Page 11

ARSENI

I wait an hour after Margot’s arrival to go to her.

For the first thirty minutes she was awake, she was crazed. The volume on my phone’s surveillance feed was kept off to avoid annoying Nikita, but I didn’t need it to enjoy her screams. Her mouth opened so wide, I could picture her throat shredding.

Her body jerked every time she stomped far enough to lose all slack from the chain on her ankle, but it didn’t seem to slow her down.

It wasn’t until ten minutes ago that she sat down on the bare mattress, hugging her knees.

She ducked her face out of view from the camera and has been shaking with sobs ever since.

As I open the basement door, a chill climbs on top of me like the ghosts of Nikita’s victims are trying to escape their dreary confines. The cold temperature isn’t by design, but it’s a nice coincidence that the chamber of horrors is frigid in winter.

Margot appears from her spot on the mattress when I take the last step, her head peeking up from her knees. She says nothing as I approach, just stares at me with bugging eyes that hold her uncertainty.

The mattress lies on the floor without a frame, so I tower over her when I’m a foot away. There are few things kept in this room, and I only brought the mattress down this morning, just for her. I wonder if she’ll be grateful. Eventually.

I gesture to the bed. “Lie down. Legs spread wide.”

Her arms lengthen around her knees as she lowers her shoulders. “Why are you doing this?”

“ Lie down .”

“No.” Her voice is soft at first. Unsure. But then bravery washes over her, pinching her lips and pushing her to her feet. “ No . If you don’t take me home right now , I don’t give a shit how badly you think I wronged you, I’m calling the police.”

I’m calling the police .

I mimic her bold tone in my mind while ensuring I keep my lips stiff. She is so fucking precious right now. So scared. I’m a bastard, but I’m certain I’ll enjoy every moment of her being here.

Staring her down, I say nothing. And I won’t until she does what I want.

Her lip quivers ever so slightly until she scrunches her face more, like she’s fighting her fear.

She cracks her palm across my cheek once, then goes to do it again but struggles when I catch her wrist. She pants and shoves at my chest until I set her free, sending her stumbling into the mattress.

She waves her hands to balance herself while hunched over, then she steps onto the bed and puts several feet between us.

“What the fuck do you want from me?” she asks, her bravado cracking. “I didn’t do anything to you, you psychopath!”

“I already told you what I want.”

Her eyes widen as her shoulders pull back. “Fuck you! You fucking pervert!”

She bounces on her toes like she’s thinking of attacking me. I wish she would. I almost want to goad her.

But I need to teach the most basic lesson she’ll ever learn here. Do what the fuck I say.

I turn and start toward the work bench I keep a sledgehammer beside. It’s what I like to use first—to take out the knees—so I grab it out of habit. The steam whistling from Margot’s ears puffs like chilly air as I walk toward her with the tool slung over my shoulder.

“What are you doing?” she asks, the chain rattling with her retreat. “Arseni, stop.”

I do, but only because the tip of my sneaker hits the bed. I curl a finger to beckon her to me, but unsurprisingly, she doesn’t move.

When I bring the sledgehammer off my shoulder and step onto the springy bed, Margot holds up her hands. “Wait,” she cries, bowing with her head turned. “Please, just wait.”

She lowers into a crawl and flips to her back on the mattress. Her eyes focus on the ceiling as she spreads her legs, the soft material of her skirt draping the gap between her thighs.

“Wider.”

She closes her eyes as she gasps. Her legs stiffly part as she takes in breaths that make her whole chest tremble.

She’s beautiful like this—raw and vulnerable.

Escaped hairs from her ponytail stand in wild disarray, some sticking to her sweaty forehead.

Her open cardigan reveals a wrinkled white blouse with a button loose.

She’s wearing a looser fitting skirt today instead of her usual pencil skirt, and I’m not sure whether or not I’m disappointed.

“Good girl.” I return the sledgehammer back to its place by the bench. Margot’s eyes must open because she whimpers as I pull off my shirt while strolling back. I toss it on the bed. “You’re such a potty mouth, though. I don’t remember ever hearing you curse.”

Her eyes are clenched shut again, but she twitches at the sound of my belt jingling. I like it enough that I take my time with my zipper, watching her pretty face closely.

“My boss isn’t going to like that.”

Her body jerks as she tenses. She peels her eyes open as I kneel to the bed and shift between her legs. I lay my chest on top of her until we’re face to face.

“Your boss?”

I nod slowly, savoring the fear that enters her eyes. “You didn’t do the job I told you to. Remember?”

She lifts her chest into me with a breath. “I?—”

I clamp my hand over her mouth and shiver when she whines. “Don’t protest. I already tried to talk him out of this. What’s done is done.”

She wiggles beneath me while her blue eyes plea on her behalf. They’re blue now, but they shift to green sometimes. I’ve never seen eyes so alluring.

“You’re going to be his whore,” I say, pressing my hand more firmly against her mouth. “But first, you’re going to be mine. My job is to break you in, and if you’re very, very nice to me, I might hurt you less. My boss won’t be so kind.”

I press my mouth to her ear while removing my hand. She sucks in a deep breath and places her palms against my chest like she’s going to shove me away.

“He’s watching us right now,” I whisper, my voice urgent as if this is some secret between us. “He wants to know how well you behave. If you fight me, I’ll have to hurt you… Please don’t make me do that.”

Seconds pass while I wait for her to calculate her next move.

Her hands against my chest lower to the bed. When I pull away from her ear, she peers up at me with shining eyes that beg me to save her. As if I ever would. As if anything I’m saying is anything more than bullshit.

When I came down here, Nikita was busy terrorizing the new maid. It’s highly doubtful he gives a shit about any of this. I only wanted to tease Margot in my own way, have an inside joke with myself. Maybe I’m a sadist, I don’t know.

