Page 33

“D o you have any idea how hard it was to track you down?” I complained to my prisoner, who sat on the floor in the small bunker in the woods where I’d trapped him two days before.

There was nothing but forests around, and the bunker was well isolated. No one would hear us, whatever happened in here. Which was fortunate, because I had a lot of games in mind.

He was filthy, having soiled himself since I’d left him here. There was a bag on his head, just in case, and his hands were tied together behind a long pole that didn’t allow him to move from the spot.

The cable ties were probably too tight. His fingers were kinda gray and most likely felt numb. I wanted to cut the cable ties and see what happened. Would his hands hurt like a bitch? It was worth checking.

“Now, I’m gonna take the bag off your head. If you try your mental shit, I’ll stick pins under your toenails. Okay. Ready?”

I pulled the bag off with a flourish. The mind manipulator who attacked Barbara over a year ago instantly looked at me, his eyes glowing with his power before he realized what I was. He cringed, mumbling through the gag in his mouth.

Of course, his shit didn’t work on me. I was immune.

“That was naughty. I gave you a fair warning, didn’t I?”

When he closed his eyes, his mumbling growing faster while sweat poured down his face, I sighed.

“Man, I’m just trying to have a conversation here. Did I or did I not give you a fair warning?”

He opened his eyes, without the glow this time, and nodded frantically. I grinned.

“Yeah. Let’s see now.”

I crouched by his feet. He realized what I was about to do and tried to jerk his foot away, but I caught it fast. When he tried to kick me with the other, I sighed, slid nearer, and grabbed his leg. Catching his ankle and knee, I brought his calf down over my knee hard, like snapping a branch.

His shin bone broke in two. He howled.

“That will teach you to kick me,” I said pleasantly, grabbing his other foot again. “Now, what was it? Ah, pins. While I do that, let me tell you why you’re here.”

I carefully slid the first pin under his filthy big toenail. He cried out in pain, shaking. He stood no chance. There he was, sitting in his filth, and I knew I’d kill him tonight and leave him buried here forever, but for now, I would enjoy myself.

It took me over a fucking year to find him, every day of that year snapping tighter and tighter with urgency. That time was heaven, because my doll was with me, loving me and smiling at me every day. And it was hell, too.

Every day I was more and more aware that the person who threatened her walked free. That awareness was like a cancer, burning through my happiness and waking me up at night. Nat tried to talk me through it, using logical arguments.

He got paid to hurt her. The real perpetrators, meaning her mother and Ernest Ladnizza, were in jail. They couldn’t hurt her anymore. The mind manipulator had moved on. He wouldn’t hurt Barbara again.

That session had been profoundly unsuccessful, which Nat had expected. The nature of my survival instincts meant that they were irreversible. Once I locked in on a target to kill, it was over. Either they died or I did.

“You hurt my girl,” I growled, looking at the pathetic rakshasa man who howled in pain as I stuck another pin under his nail, his face wet with tears and snot. “And I’m not built for forgiveness, my friend. I am built for vengeance.”

Nat knew I was here, and he promised to keep his mouth shut. Now, I was grateful for all the times my baby forced me to get him gifts or invited him over, but I also knew he would have been loyal without it. My doctor and friend understood on a deep level how big of a gift my trust was.

He was the only person who knew. My doll thought I was with him tonight, and he was my cover. I would lie to her about it, lie shamelessly, because I knew she wouldn’t be able to handle the truth of why I killed this man.

It’s all for my doll.

She was the reason for his death, and I would hide it from her until we both lay down in a marital grave, buried side by side for eternity.

“That’s all your toes,” I said after I was done, three pins stuck under each nail. “What should we do next? I brought lots of toys.”

His eyes rolled, his head lolling against the pole. He was close to losing consciousness. I considered briefly whether to give him a shot that would force him to stay awake for long hours of torture and finally decided against it. Instead, I cut the ties around his wrists, securing much looser ones in place. Now his blood flowed unobstructed into the necrotic areas.

I brought out my historical romance novel featuring a lord and a sassy governess, and read, waiting to see what happened.

But I barely got through a paragraph when the mind manipulator whined in pain. He shifted, trying to move his arms. Then, he whimpered. And then, he screamed.

I put my book away with a sigh, watching as he writhed in agony. I had thought it would bring me peace to see him tortured after he’d caused my sweetheart so much suffering, but his screams quickly got boring.

“Oh, do shut up,” I said finally, putting a bullet through his skull.

And that was that.

I packed my shit and doused the area in bleach, though I doubted anyone would ever find this little bunker. I went out, breathing in the clean night air of the forest in fall. It was cool, and it woke me up, lending me the strength I needed to haste back home.

