Chapter 4
G abby
I woke up in a soft bed, my head rested on one of the most comfortable pillows I’d ever used. It was almost enough to make me forget exactly where I was, but not quite. A flash flood of memories came back to me. I jolted, ready to jump off the bed, but I was immediately yanked back.
I touched my throat where I’d been pulled back. A thick leather collar wrapped around my neck. A ring hung from the front and the back with a chain attached to the back ring and hooked to the metal frame of the bed.
There was just enough slack for me to sit up, but not move from the bed.
I was still naked, but I was clean. White bandages had been wrapped around my wrists.
My hair had been washed and brushed. A new sense of violation washed over me with the realization he’d touched me.
He’d bathed me and carried me to the bed.
At least it wasn’t that dirty cell again.
“You’re awake.”
I scooted back against the headboard and wrapped my arms around my knees. He stood in the doorway, a soft smile on his lips.
“You know when you sit like that, I can see your pussy even better.”
Heat rushed up my neck and covered my face. I stretched out my legs in front of me, eliciting a laugh from him.
“You shouldn’t have run like that, Gabby.”
“Why do you keep calling me that?” I focused on the nickname he kept using. I hadn’t been called Gabby since high school.
His eyes darkened as he stared at me from the doorway. There it was again, a familiarity I couldn’t explain.
“What’s your name?” I asked when he ignored my question.
“It doesn’t matter.” He shook his head.
“Of course, it matters.” I tried to soften my irritation. I’d read somewhere making a connection with your abductor could help get him to see you as a real human. And when that happened, maybe he’d be less likely to kill you.
His lips spread wide. “I’m sure you’re concocting all sorts of things in that pretty head of yours.” He moved to the foot of the bed, glaring down at me. “And I can promise almost all of it’s not true.”
“So, you’re not a kidnapping murdering monster?” I couldn’t stop the words, they just popped right out. This was why my mother laughed when I had toyed with the idea of going into the police academy. My nerves shook all the common sense out of my head.
He laughed. “I didn’t kidnap you, and to date, I’ve never murdered anyone.” He scratched his chin beneath his beard. “So, like I said, mostly not true.”
Did he just admit to being a monster? I rubbed my temples; a dull throb was growing behind my eyes. Probably from the drugs he shot into my system.
“You washed me up.”
“I did.” He moved to the dresser, opening the top drawer and fumbling around.
“Can you take this off?” I asked, pulling at the stiff leather of the collar.
“Nope.” He pulled something out of the drawer and shut it. When he turned back around, he held a short purple nylon leash. “You ran away, and that was a bad girl.” He walked toward me, his boots making soft sounds against the thin carpeting of the room.
“What are you going to do?” I asked, putting my hands up to ward him off.
“Hands down, Gabby. Now.” He snapped his fingers and pointed at me. Chained to his bed, did I really have any options?
I dropped my hands to my lap.
“Good girl,” he said with an easy smile.
After clipping the end of the leash to the ring on my collar, he reached around and opened the clasp on the back.
I was loose from the bed, but not from him.
The leash was too short for me to get farther than three steps from him and he held a firm grip on his end.
“I was going to give you a night to get used to the idea of what’s going to happen, but you were too naughty. It’s best we start your training right now.”
“Training for what?” I wanted to scream. He kept talking like I had any idea what the subject was.
He pointed to the carpeting. “Down on your hands and knees.”
I shook my head. “No. Not until you tell me what the fuck is going on.” I folded my arms over my chest like I had any real power.
His eyes narrowed and I could feel the disappointment roll off him in waves. Within a blink of an eye, he snatched my hair in his fist again and shoved me to the floor.
“When I say down, you get down.”
The carpeting was too thin to offer any sort of cushion when my knees hit. I fell forward, catching myself on my palms. His hand stayed buried in my hair.
