A Captive's Submission (4 page)

"No, here on the island." She sighed feeling tired and frustrated.
 

"Stavros and I are old friends. We met in college about ten years ago."

Veronica didn't say anything, she walked over to a pair of French doors that led out to a small patio facing the beach. She couldn't help but wonder if it was odd that everyone except her seemed to be from Stavros's past. She wondered if anyone there was simply hired or if they were all from his past.
 

Drew followed her outside and put his hand on her shoulder but she immediately shook it off.
 

"I wanted to apologize for how I treated you. I get focused on the job and forget I'm dealing with people. I'm a surgeon by trade so I guess that comes with the territory."

She glared at him remembering how he almost slapped her when she was chained in the cell. Deep down she knew she couldn't trust him. Stefania stepped onto the patio.
 

"I wanted to go over some final things with you before you begin training."

Veronica nodded and followed Stefania back into the bedroom. She had completely forgotten Stavros said she needed training. She thought maybe he was joking when he said it because it seemed so bizarre that she would be trained to please him sexually, but she knew she hardly had any experience to speak of having only been with her college sweetheart.
 

Stefania led her into the adjoining room Drew came out of earlier. It was a huge bathroom with grey marble. In the center of the room was a large soaking tub. Across from the windows was a long shower that ran the length of the wall. Glass enclosed the shower and the nickel-plated accessories shone as if they were brand new. Above the tub was a vaulted ceiling with a large skylight.
 

"Please follow me." Stefania said as she went through an open doorway.
 

Veronica followed and entered a room of equal size to the bathroom but with racks of clothing. She was amazed with the dressing room and thought about how it looked like an expensive boutique she would always go into but never be able to afford anything from.
 

"These are your clothing. Lingerie is along that wall and in those drawers. Along this wall is casual and beach attire and then over there are your gowns."

"Gowns?"

"Yes, part of this process will also be training to escort Stavros to social events he must attend."

Veronica looked at the gowns and recognized brands she'd only heard of from magazine red carpet coverage. Designs by Valentino, Marchesa and others. More casual attire by Stella McCartney and Balenciaga. Shoes by Christian Loubouton and Manolo Blahnik. Lastly the most beautiful lingerie she had ever seen by La Perla. These were just the brands that stood out to her. She knew these were all things she could never dream of having before and began to chew her bottom lip nervously about whether she could fit in with Stavros and the other wealthy people at the events he needed to attend.
 

"Stop chewing your lip."
 

Veronica spun around to face Stavros and immediately stopped chewing her lip.
 

"Sorry. I just don't think I'm the right girl. I'm sure you can find one that's better suited for this. Maybe one from your past." She said.
 

"What's that supposed to mean? From my past. And who do you think you are, trying to make decisions for me? I told you before if you don't want to do this, then don't.
 
You are free to go at any time."

"Am I? Last I seem to remember I was drugged and then chained in order to be here." She folded her arms and was silently amazed that she stood up for herself until she heard him let out a deep growl. She felt the hair raise at the back of her neck and a chill shot down her back.
 

"Never! Never talk back to me like that."

He charged towards her, his eyes blazing. She froze, frightened and uncertain what to expect. He grabbed her by her arm and dragged her out of the dressing room, back into the bedroom and over to a door she hadn't seen before. He pressed several numbers into an electronic lock and pulled her into the room once the door slid open. He threw her forward, further into the room as he let go of her arm. She put her hands out in front of her as she fell to the floor.
 

"I have no time for disrespect. I demanded a submissive and if Drew was wrong in his appraisal of you, then I'll be sending you back to the cell where you'll live chained like an animal until you learn how to behave."

She knelt on floor afraid of getting up. She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room. There were no windows in the room. The walls were dark, almost black, and as she looked around she realized she was in a dungeon. She quickly stood up and backed away from him as he began to laugh.
 

"Ahh I see you're not as comfortable here as you were in your other rooms. Maybe now you'll understand better what it means to be a slave."

He walked over to a wall that had several whips, floggers and rope on it and looked over some of them as he ran his fingers along them. She backed into something, turned around and saw it looked like a simple wooden bench with a padded cushion and arm rests. She sat on the bench as he turned to her.
 

"Yes, an excellent choice. Perhaps a spanking will let you see clearer," he said as he walked over to her. "You are sitting on Pandora's Chest. Would you like to know what's inside?"

She looked at the bench she was sitting on. It looked like an ordinary piece of furniture which made its placement in the dungeon odd. She immediately shook her head and Stavros laughed.

"Another time then. I can see you still don't trust me. Trust is vital. You cannot begin training until I have gained your trust."

He held his hand out to her. She didn't know what to do. She didn't want to take his hand yet she wanted to touch him, to be close to him again. She barely knew the man but she hated and loved him at the same time. She was sure something was wrong with her to think that way.
 

She finally put her hand in his, stood up and looked at him, not removing her hand from his grasp, instead enjoying the warmth.

