Page 37 of Sweet Torture (Torture Games #1)

He turns his head to make eye contact with me, and thankfully, I see his gaze soften. “All I remember is what happened in the back room of the gallery. It was the only really important thing that happened that night.”

I lift my hand to trace the wrinkles around his mouth with my finger. “I wouldn’t say that. At least I got to school an arrogant fool about the economics of a blow job, too.”

His hesitant laugh fills the car, and my heart rate calms down. If he can keep his cool, we might just survive this ordeal. If he flies off the handle like last time, these people will shoot us and make compost of my beautiful dress. And I am too pretty to be a flower.

“What is going on in that pretty little head of yours?” Chaos asks.

I turn more of my body to him before I answer. “Funny, I was just thinking how pretty I am.” I jest.

His chest rumbles with pleasure, and he leans over to whisper in my ear when the car comes to a stop, “You are the most exquisite woman here; don’t forget that.”

The door is opened on both sides, and I have no other option than to grab the driver's outstretched hand and hop out of the car. Griffin hurries to my side and glares at the man who dared to touch me.

I try to diffuse the situation by pulling his face to mine and kissing the corner of his mouth. “Focus, we are only here for a little while, and I am guessing he is our ride home. Just get through this night, and I will give you a little treat at home. ”

Now he perks up, “What do I get?” he whispers excitedly while we start walking to the expansive front door.

We are closing in, with only a few steps left, when I ask. “What do you want?”

At the top step he turns to me and with a straight face, he says, “I want to fuck your tits and come all over you.”

The door opens to find me speechless with my mouth agape.

The house is magnificent, and at any other time, I would be gushing over the architecture and the lines that form when the sun hits the peaks of the steeple towers. From an artistic point of view, the house is a masterpiece, but I don’t have a lot of time to take everything in.

Filled with nervous energy, it must have made me oblivious to how far we have driven because we are definitely far away from the city limits.

Sporadic glances out of the car window showed homes ranging from magical to unique, but now we are standing on the steps of the most exquisite house I have ever seen.

We are met by the same woman as before. She has the same brilliant white pantsuit, and it is styled perfectly.

Only in the harsh light, she looks even thinner and more emaciated.

I suddenly wished I had spared a slice of pizza for her.

I could have hidden it in my cleavage along with the recording mic.

Maybe she is so obnoxious because she is just hungry. That would be understandable.

I look around at our surroundings and see that the rest of the skinny women walking around in bikinis look well cared for and have beautiful figures.

Not enough to turn my man’s head, though.

We are led through the throngs of nearly naked women to a door partly hidden by a heavy maroon baroque curtain. It reminds me of the ones I have in my playhouse. The door is opened from the inside, and a cloud of cigar smoke escapes, causing me to go into a coughing fit.

Griffin pats my back gently and jokingly says, “My brave woman taken out by second-hand smoke. What a pity.”

“This isn’t the time to be smart with me, brat.

Keep your head in the game. Or don’t you want your little treat?

” I pointedly look down at my breast, reminding him we are being recorded as well and that his little taunts will be heard by Claire and Bastian.

I am already mortified when I think about his comment on the steps.

He smirks but places his hand on the small of my back and crosses the threshold with me slightly pushed in front of him.

To say I am surprised by the inside would be a gross understatement.

My jaw drops to the floor when I find myself in what looks to be a Russian bathhouse.

Naked men with towels around their waists are strutting around.

The ones in the water clearly don’t give a damn that I might catch a gander at their goodies.

What I thought was smoke before is more a mixture of smoke, steam, and, by the smell of it, cedarwood essential oil.

We are still following the woman through the mass of naked men when a voice bellows at the far end. “Maxwell, so happy you could join us. Come make yourself at home.”

Vlad, once immersed in the water, stands to welcome us as we get closer.

Once we reach our destination, the woman in the pantsuit leaves without another word, and I find myself amidst a sea of skin and tattoos in what must be the devil’s asshole.

I am sure sweat is streaming down my face already, ruining my makeup.

But I am more concerned about the sweat gathering in the line of my cleavage.

Our companions will not hear a word if all they hear are the subtle sweat waves created inside this hot room.

We should have sent Claire in instead of me.

At least then, the buffet of crumpled dicks wouldn’t be lost cause, like now.

“Why don’t you join us, Maxwell? There is a towel for each of you, but I must warn you: the water temperature is not for the faint of heart.” Vlad sits back down, thankfully.

“I thought this was a dinner party?” Griffin leads me to a seat on a bench closest to the bath, where three other men are marinating in grayish water with Vlad.

“We always talk business in the baths. It is the only way to ensure everything stays above board. I am sure you understand.” Vlad points a hand to the cage filled with guns behind him.

