Marriage (16 page)

He pushed his chair back from the desk and wagged a finger at her. “Remove your blouse.”

With trembling fingers she unbuttoned the blouse and slid it from her shoulders. She placed the blouse on the floor next to her skirt. Frederick nodded. “Ah, yes, you do have lovely breasts, Mrs. Ryan.” From the desk drawer he took a pair of very long black vinyl gloves, which he handed to her. “Put these on. I want you to be naked except for the gloves and heels.” The shiny stretch gloves reached almost to her shoulders.

Gruber turned to his nephew, “You were right, Frederick. The black shoes and gloves are not only an interesting contrast to her white skin, but when she comes to you it’s much easier to imagine her as a pet.”

Frederick smiled, “Yes, uncle, that’s exactly what I had in mind.” From a desk drawer, he took a plastic bottle, which he shoved across the desk toward her. “Stand up, Mrs. Ryan, and take this container. In it is an oil especially prepared for you by my uncle.” He smiled at Gruber. “I want you to rub it all over yourself until your body shines.”

Kathy poured the sweet scented oil into her gloved hands and did as he ordered. The oil had in it something that warmed her skin and made it tingle. The effect combined with the odor aroused her. Under the soft light, her white skin glistened. Frederick crooked a finger at her, “Come.” She hesitated, then got down on her knees and crawled to him. She kneeled before him, her legs folded under her, her buttocks resting on back of the heels, her arms straight, her gloved hands flat on the floor beside her knees. She bowed her head. Both men looked down at her for several minutes.

Gruber shook his head and sighed, “Ah, yes, she’s the perfect submissive. I believe, Frederick, that our Mrs. Ryan instinctively senses what she needs to do, how she is to appear, how she is to move, the position she is to assume when on her knees before her master.” Despairing, Kathy realized that Frederick had not ordered her to crawl. She had just done it as if it were the natural way to approach to him. And kneeling, naked, before him with her head bowed, that, too, seemed somehow right. When he ordered her to come to him, she hadn’t even considered standing and walking. Perhaps Gruber was correct. Her crawling, her kneeling, the bowing of her head were instinctive. For a moment she felt as if she were spiraling down a dark hole.

Frederick’s hand rested on the arm of the chair palm down. “Whimper,” he said.” She made a sound like a dog’s whimper. He turned his hand over. “Look up at me.” He nodded toward his upturned hand. “I’m sure you know what to do,” he said. She inched forward. Still on her hands and knees, she lifted her head and licked his hand. It was smooth, cold, and waxy. It felt, she thought, the way the hand of a dead man must feel. Frederick glanced at his uncle who raised his eyebrows and smiled. Frederick pointed toward the floor. “Now, Mrs. Ryan, kiss the tip of my shoe.” Kathy bent over until her lips touched his shoe. Looking down at her he said, “Yes, in time you will perform that little act of subservience automatically. Now, sit on your haunches as you were before, but don’t take your eyes from my face.” She sat back on her heels with her fingertips touching the floor in front of her. She stared up at his cadaverous face pitted with the reddish yellow sores.

Without turning his head, Frederick spoke to his uncle, “The oil becomes her, don’t you think?”

“Yes,” Gruber nodded, “her splendid body absolutely glows. I imagine she’s sexually stimulated. Are you, Mrs. Ryan? Has the oil stimulated you?”

Kathy’s breath had quickened and her long nipples swelled, “It has, Doctor.”

Frederick continued to stare down at her, “Uncle has created a scent for the oil that is not only pleasing to us, but it also excites the dogs. The women who have taught them how to fuck are made to wear in all the time. The dogs have learned to associate the smell with sexual release.” He patted her head again. “Even before you appear, they will know you are there and why you have come.”

Kathy bowed her head trying hard to close her mind to the things they were saying. Frederick stamped his foot again. She looked up at him.

Doctor Gruber leaned forward, “I believe, Mrs. Ryan, you may have developed some feeling for my nephew,” he chided. “Do you like what you see?”

She thought to herself that she did feel something for him, absolute disgust. It occurred to her she might even feel some pity for the impotent, ugly, deranged poor excuse for a man. His small bright eyes bore into her as if they were reading her thoughts. She felt a tremor go through her body and the cold knotting of fear in her stomach. She swallowed hard, “Yes, Doctor, I...I...have developed a feeling...”

