This Darkest Man (15 page)

I
nearly fainted in relief and turned so she could tie it and black everyone out.
If only she could black out my mind as well. I let her guide me into the cage,
and to my surprise the floor was made of a spongy substance which cushioned my
knees. Each wrist was pulled up and shackled high above my head so my upper
body was forced upward with my shoulders back and breasts on display. There was
absolutely no hiding when I was in this position.

“Won’t
be long now,” the girl called to me and I heard the metal clang of the door
closing. I jumped at that, and struggled uselessly at my restraints. How on
earth had I ended up like this? In the back of my mind I was still that wealthy
little girl in frothy dresses; but the reality was that I was naked, bound, and
about to be sold off to the highest bidder.

And
what had I done to deserve this? I had inflicted cruelty on a young man who had
a crush on me and he had ended up taking his own life. There was no worse crime
than to destroy another human being, and I was one hundred percent guilty.

Jeremy
Riordan was at college with me. He was terribly shy, even worse than me. He was
gawky, round shouldered and too tall for such bad posture. He also had a crush
on me that Josh labelled as pathetic and sneered at. I didn’t care about the
crush, or his feelings. I was too wrapped up in a world where Josh was a god
and I would do anything to please him.

Erin
had started to warn me about his cruelty, but I didn’t listen. I was just so
flattered that someone like him would be interested in me. Josh liked to pay
games, he liked to fuck with people and he particularly liked to humiliate
them.

The
first time he told me his plan, I said no.  But he was a smooth talker, and
eventually he had me convinced that it was just a harmless prank that even
Jeremy would laugh at. I was so stupid. It involved Jeremy naked and a webcam
recording everything and showing it to everyone. The idea was unoriginal and
juvenile. It was also deadly. Jeremy’s body was found floating in the river a
day later.

There
was never any form of comeuppance for us. No disciplinary action; no charges laid.
After the obligatory candlelight vigil, it was like Jeremy Riordan had never
existed; it was as if no one even cared.

But
I knew now that Daniel Hellman cared

I
blinked back tears underneath the blindfold. Not for my current predicament,
but for being such a stupid bitch who blindly followed her boyfriend down a
horrific path, her mind on nothing but pleasing such a loathsome man.

A
hand touched my shoulder and I jumped, my shackles jangling against the bars of
the cage.

“Sorry.
I forgot the ear plugs.” The girl sounded bored, as if this were an everyday
occurrence. I stayed still as she pushed something soft into each of my ears
and silence took over. The normal comfort of being blindfolded and not having
to face the world seeped away; the combination of darkness along with silence
sparked a fear within me. The vulnerability I felt along with the knowledge
that I was about to be auctioned off like a piece of meat had every muscle in
my body tense, as if there were something I could do about it. I could have
called out and screamed for the girl to let me go, and she probably would have,
after all, in her mind I was willing like all the other girls.

But
I needed redemption. I needed to pay for what Josh and I did to Jeremy. The
internal pain and guilt that I felt wasn’t enough. I needed pain on the outside
too, and perhaps my new ‘owner’ would be a cruel man who would flay the guilt
from me and leave scars so that I could show the outside world how sorry I really
was.

After
a while, I could hear muffled noises, and an occasional hand would reach into
the cage and touch me. A nipple would be tweaked; my ass squeezed, and once a
finger even slipped up inside me. I tried to stay still and not react, but my
body didn’t do what it was told and I just prayed that the person who slipped
that finger inside of me did not find me wet, because that would make this
punishment a farce.

I
tried to listen to find out what was going on. Had the auction started? Did
anyone actually want me? My muscles were screaming at me as each minute passed
and my position became more and more uncomfortable. Worse was knowing that god
knew how many people prowled around me, staring and judging.

Then
there was more touching, and one aching arm fell free, then the other. I fell
to my hands and knees, groaning in pain and feeling even more like an animal.
The first thing I did when I could finally move again was to remove the ear
plugs and throw them away from me. Blindness I could cope with, but not hearing
was pure torture. Pulling at my blindfold, I blinked against the dim light of
the club, surprised to find it empty.

Except
for one person of course.

Daniel
sat in a chair, staring at me. I stayed in the cage, creeping to the back like
a scared animal even though the door was wide open.

He
rubbed a hand over his face like he was tired. “Why did you do it to Jeremy?”
he asked quietly. ”It seems to go against everything that I know about you.”

I
sucked in a breath. “I was stupid,” I managed to say. “I thought I was in love
and I wasn’t brave enough to say no to anything.”

