Indulgence (351 page)

If he could scare off the lot of them, I wasn’t sure that
meant I was in better hands. Although he hadn’t assaulted me… yet.

My legs shook as we climbed the iron stairs, and Kirk
pulling at my arm faster than I could move didn’t help. As the adrenaline wore
off, my extremities felt heavier and heavier, so each step took its toll on my
waning strength. I grabbed the railing to keep my balance and help pull myself
up.

At the top of the stairs, Kirk jerked me in the opposite
direction of the door the men had used. I heard voices, and soon, we were
walking through what looked like the lobby of a five-star hotel. There were a
few people sitting in corners chatting while drinking coffee, but even though
my clothes were ripped and barely hanging on, none of them gave me more than a
passing glance—if they even looked up to acknowledge our presence in the first
place.

My mind raced too fast for me to keep up, apparently trying
to make up for the time it has lost while I was unconscious. Where were we? Why
was everyone okay with this?

At one point, I even wondered if we were still in the real
world.

Kirk shoved me into an elevator and pressed a button for the
tenth floor. The building was huge, and no matter where we were, it couldn’t
have been inconspicuous. The place could easily accommodate a couple hundred
people, so I reasoned that there had to be people coming and going all of the
time. How could it not stand out? Especially with that motley crew who
drastically clashed with the lush business the decor reflected.

My head ached and I slumped against the wall, rubbing my
temple. Between the pain and swelling in my body and the fog threatening to
reclaim my mind, each breath and thought became more and more of a struggle.

“Do you remember what happened?” Kirk asked, keeping his
voice low—almost calmingly low. A misleading façade to hide whatever beast he
locked inside.

I shook my head, unwilling to give into his mock concern.

The elevator halted and my stomach slammed into the lungs,
adding to my nausea. I feared I’d lose its contents for a moment, but I managed
to swallow as Kirk dragged me out of the elevator and down a hall.

“What is this place?”

“Quiet,” he hissed, wrenching my arm.

“Please, just—”

He hauled me around to face him, lifting me by my upper
arms. “Not listening is a good way to get yourself killed here, which is
exactly what would have happened if I hadn’t come downstairs to see what
trouble our resident dipshits had dragged in. You have yet to be ripped to
pieces or to be removed of your ability to speak. If you want to keep it that
way, I suggest that you learn to obey simple commands.
Shut up
.”

I clenched my jaw. I didn’t want to admit the truth in what
he said, but with every breath I took, my ribs sent a sharp reminder of what
could
happen. Regardless of that warning, my brain didn’t stop screaming. All I
wanted to do was go home, where neither of us would have to worry about my body
parts being ripped off. But, I nodded, and he pulled me forward so quickly I
tripped over my own feet and wouldn’t have stayed upright if not for his grasp.

He pushed open a door and shoved me into a large office
where the same man in the suit who’d left Kirk in charge downstairs reclined in
an oversized black leather seat behind an enormous cherry desk. Behind him, a
window looked out over trees and rolling hills.

What happened to the city
?

Suit jerked forward and I noticed the top of a head, covered
in deep red hair. I gasped and pulled back from Kirk, but he seemed unfazed.

“Don’t tell me you decided to keep their toy.” Suit pushed
the girl away with his foot then stood and fastened his pants. I turned away as
the scantily clad girl crawled across the floor and sat next to the desk.

How much did I have to drink
? I wondered.
And
where the fuck was I drinking
? I barely remembered leaving the house, let
alone ending up anywhere I’d get so shit-faced that I couldn’t remember the
last several hours—at least. I had no idea how much time I’d lost, but it was
obviously enough to get abducted and dragged out to who-knows-where.

Kirk shoved me a few steps further. “Faulted though their
tactics may be, she might be a nice addition.”

Suit pressed his lips together and folded his arms. He
looked less than impressed and far from convinced. “She looked like a handful.
She certainly managed to keep Gabe’s crew busy long enough for you to
intervene. Seems like the kind that’s easier to break than bend, which makes
her no use to us.”

