CHAPTER NINE
Pet
Ijolt awake, my restraintsclinking together and my whole body jerking. I’m exhausted. My throat hurts from pleading to what is likely an empty room. I don’t know how long he’s left me here like this: chained to the ceiling so that my arms are suspended above my head and my feet only touch the ground with my tiptoes, and never both feet at once. That requires too much balance. My neck and shoulders are stiff. They cramp every few minutes, and the burn in them hurts worse than the stinging of my ass after that monster spanked me again.
I have no more tears to cry, but it feels as if my soul has been ripped open, flayed, and I’m exposed. I don’t remember anything from my life before, but I know I’ve never experienced pain quite like this. I’ve never known humiliation like this because as much as I loathe this man, and I shrink away from him in fear, I also know that no one has made my body sing the way he does.
I sleep in fits and bursts. Light explodes behind my eyes, and I dream I’m free. And then I’m thrown back into this cell, this room with its bed that mocks me, its concrete floor, and its cold, clear walls that make me feel like a science experiment.
The door beeps and opens. Ares stands on the other side. I’m so tired I forget to hate him. I actually smile because his presence means he’s going to let me down—it must. But he doesn’t. He comes into the room holding a bottle of water. I don’t have the energy to be afraid. I’m too exhausted.
Ares unscrews the lid as his dark eyes roam hungrily over me. “How’s my Pet doing?”
The sharp retort on the tip of my tongue almost springs free, but I hold it back because I need that water. He lifts it to my mouth and pours. Cold liquid spills over my body, invigorating my tired flesh. He dips his head and licks a drop off my nipple, taking the sensitive flesh between his teeth and biting hard. I wince, but I make no sound. I don’t beg. I don’t plead for him to stop, or to let me go. There’s no point. Begging doesn’t work on monsters. Tears don’t either. The only things he responds to are pain, and screams, and coming.
“I asked you a question, Pet.”
“Go to hell, asshole,” I spit, but there’s no emotion behind it. I’m like an actor running lines. I say what’s written in front of me, but I don’t feel it. I don’t feel anything anymore.I’m broken. He broke me.
“What did you say?” His voice is all venom now. He tosses the water bottle at my feet, right where I can see it spill out onto the concrete floor.
“No,” I sob.
“Oh, you wanted that, huh?” He circles me like I’m his prey. His hands glide over the globes of my ass, then slide up to my shoulders and back down again. To my mortification he separates my cheeks, his fingers digging into the already bruised flesh of my ass. He lands a hard blow. I yelp, because it feels as if my skin is on fire, a pain that intensifies when Ares pulls me back against him, my tender rump rubbing on the front of his jeans. With one hand, he holds my body against his. The other, he positions in front of my mouth.
“Coat my fingers for me.”
I shake my head, keeping my lips tightly sealed.
He slaps my cheek, not hard, but the shocking violence of it is enough that my mouth gapes open. He uses the opportunity to shove his fingers inside, all the way to the back of my throat. I almost retch, but he pulls out, and I erupt into a coughing fit that causes my bruised ribs and arms to ache.
“I gave you an order, little one. What happens when you don’t do as you’re told?”
“Fuck you.”
He chuckles. “Maybe that’s just what you need. Me to fuck you into submission. Would you like that, my little whore?”
He slides his fingers between my cheeks and toys with the puckered hole. I squirm, but my senses come alive.No!I will not let him do this to me again. I will not let him use me and find pleasure in it.
I jerk forward. He pulls me back, angles my hips, and shoves his wet fingers into my ass.
It burns. The pain is unbearable. Consuming. The spanking is nothing compared to this. Humiliation burns my cheeks as he spreads his thick fingers, stretching me.
“Relax, Pet.” His gruff voice is strained with desire as he drives deeper inside. “If you let your body go with it, I think you’ll find it quite pleasurable.”
I shake my head, because I cannot speak. I can’t bear the humiliation, the base filthiness of it all.Why is he doing this to me?
His fingers slide free of my body. A sob escapes me, but then I hear the sound of his belt unbuckling, the soft shush of leather against fabric as he slides it through the loops. I start to cry. Thick, fat tears drip down my cheeks. Though I know it’s coming, Ares surprises me by lashing me with the belt across the ankles. The pain is so sharp that it feels as if my bones have been shattered. My breath catches in my throat. I’m stilted by the agony of each blow as he continues up the back of my thighs and across my bottom. When he circles me again, I think mercifully we’re done with the beating, and I let out a sigh of relief. Until he raises the belt again and slaps my breasts. I gasp. Ares is not done. Not by a long shot. He repeats all the same movements on my front as he did on my back.
“Spread your legs.”
“No,” I beg. “Please, no more, Sir. Please.”
“Spread your fucking legs.”
With shaking limbs, I comply. It puts extra strain on my shoulders and arms, and I cry out as they seize up.