6. Toro
6
Toro
Now I’ve shoved my foot in my mouth. My gaze flicks back to Kitty in shock. She stands unmoving, staring at the message she just read to me. Her hair curtains over half of her face, making it difficult for me to tell how she reacts to the outrageous dare.
I tell the fucker off. “Leave her out of it. This is between you and me, Fox.”
“Kitty has been naughty,” Kitty reads Fox’s reply. “Did she think I wouldn’t catch her Trojan horse?”
Kitty’s lips flatten into a red line, and she glances at me before her eyes land on the punishment horse. Shit, this isn’t how I thought this damn game would turn out. I don’t care about humiliating or even hurting myself, but I’m not doing that to someone else, especially a woman.
“Anything she did is on me because she works for me,” I tell Fox. “If you want to punish anyone, then punish me!”
The timer keeps counting down for a few long minutes while we wait for an answer. It’s almost down to five minutes again when Kitty makes her way to me.
“It’s okay.”
“No,” I tell her shortly. “I know where we are right now, punishment may be a game. But we’re not playing that shit. Not under duress.”
She places a warm, assuring hand on my chest, while keeping her feline sharp eyes steady on mine.
“I’ll be fine. I trust you.”
Without waiting for my response, she takes off her long leather coat and throws it over a nearby cage, revealing the black sheer body suit she has on underneath. A black lacy bra and G-string set that fit her like a glove. The outfit doesn’t hide much of the curve of her hips, the globes of her high ass, nor the firmness of her abs.
Damn!
That’s what she’s hiding under that sexy leather coat? I can’t believe my eyes. This is definitely not the Kate Bishop from three years ago. Kate was cute, funny, and smart, maybe a bit green. But Kitty is confident, fearless, and sexy as fuck. I should be protesting harder and defying Fox’s grotesque dare. Instead, I’m entranced by the beautiful view she just uncovered. How can I be drooling at this moment?
Ping! Kitty and I simultaneously turn our head to the laptop.
“I’ve set the auto read,” she explains when I’m about to check it.
An Artificial Intelligence voice reads, “Too easy. Change of dynamic. Kitty, you look like you have a dominatrix streak in you. Let’s test out if our big, tough Toro will submit to your will. Strap him up!”
My internal alarm blares in full steam, shocking me in its intensity. Panic threatens to take over as my heart pumps harder and sweat beads from my pores. The air becomes dank with a smell of piss, blood and sweat. Screams fill my ears while pain slices through my skin.
“You’re changing the game now, Fox?” Kitty’s voice breaks through my panic haze.
As I fight to stay in the present, Kitty has positioned herself in front of me, talking in the general direction of the camera.
Get it together, man!
I thought I’d gotten over this bullshit. This isn’t the time to relive a nightmare, but it looks like I’ll have to.
“Top the timer with an additional fifteen minutes, then we’ll talk about strapping someone up,” Kitty challenges. “It’s in your best interest. Oracle won’t be able to deliver five hundred million in the next five minutes. Don’t you want your money?”
“Miss Kitty, I don’t think you have any leverage to bargain with,” Fox replies.
“You may call me Mistress Kat now.” Kitty cajoles as she strolls to a set of hooks on the wall and selects a riding crop from a selection of whips and other hand-held punishment toys. “You don’t really want the hassle having to identify Wonderland’s clients before you get your money. Fifteen minutes is a fair re-start time, or we can’t play to earn the rest of our time back.
“You don’t want to lose before the actual game really starts, do you? Because if you release even one video, I will track you down.” She walks back into the view of the camera, slapping the end of the crop on her left hand. The coaxing tone deepens into a menacing one as she continues, “There’s not a single crevice in the dark web where you can hide. Then I’ll send Toro after you, and he’ll tear you limb from limb.”
The fine hair on my neck stands on end at Kitty’s words, coupled with her persona as she delivers them. She may have just saved our asses.
The sound of a laughing fox fills the room a few seconds later. “I was right. You have a sadistic streak in you, Mistress Kat. I like you. Your demand is granted.”
Fifteen minutes is added to the timer, giving our current total time to a mere eighteen minutes.
Eighteen minutes to the possibility that I fail to protect Núria.