Suit moved toward us. I had the insuppressible urge to back
away as he approached, but Kirk’s solid grasp made that impossible. Everything
about him read power, from his smooth linen suit to the posh office. And
unfortunately for me, it was dirty power. I figured on one level I should be
appreciative of that power, since it was that power that had saved me thus
far—that and Kirk’s undeterrable attitude. But on the other hand, I had a
feeling that, like the girl knelt next to his desk, I was about to become a cog
in whatever business provided him with the expensive clothes and furniture.

“We all need a challenge from time to time,” Kirk said as he
released my arm and stepped away, leaving me feeling even more vulnerable. I
wanted to curl up into a protective ball and hope that neither of them felt
like smashing it to pieces.

“So, is a challenge what you’re interested in? I was
beginning to think nothing could get you riled.” Suit looked me over, walking
in a small circle and touching exposed flesh as he passed. I felt my skin crawl
everywhere he touched, and I couldn’t help but cringe. His hand reached for my
hair, and I had to strain to keep from smacking it away or jerking my head
back.

Then, the words slipped from his mouth that made my chest
want to collapse and fold into itself.

“Take off your clothes.”

I stood there blinking at him. Hoping that somehow my
muddled brain had misinterpreted what he’d said. As if it hadn’t been bad
enough when they were ripping my clothing off, now they expected me to
willfully strip without an objection.

With a single swift motion, Suit grabbed me by the throat
and lifted me to my toes. “She has skewed sense of self-preservation.”

I struggled for air as he leaned his face closer to mine.
“Is your modesty worth death?”

He released me and I stumbled back, panting for air. He
simply pointed at my shirt and held his hand out.

I slid the ripped shirt off of my shoulders and threw it at
his feet. He smirked, but it wasn’t amusement that I saw in his eyes. Lifting an
eyebrow he waved at the rest of my clothes.

I took a breath, closed my eyes and—as slow as I dared to
move—I dropped my jeans, underwear, socks, and bra to the floor. I straightened
but didn’t dare meet his gaze. Being naked in itself didn’t really bother me. I
knew I didn’t have a cheerleader body, but I was comfortable with it. Seeing a
naked woman’s body was nothing to them either. Kirk hadn’t even reacted to
walking in on his boss getting a blow job.

The problem was in the men’s sneering gazes that reduced me
to nothing more than an object to be ogled, and the vulnerability of standing
in front of them with nothing to protect me from their grimy desires.

To my surprise, Suit didn’t touch me again, just stared at
me for a few long minutes while pacing back and forth and rubbing his hand over
his chin. “Her chest is a little small, but she’s not bad to look at. If you
want to keep her, she’s yours to train. But, she better be worth it. And I’m
not giving you forever to accomplish that.”

Yours
? My heart thudded.
She’s yours
.
Somewhere along the line, I’d not only lost my freedom, but also my human
identity. Maybe death was better—but the fear of that finality overpowered my
sensibilities.

For better or worse, I was attached to being alive.

“Have Clarence look at her and get her prepped.” Suit said,
walking past his desk toward the window. He ran his fingers through the other
girl’s hair as he passed, and she grinned up at him, licked her lips, and
scowled in my direction.

A shiver coursed through my body and I wondered if it was
possible to get hypothermia simply from shock. My tongue felt like it was
sealed to the roof of my mouth, dehydration making it almost impossible to
swallow.

“If you really want to prove her worth,” Suit, said slowly,
not even glancing back at us, “bring her to the Outlook
tonight
.”

Take My Name Away

I could barely hear anything over the pulse pounding in my
ears by the time Kirk took my arm and pulled me back toward the door. I wasn’t
sure which part to fear more, getting “prepped” or whatever the “Outlook” was.
I bent to gather my clothes, but Kirk tugged harder.

“You won’t need those and you may as well get used to that
now.”

My skin burned with embarrassment as he led me down the
hallway completely naked. There was no one around, but the air felt foreign,
intrusive, as if even it saw my indecency and took an extra effort to remind me
of my vulnerability.

