Indulgence (352 page)

“Latex allergy?” The doctor stepped back and narrowed his
eyes.

I nodded, waiting on the threats or violence to punish me
for speaking out of turn, but as soon as I stilled, Kirk also stepped away. His
eyebrows were drawn together, the first real hint of emotion I’d seen him
display.

The rubber gloves snapped, slicing through my thoughts.
Clarence dug around in a drawer then returned a few seconds later with bright
purple gloves. This time, he took no delay in prodding me—paying particular
attention to my sore ribs. With every poke, I felt more off center. I wasn’t
sure if it was my brain trying to escape from the pain and the situation or the
effects of whatever had screwed with my head.

By the time he was done, I was convinced that he especially
liked watching me squirm and jump in pain. I wouldn’t put that against anyone
within these walls.

“You’ve never taken much of an interest in the girls,”
Clarence said, elbowing Kirk as he moved around me, checking everything from my
throat and ears to my reflexes. “
That’s
what has paid off for you. While
the others play, you get ahead. Although, I’d say it’s about time you learn to
balance them both. Why live in a place like this if you can’t indulge
sometimes?”

“I indulge plenty; I just don’t make a public offering of
it.”

“Mmh hmm, well, we’ll sit back and take bets on who kills
who first.”

The doctor dropped a tray onto the bed next to me with empty
tubes, a tourniquet, alcohol pads, and a hypodermic needle.

“What?” escaped before I could stop it. All I got was a
glare, and I was thankful for that small reprieve.

I kept my mouth clenched as the doctor drew blood three
vials of blood and set them aside. “Birth control?” he asked.

I nodded, “Shot five weeks ago.” As soon as I handed over
that piece of information I wondered if I really wanted them to know that, but
it was probably inevitable since I didn’t want doped up on double doses.

“Sexual partners?”

“Uh.”
Answer their questions and stay alive long enough
to figure something else out
. “Three.”

He pulled the stirrups out of the end of the bed and my eyes
widened.

“Feet up. Lay back.”

“No, no…,” I whispered, my body froze in shock again.

Kirk put his hand to my chest, inches below my neck and
pushed me back. “You may want to hold still.”

Hold still
?
Right
. Assaulted in the basement,
stripped in the boss’ office, and now laid out in front of a doctor who looked
like he belonged on a tropical golf course and he just wanted me to hold still.

The doctor started to lift my foot into a stirrup, but I
jerked both legs up and rolled off the side of the bed. I barely managed to
land on my feet, but as soon as they hit the floor, I sprinted toward the door.

Just as I grabbed the handle and pulled it open, Kirk’s
weight slammed into me pushing it closed again.

“We’re on the tenth floor, where the hell do you think
you’re going?” He twisted me around pressing my back into the door with his
forearm against my throat.

Fight
, I screamed, but the room tilted and it was
everything I could do to keep down the rise of nausea.

Kirk grabbed a handful of hair, using it to drag me back to
the table, then he lifted me up and dropped me into place. This time, he kept
his hand pressed into my chest and the other on my hip as the doctor lifted my
legs into place.

I squeezed my eyes closed as the doctor prodded. I was too
tense to relax, but even if I could, he seemed intentionally rough and
intrusive.

It felt as if his exam would never end, and I fisted my
hands at my sides, trying to stay in control.
Just a little longer
. I
tried to push my mind to a different place—to an escape plan.

He removed the speculum and fingers slipped inside of me,
stretching until my breath squeaked out. I thought for a second he was trying
to rip me open, but he pulled his hand out and I breathed in relief until he
coated his fingers in more lube and went for another hole.

My foot kicked up out of the stirrup, but Kirk pressed me
into the bed, glowering down at me.

I returned his dark gaze until a finger slid into my
asshole, and I clenched my eyes closed. Within an hour of waking up here, they
were sequentially taking away everything I could possibly keep to myself.

Maybe I should have been happy that they didn’t want my name
to tarnish, but taking it away was just going to be another reminder of their
power.

