Chapter 3
“This isn’t fair,” Heather cried as Patrick’s fingers tightened around her arms. He stood so close that his fresh, woodsy scent enveloped her, stimulating and mocking her.
He meant to imprison her, to humiliate and use her, so why did she feel sorry for him?
She’d always found Patrick handsome. She enjoyed his easy charm and engaging personality.
But resentment and lust burned in his leaf-green eyes.
He wasn’t seeing her. He saw all the people who hurt him, all the years he’d lost, and the horrors he’d endured.
If there had been any hint of compassion in his expression she would try to reach him, try to make him understand.
“Harming me won’t undo the past. I’m not your enemy. ”
“No, you’re my pleasure slave, my pet, an appealing object with only one purpose. To satisfy my sexual needs.”
Her belly tightened and tears blurred her vision. Arguing with him was pointless, but words were all she had. He was bigger and stronger, and a lot more determined. “I’m sorry they hurt you, but that wasn’t me. I would never—”
He yanked the blanket out of her grasp and unwound it from around her body. “Get on the bed.”
“Please don’t do this.” She licked her lips and pleaded with her eyes, but he was staring through her and into the past.
“I do not repeat orders,” he stated mechanically. “Obey or you will be disciplined.”
This was going to happen whether she cooperated or not.
His control was undeniable, yet he had given her a choice.
She could defy him and earn another spanking.
It would be painful and humiliating and then he would fuck her anyway.
Or she could offer him pleasure and peel time off her sentence.
The choice was obvious, but her feet refused to move.
“This is your one and only warning,” Patrick stated, his voice cold and expressionless. “Obey right now or you will pay for your disobedience.”
Heather looked at the bed and hopelessness dropped into her belly. Her logical mind urged her to obey. There was no real option. Her body belonged to him whether she liked it or not. But she would not give in without a fight. Pride and stubbornness drove her toward defiance.
“I’ll work for you,” she offered. “I’ll open a clinic or dig ditches, but I won’t be your whore.”
“Foolish choice,” Patrick snarled as he moved his large hand to the back of her neck. “Learn from this and make better decisions in the future.”
He urged her to the center of the room. Heather struggled every step of the way. She kicked and twisted, slapping at his arms and chest. None of it did any good. Even fueled by anger and desperation, her strength was no match for his.
Without explanation, Gabriel moved to an inset panel on the wall near the door. He slid his finger down then up sharply and a compartment in the ceiling slid open. Alloy manacles lowered on sturdy cables and Heather gasped.
“Why do you have a restraint system in your house?” She tried to dart away, but Patrick dragged her back beneath the cuffs.
“We use this cabin to interrogate prisoners,” Gabriel warned. “There’s a cage out back. Keep rebelling against our authority and you’ll spend time in it.”
Patrick lifted one of her arms and snapped a manacle around her wrist. She recovered from Gabriel’s threat in time to fight Patrick as he attempted to repeat the process with her other hand.
She jerked out of his grasp and swung her hand toward his face.
He twisted to the side just in time to avoid the slap, then easily recaptured her wrist.
“Stop fighting me or I’ll use a belt on your ass instead of my hand.”
“Fuck you!” The words were out before she could stop them, but she didn’t regret the impulse. She would not give in to these bullies simply because they demanded obedience. “Yes, I worked for Nuevo Biotech, but I am not like Babcock!”
“We already established your guilt,” Patrick stressed. “Turning a blind eye to abuse year after year makes you culpable. I’m not going to debate it again.”
“I don’t accept that,” she insisted, chin lifting.
Patrick laughed. “Whether or not the criminal agrees with the sentence is irrelevant. One of the leaders of Eagle Village defined your punishment and Rydarian law gives me the right to carry it out.” A second gesture from Gabriel triggered twin compartments in the floor.
Patrick stooped and extracted ankle restraints. “Spread your legs,” he ordered.
“No,” she said simply, her tone absolute. If it weren’t for her, these bastards would still be captives of Nuevo Biotech. She could not stop them from punishing her, but she would not passively bend over and grab her ankles.
“Each act of defiance will intensify your punishment,” Patrick reminded as he dragged her feet apart.
“Would you like to hear what you’ve earned thus far?
