Chapter 35 Colette
When Rossi was distracted with his headset, I motioned I was going to the bathroom and he had no reason not to believe me. I’d been honest so far and they didn’t know to look for anything out of the ordinary from me.
Any information Ian might have about what happened to my brother would be in the file room.
I’d snagged the key earlier during my tantrum and put it into the drawer with ease. Staying under the radar of two watchful men was going to be the more difficult proposition.
The drawer slid open without a sound. The file with Andrew Simpson’s name written across it was right there in front of me. I pulled it out and looked at it, shivering.
I wanted to know. I didn’t want to know. Seesawing between the two emotions took a lot out of me.
I held the folder in my shaking hands. Who would’ve thought that one file could be held in something so thin? Knowing what happened would alter my life just as effectively as Andy’s death did. A deep breath centered me in the moment.
I might not want to know now, but I needed to know.
I opened the file I’d waited two months to get my hands on and began to read like it was the greatest novel ever published. I devoured every word.
There were all of Andy’s movements for the six months before his death. So it was true. Ian had known where Andy was and what he was doing. There were handwritten notes commenting on different things, as if a private eye had been following him around.
I scanned down the page for anything that stood out or was different from the rest of his life.
Heather Kelly was listed as his girlfriend.
The air was knocked from my lungs. There had been a girlfriend that I knew nothing about.
Was there anything else that I didn’t know about my brother? Had he had an entire life that I knew nothing about? He was gone, but everything was laid out in this file.
There were the names of his parents and how they died. The different foster homes that he’d lived in. If Ian knew all this information, did he know who killed Andy? I flipped through the file searching.
Suddenly, something in the room felt different and alerted me I wasn’t alone.
I turned to find him standing there, watching me. He knew I wasn’t there for work stuff. There wasn’t a good reason for me to be in this room. I’d been caught red-handed.
“This is exactly what it looks like.”
I jutted my chin out, ready to defend my position. Trust may have been broken, but I’d needed to do this. I hated explaining myself, but I thought he might give me an opportunity before he tossed me out. Though with Ian Holdt, nothing was certain.
“Then you need to come with me.”
He took the file from my hand and returned it to its place in the drawer. “Key?”
Reluctantly, I handed it back to him.
“Satisfied?”
I tilted my chin up, keeping defiant. The flat expression and the anger in his eyes made me nervous..
“No, I’m not.”
He grabbed my arm and literally dragged me to the elevator. “You’re going to tell me why you were in that room and what other files you got into.”
Rossi followed behind to make sure that I didn’t try to escape.
“If you tell me the truth, then I’ll go easier on you, but that choice is yours. I don’t like corporate spies.”
What?
Then we were in a room I hadn’t been in yet. An X cross stood against one wall, and a rack was full of objects I didn't get a close look at.
“What are...”
I didn’t get a chance to finish the sentence.
Ian roughly shoved the ball gag into my mouth, silencing my protests as he secured it tightly behind my head. He spun me around and slammed my front against the cold, hard wood of the cross.
"Don't struggle," he snarled, his eyes flashing with barely contained rage as he began restraining my wrists and ankles to the beams with rough rope. "You brought this on yourself by lying to me. Betraying my trust."
I whimpered behind the gag, my heart pounding in my ears. I had never seen Ian this furious before, his handsome features twisted into a scowl of pure anger directed solely at me. Sheer terror coursed through my veins, making me tremble. What was he going to do to me?
Helpless for real was terrifying.
The coarse fibers of the ropes bit into my skin as I instinctively pulled against them, testing my bonds. But I was utterly trapped, the cross holding me spread-eagled and vulnerable, completely at Ian's nonexistent mercy. All I could do was breathe harshly through my nose, drool already beginning to leak around the rubber ball filling my mouth.
My skirt and blouse provided little protection or modesty as Ian's burning gaze raked over my restrained body possessively. I shivered, goosebumps erupting across my skin, both from the cool air and my own rising dread...and unwanted arousal at being so powerless before him. I hated that some twisted part of me got turned on by this, even as I was terrified of his retribution.
I should have told him about Andy. I’d tell him as soon as the gag was out.
"Hard to use a safe word when you can't talk, isn't it?" he sneered, the venom in his voice making my stomach clench in fear and arousal. His hands were a blur of motion, groping my breasts roughly, squeezing and twisting my hardened nipples. Pain and pleasure mingled as he pinched them relentlessly. My hips bucked against the cross, seeking relief, but only finding more frustration and hot, aching need.