I kept my mouth shut, and my eyes on the floor as Kirk led
me to another room. It was stark, white walls and a white tile floor. Most of
the walls were covered in cabinets, and through some of the clear doors, I
recognized medical equipment. I got the feeling this building was like some
self-sustaining hive of iniquity.

Kirk pointed to an exam table and, still in shock and
feeling shaky, I climbed up and sat down. He placed his hands on either side of
my thighs, “I don’t care what your name is, and neither will anyone else.”

There it was. I knew what was coming. They were going to
give me a number, brand me, strip me of my identity, and I’d be just what Suit
had called me—a new toy.

Kirk stepped back, but his gaze still bore into me. “I suck
at naming pets, so I’ll give you one chance. Make it good.”

“Silver,” I said. I didn’t know where it came from; it was
the only word that came clearly in my mind.

He lifted my hand to display my chipping silver nail polish
that I had put on while I was making arrangements with my friends to have
dinner. Why couldn’t I remember the rest of the day? I couldn’t even pinpoint
the last thing I remembered. It all seemed choppy and malformed.

“Silver.” He repeated, dropping my hand, “I can live with
that.”

I wanted to ask if he usually did this—or for him to clarify
what this was, but I wasn’t really sure I was ready for his answers.

I especially wasn’t ready for another death threat, so I
stared down, wringing my hands in my lap. It was the only activity that could
keep me slightly occupied and out of trouble. I couldn’t imagine never seeing
outside of these walls again. What had I done that had been so stupid or
terrible that I woke up here?

The door clicked and footsteps approached. I balled my hands
into fists and curled my toes into the base of the table. Too afraid to
physically turn and look, I watched the newcomer out of the corner of my eye.
He was an older man with graying sandy hair, probably in his mid-forties. He
wore an outdated Hawaiian shirt over black golf shorts, looking more like a
misplaced tourist than a doctor, but he opened the cabinet and laid out his
supplies on a nearby tray table. As, he pushed the table closer to the exam
table, Kirk stepped to my side to allow the doctor access.

At least, I assumed he was a doctor and not just some guy
they picked up off the streets.

I stiffened, but he didn’t make an immediate move to touch
me, instead, he crossed his arms and leaned back against the counter in front
of me. “Gabe isn’t going to be pleased to find you not only ruined his fun but
claimed the girl as your own slave.”

I kept my head lowered, watching my auburn hair shudder with
every thump of my heart. I tried to follow their conversation, reminding myself
that as long as they were chatting with each other, they weren’t groping me,
but at the same time, their casual rapport made me feel even more broken. I was
the foreign element. They were set on keeping me, but I didn’t matter.

“Glad Ross filled you in so thoroughly,” Kirk said, “Gabe is
a hot head who doesn’t plan. What else are we going to do with her?”

“I get your reasoning, but I’ve seen his crew’s work and I’d
rather just avoid it all around. They have a tendency to blow off steam in
destructive ways, especially when
you
feel the need to remind them who
the boss’ right-hand man is.”

Squeezing my eyes closed, I pulled in a deep breath through
my nose.

Kirk made a sound in his throat, and I heard feet shuffling.
“That’s how I got the job.”

I opened my eyes as they both closed in on me. My back
straightened and the hair on my neck rose, every instinct telling me to back
away. Fighting would make the pain worse, but at least I’d be doing
something
,
yet my body refused to move.

“And that’s all there is to it?” The sandy-haired man
smirked, continuing the casual conversation as if having a terrified woman
sitting in front him was just another day at the office. “You’re lucky I was
here today and you won’t even have to wait.”

“I doubt I got
that
lucky. It’s a Saturday, where
else would you be?”

“And you dragged me away from my morning with a lovely
doll.” I heard the old man grunt, as he moved to stand next to me and put on a pair
of rubber gloves.

My eyes widened and my body finally broke out of its frozen
condition. “I—uh—”

“He won’t hurt you,” Kirk squinted at the doctor and
scoffed, “much.”

The old man extended his hand toward my ribs.

I jerked back as Kirk moved to hold me in place. “I’m
allergic,” I blurted.