The grimace on Griffin's face is enough to tell me that he is going to have to come clean. “No wonder we weren’t searched at the door. I must admit it was quite an ingenious plan of yours.”

“Ah, my friend. How could you doubt me? I would have been more inclined to share my other genius ideas with you if you hadn’t been so stubborn as to take a meeting.

It really hurt our relationship to know that you didn’t want to do this deal with me.

” Vlad puts his hand on his heart with fake offense.

Griffin gets undressed and quickly wraps the towel around himself before he turns to address Vlad. “It would have been more advantageous for you to deal with another courier. Why insist on my services?”

He winces when his foot disappears in the water. The steam floating from the surface suggests that it must be hot.

Vlad’s eyes, however, are focused on me.

“Is your plaything not going to join us?” he asks Chaos while his eyes are undressing me.

Griffin looks my way and winks. It helps to stabilize my heart rate, which is trying to escape my chest. “If you think I am going to parade my woman around your men naked, you are mad. She can stay where she is.” His tone clearly shows he is not to be trifled with.

Relieved, I make myself a little more comfortable by wiggling in my already sweaty dress until Vlad speaks up. “If she doesn’t get naked, then she doesn’t belong here. She can wait outside.” He beckons to one of his guards to come closer.

Griffin immediately starts exiting the bath.

“Where the fuck are you going?” Vlad insists.

“Look, you insisted she come along, and here we are. You wanted to discuss business, and I got naked to join you. But my woman is mine, and nobody gets to see her body unless she consents. Just because you disregard women does not mean I share your ideology. We can discuss business now, and I will get back into your sweaty ballsack of a bath, or we will wait for you outside to finish up. What will it be?” Griffin is superb.

Even some of the other men in the other baths stopped what they were doing and stare at him in wonder.

Vlad waves the guard away and sits back down. Griffin gets in and winces when his balls touch the hot water but he makes himself as comfortable as possible.

“I have a shipment of honey coming into the country in two weeks. I need you to preserve the honey in favorable conditions until I am ready to decant the product.” Vlad drapes his arms over the side of the bath.

“I do not provide that service. I am a courier, not a waystation,” Griffin says.

“You are now,” Vlad insists.

They stare at each other, and if the situation were less intense, I would joke around and say that they could literally measure dicks if needed.

But Vlad is trying to strong-arm Griffin into doing something he is dead set against. Griffin explained to me that Vlad is the leading force in human trafficking in our city.

“And say I do this for you, what would I get out of the deal?” Griffin is trying to get intel on future deals.

“You would be given a fixed contract to handle all my shipments and favorable compensation. I am sure you would like to give this young lady the best life possible here.”

Griffin snorts, “She sells her painting for millions. Maybe I should retire and live off her income alone.”

Vlad slaps the guy next to him before he mocks, “Look at this one. He wants to become a nude model and live off the breadcrumbs she provides.”

Suddenly, he pitches forward and stops inches away from Griffin’s face. “I am not talking about small change here. I am talking about real money. Enough to change the lives of generations to come.”

Griffin calmly pushes him back, and he moves back to his spot. “Maybe we have different perspectives on what is life changing. I will help you with this one time, but when the transaction is completed, I want out. It is one-and-done or nothing at all. Do we have a deal?”

Griffin holds out his hand for Vlad to shake. Vlad looks at the others in the bath questioningly, and when they all nod, he shakes Griffin’s hand.

Having concluded with business, Griffin rises and steps out of the bath.

Vlad ignores him while he is dressing until he grabs my hand and pulls me up.

“Oh, Maxwell, one more thing. If you try and double-cross me, I will torture your love and have her raped by my whole army right before your eyes before I cut you to pieces and feed you to my dogs. My men will be in touch.”

Griffin grabs me and speedwalks to the door.

Weaving between the towels lying on the floor, I see the way some of the men stare at me with lustful eyes, and a shiver runs through me.

Just outside the door, we are met by Pantsuit again, and this time, the men behind her blindfold us and toss us into what I can only assume is the trunk space of the SUV.

We drive for what feels like hours when they stop and release us, still on the outskirts of town.

Our phones are tossed into the dark; they simply return to the car and drive away.

“Assholes!” I shout.

Griffin is pressing a button on his smartwatch to find his phone. He really is a genius.

“Don’t worry, love, we will be out of here in no time,” he says soothingly.

I still feel sticky from the humidity in the bath room, so I am enjoying the cool breeze that caresses my skin. Having found his phone, Griffin calls mine and picks it off the ground a few minutes later. “Let’s call for a ride.”

Having arranged with Bastian to pick us up, we sit by the side of the abandoned road and wait.

“I am sorry you were so scared in there. I never wanted you to be dragged into this,” Griffin laments.

I ponder his words and tell him the truth when I confidently say, “I wasn’t scared. I never am when I am with you.”