Felipe guffawed, “Everyone knows, my dear. You know. Do you love him or not?”

I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know enough about Felipe to guess whether or not he meant me or Caleb any harm. Aside from Celia, I was never alone with anyone but Caleb.

“Do you love, Celia?” I asked instead.

Felipe sighed, “Clever, girl. Answer a question with a question and you can never say the wrong thing. Regardless, I have my answer. It’s a pity he doesn’t know it.”

“He does,” I whispered.

Felipe laughed loudly, “One would think! Do you know how I met Celia?”

I shook my head.

“She is the daughter of my former rival. Many years ago, when I decided to make my name, I went up against her father and won. As a trophy…I took Celia.” His voice turned soft. “She hated me for many years and I was not always so kind to her. Now…not a moment goes by I do not wish I could take back wasted time. I spoil her.”

“By letting her clean your house and be your slave?” I said, incredulous.

“I see why Caleb is so drawn to you. You’re the type of woman who begs to be bridled and yet refuses to yield. Such women are the nectar of life,” he said. “Believe me, Celia is quite happy. I give her everything she needs and more than she desires.”

I kept my mouth shut and let Felipe have it his way.

“Will you allow Caleb to sell you?” he asked.

“I don’t have a choice,” I whispered.

“To live as a slave or to die by one’s own terms is always a choice, sweet girl,” he whispered. “Perhaps you should remind your current master.”

“Why do you say, my current master?”

“Didn’t Caleb tell you? Rafiq arrives tomorrow. I suspect you’ll both be leaving us very soon. It’s a pity though, I begrudgingly admit I’ve enjoyed having you both around. Caleb is an interesting man, a bit…drastic, but interesting nonetheless.”

I felt as though someone had punched me in the stomach and knocked the air out of my lungs. Rafiq was coming for me and Caleb wasn’t going to stop him. It was over. I’d lost.

“Let me go,” I whimpered. “Please, help me.”

Felipe sighed, “I’m afraid it isn’t possible, sweet girl. Rafiq…well, let me just say, he does not take kindly to betrayal.”

As I tried to process what he was telling me, I heard his steps and cringed when he set the wet gag back into place and secured it firmly. I panicked when the coldness of the cables ran up along my body. I didn’t want the clamps back on my nipples. I struggled with all my might. My torso was relatively free, so it was with some difficulty he held me down with his weight to replace the clamps.

“No!” I screamed in frustration, but there was only his soft laughter in response.

“I’m sorry sweet girl, but I can’t have your master find you in a different position. It’s rude.”

I whined pitifully. I had finally come down from my heightened arousal, my clit ached, and my nipples too – but I had been glad to feel somewhat normal again. I wasn’t sure I could handle more torture.

“I’ll give you a gift before I go,” said Felipe.

I shook my head passionately, but it didn’t stop him from placing his hand between my legs and caressing me. My body stilled, and against my wishes, he stoked the flame of my desire, in no time making it burn hotly once more. Soon, I pressed myself toward him, looking for the release I needed so desperately. And finally, he sent me over the edge. He rubbed me harder and faster, and I screamed as my orgasm ripped me apart. I wanted more. As starved as I was, the powerful orgasm did little to ebb my passion. It was with deep dread, I realized he was replacing the clamp taken from my clit. I begged for him not to do it.

Within moments of him leaving, my torture began anew.

***

It was a very long time before the door opened again and this time, I wasn’t going to simply be content with physical release. Unless of course, physical release included punching Caleb in the stomach and then raping him into oblivion.

I growled when I heard footsteps coming near me, secretly praying it was Caleb I was directing my wrath toward and not another uninvited visitor. One smug laugh later, I knew it was him. I couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of relief.

“How’re you feeling, Pet?” I would’ve liked to spew invective at him just then, but the machine went off again and it was all I could do to hold in my screaming. Over the course of the night, the charges had become less frequent. I wondered if it had been a mercy my mysterious visitor had imparted. Regardless, the pulses were powerful, and it had been going on for hours. They were both pleasurable and painful, with increasing tendencies toward the pain. When the charge finally released me I couldn’t help but sob softly behind the drenched gag in my mouth.

“That bad huh?” he said, but I knew his words held absolutely no sympathy for what he’d done. I sucked in air deeply when he removed the clamps from my body.

“I hate you!” I yelled. Though the words were muffled behind the gag, I knew he could make them out. He cupped my breasts in both hands and gently massaged me.

“I hate you, Master,” he said with hungry lust lacing his voice.

He tweaked my nipples playfully. I winced and I tried to shrink away from his touch.

“Sensitive?” he whispered softly in my ear. When I didn’t respond, he pinched them a little harder and a yelp broke past my lips. “Answer,” he said coolly.

“Yes, Master,” I whined. My anger with him had grown as the hours had passed. I’d convinced myself when he came to get me I would really give him a piece of my mind. Of course – it’s easy to be brave when the object of your fear isn’t holding your sore nipples hostage.

“Good, Kitten,” he said. He placed his warm palms against my stiff little peaks and pressed softly to massage them as he also kneaded my breasts. I moaned loudly. My head rolled to the side as he touched me exactly the way I needed to be touched. I never wanted the feeling to end.