“You
did in the club though, when he wanted you to sleep with another man. You found
a backbone then.” The bitter tone in his voice almost ripped through me.

“Erin
had been on at me for a while, telling me how bad he was. That was the first
time I could really face what kind of person he was. After Jeremy died, he kept
telling me that it wasn’t our fault, that Jeremy had mental health
problems…god, I’m so sorry.” I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his intense gaze.

“He
did. Your boyfriend was right. That kid spent his childhood being beat up and
bullied by the man that we both unfortunately got to call father. Only, the
beatings made me stronger and I was lucky enough that Mom moved us away from
him. But Jeremy’s mother, who was my father’s mistress, stayed and took over my
Mom’s place, and Jeremy just got weaker and depressed. I tracked him down after
Dad died, paid for his schooling, tried to make his life better, and it would have
been, if not for you.” There was no emotion to his monologue, but all the same
it had my eyes pricking with tears and my guilt compounding.

“I’m
sorry, Daniel. I really am. There’s no excuse for how I behaved. I would do
anything to make this right.” My tone was pleading and I sounded as sick as I
felt.

He
straightened at my words. “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear from you. I
have a lot of making up to do as well, I could have been a better brother to
him but I was too consumed with making money. That’s why it’s so important that
all of us pay.”

The
look in his eyes was scaring me. “What do you have planned?” I whispered.

He
mouth turned up in a smile, and it wasn’t pleasant. “Don’t worry; I’m not going
to sell your body. I won the auction, although it might interest you to know
that we did have a few interested parties.”

I
clutched onto the bar of the cage for support. “What then?”

That
awful smile was still on his face. “You’re going to help me ruin Joshua’s
life.”

“Can’t
you do that yourself? You’ve done a good enough job of ruining mine,” I asked
bitterly.

He
nodded. “I have, haven’t I? I’ve actually put a lot of work into building up
Josh. He’s got a great job, great apartment, he’s making connections, and I’ve
even allowed him to come to Rubicon. His life is working out perfectly, except
for one thing. He’s missing the woman that he loves.”

I
shook my head at him. “Josh doesn’t love me. He just wants to own me.”

“It’s
the same thing. Love and ownership. They’re interchangeable. Someone like Josh
could have a dozen pretty girls lining up at his door, but he wants you. He’s
put a lot of effort into changing you into someone he thinks is worthy of
marrying, he thinks you owe him.”

I
stared at him for a moment. “What would I have to do?”

“Nothing.
For now. But let’s get this straight.
I
own you, Matilda. I control
every facet of your life. It’s important that you accept that. You
owe
me for not completely destroying your life, do you understand?”

I
sucked in a breath. If he hadn’t sounded so calm I would have sworn that he was
crazy. “Yes,” I whispered.

“
Say
it
.”

I
bit my lip and twisted my hands together. “You own me.” The words were bitter
on my tongue, but they gave him a satisfied, smug look.

“That’s
right. Come on. It’s time for you to come to your new home.” He held out a
hand, beckoning me forward, and reluctantly I crawled out of the cage on my
hands and knees. I was determined to do it on my own, but he grasped my hand in
a firm grip and pulled me to my feet. It was even more galling when my stiff
legs nearly gave way on me and he caught me around the waist. “I’m sending you
to the country house. Margaret will look after you.”

I
struggled against his hold. “She’s horrible.”

He
smiled. “Yes, she’s an ex-dominatrix.  That’s why she’s perfect for the job.”
His tone was jovial, like he was teasing. But I knew that he wasn’t.

I
wasn’t given back my clothes. Instead, he wrapped his jacket around me and led
me outside where I was bundled into the back of his car. Before he could close
the door, I cried out, “Wait! I need my things.”

He
just held my gaze and gave me that mocking smile that I was getting so used to.
“Mattie, you should know by now that I will provide everything that I think you
need or deserve. I’ve always been good at looking after my toys.”

And
with that, the car door slammed shut and I was driven off to whatever fate
Daniel thought that I should have.

I
ran as soon as the driver let me out. Daniel’s house loomed dark against the
landscape and I felt like I was running the wrong way. Margaret greeted me at
the door after I had sprinted barefoot across the cobbles, clutching the jacket
to my naked form and desperate for warmth. She wore her dark, long dress and
her hair was again scraped back into a severe bun.

“It’s
late,” she complained. “Hurry up. I’ve got better things to do.” She led me up
the familiar staircase and to the same room that I had stayed in before. The
doors to the antique armoire stood open, and I saw that they were filled with
clothes. As I took a step closer, I saw that they were my clothes. Daniel had
evidently had someone help themselves to my apartment while I was gone. The
sight of them didn’t give me any comfort, instead they served as a reminder
that his control was ongoing, to even the smallest of things.

