Her Master's Courtesan (15 page)

“Sit down. Eat something. You haven’t had much over the past several days and you’ll make yourself sick. Start with the toast to settle your stomach before moving on to the rest.” Aiden took a seat at the head of the table when he recited his commands, as normal as if we done this every day of our lives. I didn’t begrudge his instructions, however, and my stomach growled loudly when the smell of the bacon and eggs wafted past my nose. Picking up the napkin, I spread it across my lap before laughing softly at the irony of still behaving with civilized manners despite everything that had happened in this house. Aiden looked up when he heard me and an eyebrow cocked on his forehead.

“Something funny?” A smile peeked out at the corner of his lip and I knew he wasn’t mad that I’d slipped and laughed at an inner thought.

I wasn’t sure if his question was meant to be rhetorical or not, so I hesitated to respond.

“You must respond immediately, Rebecca. When asked a direct question, it is expected that you will answer regardless if you get in trouble for your response or not. Hesitate for too long and punishment will be required.”

I was stunned silent for two reasons. For one, I feared my response would displease him – that he’d strike out about my laughter over events that had taken place. But even more than that was the fact that he’d used my name. It was the first time since I’d woken up in that black room that he referred to me by something other than a pet name or insult.

His eyes narrowed when I still hadn’t responded and I quickly spit out my thoughts in fear of making him angry. “I was just thinking how ironic it was that, here we are, acting civilized, like everything is normal and not…” I paused, my voice dropping to a whisper. “…what it is.”

His eyes stared into mine for a long moment and then he indicated with his fork while instructing me, “Do not make eye contact unless it’s requested.”

I looked down at my plate immediately.

The silence between us was killing me and I desperately wanted to look up and attempt to decipher what he was feeling from the look in his eyes. By forcing me to look away he was cutting me off from knowing anything about him, from knowing beforehand whether he was angry or pleased, whether he studied me or looked away.

“And regarding your comical thought, this is normal and will continue to be normal for the rest of your life. You’ve submitted and you’ve learned your place. I see no need keeping you locked in a cold dark place as long as you continue to behave. I don’t mind the sight of your heart-shaped ass and perfect tits; therefore I’ll keep you with me in the house. However, if I wanted to, I could return you to that room...”

I shuddered at the thought.

“Not every owner is the same as me. When you are sold, your new owner can do with you as he pleases, but while you are in my home, you will act with dignity and grace when you’re not being whipped or fucked. Do you understand?”

“Yes Master.”

My eyes welled up again and I was disturbed by the reason for my tears. I was no longer crying that I’d been made into a sex slave by Aiden – no. Now I was crying because I didn’t want to be sold and start all over again. I didn’t want another man’s hands on me. I didn’t want to be in another cold, dark room. I’d already learned to accept the man sitting across the table. “May I look at you?”

“No.”

I should have shut up then, but I needed to know how long I had before I was given to the man who’d purchased me.

“How long will I stay here?” My question was asked quietly – partly because I was afraid of upsetting him and partly because I was afraid to hear the answer.

He was quiet again and I heard him inhale a deep breath and slowly blow it out. “That is not information you need to know, pet. Eat your food. You have a guest arriving shortly.”

My heart shattered at the cold way he’d blown off my question. I picked up my fork and slowly ate the food on my plate. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t put the thought out of my mind. Somewhere deep down inside, I still needed to have some control over my fate. Maybe if I was good enough – if I obeyed – he’d choose to keep me instead of selling me into the slavery of another man.

My fork hit the plate hard when I dropped it and a loud clatter echoed through the large kitchen. I continued looking at my plate, so I didn’t know if the sound annoyed Aiden. However, his next words told me it did.

“Is something wrong?” He spoke without emotion, cold and obviously annoyed. I fought to keep my mouth shut, but I was too afraid of where I could go when I left this house.

“Can I stay here?”

I wasn’t sure if he’d heard me. I could hear his fork scraping across his plate, something else that sounded like the rustling of a newspaper. I wanted to look up and search his face for any sign of what he was thinking, but I knew I was in trouble for having asked the question in the first place, and I didn’t want to anger him further by breaking one of his rules.

I heard him set down the fork before he finally answered, “I don’t keep courtesans, pet. I acquire them, train them and sell them to whichever client ordered them. I have no use for a live in whore when I have others who need to be trained. It wouldn’t do anybody any good.”

“I can be an example. I’ll behave…” Tears flowed freely from my eyes and my words shook as bad as my bottom lip. “…I’ll do anything you ask, without question or argument, I’ll…I don’t want to be sold to another man. I want to stay here.” I watched my tears fall onto my plate and I heard his chair scrape against the tile floor. When I recognized the sound of his approaching footsteps, I cowered in my chair, folding over myself in an attempt to appear small.

His feet stopped and my eyes flicked to the floor to see his black leather shoes. My body was shaking with fear – absolute fear of everything, but mostly his decision on sending me away.

“Look at me, pet.”

His voice was stern and I noticed that since we’d started this conversation, he’d reverted back to calling me ‘pet’. It had to be a sign of his anger. I peeked up at him and I cringed to see the angry line of his jaw.

“Stand up.”

