Chapter 3
The buzzing had stopped.
That was the first thing I noticed, not the cold concrete beneath my body, and not the leather welded to my skin after four days of sweat and restless sleep.
Hell, not even the ache burning between my shoulder blades from being forced to hold the same posture for hours at a time.
It was…the silence.
It was wrong.
I stared at the fluorescent light overhead.
Nothing.
No uneven hum.
No irritating flicker or flashing strobe to count.
It was a steady white light.
My fingers twitched against the restraint gloves.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
Seven.
Eight.
“Again.”
One.
Two.
Three—
The lock outside my cell clicked.
I stopped breathing for a minute.
No!
Not yet.
The count wasn’t finished.
“Start over.”
One.
The deadbolt rolled back.
Two.
The handle turned.
Three.
Metal hinges groaned.
Four.
Those fucking heels struck the concrete.
Click.
Click.
Click.
They fell in a perfect rhythm, and I hated that I counted those, too.
Every god damned time.
Natalie never simply walked casually through the door. No, it was all a performance to her. Each footstep landed with the calculated precision only she had, and every pause was intentional.
“This is your punishment for being a bad dog and disobeying me. Maybe when you can count your ribs from lack of food, you will learn to be a good little bitch for me. Shame on you, Cry Baby.”
Her words echoed in my head over and over.
Four days? Was it four days?
It was hard to know how many days I had actually been stuck in the restraints.
She knew too much about me now. Even more than she had before, and now she sat beside me and mocked me.
The counting.
The symmetry.
The way unfinished patterns clawed beneath my skin until I couldn’t think about anything else.
Sometimes she’d tap the table seven times and stop, just to piss me off.
It did. Every single time she didn’t finish a sequence, I lost my mind.
Sometimes she’d knock twice…wait…then knock once more, but nothing concrete. Nothing…right.
It was wrong.
Like her.
Sometimes she’d hum the beginning of a tune and never finish it.
She wasn’t torturing my body, like her usual beatings. This taunting was far worse.
She was torturing my brain.
I heard the steel door swing open, and I couldn’t help but flinch at the sudden sound.
“Good morning, Cry Baby.”
I looked to the side with my eyes. All I could move.
Natalie stood in the doorway, wearing an ivory suit that probably cost more than the shit people at that bar were wearing.
Gold earrings caught the light when she tilted her head, studying me with the same detached interest someone might reserve for an experiment nearing completion.
Was I complete?
Then something behind her caught my attention, making me strain to try and turn my head for a better look.
Another woman.
I could smell her before I could see her clearly.
Saliva, sweat, and a fruit perfume.
She wasn’t dressed like any of Natalie’s employees. Not the usual tactical clothing, or servant-style outfit. There was no expensive business attire, either.
This girl was wearing dark jeans, black fluffy boots, and a fitted leather jacket over a charcoal blouse that looked like it was completely lace. Her auburn curls rested on her shoulders, and she carried herself with effortless confidence. She was very pretty.
She wasn’t scanning the room like Natalie.
She’d already assessed it, or maybe it was familiar to her.
She knew what was around her, as evidenced by her calm expression. She knew one other thing.
Me.
Her green eyes lingered on the restraint suit before drifting to my face, and she smiled without Natalie seeing.
It wasn’t pity like I might have expected. I was covered in my own shit and piss. Nothing new necessarily, but usually I had a bag I could use. Natalie told me it was improper to shit on myself, but the suit left me no choice. It was caked on my body, and it felt cool now, no longer warm.
The girl was staring at me with an intrigue that suggested she wasn’t bothered by my odor, unlike Natalie, whose face twisted in disgust as she complained.
“You are filthy. Really, Cry Baby, you need some manners.”
The girl winked at me, and I blinked in response.
Assessment.
That was the look!
Hmm.
Interesting.
Natalie stepped into the room and her heels resumed the clickity sound.
Click.
Click.
Click.
She stopped directly in front of me and sneered down at me like I was repulsive.
“You’ve been counting, Cry Baby. How sad. I hear you at night. So loud you cry. Poor Cry Baby. You are so disgusting.”
“I’ve been breathing, Natalie.”
“You count that too.”
I didn’t answer. She was right. The past few nights I’d been counting everything I could. The trickles dripping down my leg from the piss, the seconds it took to empty my bladder, each heartbeat. I’d stopped at one thousand five hundred and sixteen.
Her smile widened at my words.
“I replaced the light this morning and made sure it was very steady for you. Couldn’t have it flickering for you to count.”
I looked toward the ceiling before I could stop myself.
Damn it.
She was right. It was perfectly still now. I hadn’t been wrong before, and now my only means of entertainment was gone.
“I knew you’d notice.”
“Congratulations, Natalie.”
“It was beginning to comfort you, wasn’t it? Can’t have you making your punishment into something joyful.”
“Actually,” I lied. “It was annoying. So thank you.”
She laughed and crouched in front of me.
“Annoying, hmm? You were starting to rely on it.”
My jaw tightened because she wasn’t wrong, and that made me hate her even more. A small brass key appeared to flip between her perfectly manicured fingers.
“Your punishment is over, Cry Baby. However, you have work to do. I expect you to clean your filth, and when you’re done, you can clean yourself.”
She slid the key into the collar lock.
Click.
The sound echoed through the room.
One.
The collar loosened. Air finally reached my skin, which hadn’t felt it in days.
I swallowed in anger, trying to keep from head-butting her face and breaking her nose. It was too fast, and Natalie’s eyes caught the movement.
“Still anxious? Hmm, I thought you’d be happy.”
“I’ve been zippered into a leather prison.”
“You’ve also learned patience and not to disobey your master.”