His hands continued their merciless exploration, leaving no inch of my exposed body untouched. I felt like a piece of meat, a plaything for his sadistic amusement. His strong hands kneaded my stomach, fingers digging into the soft flesh as my abs clenched under his ministrations. Heat pooled between my thighs, my damp panties betraying my growing arousal. I was mortified that my body could betray me this way.
Ian's groping fingers trailed lower, reaching for the lace that barely concealed my arousal. He ripped the flimsy fabric of my panties away with a harsh growl. My already aching core was now on full display, swollen and dripping for him. His calloused fingers teased my entrance before sliding inside me, curling inside me with a practiced ease.
He found my most sensitive spot, the one that made my world explode into a kaleidoscope of color and sensation. My mind screamed at my body to stop, but my hips arched into his invasive touch, silently begging for more. Stars flashed behind my closed lids as he relentlessly stroked his fingers in and out, delving deep within me.
He chuckled darkly, seeming to sense my inner turmoil. "You like it, don't you, you conniving bitch?"
His words only fueled the fire within me, driving me closer to the edge of oblivion. I moaned, the sound muffled by the gag, my canines digging into the ball as he brought me to the brink of ecstasy. My fists clenched and unclenched as my entire body tensed, desperate for the release I both craved and despised.
But just as I teetered on the precipice, he stopped.
"I'm going to try something new, little spy," he whispered in my ear, his voice laced with both menace and desire. "I’m going to take this out of your hide."
With that, he withdrew his hand. I heard something rattle, as if he’d opened the door to the small refrigerator in the office.
My heart pounded in my ears, drowning out all other sounds. The gag in my mouth made it difficult to breathe and panic welled up within me. I thrashed against my restraints, arching my back and screaming as loudly as I could but to no avail.
The cold metal pressed against my swollen, throbbing clitoris, sending a shiver down my spine. "This is for lying to me," he hissed, and then the world exploded into a cacophony of pain as he brought the ice-cold spoon down on my sensitive nub. I screamed, bucking against the restraints, desperate to escape the unbearable sensation.
This went on for what seemed like an eternity. The spoon, ice-cold and menacing, dancing a sick tango on my most tender parts. I felt myself teetering on the edge of orgasm once more, but the pain was too much, too overwhelming to ignore.
"Please," I sobbed, defeated. "Please, just finish it."
He laughed, and the spoon was gone.
I shivered. When he touched me. Ian's hands were like fire, searing my skin. His fingers trailed up my inner thighs, avoiding the most sensitive spots, teasing me with the barest of touches. I whimpered again, my hips involuntarily trying to buck towards him in silent pleading for more.
He chuckled cruelly. "You're already wet for me, aren't you slut?" His voice was low, almost a growl, as he stroked a finger across my opening.
I wanted to die from the humiliation as my body responded to his rough caress, arousal pooling within me. Tears of shame and frustration spilled down my cheeks, mingling with the perspiration that had already begun to form on my forehead.
His fingers grazed my swollen folds again. I gasped into the gag, my muscles clenching in anticipation. He chuckled, his fingertips circling my clit, but never quite touching it. The torture was unbearable.
"Beg me," he hissed in my ear, his hot breath fanning against my neck. "Beg me to make you come, little spy."
I shook my head violently, refusing to give him the satisfaction. His fingers dipped lower, inserting one finger inside of me, curling it in a way that made my toes curl. He knew my most sensitive spots, these places that made me melt into a puddle of goo in his arms. Today, however, they only served to remind me of what I was missing, of what could have been.
"Beg me!" he roared, his voice thundering in the small space. The force of his words made my body arch involuntarily, my hips rocking against his invading finger.
"Please," I whimpered, the word muffled by the gag.
"No." He withdrew his finger, leaving me feeling empty and abandoned. The sound of a belt being undone and leather sliding against itself filled the room. I trembled, my body breaking out in goosebumps.
"Lesson one, Collette, I demand loyalty. You’ve failed that test," he sneered.
The first strike of the belt across my ass came as a complete shock. I screamed into the gag, my whole body convulsing from the pain. The next one fell immediately after, and then another, and another. I lost count of the number of times the belt lashed at my already-sore rear, but it felt like an eternity.
Tears streamed down my face, mingling with the droplets of sweat that had formed on my forehead. The smack of leather against skin echoed in the room, its tempo matching the frenzied beat of my heart.
