She shrugged again. “I don’t know.”
“And you let her?”
“I lethim.” She lolled her head back, squirming her hips. “I’m scared of needles. Like really scared.”
“He knew that?”
“He knew. That’s why it was such a big deal. That’s why she pushed it so hard.”
I wrapped my arm around her, across her breasts. “Tell me.”
“They were drunk on Prosecco, so was I. Cynthia brought out the piercing kit, the needles and the rings, and I freaked out like a baby. It wasn’t my finest hour, Andy. It was embarrassing.”
I battled the rage, focussed on her soft, sweet pussy against my fingers. “What happened?”
“They called me a baby, of course. Laughed at me. Vincent told me to stop disobeying, gave me all thegive yourself to me, pretty bird, be my beautiful magpieshit.”
“And you did?”
“I cried, and I lay down after they talked me into it for ages on end, then freaked out and started shaking. But good old Cynthia had it covered. She took my wrists, sat on them, told me to stop being a spoiled little brat.”
“What did Vincent do?” I fought to keep my voice calm.
She let out a low laugh, a horrible sound. “He pinned my thighs with his knees, held me steady with his weight. I couldn’t have squirmed out of there if I’d have tried, and I did try, believe me.”
“And he pierced you?”
“No. Not then. That would have been too barbaric, even for Vincent.” She sighed. “He tutted, and disapproved, and said I was giving into fear, and true submission means fronting up to whatever scares us. He was a convincing talker, as you might expect.”
“He’s a sick fuck,” I snarled, then forced it back. I stilled my fingers. “Do you want me to stop? I can stop.”
She shook her head. “No… please don’t…” She whimpered as I pinched her clit, then arched her back as I resumed my rhythm. “He made me tell him that I wanted it.”
“So you told him?”
“Yes, I told him.I was shaking, and I felt sick, and I had tears all down my face, but I told him, and part of me even believed it.”
“And he did it?”
“He asked Cynthiahowto do it. They rubbed me down with alcohol, and pinched me with forceps until I squealed. Cynthia said it was easy, that it should be fast and clean, one thick needle straight through.”
“Vincent did it?”
“He was about to, and then I could hear it in her voice, this nasty little giggle. She said itshouldbe fast, unless he wanted to make it slow. Slow and sweet, she said, a beautiful pain for his beautiful bird. Oh God, Andy, I was terrified.”
“Jesus, Faye.” My fingers stopped moving until she wriggled against them.
“Please don’t stop.”
“Sorry.”
“He made it slow, really slow, and it hurt. It hurt really bad, even worse than I’d expected. He pushed it through so slowly that I howled, and I cried until I choked, and again they called me a baby. Putting the ring in was easy, it was the needle that hurt. He was so pleased with himself.Beautiful,he said,how beautiful you look, my perfect bird.”
“And then?”
“And then he did the other.”
A tear spilled, just one lonely tear, and it twisted me up. I held her so tight, and her hands moved from her thighs, back around my waist, and she pressed her face to my neck, and it was so fucking intimate that I could hardly fucking breathe.