But when my name touches her lips, said with such a soft cadence, my shoulders relax, drooping me over her. I press my forehead to hers before reaching to the waistband of my boxers to free my demanding cock.

When I press my lips to hers, she tenses like she’s repulsed. Like she’s going to fight this the whole way. I can’t tell if I mind it.

I shrug my boxers over my hips then lift her skirt to her stomach.

“Good girl,” I whisper, pressing my nose against her neck while snaking my hand between her legs. I slip beneath her panties and rub her clit until she relaxes, her arms moving to lightly squeeze my shoulders.

“Arseni…”

Two of my fingers enter her at the sound of my name while I inhale the scent of her perfume. “That’s perfect. Just like that.”

“Please don’t do this. Just—just fake it.” She whispers this like she doesn’t want the mic to pick up her words. The woman has a master’s from Berkeley but is so adorably gullible.

“I can’t fake it forever,” I whisper back.

Her arms around my shoulders hug when I give her a forceful thrust of my fingers. She whines like she doesn’t like it, but the moisture on my hand says otherwise. “This is wrong.”

“I know,” I increase my pace, making her eyes clench shut while her legs try to close. But her hips ? Her hips lift for me. “I’m a bad, bad man.”

“You’re practically a child .”

My brow furrows at that. It must be an insult, some comment about my maturity. Nothing else would make sense.

But did I hear guilt in her voice?

When I press my thumb to her clit and rub while fingering her, she arches her back, her pink lips parting. She likes this. She wants this.

I circle my thumb around her clit while watching her face twist with ecstasy, her lips pursing with a moan. My neck warms where her heated breaths hit, and the sensation makes my cock jump. It fills with so much blood, I pull my hand from Margot’s pussy to grasp it on command.

Precum oozes from the tip as I squeeze and rub it on her inner thigh.

Her soft skin feels so good against my cock, I think I could get off just from this.

I could slide myself against her thighs as if I’m pretending just like she wants.

Just like she’s begged . I could play the part of the hero so well I’d almost believe it myself. I almost want to.

But I don’t.

I’m too much of a villain.

Pulling Margot’s panties to the side, I push into her slick cunt that gives me such a warm welcoming, it makes me groan. She gasps and lets her arms loosen until her fingers are digging into my shoulder blades.

“See?” I say, my voice breathy as I begin to roll my hips. “This isn’t so bad.”

“Arseni,” she whines in frustration, but she still doesn’t open her eyes. She clenches them, her cheeks pinching like she’s in pain. But I know she isn’t in pain. She’s undulating beneath me like a little whore.

“Why are you fighting this?” I place both hands on either side of her head while I jerk inside of her, hard, just to hear her moan. Like I’m somehow fooling myself, living out some delusion that she wants me. I’ve wanted it badly before. Maybe I can’t see past that.

Margot turns her head away from me but opens her mouth wide with a guttural moan.

Nope, I’m seeing clearly.

I fuck her harder. Faster. Coming alive at the chain around her ankle clacking to my beat, swaying against my hamstring.

I make a mental note to get a headboard just so I can hear it bang against the wall the next time I fuck.

The rhythm has me thrusting so intensely, my forehead beads with sweat and Margot’s underwear chafes my cock.

I grip the lacy things and rip them with so much passion, it finally makes Margot open her eyes.

She searches me like she’s trying to gauge if I’m angry or if I’m just an animal. I end her curiosity with a brutal kiss to her lips, as brutal as my thrusts. I think for certain she’ll try to pull away, but she just stays still, her lips loose, her jaw lax.

I stroke her bottom lip with my tongue as a test, and when she doesn’t protest, I push inside her mouth to taste the sweetness of her tongue. She doesn’t meet me there. She doesn’t kiss me back. But she doesn’t fight me either.

Her lips vibrate my mouth with a mewl as I put my hand between us to assault her clit. She’s close. I can feel it in her legs embracing my waist, the twitching of her hips, the shudder she breathes into my mouth.

I rip my lips away to put all my attention on rubbing her to Heaven, even after bringing her down to Hell.

I can’t explain why I want it so bad. Maybe to prove something to myself.

Prove what, I don’t know. All I know is when Margot’s chin tips back with a loud, unleashed moan, I feel like I’m floating with her.

Both my hands claw at the mattress as I fuck like I’m nothing but a beast—sweat dripping, arms quivering, grunts wobbling up my throat.

When I come, it feels like every bit of life I have in me sinks into Margot’s swollen pussy. I barely keep myself from collapsing on top of her.

I’m exhausted. Spent. And still, I can see when I roll off of her that the porn star I just fucked is long gone. I can feel the tense energy she’s putting off even without touching her.

She rolls away from me and curls into herself, little sobs tumbling out her mouth a few moments later.

I stand from the bed on tired legs and work to get my clothes back on. I don’t look at Margot as I do. I’m not sure why the sound of her crying bothers me, but right now, it’s unsettling. Maybe even annoying.

“You’re all right, Mommy,” I say, pulling on my shirt. Her crying ceases as she tightens. I think she’s afraid until her voice, quaking with anger, fills my ears.

“Don’t fucking call me that.”

I tilt my head at her, but I’m too tired to even get any joy out of her displeasure. Wiping sweat off my forehead, I head upstairs. I listen in vain for the sound of her crying as I walk.

When I finish with a shower and flop on the bed in Nikita’s guest room, I pull out my phone to watch the surveillance.

I turn up the volume all the way and listen, but I can see from Margot’s still face that she isn’t crying. She’s sitting on the bed with her arms wrapped around her knees, exactly how I found her.

I’m beat. Truly bone tired.

And still, my cock hardens.