“Undress,” Madame Allegria ordered once they stepped inside the dark room, with walls and floors of metal. Hanging from the ceiling in the center of the room were two chains with cuffs attached.
Khiva obeyed, knowing that any hint of stubbornness would mean twice as many lashes. He knelt on the floor as Madame Allegria attached the cuffs to his wrists before pressing a button on the far wall, which pulled them taut, his arms spread, his back exposed. He heard her going to the black cabinet that held different whips and rope.
“I’m a very busy woman, Khiva,” Madame Allegria purred, behind him, when she returned. “I’m often off the colony and so I expect that even in my absence, there remains an understanding. I have a reputation to uphold, after all.”
Khiva didn’t know what she was referring to, but he knew that somehow, it had to do with Evelyn. A jolt of fear went through his chest, wondering if she had the ability to take her away from him, to keep them separate.
“What do you mean?” Khiva asked, keeping his voice low.
Every muscle in his body went tight, his teeth clenching so hard as pain exploded across his back, as the whistling of the whip echoed around the room. Khiva straightened, though his breathing was labored, knowing it was just the beginning. He didn’t make a sound. The first one always hurt the most.
“I have been informed by the cleaners that after Miss Tesler visits, there is no evidence of sex in your assigned room and that the neutralizers aren’t used. Not a single one,” Madame Allegria said, her tone as hard as the chains. “Care to explain?”
Khiva kept silent, debating what to tell her. Because eventually she would demand an answer.
His body bowed forward as another lash landed across his back.
Another came unexpectedly and this time, Khiva couldn’t hold back a pained groan.
“Well? I’m waiting,” Madame Allegria said, her voice slightly breathless from the effort. Or perhaps her excitement. She’d always enjoyed this.
“She is shy and reserved,” Khiva finally bit out, knowing that he would have to tell her something eventually. “Sometimes she wishes to mate and other times she does not.”
“It is your job to keep her satisfied and happy so that she continues to return. If she doesn’t want to fuck, then it’s your job to convince her that she actuallyreally, reallywants to fuck. Or do you not understand what I’m expecting of you, as a Krave whore?”
Another lash fell across his back and he felt his skin split. A moment later he felt the blood start to trail down his back, hot and sticky, but she didn’t give him a reprieve and split open another section of skin with her next lash.
“I’m a businesswoman,” she went on and huffed out another breath as she drew the whip high over her head. Khiva bit his tongue when it fell. “I am a respected businesswoman and I will not have rumors getting out that a Krave does not satisfy his client. Do you understand? Do you not understand how detrimental that would be to myentire business?”
The lashes continued as did her words, but eventually, the pain became so terrible that it allowed Khiva to enter a state-of-mind where itdidn’thurt. Where the pain was numb. And in his thoughts, he imagined Evelyn. He imagined her soft, warm hands caressing down his back instead of a synthetic fiber that cut into his skin. He imagined her voice and knew without a doubt that if she ever discovered what Madame Allegria really did to punish her Kraves, her horror would be a fraction of what it was a couple nights before.
Because she cared. Because she cared about him.
Khiva squeezed his eyes shut, longing hitting him hard. He wanted things he had no business wanting.
He went to that place in his mind and he didn’t come out until he realized that the lashes had eventually ceased and that Madame Allegria had successfully taken out her aggression on his flesh. The whip dropped to the floor next to him and Khiva saw the shimmering blue of his blood entangled within the fibers. Next, the cuffs released his wrists and he sagged to the floor, reality returning in a rush of pain and agony.
“Clean this up,” Madame Allegria ordered him. “Next time Miss Tesler comes, you better fuck her out of her goddamn mind.”
Then she left, her heeled shoes echoing throughout the steel room until they retreated up the stairs, until he could hear them no more.
Khiva lolled in and out of consciousness, but eventually, he became aware of soft hands on his arms.
“Evelyn,” he murmured, reaching for her.
“Khiva,” Valerie said, her voice quiet, blinking back tears, as she always did when she found them like this. “Come, let’s get you to your room.”
* * *
The next morning,Khiva called Valerie into his room. He’d slept the night away on his stomach and when she entered, she checked his bandages and reapplied a healing salve to ensure the lashes would be gone by that night.
But he caught her hand before she left.
“Will you do something for me?” he asked quietly, his voice hoarse.
Valerie’s eyes were wary. If Madame Allegria ever found it, it would mean her punishment as well. But the human female nodded.
“When is she going off colony next?” he asked.