I laughed without humor as my body unstuck little by little from the leather suit. “I’ve learned you enjoy wasting my time.”
A laugh escaped the woman behind her, but Natalie didn’t look back.
“Good.”
Another lock released…then another. Each buckle fell away in identical metallic clicks. I counted every single one.
Can’t stop.
Won’t stop.
By the time the final restraint dropped to the floor, my shoulders screamed as I rolled them backward.
One rotation.
Two.
Three.
No.
Four.
Better.
The strange woman noticed each inhalation and her eyes followed my naked body as I moved and freed myself little by little from the leather and the tightness of my muscles.
Natalie rose to her feet, and I got to shaky, unused legs.
“Cry Baby.”
I looked at her expectantly, pulling back in case she intended to knock me back down.
“You are truly disgusting. Get cleaned up. Oh, and before you go?”
I waited, the smell of my own excrement making my eyes water. It was worse now that I was no longer restrained.
“This is Melodie.”
The woman blinked in her soft, sensual way as a greeting.
“Nice to finally meet you, Cry Baby. We’re gonna have fun.”
“Should I know you?”
“Nope.”
Her smile was easy, and her gum popped in her mouth as she eyed my cock openly.
“I know enough about you, baby boy.”
“If that info is from Natalie, then I doubt that.”
She giggled and twirled her gum in her mouth. “I know you count everything and cry a lot. And you’re a cute little virgin.”
My expression betrayed me, and she caught it instantly.
“I know loud environments overwhelm you for the first few minutes,” she continued.
Strike two.
“I know you avoid eye contact when you’re lying.”
Strike three.
She folded her arms, and now her smile felt uncomfortable.
“Oh! And I know you hate being looked at for the snack you are.” Natalie looked positively delighted, and she petted the girl’s head.
How old was this person? She seemed to be around my age, but there was something almost childlike about her.
“See? I told you, didn’t I?”
I looked between them, trying to understand this strange interaction, while also subtly covering my dick.
“What exactly is this?”
Natalie circled me slowly, pushing my hands away from my body with her talons.
“You’ve become competent enough.”
“I’m touched,” I snorted.
“I didn’t say exceptional.”
She stopped beside me and lifted my chin with those same spikey nails.
“You can fight.”
A step beside me.
“You can survive.”
Another behind me.
“You can improvise.”
She came to a stop directly in front of me again.
“But you cannot influence people. You can’t seduce our clients and lure our property.”
“I don’t need to,” I stated stubbornly. What the fuck was she on about?
“You do now, Cry Baby. You have been such a good tool, but you’ve aged out of being useful to our clients. Now I see that your true potential as my loyal dog is to hunt. You will need better skills if you hope to succeed.”
She held my gaze and continued in a menacing manner. “You know how to win with force, but…”
She paused, then smiled with so much evil that I felt my skin crawl.
“I need you to win with your body, your words. Weave a tale that is too powerful to refuse. I need you to become the best.”
I frowned.
“I don’t follow, Natalie…”
“People reveal themselves when they feel understood and trust you. What better way to earn someone’s trust than to welcome them into your bed?”
Melodie spoke up and it caught me off guard even more. Her voice was lyrical, adding to that childlike persona. Was it an act?
“They’ll hand you every secret they own if you make them believe you’re the only person who’s ever truly seen them.”
Natalie nodded in agreement.
“And how well you can bring their fantasies to life. People are sick. The dirty stuff they want is the way to get their trust. Give them a taste.”
“Exactly.”
Natalie turned toward me.
“Charm. Poise. Education. And master of seduction.”
Another circling step around me, her nails trailing my sensitive skin, leaving bloody welts in her wake.
“Presence.”
Another step.
“Conversation.”
Her voice remained calm but her eyes were sexed up and I knew she was soaked under that suit. My dick twitched, and those eyes lit up even more.
“Those are your new weapons, Cry Baby.”
I crossed my arms, trying mentally to scold my penis to stop the reaction.
“And what? This girl is supposed to teach me to trick men by…fucking them?”
“Yes.”
“Why her?”
Natalie smiled.
“Because she understands desire better than almost anyone I’ve ever met.”
Melodie rolled her eyes but couldn’t hide the pleased smile.
“I understand people. They’re so often exactly the same thing, just different faces. Every loyal married man will break his vows for the right kink unveiled. There is no such thing as a true no.”
Silence settled over the room and I swallowed thickly.
Finally, Natalie spoke, and the sound made me flinch.
“Tonight you’ll accompany Melodie into the city and begin your training.”
“Doing what?”
“Watching. And learning. I expect results, Cry Baby. I fear I love you too much simply to dispose of you.”
Love.
Ha.
“You’ll be starting slow, but I know with how hot you are that you will attract the right people, even if you’re a dumbass.”
Natalie laughed and continued. “Learning from the best will have my company swimming in clients and packages. You will attract both sexes. They require different approaches that Melodie will teach you. Women are useful for trade, but they need more coaxing to get them alone. I usually don’t fuss with that headache, but my partner seems to think we need to expand.
Men will be your objective, Cry Baby. I don’t want you touching women. Leave that to Melodie. Understood?”
I narrowed my eyes.
“What if I fail?”
Natalie’s gaze drifted to the discarded restraint suit pooled at my feet, and shrugged.
“You already know the answer.”
I did.
The leather suddenly looked less like clothing…and every bit like the prison I had been in for days.
“You need to bathe, Cry Baby. Melodie, attend to him. You can get acquainted.”
My dick didn’t move for women who weren’t my Mistress.
I didn’t know what she expected, but I knew that the sooner I realized that this new way of living was essential to my freedom from restraint, the better.