***

Stavros Theoharis was used to getting whatever he wanted.
 
What he wasn't used to was wanting something as badly as he wanted Veronica. Without a word he left her in her room and closed the secret dungeon door. There was so much he wanted to share with her, she just wasn't ready. She needed to trust him, and he needed to trust her.
 

Trust. It was such a simple word yet everything was wrapped up in it. Stavros thought about who he could trust in his life, there hadn't been many. Those who had proven their trust to him were on San Sebastian, his island. Drew, his oldest and closest friend, and Stefania, his former governess.
 

As it was, Drew had betrayed his trust with his handling of Veronica. Stavros didn't want to make a scene in front of Veronica but he didn't know about Drew's treatment of her. He was glad he decided to check the closed circuit monitoring installed in Drew's wing when he did.
 

San Sebastian had always been his place to escape. He spent millions of dollars transforming an old Spanish fort into a place of luxury and pleasure. When he first kept the old prison cells which were the home's foundation, he never thought he would one day use them. That was Drew's idea and Stavros let him run with it although he didn't realize the extent of Drew's plans. He knew he had enough money to take care of any legal issues that could arise from relocating women to his island; he never called it kidnapping.
 

As he walked down the long hall, his sandals made a soft clapping sound against the tile floor. He stepped out onto the stone terrace where Drew was waiting for him.
 

"She's perfect isn't she?" Drew asked as he made drinks for the two of them at the outdoor bar.
 

"She is. But I knew that. I spent the time chatting and emailing her, remember? You didn't think she was good enough."

"No, I said we could get a more beautiful woman."

"Veronica is beautiful. And intelligent. Intelligence is undervalued."

"Yes Stavros, perhaps she's too intelligent. Did you ever consider she might be playing you? Using you to have an easier life here?"

"You've never liked her. I think you secretly want her." Stavros tried to examine his old friend's face but Drew quickly turned away. "Yes, I can see that I'm right. You could never hide anything from me."

"Do you think she'll agree to the larger part of why she's here?"

"I haven't mentioned it yet. I might never mention it. She's very sensitive right now. It seems you put quite the scare in her."

"I'll do better next time."

"There won't be a next time," Stavros growled. "She is it. She's the one. I'm sure of it."

"And if she says no?" Drew cocked his head as he waited for Stavros's answer.
 

"Then I'll forgo the inheritance."

"You're a foolish man, my friend."

Stavros didn't respond. He didn't consider it foolishness. He never felt such an attraction to a woman as he did to Veronica.
 

He had given the sex slave speech to countless women. He convinced them he had a sexual addiction so they would accept his infidelity. It was a tactic he'd been doing for years to satisfy his lust for the scene with his need for privacy. He screened women to find a willing submissive, but in the end they were merely bodies to him...until now.
 

His entire adult life he'd been considered a playboy. He was never seen with the same woman twice and that's how he liked it. No attachments, no feelings, and no concern over whether they could be trusted. His father's death changed all that...rather the will did.
 

The will required Stavros to stay out of the spotlight and take his proper place as the face of the Theoharis corporate empire. It was too much for him to manage, especially with his sexual appetite, so he vanished to his island. The other requirements in the will, the ones Veronica had yet to hear about, were even more complicated.
 

In a nutshell Stavros needed a wife. He wasn't sure if he was ready for that kind of commitment, but Veronica was the first woman he couldn't imagine his life without.
 

He really didn't know what he would do if she said no but he would never rush things. Because of the requirements of the will he could lose everything, but he didn't care. She was the only thing that mattered to him now.
 

***

For the past month that Veronica had been living in the mansion, the only time she saw Stavros was for dinner. He didn't treat her like a slave, she was actually surprised with how well he treated her. They would spend most of the meal talking and getting to know each other. Eventually she even figured out that it was Stavros she had been in contact with online.
 

Stavros hadn't touched her since the day they met. She couldn't stop thinking about how not only sexy and wanted he made her feel, but special too. She wanted him so badly and was beginning to wonder if he didn't find her attractive at all. He once told her he had a sex addiction but it didn't seem like he wanted her.
 

She hoped that if she took some extra time to make herself look pretty, that maybe she could at least manage to flirt with him. Remembering his sexual addiction, she hoped to ask him about it as well the training he said she needed in order to please him.
 

While she was enjoying her time there, she was eager to begin. She was also eager to spend more time with him than just dinner. She needed to feel his body pressed against hers again.
 

She chose a floor length sapphire Michael Kors halter dress that had a belt around the waist and an open back. She paired the dress with silver gladiator sandals and let her wavy blonde hair hang loose.
 

The dress was a soft material that felt seductive against her skin. She couldn't wear a bra with a dress like that and it made her feel even sexier feeling the fabric brush against her breasts. She would never have had the courage to wear something like that back home.
 

Stefania had told her earlier she would be meeting Stavros on the terrace that evening for dinner, which was a change. She arrived at the terrace five minutes early, knowing that Stavros hated to be kept waiting, but he was already there.