“Yeah, you know, shirt, pants, socks?” I want to spit. I can’t just walk around naked in a collar.Can I?
Kayne cuts across the plush shag rug to the dresser on the opposite side of the room. He opens a drawer and pulls something out. Then he walks back to me and kneels. “Here.” He holds up a sheer pair of panties.
“That’s it?” I look down at him.
“That’s it. Get used to being naked baby. That’s how I want you twenty-four seven.”
Twenty-four seven?
Kayne jerks my panties on, and then goes into the bathroom. A few moments later he emerges fully clothed and heads straight for the door.
“You have twenty minutes to eat, then bed. I’ll be back.” His tone is flat, almost detached.
The door clicks shut behind him, and I’m alone again, in yet another cell.
In a fit of desperation I attack the door, yanking on the handle with some sliver of hope it might open. Tears run down my cheeks. I’m a captive. Going to be forced to do things with a man I once obsessed over and now hate. I pull at the collar and scream.This can’t be happening!It just can’t. I have a family, I have a future. I have a life waiting for me beyond this room. I pound harder, yell louder. But it’s no use. Deep down I know it. I can feel it. I’m his.
When my energy is depleted, I slump down onto the floor. I can’t stop the tears from flowing as I lie there defeated. That’s when Kayne returns. Has it been twenty minutes already?
He opens the door and it jams against my body. “Ellie, what the fuck?” He steps over me and into the room.
“Not hungry?” He takes notice of the untouched food.
“Fuck you,” I spit.
“I hope so.” He lifts my limp body off the ground.Keep dreaming.I will never give my body or my will over to him. “You’re going to need your strength.” He places me on the enormous bed that can sleep ten.
“For what?” I ask dejectedly.
“Me.”
He picks up the end of the chain attached to the collar and locks it around one of the curves of the iron headboard.
“What the fuck!” I yank and pull.
“This is how you’ll sleep. New puppies need to be chained up.”
“I’m not a fucking puppy!” I erupt.
“No, you’re right,” Kayne muses. “You’re more like a frisky little kitten.” He runs one finger down my face the way you would pet a cat. I jerk my head away.
He jerks me back by the collar. Fucking thing. Rage burns a hole through my chest.
“You’ll learn, kitten.”
“I hate you.”
“We’ve established that. We’ve also established that you’ll get over it.” He kisses me quickly on the lips. “Tomorrow we start.”
“Start what?” I snarl.
“Obedience training.”
I LEAVE ELLIE’S ROOM WITHmy emotions in a stir. I stand by the door and listen to her scream bloody murder for the second time tonight. Part of me hates myself for doing this. Part of me knows it’s the only way.
Part of me can’t wait to tie her up and dominate the fuck out of her. I’ll have her begging. You just wait.
The only way to keep her safe is to turn her into the one thing I’m trying to protect her from. The last three days have been hell watching her waste away in that tiny cell. They would have been worse if I had to witness her at the mercy of Javier. I may have collared and chained her to the bed, but her screams would be blood-curdling if she were confined to his room. He’d have no sympathy for her pain or tolerance for her disobedience. He’d starve her, torture her, and leave her for dead. Fuck that. I may run an elaborate whore house, but no one has the right to treat another human being like that. Listen to me, righteous motherfucker. I’m the one who has a captive on the other side of this door.
