Indulgence (356 page)

Another wave of nausea rolled my stomach, almost choking me.
I felt off balance and disconnected from myself, like my body had been taken
over by some distant instinct. Only survival mattered, not the revenge or
escape that swirled in my brain.

Kirk tapped my temple and pointed to the floor in front of
me, reminding me that I was supposed to keep my gaze on the floor in front of
me. Now I was reduced to something only worthy of crude hand gesture.

I am not a damn object to just sit at your feet and obey
!
But, instead of speaking my thoughts, I dropped my gaze, knowing that if I screwed
up in front of all of those people, I was done.

“Finally found a girl worthy of your feet?” A brassy tenor
voice said from behind me.

“She was unintentionally acquired.”

I couldn’t believe how many times I could be reminded of
that in a single day. I had a “Master” who didn’t even want me, and I couldn’t
help but wonder why he even bothered. It would have been easier for him to
shove me off and let me be someone else’s responsibility.

Except that wouldn’t be as effective in pissing off Gabe,
and I suspected that was his main goal.

I heard the men behind me snicker. “Do you think Ross just
keeps him around because he talks like a damned professor?”

I peeked up and saw Suit smile, I assumed he was Ross. He
touched the heads of two of the slaves at his feet and pointed to the two lone
men behind me.

I tried to take in as much as I could without being obvious,
hoping to find some clue or weakness that would help me escape, but all it did
was serve to show me that there were even more people around than I had imagined—and
every one of the men would probably bring me right back if I dared to run. And,
they’d eagerly stand in line to beat me if I messed up.

Kirk nudged me with his foot and I stilled, returning my
gaze to the floor. Even that wasn’t helpful since there was a glass square a
few feet away overlooking a room where two men shared a curvy redhead.

I couldn’t do that—I couldn’t do this.

Hard as I tried to fight it, my pulse spiked and my body
shook with equal parts anger and fear.

Above me, a conversation continued between the men, as
casual as a family getting together over pork chops. My chest clenched as I
wondered what they’d do when they noticed my anxiety. Then came another flash
of anger at their disinterest in any of us. We were there to do their bidding—whether
it was kneeling at their feet and being completely ignored or putting on a
show. Like a toy set up with limited functions. Perform on cue, but wait on the
shelf until someone tells you to do otherwise.

Two women in black leather bikinis served platters of food
to each of the men at the table. I felt my stomach rumble in response to their
neglect. As if it wasn’t bad enough that none of the men cared, not even the
other slaves seemed to acknowledge each other’s existence. Above, the men began
cutting into something that smelled like steak—apparently Kirk had been
correct—and my mouth watered.

“Is the new girl going to perform for her dinner?” One of
the men behind me asked.

I lowered my head even more, so that my hair fell around my
head and hid my glower. And, I hoped, my fear.

“Not tonight,” Kirk said, “It’s her first day, and she’s
still working on the basics.”

I had half a mind to show him basics. If he wanted to treat
me like a dog, I could growl and bite his finger off.

Instead, I dug my nails into my palms, momentarily taking my
mind off of everyone else.

“Yes,” Ross drawled, “first day and already causing a fair
share of trouble, no less. You better train her to be worth it.”

As I tried to calm the ball of tension in my gut, the
conversation turned to business. I tried to latch on to what they were saying,
hoping for a small nugget to help me figure out exactly where I had ended up,
but it was either too vague or specific for an outsider to understand much of
anything.

I learned that the men across from Kirk were brothers,
Taylor and Demetri, and the dark-skinned man—the damn oaf who had helped Kirk
torment me in the hallway—was Miles. He was also apparently second in command.
Kirk seemed to be more of a PR intelligence man—the brains behind the twisted
boss and his grimy brawn.

Lucky me. I’d been claimed by the voice of reason within
their fucked up world.