His thigh pressed against the table near the top of my head as he worked his hands lower, from my breasts, to my ribs, to my surprisingly sore hips. He rubbed softly, and I couldn’t help but moan and get lost in the surety of his hands, and in the clean, masculine smell emanating from his body, which inevitably leaned toward me. I thought about Felipe. I thought about the way he’d pressed his cock against my lips, the way I’d so readily accepted him when I thought he had been Caleb.

Unwittingly, I undulated beneath Caleb’s hands, my body telling him what I couldn’t possibly say out loud. I needed him to make me come. He sighed audibly, and I knew he wanted me as badly as I wanted him.

I fought off the memory of what he’d told me after I’d offered him not only my body, but my heart. “You thought what? You thought offering me a little pussy was going to make some kind of a difference?” I recoiled at the memory and tears stung behind my eyes. I was thankful for the blindfold. Suddenly, I wasn’t sure I wanted him touching me anymore, but what choice did I have? Felipe’s options seemed far too extreme.

It occurred to me then, the one choice that was mine to make, was not to let him hurt me anymore, not where it mattered. My heart sank heavily in my chest for reasons I didn’t want to acknowledge…I had thought my confession should make some kind of a difference.

I was lost in my self-pitying thoughts when he pulled me back into reality by running his finger along the seam of my inflamed sex. I jerked in my bonds.

“Sensitive here too?” he said darkly, and began his practiced assault on my clit. I groaned sadly in response and nodded. “Aww, poor Kitten. Would you like me to let you come now?” Tears leaked from my eyes and were immediately absorbed by the blindfold. I nodded. His voice had taken on a sinister edge, he was enjoying this, and I was in a strange sort of misery. He shifted his position, coming around to my right as he stroked me at an easier angle.

“I want to hear you beg me,” he said and pulled the gag from my mouth. I rotated my jaw, trying to get it to feel normal again and finding it difficult. “Beg me,” he commanded. My heart raced at his steady touch, the tingling heat of impending orgasm spread through my body. If he stopped me this time, I would die. I was sure of it.

“I’m…I’m begging you,” I whispered. My voice was alien to my ears as I failed to keep my emotions out of my voice.

“I did think it was really cute when you said you loved me.”

The orgasm tore through me with a violence I don’t think even Caleb was expecting. I screamed at the top of my lungs and my body arched as much as it could in its restraints. Every part of me tingled, and throbbed, and burned with release. My thighs quivered, and my heart beat savagely in my chest, ears, and clit.

It washed over me in waves: my old life, meeting Caleb, my botched escape, Caleb’s kindness that first night he held me, his smile, his hands, his smell, his kiss, the spankings, the torture, my declaration of love, his reaction…his reaction…his cruel, fucking reaction. When the best and worst of it subsided my hips hit the table with a wet thud and I lie there crying, as any number of emotions ran wild in my body while the aftermath settled.

“Wow,” he whispered.

I was so tired. I hadn’t slept all night. Caleb was quiet and I was glad for it. I had nothing to say to him. Though, I thoroughly hoped he was done torturing me for a while and would allow me to finally get some sleep – alone.

I started to drift away while he went about un-strapping my thighs and legs. It was an odd thing to feel so drowsy and satiated, while at the same time, feeling jittery and anxious over being released. His warm palms touched my ribs and my drowsiness disappeared, but my anxiety mounted.

“How are your ribs feeling?” he asked, with a degree of thoughtfulness.

“A little sore,” I said, so softly, I almost doubted he heard.

“Is it bad?” He seemed concerned.

I hated when he was like this. I would prefer him to always be a cold-blooded bastard. At least then, I could forgive him for the things he did. Instead, he showed me bursts of his humanity. It was worse - knowing he knew the difference between kindness and cruelty and chose the baser of the two. I shook my head.

He undid the cuffs on my wrists and I at once tried to sit up. Not really as a show of defiance. It just seemed like the natural thing to do. My hips were agonizingly stiff and sore. It took Caleb’s awkward help to lift my legs out of the stirrups. After too many hours apart, I could hardly close them.

I sat for a moment, my legs dangling off the table and my hands over my breasts. I hoped he wouldn’t remove the blindfold and I wouldn’t have to look into his eyes. He stood in front of me. Our bodies weren’t touching, but I felt him everywhere. Then the warmth of his fingers smoothed against my cheek, and something in my chest began to burn. Slowly, he pulled the blindfold away and I rubbed my puffy eyes as I adjusted to the soft light.

He looked gorgeous, as usual, though his customary smile was not present, only a look of seriousness. It occurred to me I must look like garbage, with my ratted hair, and puffy face. Meanwhile, Caleb stood in front of me – sexy as hell.

I couldn’t look him in the face. I rarely ever could. I focused on his lightweight button-up shirt, khaki pants, and casual shoes. I focused on his large hands as they reached up and rubbed my thighs. I let out a startled gasp he didn’t acknowledge.

“Are you hungry?” he asked ominously. I nodded, looking down into my lap. He slapped my thigh loudly and I had to fight every impulse to push him away. Heat crept up into my face, but I maintained my composure.

“Yes, Master,” I said, through clenched teeth. “I’m hungry.”

“Good,” he said, no humor in his voice. “You can get down on your knees and eat my cock.”