” He secured her ankles as he waited for her to respond, but she simply stared straight ahead in mutinous silence.
“Fine. We’ll let each escalation be a surprise. ”
Anxious energy zinged through her body, making it impossible to stand still.
She tugged against the restraints, testing the strength of the cuffs and the amount of slack in the cables.
She could move her arms slightly from side to side, but her legs were positioned securely. She couldn’t begin to close her thighs.
“She really is lovely.” Gabriel approached, his expression intense, orange gaze burning with carnal hunger.
“Your descriptions didn’t do her justice.
” He cupped her breast, lightly teasing her nipple with his thumb.
“Accept your discipline like a good girl and the rest of this night will be a lot more enjoyable for you.”
She twisted her torso, but was unable to dislodge his hand. “I won’t pretend that I deserve this. I don’t! You want to fuck me, and my past gives you a convenient excuse.”
He caught her nipple between his finger and thumb, squeezing hard enough to make her gasp.
“I don’t need an excuse to fuck you. Your employer saw to that.
” He framed her face with his hands and leaned in close, whispering into her ear.
“You’re teetering on the brink of orgasm.
” His voice changed, becoming deeper and more resonant.
“You want my cock buried deep inside you. You want that more than life.”
A scalding wave of desire washed over Heather, cramping her inner muscles and making her entire body tremble. She cried out then whimpered. What the actual fuck?
“Your nipples are so tight they burn.”
As if responding to the compulsion of some mythical vampire, her body did exactly what it was commanded to do. Her nipples gathered into pebble-hard peaks, the delicate skin growing warm then hot.
“Stop it,” she cried. “Whatever you’re doing, stop!”
“You will relax.” He spoke the command in the same echoing tone and the urgency gradually faded.
“I don’t need restraints or threats. All I have to do is speak your name and I can make you so desperate to be fucked that you’ll beg me to take you.
” He cupped her sex, his middle finger slipping between her folds.
“You’re wet and swollen.” He circled her opening, teasing her with just a hint of fullness.
“I could push inside you right now and you’d come within seconds.
” He brushed her clit, triggering waves of tingling pleasure.
“But this isn’t real.” He removed his hand and took a step back.
“I want you willing and eager for my touch. I want your submission to be voluntary. Unfortunately for both of us, your debt is owed to Patrick. He will control how you are used.”
Heather snapped her gaze to Patrick as dread welled inside her. Whatever feelings Patrick once had for her seemed dead and buried now. His features had become an expressionless mask, yet his eyes burned with a confusing mixture of hatred and desire.
“You’re better than this,” she said softly, allowing a hint of challenge to ring through her tone.
“I’m exactly what Project Griffin made me,” he countered as he moved around to stand behind her. “Were you a willing participant in that program?”
She gritted her teeth, infuriated by her helplessness.
His hand connected with her bottom. She jerked her hips forward, but the restraints held her firmly in place.
“You will answer my questions, or I’ll add additional swats to this session.” Another stinging slap accompanied the warning.
“Yes,” she snapped. “I was part of the Griffin Project. So were hundreds of other people. Why focus all your animosity on me?”
His hand smacked her several more times before he bothered to respond. “You talked to me.” Smack. “Smiled at me.” The next swat was the hardest yet. “You made me think you gave a damn.” He delivered a flurry of spanks before adding, “And then you did nothing to prevent my abuse.”
Heather clenched her fists and closed her eyes. Shame and regret burned hotter than her bottom cheeks. “I was wrong,” she whispered. “Is that what you want to hear? I was selfish, and wrong. I could have done more, should have done so much more.”
“The problem is you don’t believe a word of what you just said.”
She heard the clinking of his belt buckle and then the subtle rasp as he freed the long strip of synth-leather from his pants. Her bottom already felt warm and tense from his hand. How much worse was this going to hurt? “I’m sorry,” she blurted. “I would have responded differently if I could.”
“Did you know they were harming us?”
Another wave of shame washed over Heather’s body.
“I was afraid,” she admitted with a sob.
“Anyone who spoke up or questioned the experiments disappeared.” He swung the belt, catching both of Heather’s cheeks with one well-placed swat.
Searing pain shot across her bottom, dragging a harsh cry from her throat. “Goddamn it, that hurts!”