From what I could tell, the operation really was close to
the self-sustaining hive as I’d guessed, but like all criminals, there was more
power and money to be gained, and that required making deals. They probably had
hands in the pocket of every politician, big business, and otherwise
influential person in the area, which explained why the authorities weren’t
rolling down on the operation yet.

Just as I began to tune out, Kirk touched my cheek. I jumped
and sat up to look at him. He held a piece of steak for me. Not only was I
being ordered around like a dog, I had to eat like one, too. My stomach
grumbled and I decided against protest, scarfing down the food before the offer
was rescinded—bits of fries, broccoli, and more steak followed.

Despite the circumstances, it was the best steak I’d ever
eaten.

I snuck a peek at the other girls—all being fed the same way
and apparently basking in the attention, rubbing against their master’s legs
and smiling as their masters patted them on the head.

I had to get out before I was that far gone.

Goals
, I thought, trying to focus my thought. Kirk,
well, to be honest, he could be worse. I could bide my time by being a good
girl and hopefully he’d focus more on other things.

But there was still the sex…. I hoped not to be around that
long, but I convinced myself that I could play along—if necessary—until I found
a way out.

Then again, I couldn’t play along too well. Kirk was smart
enough that he’d realize something was up, or get the idea to as one of the
brothers suggested, make me “perform for my dinner.” I could only imagine what
that would entail, and what my mind conjured was bad enough. I didn’t want to
know what could be conjured by the dark minds surrounding me.

With a partial survival plan set, I felt a little more
confident until Miles moved to stretch out his legs and positioned his slave
between them. She unzipped his pants and took him in her mouth as if he was the
most delicious dessert she’d ever tasted.

There went my confidence.

I felt queasy just thinking about what they’d make me do,
and now that I had food on my stomach, the nausea seemed like a more troubling
problem.

Kirk touched my chin, and I shook my head as much as I
dared. I kept my head down, feeling the tears threaten to brim over. At the
edge of my vision, I saw him glance over at Miles as if he hadn’t even noticed
what was going on then he looked back at me. His finger traced my jaw line,
lowered a glass of wine, and put it to my lips.

I hated wine, but it smelled bright and fruity and I didn’t
delay in swallowing it down. It tasted like I had licked the inside of a barrel
filled with stagnant fruit, and burned my throat.

Wine for the pet. It didn’t seem like anyone was surprised
by the gesture and I figured there were things they were willing to concede to
have a compliant pet.

His fingers slid through my hair and I stiffened. One drink
wasn’t going to make me that tipsy. I heard a low grunt behind me, but despite
whatever was going on below the table, the men kept talking. I heard scratching
as they moved things across the table above me, then the table groaned and
shifted slightly.

I looked up before I could stop myself as Kirk slid his
chair away from the table. I dropped my head as soon as I saw his blue-grey
eyes connect with mine.

Please
, I squeezed my eyes closed.

“You’re not leaving already?” One of the men behind me
asked.

“I’ve been kept from my business most of the day,” Kirk
said.

I heard the chain of the leash in his hand, and as he
fastened it to my collar, I realized how much I was shaking in comparison to
his steady hands.

He touched my jaw and I raised my gaze expecting anger, or
the same straight emotionless face he always had, but there was something else
there, a softness creeping out around the edges.

He looked exhausted.

My insides clenched as another chair scraped across the
floor and Miles drew the blond girl into his lap. “You work too much.”

Kirk scoffed as he stood. He nodded to the men behind me and
pulled me toward the door. As I crawled along behind him, I stole a glance
back, noticing that the two girls who Ross had brought for the guests were now
on their knees on top of the table, fondling one another.

The leash jerked and I crawled faster—it wasn’t possible to
get out of that room fast enough.

*****

A bundle sat outside the door to Kirk’s apartment and, after
he opened the door, he kicked it inside, apparently unconcerned with its
contents. After locking the door behind us, he unhooked the leash then pointed
to the bundle. “Take it to the bedroom and spread it out on the floor against
the wall next to the closet.”

“Do I have to crawl while I’m carrying it?”

