable, I had a surreal moment of loneliness. The sensation coursed through my whole body, so deep it found its way to my soul, and I knew I would never be the same. My timid voice sounded weak in the bare room. “Master, may I ask you of one more thing before we begin?”
His hands tightened on my shoulders, affectionately, not with malice. It may sound odd that I was grateful for the sympathy of a man about to beat me, but it was all I had. Me, a cold room, and my abductor. That is why I asked, “Can you hold me first?”
When he didn’t say no, I closed my eyes and slowly spun into his chest like I had in the hallway during the beginning of Shelly’s terror. This time, Yury didn’t push me away. His arms didn’t circle me right away, and I didn’t care. I needed a gentle touch before the harsh ones.
Yury’s arm eventually held me. His head even leaned down to the top of mine. It felt so wonderful that I sighed gratitude and blindly stepped into the Stockholm syndrome state of mind. My abuser became the only person I felt I had to protect me. I couldn’t see he was the one doing me the most harm of all.
“You did very well, Fire,” Yury said from somewhere behind me, where he had been the whole time, reminding me to breathe and giving instructions on how to manage the pain.