His eyes were dark, a shade of blue that reminded me of an angry sea. I pushed back in my chair, the wood scraping loudly against the tile. When I tried to stand up, my legs were weak beneath me and my hand slipped from the table. His large hand wrapped around my arm to steady me. He moved me away from the chair, walking me to the middle of the kitchen and letting go.

“Stay there.”

He walked back to the table, grabbing a chair and turning it around to face me before sitting down.

“Come here.”

I stumbled over my first step, terrified as to what he was going to do. When I stood inches from him, he looked up at me.

“I don’t condone arguments from courtesans. It is looked down upon regardless of the topic of conversation. When a Master or an owner gives you his answer – that is the final answer. Since you argued, I’ll have to punish you. Your argument is not a cute mistake that I will tolerate from you.”

My throat swelled from my dread. He was going to return the pain – would he also lock me back in the room with no light, no heat and no sound? Have I just banished myself back into the hell of oblivion and loneliness that comes with not even being able to see your hand in front of your face? I choked on a sob waiting to hear what he would do.

“Lay over my knees.”

I shook my head, begging for him to change his mind. “No…I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…” My words were stuttered and punctured by sobs. “I’m sorry, please don’t punish me.”

His hand wrapped around mine and he pulled me in closer. I knew he wouldn’t forgive what I’d done. He pulled me across his knees and I felt the back of my robe pulled up, exposing my ass to the air. The first slap echoed across the room and was only broken by my scream. His hand slammed against my ass over and over again and my skin felt like it was on fire where he struck me. After he’d hit me ten times, he rubbed his hand over the sore skin, soothing the burn, but not the ache that existed beneath. My body was positioned in such a way that my clit rubbed up against his leg and within minutes, I was panting while at the same time shaking from the force of my sobs. His hand continued its motion and when I heard him chuckle above me, I let out a relieved sigh.

His fingers slipped though the slickened skin when he said, “Your pussy is wet. I know your mind tells you that you hate punishment, but your body disagrees. This is what I mean by your responsiveness … it really is remarkable. Now stand up. I’m not giving you a release – you’ve done nothing to deserve it.”

I pushed up from his lap, but refused to look up into his face. I didn’t know if he wanted me to look at him or not so I took the option that seemed safe. It must have been the right one because he grabbed my hand and led me toward the hall.

“It’s a shame you didn’t finish eating. It will be another few hours until you have the chance again. As it is now, you are late for a very important appointment.”

~ Aiden ~

“What took you so long? I’ve been waiting here 10 minutes already.” James looked at his fingernails as if my presence was nothing more than a nuisance. He was a nasty old man, but one of my favorite mentors. He taught me most of what I needed to know about the use of drugs and other medical tricks to make my job easier. I was somewhat surprised the man was still alive, considering he was older than Mr. Grimly.

“I’m sure you realize I have other clients and appointments today Aiden, I don’t have time to be waiting around for your slow ass. You always were one to take your time no matter who was waiting for you.”

“I suppose that’s what makes me a good Master. Everything is done on my time.” I grinned and the old man laughed, pushing himself up slowly from the grey wing-backed chair and extending his hand to shake mine. He steadied himself with a black cane, topped by a silver dragon’s head. I knew that cane well; it could be pulled apart to reveal a fine wire inside – useful as a stinging whip when the mood strikes.

“You are definitely at the top of your league, young man. I would even dare to say you would have been competition for Jack Renault himself back in the day. Grimly did good to choose you. I’ll admit I didn’t see it. You always walked around like you owned the place and I thought you were nothing more than an arrogant shit that needed to have a lesson taught to him. But, after seeing the type of whores you’ve churned out over the years, I can’t deny that Grimly had a better understanding of you than I.”

“That’s kind of you to say, James. Are you ready to get this appointment finished so you can run along to your other clients?” I spoke in a teasing manner, making light of the fact that he claimed to be busy, when I knew he only serviced two of the Masters in the surrounding area.

“I am. How is this one coming along? Has she given you any problems?”

I laughed immediately at the thought. “They never give me problems, James. Some are just more stubborn than others. There’s a whore buried deep in every woman, you just have to find the key to setting her free.”

He clapped me on the shoulder as we made our way to the room where I’d left Rebecca. “I apologize for keeping you waiting, but after her first shower of the day, I couldn’t resist fucking her. And of course that delayed breakfast. I think you’ll be impressed with her. She might even be enough to wake up your old cock after all these years.”

James grumbled. “Aiden, I think I broke my dick on all those whores I fucked.” He laughed a throaty laugh. “If I was to get hard now, the damn thing is bound to pop or some shit – fuck, the effort it takes to send the blood that direction would most likely give me a heart attack. Being old is atrocious and I’m pissed that all my friends have kicked the bucket, leaving me to fall apart…” He looked at me funny and added, “…And alone with you. Seriously, I must have pissed fate off to have to deal with your smug ass all these years.” He smiled at his jest and slammed his hand on the doorknob and opened the door to step into the exam room.

My eyes fell on Rebecca when I entered behind James and she startled to hear a second voice with me. The chains that held her arms above her head rattled and the stirrups of the table shook when she attempted to close her legs. Fortunately, I’d thought to strap her to the metal bars, effectively tying her in place. She had a black blindfold in place and a gag, which kept her from talking.