“Push the damn if you want to.” He draped the leash over the
door knob and rubbed his hand over his short hair. “Don’t act like it will be
that hard.”

The rolled up bundle was taller than I was on my hands and
knees, but didn’t have much weight, so I rose to my knees pushed what I assumed
was my new bed toward the bedroom door.

I laid it out near the closet. Even though it was nothing
more than a rolled up cushion—like a pet bed big enough for an adult human—it
was soft at least, and it came with a blanket and a pillow.

It also meant that I didn’t have to share Kirk’s bed, so I
counted that as a double win.

I spread everything out, neatly arranging the only little
thing I could reasonably call my own.

My mind wandered, going over how much everything had changed
over the last several hours: waking up in horror surrounded by a sex-obsessed
brute squad, and being thrown into life with Kirk.

All I wanted to do was go back to normal, but it seemed so
far away that I wasn’t sure that would ever be possible. I had to find a way
back while there was still hope—before I became a complacent slave with no
hope. Until then, I’d find benefits where possible and hope that Kirk wasn’t
feeling frisky after watching the sex fest.

I turned to see him watching me, no doubt wondering what was
going on in my head. “Satisfied?” I asked.

“I could ask that of you.”

My mouth dropped open. “How would I be?”

“You’re alive,” he tilted his head, “and I presume, no
longer hungry.”

“There’s that,” I conceded. But if we balanced that with
being forced to give up my own life and live in this nightmare, satisfied
wasn’t exactly how I would define it.

“How’s your pain?”

I turned away and fidgeted with the edge of the bed. I
couldn’t figure out why it bothered me more when he seemed concerned.

“Silver, I just want an honest answer.”

“I got beat up this morning. I hurt, okay. You weren’t
concerned with that when you shoved that plug up my ass, or when I had to kneel
through dinner, or crawl through the hallways.”

Kirk shook his head and disappeared. He returned and handed
me two more red capsules and the rest of the water from the nightstand. Instead
of just dropping them off and leaving me in peace, he crouched beside me. “I
can be reasonable, but you need to stop considering the impossible. You can’t
go home, you can’t escape, and I can’t let you go. It is what it is.”

It is what it is
. I hated the fucking bastard. Anger
tightened my muscles and tendons and clouded my brain—sending it into
overdrive. “Go to hell. You don’t really give a damn about me.”

“Don’t press your luck, Silver. I don’t have time for this,
but I won’t stand by and watch you get beaten to death for no reason.”

“But if there’s a reason, it’s okay?”

Kirk shrugged, I could tell he was trying to look
nonchalant, but his muscles were just as tense as mine. “Your choice. Do as I say;
I’ll protect you and we’ll get along just fine.”

“I don’t know whether to be offended or amused that you
don’t really want me here. I’m not a damned whore.”

“Never said you were, but things change, and sometimes you
don’t have a choice in the matter.”

“So, my new role in life is to stay chained to your bed all
day until you decide you’re horny or you want me to kneel at your feet during
dinner?” My body was shaking so hard that my voice quivered with each syllable.

“I’m trying to be patient but you’re cascading down my bad
side. You’ll do what I tell you to do,” he yelled, yanking me off of the
cushion and slamming me into the closet door. “Beyond that, stop berating me
and stop looking for a way out unless you want to learn your place the hard
way.”

I stood on my toes to keep him from ripping all of my hair
out of the top of my head. This was supposed to be the easy way to learn my
place?

He pulled harder until it felt like part of my scalp would
tear away.

“Okay.” I squeaked. “Master. I understand, please.”

He released me and I slumped against the door, sliding to
the floor as he walked away. I tried to push my hair away from my face, but as
impossible as it was, it seemed like the strands themselves hurt.

“You have anything else to say?” he asked, partially
concealed by the doorway.

I shook my head, and after he disappeared, I curled up on my
bed, pulled the blanket over my head and tried to ignore the screaming thoughts
that would only get me into more trouble.

Groomed