Yes, her bottom still throbbed and was sore inside and out… but what Jordan had done to her was never as terrible as what the Wolf did to Alex and Bella.
On top of that, Trish was all too aware of how content she’d been to lie in Jordan’s arms and be coddled by him after he’d spanked her with a paddle and taken her ass. She was far too aware that her anger at him was… lacking. Even when she tried to stir up some righteous indignation in her breast, it just felt tired. Lackluster. False. Because her nipples and bottom might be sore and sensitive, but so was her pussy, and, even though the punishment had hurt at the time, the sensitivity of all her parts right now wasn’t exactly a punishment.
It felt good.
She was so messed up.
“Jordan?” Her voice was high and hesitant as she pushed away her troubling emotions.
“Yes, babygirl?” He used the same low, deep, soothing tone that had made her so muzzy after he’d punished her.
“What’s happening to Bella?”
The movement of the brush through her hair slowed for a moment before picking up again, and Trish’s muscles tightened. Normally Jordan answered her immediately, no matter what she asked, even if sometimes his answers weren’t very long. That he didn’t want to answer her meant something very not good was probably happening.
“I believe she’s with the doctor,” he said finally.
A shiver went down Trish’s spine. Jordan never let Margolis anywhere near her, even when he was by her side, which said a lot.
“What’s he doing to her?” Her voice had dropped to a whisper. She really did feel bad now. Not just for the resentment she’d felt toward Bella earlier, but because Trish doubly wished she hadn’t told Bella about the passageways. Not that it was Trish’s fault Bella had behaved stupidly, but Bella couldn’t have done so if Trish hadn’t given it away.
Jordan’s voice was even, nearly toneless. “Margolis likes electricity and pain.”
When Trish shuddered again, his hand slid from her hair and down to her chin and pulled her head back so he could plant a soft kiss on her forehead.
“She’ll hurt, but she won’t be harmed, babygirl,” he said gently.
Trish closed her eyes, trying to fight against the new emotions welling in her: relief that Jordan had chosen her and the Wolf hadn’t, gratitude that Jordan wasn’t as terrible as some of the others, guilt and horror for poor Bella, and a sense of wonderment at Jordan having given her the answer to a question she hadn’t asked out loud, for once—because he wanted to comfort her.
As he went back to brushing her hair, the gentle, repetitive motions soothing the turmoil inside her, Trish found herself leaning her head against his inner thigh. When she noticed what she was doing, she didn’t pull away.
3
Curled on Jordan’s lap in one of the Wolf’s office chairs, Trish’s body throbbed. After her punishment, Jordan hadn’t applied any of the healing cream, although he had rubbed a different cream into her welts. It didn’t have the same effect as the one he normally used. The soreness lingered, her skin was still extremely sensitive where she’d been spanked, and the lingering aches served to remind her of the cost of rebellion—even though she hadn’t done anything more than share information. Bella had been the one stupid enough to attempt to use it. What had the other woman been thinking?
“Pet and Toy have both been injected with the new drug,” the Wolf said, looking both gleeful and apprehensive. “It’s not as different from the original as we thought. The Moon is as fucking lazy with their drugs as they are with everything else. This time we’re going to break through the formula. They aren’t going to be able to make Pet and Toy forget. Not everything.”
That simple, satisfied statement shocked Trish to her core.
“But will they remember enough?” Jordan asked, his tone heavy with doubt.
“And which one will remember?” Cora gave Jordan and the Wolf a wicked look, obviously aware of their penchant for betting on things like that.
Trish tuned out as her mind whirled.
Usually the Wolf’s long-term captives would go back to the Moon and never talk about their ordeal. If the Wolf and the others were saying what Trish thought, that meant the Moon’s government was drugging the captives… because the Wolf would send them back with information the elite didn’t want to get out. It was a stunning revelation, and, if she hadn’t been sitting on Jordan’s lap, she might have fallen right over.
Of course, there were issues on the Moon. To someone living there who wasn’t part of the elite, their social structure was stifling, mercenary, and unfair. She’d always accepted it as the way things were, just like everyone else. Most of the Moon’s people insisted Earthers were worse, with their violence and power-hungry leaders… and Trish had bought into that, too. Just like everyone else.
But taking away someone’s memories…
As awful as Trish’s abduction had been, she wouldn’t want her earliest memories of it taken away from her. Would she? No. They were hers. If she didn’t remember, she wasn’t complete. And if the Moon’s government was forcing people to lose their memories without giving them a choice… it was a violation worse than anything Jordan or the Wolf had done to Trish, Alex, and Bella. Even the Wolf’s mind-fucks didn’t erase part of a person.
“They’ll be more likely to remember information tied to traumatic or extremely emotional events,” Cora said, her tone almost wheedling. “Are you sure you don’t want me to take over?”
“I have it handled,” the Wolf said shortly. “Besides, you can’t receive visitors, and you know it.”
Cora made a face. “I could have, if you all hadn’t voted against me.”
