Chapter 5
Chapter
Five
“You doing things the easy way or the hard way today, one three nine?” Adrian asked as he strolled down the central corridor and stopped outside her cell.
Emma glared at him.
Nathan’s words ran through her mind. Do things the easy way, avoid pain wherever possible, be smart, and aim to win the war, not the battle. But that was easy for him to say. He wasn't the one sitting naked in a cage surrounded by women who were also prisoners as they all waited to be sold.
Other than giving her a few pretty words, he hadn't really done anything to help her.
If he wanted to, she was sure he could find a way to get her out.
Yet he hadn't done that. He’d made her strip, then walked her back to her cage and walked away without a second glance, like she meant absolutely nothing to him.
Of course, you mean nothing to him.
The whispered reminder was exactly what she needed.
She got what he was doing there. He was the good guy while the others were the bad guys.
They were trying to mess with her head, break her down, and confuse her so she didn't know who to trust and what to think, so in the end, she was easier to break.
No.
She wasn't breaking.
Refusing to glance away from Adrian’s gaze, she let him read in her whatever he wanted, but she just couldn’t obey mindlessly no matter how many times Nathan’s warnings ran through her mind, no matter how much she understood the wisdom behind his words.
Apparently, getting her message even though she didn't say it out loud, Adrian tipped his head back and laughed.
“Bet you're hungry, only had two breakfasts since you’ve been here.
Just a couple of slices of plain toast. No butter either, I bet.
Wouldn't you like this nice salad and turkey sandwich?”
There was no way her stomach couldn’t grumble at the sight of the thick sandwich he held up.
Crisp green lettuce leaves and juicy slices of tomato that would feel so nice sliding down her dry throat.
Don’t even get her started on the cheese.
She could quite happily eat cheese for every meal, every day, for the rest of her life.
And turkey made her think of cozy Thanksgiving dinners with her parents and all eight of her sisters sitting around the table, laughing and talking.
“Crawl for me, one three nine, and this is all yours,” he said as he set the plate down on the floor outside her cage.
Yeah, there was no way she was doing that.
Just hours ago, she’d gotten down on her knees when Nathan brought her breakfast. The two slices of plain bread weren't particularly appetizing, and they weren't as nice as some of the meals she’d seen him drop off for the other women.
For some reason, kneeling before Nathan didn't feel as hard to do as getting on her knees for Adrian.
Emma knew Nathan was just trying to play her, taking a different angle to break her, but it was still easier with him.
“Hard way for sure, one three nine,” Adrian said with another chuckle as he bent and picked up the sandwich.
“You have until I count to ten to crawl to me, or I eat the sandwich, and you get a punishment. I think you know my favorite.” He gave her a wink and her backside, still tender after being spanked the day before, clenched in anticipation of what would happen if she didn't swallow her pride and crawl.
Already she’d swallowed her pride in stripping off her clothes and walking through the room naked. Spent the rest of the day naked and resisted the urge to cover her body every time one of those despicable men leered at her.
Swallowing it again now was definitely the smarter move. The sandwich would be good fuel, and she knew her body would need as much strength as it could muster. Couldn’t have a strong mind without a strong body. But she just couldn’t do it.
“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.”
The countdown to her fate rested heavily against her with each number Adrian spoke.
“Can't say I'm disappointed you picked the hard way, one three nine,” Adrian told her as he took a huge bite of the sandwich that could have been hers.
As much as she would have loved every second of eating it, her self-respect was more important.
Maybe these men would wind up breaking her, and maybe it would be cold comfort that she’d fought as hard as she could, but it was the only way she could make peace with what her future held.
There were so many unknowns, and the only thing she had control over was her own responses.
Her family might never get closure, but at least she’d get the satisfaction of knowing they would have been proud of her if they knew she’d fought with everything she had.
Obviously enjoying tormenting her, Adrian stood outside her cell as he finished off the sandwich. He didn't take his time, didn't need to savor every bite like she would have, because he didn't have to worry about where his next meal was coming from.
