30. Chapter 30
Cameron
I should have seen it coming.
I knew being soft on Justin would cause trouble, but I naively thought things would be different with him. They’re not. He’s the same as every other pet I’ve had before. Traitorous, lying piece of shit.
The pain I feel is all my fault. I never should have let that hope grow. I should have weeded it out the second it sprouted the first deceptively beautiful leaf. I should have just used Justin until he broke and then tossed him away like I did with the others.
I yank the phone from his hand and squeeze his neck harder to prevent him from speaking. Tears spill from his eyes as he claws at my forearm, but I don’t let up. I don’t want to hear more lies.
A quick check of the phone reveals that he didn’t have time to call the police, thank fuck.
I don’t want to imagine what disaster such a call might turn into with Small already after me.
But of course, Justin doesn’t care about that.
He’s had such a good life here, and instead of appreciating it, he stabbed me in the back.
The phone starts vibrating with an incoming call from Sin, but I send it to voicemail and turn the device off. Sin can wait. First, I have to discipline my pet.
Justin’s eyes bulge when I increase the pressure on his neck. His fingernails dig into my skin, leaving burning marks, and he uselessly kicks against me, but I have him pinned and he’s not going anywhere. Ever.
“I could kill you right now.” Anger still rides me hard enough to turn my words into a snarl. “Did you think you’d get away with betraying me?”
His muscles strain under my grip as he tries to shake his head. He opens and closes his mouth a few times, but doesn’t have enough air to speak. When I abruptly let go of him and step back, he crumples into a wheezing, heaving lump. Still, he tries to speak. “I… I wasn’t…”
“I said, shut up!”
I grab his hair and drag him over to a bondage frame where a bunch of chains hang from the ceiling.
He’s too weak to fight, and in a matter of moments, I have him suspended by his wrists and swaying back and forth as he squirms and struggles.
He coughs, croaks out my name, then coughs again.
“Trust me,” he manages to say, and it’s like another stab through my heart.
For the first time since I met Justin, I shove a ball gag into his mouth to silence him. I can’t bear to listen to any more of his lies.
“I did trust you, and you were about to betray me.”
He shakes his head frantically, his bloodshot eyes pleading with me to listen, but I’m past that. Maybe I’m angrier than I should be. Small and the shitstorm my life turned into have me on edge, but that doesn’t matter. Justin deserves punishment.
“I’d be well within my rights to kill you right now.
Lucky for you, I believe that all pets can be trained, and their failure reflects the incompetence of their Master.
I’m the one who failed here, and this is going to hurt me as much as it will hurt you.
” Even more, because the mere thought of hurting Justin twists my insides into a tight knot, but it has to be done.
More tears stream down his face as he shakes his head again, and the gag muffles whatever he’s trying to say.
I’m tempted to hear him out, but steel myself against that treacherous feeling.
I already have a weak spot for him and fall too easily for his lies.
I can’t afford to fuck up his training even more.
When I grab a cane, Justin screams and kicks out, causing him to swing wildly.
I have no patience for moving targets tonight, so I attach his ankles to rings at the bottom of the frame until he’s nicely spread out for me and unable to move.
The desperation in his eyes is killing me, so I circle around him to work on his back first.
Like I told him, it hurts both of us. His muffled screams gradually turn into exhausted sobs as I cover his ass and thighs in bright red welts. Each cry lances a fresh wound in my heart, and the cane feels heavier with every strike.
The red marks on his back from when I pushed him against the cage and jerked him off are slowly turning into bruises. There will be more on his front from when I fucked him after he told me to take whatever I needed from him.
I needed loyalty, for fuck’s sake! Is that so difficult to understand?
I’m tempted to blindfold him just so I wouldn’t have to look at his anguished expression when I move back in front of him, but what would that say about me? That I’m afraid of my pet? That I’m weak?
It would be true. When it comes to Justin, I am weak.
I already know I won’t be able to cause him really great pain or hurt him permanently.
He might think caning his ass is bad, but that’s just because he’s never had his cock or balls struck.
There are thousands of ways to hurt a person, and I despise most of them.
I just want to fuck and cuddle with a good pet, but apparently, that’s too much to ask for.
Maybe I should keep Justin drugged all the time. He certainly wasn’t thinking about betraying me when he was half asleep and impaled on my cock. Long-term exposure to the drugs would probably kill him, but pets are meant to be replaced, right? Except I’m not sure I can ever replace him.
“Fuck!”
I raise the cane again, but the tired look in Justin’s eyes makes me toss it away.
He’s had enough. I quickly untie him and catch him as he collapses.
He’s in my arms, and it feels right, too right, even if he’s bruised and crying.
I squeeze him tighter, my heart skipping a beat when he curls into me.
I force myself to set him down.
“Not a single word,” I warn as I remove his gag. He sighs but stays quiet, hugging his knees and looking as miserable as I feel.
Before he gets in the cage, I clear out most of the snacks and take his blanket, leaving only water and a few bland nutrition bars for him.
He deserves so much worse, but I can’t bring myself to hurt him anymore.
I want things to go back to the way they were a few days ago.
Before my career started falling apart for some mysterious reason.
Before Justin stomped on the sandcastle I’d been building in my fantasy.
The phone.
Sin called, which means I’m about to get some answers. I’ll solve the issue with my work, Justin will learn to behave, and everything will go back to the way it was.
Justin crawls into the cage without prompting and curls into a tight ball in the middle. The cane marks tug at something inside me, making me feel guilty. “You deserved your punishment,” I remind both of us. “Doesn’t it feel better now?”
“Yes, Sir,” Justin replies, his tone devoid of emotion.
A shiver runs up my spine. This is exactly what my previous pets sounded like when they broke and became zombies, as I call it. But Justin can’t be there already. It was just one spanking. No one breaks from a single spanking.
No, he’ll get over it. He’ll be sore for a few days, but bruises will heal, and he’ll be back to normal in no time.
“Get some rest.” I try to sound stern, but it comes out soft. I hate the bars between us, and I hate the fact that I put them there even more. Why didn’t I hold him for longer?
Because coddling him is what got us into this situation in the first place.
I need to be strong here. I head for the door when I hear his whisper.
“I wasn’t going to call anyone. I wanted to stay.”
Lies. Sweet, tempting lies, pulling me in and feeding that stupid hope once again.
I squash it and slam the door closed behind me.