My bike was parked a long trek away from the bunker, and I walked with pleasure, lightness suffusing my bones. Because that mind manipulator was the last one. I’d dealt with Ernest Landizza and his son, Adonis, a month ago. Both ingested poison, Ernest in prison, Adonis in a hotel.

And since my doll still cared somewhat about her parents, I left them alone. Clarissa was harmless in jail, anyway. I sent her letters every month, just to piss her off. They contained clippings from magazines with my and her daughter’s photos, showing off our unconventional lifestyle.

Barbara’s father was free, his career having survived the ordeal. He sent her a handsome check every month, which allowed me to leave the MSA. Fatima visited us sometimes, bemoaning the fact I was gone but never pressing hard for me to return.

I had a permanent assignment, though, and no space left for anything else. My doll, who attended college, danced modern jazz, and volunteered in a cat shelter, was not only my wife but also my principal.

She would remain it for life. I was her servant, her protector, her lover, and everything else she needed me to be. Taking care of her fulfilled me like nothing else ever had.

I was almost to my bike when my phone rang.

“Hey, baby,” I answered with a smile. “What’s up?”

“I miss you,” she said in her sweet, exaggerated, pink voice. I practically heard her juicy pout. “Just letting you know I’m about to touch myself since you’re not here.”

“Naughty doll,” I breathed, my cock instantly perking up. “Tell me, what are you doing?”

“Well, I’m wearing that negligee you got me last week,” she said, and I heard the sheets rustling, like she was settling in. “The green one. But I didn’t wear panties. Oh, and by the way, I got a Brazilian wax. I am perfectly bare. Not a hair down there.”

“You didn’t tell me you were gonna do it,” I said, a dangerous note stealing into my voice.

“Yeah, it was supposed to be a surprise.” Her voice was airy, like she had no idea how that ticked me off, but I knew she did it on purpose.

“A surprise for a night when I’m not in? That’s very naughty, love. I’ll have to spank you for this.”

“Oh, no,” she said with a smile. “That’s terrible. You know how I always come multiple times when you spank me, right? That’s such a cruel punishment.”

I grinned, then schooled my face into a stern expression. It wouldn’t do to let her know how I enjoyed her antics. She should at least squirm a little.

“If you’re so eager to get spanked, I can be there in an hour.”

Maybe. If I ran some red lights and really overdid it with the speed.

“Mhm, no, you don’t have to,” she breathed, her voice tinged with pleasure. “I’m already taking care of myself. Oh, it feels so good. Wish you were here to see it.”

“If you make yourself come before I get there, I’ll edge you for days,” I said, the world tinging red and pink, the perfect combination. “I’ll tie you to the bed and won’t let you come. You’ll be in agony.”

Her answer was a loud, shameless moan.

“Oh, doll,” I said with a sharp grin, straddling my bike. “Now you’re just playing with fire.”

“Get here quick,” she moaned. “I miss you so much.”

I hung up and set off, leaning over my bike as I swallowed the distance separating me and her at a speed that would surely put me in jail if I was caught. Dark world rushed past, soon giving way to the city lights. I ran a red light here and there, dodging cars, and was back at our place in fifty minutes.

I found my doll in front of the TV, eating popcorn while Pride and Prejudice played on the screen.

“You’re here!” she lit up, sitting straighter.

I scowled. She didn’t wear the green negligee but a long T-shirt, one of mine, and a pair of fluffy bunny slippers.

“Did you make yourself come, doll?” I asked, my voice low and controlled. My hands itched to grab her and spank her sassy ass.

“Why don’t you see for yourself?” she said with a shameless grin, spreading her legs open. “I wanted to be comfortable, and the negligee had itchy lace. But I did get the Brazilian, and no, I’m not wearing panties.”

I dropped to my knees and nuzzled her inner thigh, breathing in the scent of my home, my haven, my destiny.

“I’m not a fucking seer, doll. Be straight with me. Did you make yourself come?”

She looked down, regarding me seriously while I knelt at her feet like the servant I was.

“Of course not,” she said quietly with a soft, loving smile. “I can’t make myself come the way you do. It was just teasing. I need you, honey. I need you so much, and I can’t spend even one night without you. It’s pathetic.”

I exhaled, pressing my cheek bone to her thigh. “Me, too, baby. You did good calling me. I’m here now.”

I fucked her slowly on the carpet, making her come the way only I could, and then we watched the rest of the movie together. She dozed off with her head in my lap, and I stroked her hair, finally at peace.

Her enemies were dead. We were safe, me and her, happy and in love. Our happily ever after was here, and I’d milk every day of it to the fullest.