Only after he finished and licked his fingers, did he finally unlock her cage. Seemed he got the message that she wasn't going to crawl to him, or come to him if he demanded it, because he strolled into her cell.
Every instinct Emma had screamed for her to make a run for it, but for once, she was going to take Nathan’s words to heart. She’d already racked up one punishment for herself, she wasn't going to make whatever was coming that much worse.
So instead, she straightened her back and refused to break eye contact as he strolled toward her. Ignoring the fear that swam beneath the surface of her sanity like a shark waiting to strike, Emma clung to control only because she knew she had no other choice.
If she let her barriers down and let the fear in, she would wind up like the other women there. Broken and battered shells of their former selves, and she wasn't ready yet to accept that. Looking at them was like looking into the future and seeing what she would soon become.
“Being smart for once, one three nine,” Adrian said as he stopped before her and wrapped a meaty hand around her bicep.
“Emma,” she corrected before she could stop herself.
Adrian chuckled. “Oh, I am going to enjoy this.”
Walking faster than her much shorter legs could keep up with, Adrian took her with him down the long corridor and into the same room she’d been in the day before.
Her still-aching and exhausted muscles tensed as the memories of the cattle prod sending jolts of electricity through her over and over again assaulted her mind.
She didn't want to go through that again.
But Adrian didn't stand her against the wall, and she had no clothes on anyway.
Instead, he took her to the padded vault and placed her stomach on it.
Before she could try to buck off the hand pressed between her shoulder blades, he had leaned down and buckled one of the leather cuffs around her ankle.
It was disappointing to see how easily he restrained her. Thirty seconds or so, and both her ankles and both wrists were bound to the sides of the structure, leaving her backside sticking up in the air.
Exposed.
Vulnerable.
Fear pushed at her barriers, determined to make her crack.
Determined to break her more effectively than Adrian and the others ever could.
“What's your name?” Adrian asked. Because he stood behind her and she could do nothing more than turn her head from side to side, she couldn’t see exactly where he was, and that only increased her feelings of being exposed and vulnerable.
She knew the answer he wanted, but she couldn’t give it to him.
“Emma,” she said, trying to make her voice strong and confident, self-assured when she was feeling anything but.
Since she couldn’t see exactly where Adrian was when his palm connected against her bare backside, she yelped in a combination of surprise and pain. Skin against skin made the spank hit so much worse than it had the day before.
“What's your name? And remember, we can go at this for a long time. Have plenty to play with as well.”
Against her will, her gaze shifted to the wall that was covered with various paddles and whips. If just his hand against her flesh hurt, how bad would it be if any of those things were used against her?
Give in. Take the easy way.
The words were in Nathan’s voice, and she knew she should follow that advice, but the words Adrian wanted weren't the ones that came out of her mouth.
“Emma.”
Spank.
“What's your name?”
“Emma.”
Spank. This one was harder and made her body jerk against her restraints.
“You're not going to be able to sit for a week without pain by the time I'm done with you,” Adrian said, strolling into her line of sight, stopping in front of the wall and taking his time before choosing a wooden paddle, lifting it down, and then disappearing from sight again. “What's your name?”
“Emma.”
Unprepared for just how much the wood slamming into her skin would hurt, she cried out, tears filling her eyes.
Give in. Make the pain stop. Do what they wanted.
It was easier. Safer. But she couldn’t. Couldn’t surrender who she was to anyone.
Not even the man with the power to destroy her.
Couldn’t become just another nameless, faceless body for wealthy and depraved men to use for their own sexual pleasure.
She was Emma Beaumont, and no one was going to strip her of her identity.
August 1st
1:47 P.M.
It didn't surprise him to find Emma’s cell empty when he strolled into the basement.
Her strength was like a beacon calling out to the sick depravity that lived inside the men who worked there. They wanted to break her, and if they got even a whiff that it was going to be difficult, it heightened their sense of enjoyment.
Which was why he’d told her not to make this harder than it had to be.