Frederick sneered at her, “You’re lying because you’re afraid. But soon you will mean it. You will feel blessed to be just as you are now, at my side gazing with adoration at my face.” He leaned down toward her. “I’ve not quite finished describing what your life will be like here, in our happy home. I mean the daily life you will lead with your companion, Negra.”

“Please, no more,” Kathy pleaded.

“But you’re wet, Mrs. Ryan. We can see how wet you are.” He placed a finger on her lower lip. “Open,” he said. She parted her lips. He slid his finger into her mouth. His fingernail was long, the skin smooth and lifeless. She felt as if she might vomit. He glared down at her. “Suck it, bitch. Suck it like you love it!” She moved her tongue around and over his finger and sucked. He made her suck for several minutes. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. He withdrew his finger and sat back observing her. “Yes, Mrs. Ryan, in time you will be a most obedient pet, my devoted obedient pet.” He patted her head. “Shall I continue?”

She wiped away her tears and shook her head, “No, please...I’ve heard enough.”

Ignoring her, he went on, “You will move your mattress next to the wire enclosure that separates you from Negra so you can be close to him. You will beg your handlers to permit you to enter his cage. But they won’t. However, when the dog wants you, he will have you. He’ll fuck you until he’s tired. The choice will always be his and you will never object. You will learn to acknowledge the dog as your master. You will find yourself wanting him...wanting him constantly. You will please him as you would wish to please me.”

Doctor Gruber nodded, “At other times, Mrs. Ryan, you will serve as Frederick’s traveling companion. You will have an expensive wardrobe, exquisite jewelry, and servants to attend you. Occasionally, these vacations will include a visit to one of the inner circle members where you will be expected to perform and quite anxious to do so.”

When he finished, Kathy was trembling and sobbing. The two men waited for several minutes until she regained some composure. Doctor Gruber spoke, “We will do our best to break your spirit, Mrs. Ryan.” he said. “What Frederick has just described is not the fantasy of an inventive mind. It’s what your life will become if we succeed.” He paused, “It is possible, although not likely, that after three months, we will not have succeeded. In that case, you and your sister-in-law will be flown to Japan and enter the service of Mr. Satomi for the duration of your contract.” He waved toward her chair indicating that she should return to it.

She turned fully intending to stand, but she glanced at Frederick. He shook his head. “Yes,” she whispered, “I understand.” She crawled back to the chair. When she was seated and without being told, she moved to the edge and spread her legs for them. “May I ask a question,” she said.

“Yes, certainly.”

“If, toward the end of the three months, you haven’t broken my spirit, if somehow I’ve managed to still be me, will you then use drugs to...to destroy my will?”

Before answering, Gruber glanced at his nephew, then turned back to Kathy, “As I’ve told you, I’m sure our methods will succeed where the Facility has failed. However, in all honesty, I can’t promise anything about the drugs.”

Kathy felt certain if she were winning at the end of the ninety days, he would drug her as well. She would become as mindless as Jamie and Negra. She looked directly at him, defiantly, “I’ll marry Abul,” she said.

Gruber sat back in his chair. “I’m sorry you elected to make the cowardly choice, Mrs. Ryan. I repeat, the marriage will be legal, a formal wedding, all the papers in order. You will be the wife of Abul until death do you part. Your marriage to him will be sanctioned by both the state and the church.”

Kathy felt the room spin and thought she might faint. “Why?” she managed to whisper. “I passed the trial at the Facility. Why is Satomi doing this?”

“Mr. Satomi feels you need to be punished for trying to escape. Abul despises you, therefore, your punishment will be assured. Abul is not to scar, cripple, or kill you. Otherwise he is free to do whatever he wishes. In addition, your marriage to Abul will make him an American citizen. It is something both he and Mr. Satomi desire.”

“But I was to be given to Mr. Satomi,” Kathy argued.

“Yes, that is true. Since you belong to Mr. Satomi, he can do what he wants with you. I suspect if you become the loving and submissive wife of Abul, your real master might send for you. He has a considerable investment in you. But even if you manage to escape from Abul’s immediate control, you will still be married to him. Should Mr. Satomi relent and permit you to fulfill the terms of your contract in his company, you will, after, becoming free and returning to your home, be the wife of Abul. He will never give you a divorce. Of that, I am certain.