“She looks clear, but I’ll let you know when the tests come
back. You know the drill until then.”

Kirk rested his fists on the edge of the bed next to me and
leaned over. “Anything we should know—keeping in mind that we’ll find out if
you’re lying?”

“Not unless I caught a skin disease from your dickheads
downstairs.” I tried to keep the words from spilling out, but my frustration
was outweighing my filter.

“Want to try that answer one more time?” Kirk pulled me to a
sitting position, and the room swayed and went dark. He caught me and held me
by the shoulders—that was the only thing that prevented me from landing
face-first on the floor.

I could hear him and the doctor talking to me, but they
sounded muffled. Too far away to make out the words. I couldn’t get my body to
do anything; my entire existence was stuck in the muck again.

My brain panicked, making it even harder to breathe. My eyes
grew heaver, and I was certain I was going to die.

I felt a blood pressure cuff fasten around my arm and
tighten. My tongue was dry and sticky, but I managed one word. “Thirsty.”

The doctor deflated the cuff but left it around my arm and
walked to the sink. I struggled to keep my eyes open while Kirk held me
upright. The doctor handed a small glass of water to him, and Kirk pressed it
to my lips, letting me sip slowly.

Slowly the volume of their voices increased again, and the
darkness that had been looming around the edge of my vision faded.

“I’ll test for drugs, too,” the doctor said.

“I’m not on drugs,” I said, as loud and insistent as I could
manage, but I sounded drunk at best.

“How’d you get here?” Kirk asked.

I shook my head and managed to raise a hand to my face to
rub my temple. “I have a pounding headache.”

“You’ll need to get her hydrated and let everything flush
from her system, but if she gets worse, call me directly.”

Kirk pulled me off the table and set me on my feet, keeping
an arm around my waist to stabilize me. On one hand, I was grateful he wasn’t
letting me fall face first against the tile floor, but it also meant my naked
body was pressed against his. I felt his heat rolling into me, another
unwelcome intruder on my personal space.

The doctor dropped a black bag on the bed next to me. “Ross
also had me grab this on my way up. Should be everything you need for a bit.”

Clarence then packed up and disappeared through a side door.

Kirk paused a moment, giving me enough time to recover from
the dizzy spell.

“I just want to go home,” I said.

“If you’re well enough to complain, you’re well enough to
walk.” He kept his pace noticeably slower as he led me, still naked, down the
hall and back to the elevator.

Oh god
, I thought, hoping he wasn’t planning on
parading me through the lobby again. If I didn’t get dizzy again, I’d probably
pass out from embarrassment—possibly a combination of the two.

He pressed “9” and my chest relaxed a little.
Small
victories
, I told myself. If I concentrated on that, at least I’d have
something positive to hold onto.

After we exited the elevator, he led me to another door—this
time, he used a key to unlock it, and pushed me in first.

An apartment, small, but without a doubt, luxurious. A
leather sectional couch filled the center of the room, facing a large TV
screen. A desk with a small laptop faced the wall behind the couch, and beyond
that, was a kitchenette, and a large pane window that faced out over the same
view as Ross’ office above.

“How do you feel?” he asked.

“Still lightheaded and a little queasy.”

“I’ll get you some water, and I think I have some crackers.
I’d tell you not to think about running, but I have a feeling that even if you
did, you’d collapse before you got very far.”

I nodded, allowing him to lead me to the couch where I
crumpled up into a ball and closed my eyes, hoping that would help the
headache. But the pounding in my forehead didn’t ease. I heard a bag rustle in
the kitchen, and cupboards and drawers closing. Every sound twisted in my head,
seeming far louder and more annoying than normal.

Kirk returned and used his shin to push the coffee table
closer to the couch. Then, he laid out a napkin with crackers and a bottle of
water.

“I’ll put something more substantive together for you in a
while if you can hold down the crackers.”

I nodded and reached for the bottle of water. “Pain medicine?”

“What hurts?” he asked draping a blanket over my body.