"Ian, please!" I wailed, the words muffled by the gag.
But he didn't listen. The belt came down again and again, until my buttocks were on fire, a throbbing, pulsing mass of agony. When at last the punishment stopped, I sobbed, my entire body shaking with the force of my cries.
"This lesson you 'll remember," he growled.
I could only whimper in response, my bottom smarting and raw. It stung so bad that the air itself felt like needles against my skin. I lay there, panting and trembling, waiting for the pain to subside.
His cold hands gripped my hips, flipping me onto my stomach. I gasped as my sore cheeks were pressed against cool skin, the pain searing through me anew.
"Blood makes really good lube," he said, his voice devoid of any emotion. My heart raced. Surely, he wouldn't?
The anticipation was agony itself. I tensed, waiting for the moment when he would tear my virginity apart. Instead, I felt cool liquid touch my asshole. Relief washed over me.
"Just a little something to loosen you up," he said coldly, ignoring my attempt to squirm awayt.
With one swift motion, he plunged two fingers inside my ass, stretching me unbearably wide. I screamed into the gag, my already abused bottom clenching against him.
"Clench away, Collette," he whispered in my ear, his breath hot on my skin. "I like it."
His fingers withdrew, and a moment later, I felt the cool glass of a sex toy press against my ass. It was thicker than his fingers, and my entire body tensed in anticipation of more pain.
"Scream for me, Collette," he commanded, as he began to push the intruder inside me. "Scream and maybe I'll make this easier for you."
The toy stretched me wider than anything else had, and the first few inches were agony incarnate. I squeezed my eyes shut.
He twisted the toy inside me, and white-hot agony tore through me, starting at the very core of my being and radiating outwards. I couldn't hold it in any longer.
I screamed.
To my utter relief, he stopped moving the toy inside me. My panting filled the otherwise silent room, interspersed with the sound of our mingled breaths. My entire body trembled, both from pain and from the overpowering need for release that raged within me.
"Very good, spy," he purred, his voice laced with satisfaction. He reached down to caress my clit, and a moan escaped my lips before I could stop it.
"Please," I gasped out, the word not understandable..
He chuckled, and the sound sent chills down my spine. "That's better."
He removed the glass toy, and I whimpered as he invaded my ass without any more preparation. His manhood felt even thicker and harder than the toys, and the stretching sensation was nearly unbearable. He moved in and out of me with a relentless rhythm, angling his hips as he reached around to stroke my clit..
I arched my back, my fingers clenching in the restraints as wave after wave of pain and ecstasy crashed over me. I didn't understand how I could feel both such agony and such exquisite pleasure at the same time. This was a first for me.
With one final, forceful thrust, he came inside me, his whole body shuddering with the force of his release. The hot rush of his seed inside me was the last thing I felt before I too plunged over the edge, my orgasm tearing through me like a freight train.
“Now explain yourself, bitch.”
Ian unbuckled the gag.
“Andrew was my brother, you asshole.”
I screamed in his face. A massive weight lifted off my shoulders at the confession. I missed my brother and I hated denying my connection to him. “You were the last place anyone saw him, and I came here to find out what happened. I need the truth.” I glared at Ian and dropped back into the chair again, exhausted. The emotional roller coaster was calming down, making me crash.
Ian’s face drained of color.
“I failed him,”
he whispered. He walked out of the room, leaving me still restrained.
That wasn’t the reaction that I’d expected. I didn’t know what I would get, but I had hoped it would be something definite. Answers of some kind, not more confusion and more questions.
I stared up at the door, body aching.
Why did he think that he’d failed Andy?
I’d been the one to fail my brother. I had let him down because I’d stopped communicating on a regular basis. If I had continued to call him weekly or answer when he called me, then I might have known he had a girlfriend named Heather.
If I was a better sister, then…
The guilt and pain could go on forever. I just needed to face facts that I could have done more. I was doing more now by trying to find out what was going on.
Once I got loose, I’d leave. I shook my head. I was trying to make excuses for him. He didn’t need help in that department; he was crazy enough all on his own. Trauma could affect people for years later, but he had to find a way to work through things without taking it out on me.
Ian came back in and shut the door behind him. I mustered a glare, despite still being naked and tied up.
“Andrew was my best friend, and I got him killed. There, now you know.”
His arms were thrown out at the side of his body in a ‘there you go.’
Those were the last words I’d ever expected to hear coming from Ian.