Truth or Dare; The Dominator II (12 page)

I felt a muscle jump in my cheek. I shook my head and then reached in between my mattress and box spring and grabbed my gun and backed out of the room, shutting the door behind me.

I re-set the security system. I really didn’t think she’d try to take off but who knew what’d happen when she opened her eyes. Maybe she’d be unstable. I checked my gun, finished my water, and then stripped down to boxers and headed to the linen closet for bedding and walked to the den to make up the futon. I tucked the gun between the mattress and the wooden frame.

I’d get her chilled out and get things safe and try to help her move on while I sorted out the craziness that was my life. I needed to sort out the business and then find a way to get my life moving in a better direction. No more scumbags. No more shady shit. Fuck, after this trip to Thailand, more than ever I was
so
done. But because of this shit it might be a while before I could walk away. A long while. It was a complication… to put it mildly.

** ** **

Something was tickling my face. I was flat out, crashed on the futon. It wasn’t comfortable by any stretch of the imagination. I wasn’t alone. It was still dark and she was leaning over me and her hair was tickling my chin. I snapped up to sitting. Her shoulders were in my hands

“Sorry, Master.” She whispered in the dark, “I had a nightmare. I got scared. May I sleep beside you?”

“Felicia,” I let go of her and shook the sleep off, “I’m not your Master.”

“Please?” Her voice was shaky, “I can sleep on the floor. I just need you near, if…if that’s okay.”

I got to my feet and grabbed for her hand in the dark, “If that’s what you need, we’re sleeping in my bed. This futon is shit.”

I grabbed the gun and took her back to my room in the dark.

“Nothing to be afraid of, baby. You’re safe,” I told her and tucked the gun under my side between the mattress and box spring.

I got under the covers and as I did I felt her shuffling beside me in the dark. I figured she was getting her dress off and then before I knew it, she was snuggled up against me, her head on my shoulder. She draped an arm over me and nuzzled in. Yep, skin on skin.

Whoa.

This was wrong. This was looking like some hero worship and I couldn’t allow it. This was indicative of what they’d turned her into. I couldn’t deconstruct it right now, though. I needed to crash. I was absolutely exhausted. I started to drift, thinking I should move her off me, set some boundaries. But then she softly said, “Thank you for saving me.”

Before I realized what I was doing I leaned down and kissed the top of her head, “You’re welcome.”

Tia

Tommy had been jittery, constantly checking his computer, which was on the coffee table in front of him.

“You not into this movie, baby?” I asked.

“Hmm?” He looked up at me distractedly.

“What’s so exciting on that screen? You get sucked in by one of those candy games, too?”

He gave me a little smile, “Naw. I’m just waiting to hear from Dare. He should be back from a trip any time now and I need an update.” He put an arm around me.

I snuggled into him, “Is everything okay?”

He shook his head, “No, it’s kind of messed.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

“Not sure you wanna be burdened with this kinda shit, baby girl.” He leaned forward and grabbed his can of Coke and drank some.”

“Kay. If you change your mind…”

His phone made a noise and he grabbed it.

“Kay, he’s home. I can breathe now.”

“That bad?”

“Oh baby, you have no idea.” He shook his head with a grave expression and I felt ice pierce my veins.

“Talk to me,” I urged.

That was just before he told me about Dario’s problem. Dario’s female problem. It
was
bad. Several times now since Tom Sr. died either Tommy or Dario found out about a new lie or new secret that rocked their world in a bad way. And it wasn’t easy for Tommy. I could see that he was feeling guilty about leaving his brother to deal with things and I could guess that he was mulling over us going back so that he could help out more. Dario and he had been working together remotely but I knew Tommy was itchy, itchy to get things over with and itchy to be doing something.

He was building wooden patio furniture out back and alternately working on stripping and redoing a canoe as well during the day in a workshop to keep busy. He did beautiful work. Intricate designs, everything done painstakingly. But I could tell it wasn’t enough for him.

That night he made love tenderly to me, holding me close while staring into my eyes the whole time and being my ice cream parlor hottie. It was beautiful. But during pillow talk he told me something that had also been discovered about Tom Sr. that completely shocked me and when the rest of the family found out about it, things might never be the same.

A few hours later he woke up out of breath and covered in sweat and he went up to the rooftop and beat up his punching bag, refusing to come back to bed, and refusing to talk about whatever he’d dreamt about.

Dare

When I woke up Felicia was lying beside me, snuggled into my side with her head on my shoulder and she was awake, looking up at me.

I stretched a little, not enough to make her move. Her warmth felt nice. Too nice.

“Mornin’,” I said.

“Hi,” she said.

“Sleep okay?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she whispered. And the way she was looking at me, a little star struck or something, made me uncomfortable.

“You want coffee? I want coffee.” I motioned to get up so she’d shift. I grabbed a robe from the hook on the door to the master bathroom and put it on the end of the bed, motioning to her so she’d know to put it on. She was just in her bra and panties. I got into a pair of jeans and threw on a tee and headed to the den to get my phone from the charger. I was gonna text Zack and get him over here to check her things as well as mine. I got the coffee started and headed out to the terrace for a smoke with my phone so I could check my messages.

When I came back in she was standing by the island in my black fleece robe with two cups that she’d poured.

“How do you take your coffee?” she asked me.

“Just black. Like my soul,” I joked.

She gave a thin smile, a fake smile.

“Sugar’s there,” I opened a cupboard and pulled out a canister of sugar.

Her eyes widened.

“Milk?” I asked and opened the fridge.

She nodded a little nervously.