I wanted to glare back at him and repeat his stupid
question. “My head is pounding. Ribs sore. Ankle. Wrists.” I could have
continued the long inventory, but when Kirk stepped away, I figured he either
got the picture or didn’t care.

He returned after a few seconds and dropped two red capsules
in my hand. In any other situation, I’d think I was out of my mind for
accepting some unknown drug from a criminal, but I popped them in my mouth and
swallowed them down.

“Thanks,” I said, on the verge of passing out.

I was afraid to let my eyes close. I had already woken in
the middle of a nightmare once, and I feared that as soon as I closed my eyes
I’d be dropped into something even worse. Or something even more confusing than
having my captor care for me and wait on me.

“Get some sleep,” Kirk whispered. “You’ll be safe.”

“I’m lying naked in some criminal headquarters with a
strange man caring for me,” I mumbled. “What’s safe?”

*****

I drifted in and out of sleep, managing to eat a few
crackers and finish off the bottle of water during my intermittent moments of
consciousness. I rolled onto my back and draped my arm over my forehead, the
pain meds had lessened the pain, but it still felt like someone had smacked me
in the face with the back of a shovel.

“It’s not a breach.” I heard Kirk say.

I opened my eyes and peeked over the couch, but he wasn’t in
the same room, so I dropped my head to the pillow and pulled my knees to my
chest, tucking the blanket under my chin. I strained to hear the rest of the
conversation, latching on to his mumbled words as they floated through the
room.

“It was minor, and she’s definitely not a threat, but I’ll
be keeping my eye on her anyway…. Milo doesn’t have to worry about it….”

Me
? I wondered how I could possibly be considered a
threat to this place. Especially since they definitely weren’t letting me go
anywhere. I reached for the bottle of water and remembered that I had already
finished it, so I closed my eyes again, hoping that sleep would give me a few
more moments of peace. But the bedroom door swung open, and I started at the
sound of something landing on the desk behind me.

The following silence lasted a few seconds before I heard
him approaching. I wanted to tense up, but I tried to keep my body lucid enough
to appear to be sleeping, and hoped he hadn’t seen me flinch. He didn’t stop,
picking up my water bottle on the way toward the kitchen. A few minutes later,
he replaced it with a new bottle and walked to the desk behind me.

“Thank you,” I whispered, knowing that as soon as I reached
for the bottle he’d know I was awake anyway. I wanted to keep him on my good
side.

“How long have you been eavesdropping?”

I took a long swig of water to wet my throat and give myself
a moment to consider my answer. “I heard the door open.” It wasn’t quite a lie,
but I hoped he wouldn’t press it.

“How do you feel?”

“My head is still pounding, but it’s better…” My voice
trailed off again, the darkness coming for me again, but I had a bigger problem.
My bladder felt like it was about to explode from all of the water—and yet I
was still dying of thirst. And I had been putting off the bathroom issue for as
long as possible. “I have to
—” Just spit it out, he’s already seen you naked
and felt up by a sadistic doctor
. “I need to use the bathroom.”

“First door,” he said.

That was easier than I had expected. I rolled to my feet,
but my knees gave way, and I caught myself on the couch arm. Kirk moved toward
me, but I willed my legs to work before he got close enough to touch me.

“Leave the door open,” he called after me.

“Right because where am I going to go?”

He raised an eyebrow.

I flipped on the bathroom light—it wasn’t as if there were
even any windows for me to escape through, so I wasn’t sure what the hell he
didn’t want me doing in here behind closed doors.

Not in any particular hurry to get back to the living room
when I was done, I stood in front of the mirror, taking in the bruises that
circled my wrists and shoulders, and the massive purple spot that covered my
right side.

I turned on the sink and scrubbed my hands, digging out all
of the grime from under my fingernails. It was the most of their filth I could
get rid of at the moment.

I cupped my hands and splashed the water over my face, then
reached blindly for the hand towel.

I jumped when it landed on my shoulder.

“I take it I’m not allowed to wash my face without your
permission either.”

Kirk grabbed my chin, yanking my head back. “Washing your
face is fine, but your smug taunts are only going to lead to pain.”