“This is how a good puppy obeys.” He wiggled his booted foot beneath me, brushing against my pussy, and lifted my ass up in the air. “I’m going to take you to the kitchen so you can have your dinner and after that, you’ll use the washroom before I put you down for the night.”
“I can walk,” I said softly.
“Puppies don’t walk on two feet, Gabby.” He released my hair and moved back to his feet, tugging the leash forward as he stepped toward the door. In one yank, I stumbled forward on all fours.
And then—I crawled.
Crawled! Down a short hallway to the kitchen. The carpeting gave way to the hardwood that lined the rest of the small house. As we moved into the kitchen, the back door caught my eye.
“If you try it again, Gabby, I’ll belt your ass until you can’t sit.
” It was a firm warning given with extreme calm.
I wasn’t used to this tone. I understood screaming and yelling.
I could get my head wrapped around a beer bottle whipped at the wall, but this calm and collected stuff made me uneasy.
He led me to the table where I could already smell food.
“Sit.” He pointed to a spot beside a chair. My heart sank. He wasn’t going to let me up from the floor. My face burned with humiliation as I did as he asked.
“Good girl.” He patted my head and took his seat. “It’s not fancy. Just some meatloaf and green beans.” He placed a small pink bowl on the floor in front of me. Chunks of meatloaf mixed with the green beans were inside. He didn’t offer a fork.
“I can’t do this,” I whispered, hanging my head. The humiliation was too much, too hard to swallow. I’d rather not eat at all.
He turned in his chair and caught my chin in his hand, pulling it up. Tears stung my eyes before leaking out the side across my temple.
“You can do this. You don’t have a choice anyway,” he reminded me of that solid fact. If I refused, I’d go hungry at best, but at worst, he could bring out his belt. My ass still stung from my earlier punishment, and I had no desire to repeat it.
“Don’t make me,” I pleaded. Would he see my plea as a weakness to be disgusted by, or a small act of submission to soften him toward me?
He frowned. “Better you learn now so it won’t be so hard later.” He let go of my chin and ran the back of his hand over my cheek. It was a tender touch, gentle and warm. And short-lived. He yanked his hand away as though my skin burned him and turned back to his food.
“Eat.” He nudged the bowl toward me with his boot.
I picked up a chunk of the meatloaf with my hand and brought it to my mouth. At least he didn’t force me to dip my face into the bowl, but I had a feeling this was a baby step in that direction.
“You said someone else will be coming to get me. Who is it?” I asked, feeling somewhat brave as my belly filled with food. I had no idea when I had last eaten.
“I don’t know. I don’t get that information. Just a time and date.” He looked down at me. “You want something to drink?”
“In a glass?” I asked, still clawing at hope.
The left side of his lips kicked up. “Not a chance, pup.”
My insides curled inward at the moniker. Pup. Not even human.
“I’m fine, then.” I slid a green bean into my mouth. “You like this? Taking scared women who’ve been kidnapped and forced to be here and hurting them until they do what you say? This makes you happy?” Okay, maybe the food made me too brave.
“There’s a bad part of every job.” He shrugged as if we were talking about having to clean out the grease traps at the end of a twelve-hour shift.
A cell phone rang from the counter. He got up to answer it while leaning his hip against the countertop. His eyes landed on me, and a silent warning scraped out from the darkness to not make any trouble.
I could scream for help, on the off chance the person on the other side of the line wasn’t someone like him. But even if they could help me, by the time they got here, he’d probably have me gone.
“Go ahead and start the Doxycycline,” he said, tucking his right hand under his left arm. The casual stance gave him a less severe look. But the tenderness in my ass reminded me how severe he could actually be.
“No, no trouble at all. Call if he worsens.” He finished up the call and slid the phone back onto the counter.
“Are you a doctor?” I asked when he sat back down.
“I’m a veterinarian.”
I picked up the last green bean from my bowl and focused on chewing it. How could a man who did what this guy did take care of helpless animals?
“Time to go to the bathroom,” he announced and reached for the leash again.