“The wife of Abul,” Kathy said to herself, “or the mindless trophy of Doctor Gruber and the pet of his nephew.”

“There’s the possibility that you will win our contest just as you won at the trial,” Gruber said.

“I don’t trust you,” Kathy leaned toward him. “I don’t trust that you won’t go back on your word about using drugs.” She waited for him to respond. When he said nothing, she sat back balling her hands into tight fists, “I choose to become Abul’s wife,” she said.

“Uncle!” Frederick shouted, “I was to have her. You promised.”

Doctor Gruber leaned across the desk, his eyes hard. “I want very much to give you as a gift to my nephew,” he said evenly. Sitting back, he sighed, “You no doubt haven’t realized it yet, but as the wife of Abul you will not live very long. His hatred toward you is monumental. He won’t dare to kill you, but...”

“He’ll make life so terrible that I’ll do it myself,” Kathy answered.

“I think that is the way things will turn out for you, Mrs. Ryan. Far better to take your chances with us.”

Kathy looked into his cold grey eyes, then across at the ugly pockmarked face of his nephew. “I’ll marry Abul,” she said softly.

“Damn you! Damn you to Hell,” Frederick hissed.

“Very well,” Gruber frowned. “I must tell you this. Unless you can persuade Abul to marry you, and do it quickly, Mr. Satomi intends to give you to us anyway. There would be no options.”

“Do you mean...”

“Exactly, Mrs. Ryan. Abul hates you so much he might prefer to see you become what Frederick and I will turn you into rather than take you as his wife.”

Kathy wanted to scream. Instead, she again looked directly at Gruber, her hands tightly gripping the chair, “You mean I must convince the murderer of my husband to take me as his wife?”

“Yes, Mrs. Ryan, be prepared to use your considerable charm, your lovely body, and then to beg. From you Abul will be looking for humiliation...abject humiliation.”

“If Abul refuses to marry me, you said...”

He cut her off, “You are ours, Mrs. Ryan. You will become a docile plaything for the amusement of my friends and a bitch for their dogs. Of course, I will give you to Frederick. When you are not entertaining at parties or acting as Frederick’s lovely companion, you will live in a cage, lap your food from a bowl, and be fucked by Negra, an activity you will one day beg for.” Kathy bowed her head and felt a shudder wrack her body. “Your future, my dear, rests entirely with Abul.”

The next afternoon, one of Satomi’s jets took off from the small Rhinebeck Airport. In the back of the tastefully appointed cabin, Mi Jong and Miko had joined Kathy once more.

Chapter Seven
– Miss Kim

The flight back to Pittsburgh took slightly more than two hours. The ugly Asian women spoke to each other in their native language, occasionally glancing at Kathy and suppressing smiles. As the jet began its descent, Miko handed Kathy an envelope. “Instructions from Abul,” she said.

He had used her computer and her embossed stationary. She read:
“I will not be at the house when you arrive. Changes have been made. A young woman I have known in the past has come to live there. She is from Vietnam. You will address her as Miss Kim. I have placed her in charge of the household. You are to defer to her in all matters. You are to obey her as you would me. Do not hesitate. Do not protest. If you fail to do exactly as she orders or fail to show her absolute respect, you will be sent back to the Doctor and his nephew immediately. These are Mr. Satomi’s rules and you must obey them.”
The note was unsigned.

So, Kathy thought, she was to have two masters. It was bad enough having to submit to the hated Abul in her own house. Now, this Miss Kim had been put in charge of the household. Good God, this was her house, hers and Jeff’s. They had approved the plans, watched it being built, planted the shrubs and flowerbeds. Before they were married they’d bought the furniture. After their wonderful wedding celebration, they had come back to the house and made love in the big four-poster bed. Most remarkably, they were both virgins. Now, these horrible strangers had taken possession of her home. Now, the filthy animal, Abul, and probably his mistress slept in her bed. Impossible! However, the new addition might prove to be a blessing. Certainly Abul was fond of the woman or he wouldn’t have asked Mr. Satomi to send for her. In that case, perhaps Abul would spend most of his time with this Kim person.