I passed it to her and then fetched a spoon from the drawer. She was hesitant for a sec and then she spooned two big heaping spoons of sugar into her coffee, added a big glug of milk and stirred it and then took a small sip, wincing probably at the heat, but her eyes rolled back like it was the best cup of coffee she’d ever had.

“Lemme guess. They didn’t allow you to have milk and sugar.”

She gave me a little nod, “Or coffee. Green or jasmine tea, mostly.”

“Gross. So,” I sat at one of the stools in front of the island and motioned for her to take the one beside me, “I know it’s still probably sinkin’ in but the things I told you last night --- I need to reiterate that we have to play things very carefully. I can’t have them
at all
suspicious about my motives so it’s best you stay here and in case they’re watching outwardly it’ll look like you’re here, you’re mine. Until I know there’s no threat. We’ve gotta take things one step at a time.”

She chewed her cheek, staring past me, into space.

“I’ll move my stuff outta the den and get a better bed in there for you. That futon bites. Once we have it all sorted I’ll help you get set up somewhere else. It could take a little while and we might have to get creative but if we play it carefully there’s no reason why you can’t eventually get back to a regular life. I dunno how long it’ll take me to feel sure that they’re not watching and we’d be safer to get you a new identity. They wouldn’t take kindly to hearing you were set free because that’d put their secrets in jeopardy. And as far as contacting your family…”

She jolted like she’d been prodded with a branding iron.

“You alright?” I put my hand on her arm. She looked at my hand and then looked at me and then looked at the floor.

“I know this is a lot to take in, angel, but if you can communicate with me it’ll put my mind at ease. Try to help me out here.”

Her coffee cup slipped out of her hand and crashed to the floor, spilling hot coffee on the both of us.

“Fuck!” I reacted and she hit the deck and turtled, covering her face.

“Whoa! You alright?”  I grabbed a handful of kitchen towels from a drawer and threw them on the mess of coffee and broken porcelain and then reached down and touched her on the back. She was trembling. Hard.

“Hey? I’m not mad at you. It was an accident. Come on, up. Are you burnt?” I pulled her up to her feet.

The back of her hand was red. The front of the robe was wet. I took her to the sink and held her hand under running cold water. She was staring at my face. Our eyes met.

Felicia

I wanted to get my head straight. I wanted him to put my collar back on. I wished there were a magic button or a magic pill that could undo the last 22 months so that my brain would be right. It wasn’t right. Not even close. My thinking that I was guarding myself and protecting it? I was so wrong. I didn’t know how wrong I was until I got out and tried to find function. I wanted to ask him why he called me angel. Did he call every girl that
?
I wanted him to kiss me. I wanted him to take me. Hard. No. I needed him to take me. I needed sex so bad it was going to kill me if I didn’t get it soon.

His scent, his warmth, even the sound of his breathing…when I was in bed with him the last few nights it was so comforting. It was the safest I’d felt in more than 22 months, maybe even ever. But it was like one big long foreplay lead up. And I seriously needed to have an orgasm.

Yesterday when we were on our way here from the airport I was almost jumping out of my skin imagining that when we got in the door he’d throw me down and finally make me his. I was wet, my nipples were hard, and I could…not…wait. It had been a long stretch of deprivation, waiting to give it to my Master, not knowing a thing about that Master but then meeting him and wanting him, wanting him like I hadn’t wanted anyone ever. He carried himself like an absolute Dom and I

could

not

wait.

And although at that point knowing he might reveal himself to be horrible, terrible, sick and twisted and ready to put me through some serious pain after getting me where he knew there would be no Kruna cameras I couldn’t help but think about what I’d seen so far, the sweet, the protective. I was thinking about the sweet touches to my face, the spooning, the sandcastle, the swimming, holding me and the keeping me safe in the water and safe from
them
and I dared to hope just a little bit that it’d somehow be okay, that we’d get here and the sex would be spectacular and he wouldn’t morph into something horrible and cruel. But what had happened when we arrived here turned my carefully constructed universe into an absolutely ravaged war zone.

Yes, it’s messed up that I didn’t try to make a run for it the minute we got here but I was brainwashed. I was brainwashed to the point that the notion of running would just not happen. Never ever.

People who haven’t been in my situation…they do not fully grasp the concept of being broken. I was like a horse who didn’t need to be tied, didn’t need a saddle, didn’t need spurs because I’d been broken. I would not run away. Every once in a while a rare horse will get his or her spirit back and rear up and throw an owner off out of the blue. But that wasn’t me. I didn’t think it was possible. I’d been professionally broken by people trained to make sure I didn’t rear back
ever
and they certainly must’ve believed that or they’d never let me leave the resort with one of their new partners. Not only had they thoroughly broken me but they had an insurance policy that would
keep
me in line.

I used to be a sassy fun-loving girl with a filthy mouth and stereotypical ginger bad temper and no fear of anyone or almost anything. All that changed over the first few months at Kruna.

The nearly 2 years there I had a single-minded focus to stay out of trouble and be a perfect slave so that I would not be subjected to the consequences that they’d laid out as well as corrections and re-training and so that I would get and then stay on the short list of available slaves for sale. Kruna rarely sold the assets. I wasn’t advertised. At first I was very sheltered but after Mr. Frost died I was put into the general slave population and allowed to serve more patrons and without his iron fist ruling over me I found my way to getting ranked among the possibilities for those who were interested in either taking assets off site temporarily or acquiring them permanently and I made sure that once I got on that list I stayed there. It’d been over two years since someone wanted a Kruna wife but now that there was the demand, I’d been the one chosen.