Margaret
must have left and closed the door behind her, because when I turned she was
gone. In the bathroom I found my toiletries, and after I showered I slid in
between the cold sheets, my thoughts were preoccupied with Josh.

It
hadn’t been all bad. When I had struggled with a subject, he had stayed up all
night tutoring me. He would bring me flowers for random reasons, and he could
make me laugh until I cried. Part of the reason he ended up like he was was due
to his family. His parents were so demanding that they wouldn’t accept failure.
He had spoken of being forced as a child to sit for hours at a desk and not
being allowed to leave until he had memorized whatever the lesson was. That
poor child had grown into an arrogant adult, but wasn’t going ahead with
Daniel’s plan just as bad as anything Josh had done? And how far would Daniel
go to destroy Josh?

Sleep
did not come easily to me. Guilt for what I had done, and for what I was about
to do, weighed heavily upon me. It trapped me, just as I was trapped in this
house now under Daniel’s rule.

Over
the next few days, my meals were served to me in my room by an unsmiling
Margaret. She barely spoke and that was fine by me. After a while, I was going
crazy and ventured out of the room. No one stopped me. The servants I came
across gave me a slight nod of acknowledgement and stayed silent as they
carried on with their duties. Eventually, I stopped blushing at the memory that
they had all seen me naked and well and truly screwed on the dining room table.

I
began to explore. The house was a collection of rooms of odd sizes, narrow
corridors and staircases. It was a maze in itself. The main rooms and staircase
were spacious and grand as befitted a house of this size, but beyond that it
was if the house was built to house servants and hide them away. The family
that built this place must have been far more entitled and arrogant than my
own. I should have been lucky that Daniel hadn’t relegated me to one of these
rooms that were no bigger than a closet. There was an energy in those rooms, a
sadness that felt as if it were etched into the walls and carried the despair
of the poor souls who resided there. I could hear whispers, but it wasn’t as
strong as in the farmhouse. These people weren’t buried in the walls; they had
just lived a miserable existence here.

The
other difference was the complete sadness. That hadn’t been the entire energy
that I had felt at the farmhouse. There had been happiness there too. Perhaps
the joy poor Mae had felt with her lover surpassed her terrible grave. Maybe it
made it all worth it in the end.

I
backed out of the room slowly. I felt like I was intruding on the intensity in
the room; I didn’t belong there. I hit something hard behind me that made me
emit a small scream as I turned.

Daniel
stood there, not looking impressed. “You shouldn’t be here. It’s dangerous.
This wing is going to be torn down eventually.”

I
walked past him. “You’re here.”

“Yes,”
he said as he followed. “Looking for you. Who gave you permission to wander
around?”

“You
can’t control everything, Daniel.”

His
hand caught my wrist, turning me to face him, which I did with a scowl. “I
think you know that I can, Matilda.” Again, he had that intensity in his eyes
that made me want to shrink back, but I didn’t. I lifted my chin to meet his
eyes.

“Really?
Can you control how you feel about me?” It was a risk and foolish, I knew that,
but how he had acted at the farmhouse, that couldn’t have been acting. Not all
the time.

He
pulled me closer as he stared down at me, his lips so close that I was sure he
would kiss me. “I think you’re the one who can’t control what she feels,
Mattie,” he said in a low voice. His other hands touched my back, sliding down
to cup my ass. “I give you a little bit of attention and you’re panting after
me like a dog. Even worse, I treat you badly and you just keep coming back for
more.” I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his cruel smile for a moment as his
words sunk in, but then I pushed away from him roughly.

He
let go of my wrist with ease and I rubbed it even though it didn’t hurt. “I
hope someone treats you this way one day, Daniel.”

His
smile didn’t falter. “It’s unlikely. No one ever gets the best of me.”

I
shook my head at him before walking away.

Margaret
came to my room later to announce that dinner would be served in the dining
room. Great, another evening of humiliation. I closed my book and sighed. “And
what ridiculous outfit will I be required to wear this evening.”

Her
eyes darted to the armoire. “Just wear your own hideous clothes,” she said
snootily before leaving. “Dinner’s at seven. Don’t be late,” she called before
closing the door.

I
didn’t bother to dress up and just wore jeans and a plain sweater. There was no
one here to look nice for. Daniel apparently thought the same, because he was
dressed casually as well. It almost hurt when I saw him dressed like that,
because it reminded me of Clay and the kindness that he could show. I
associated the evil Daniel Hellman with designer suits and it was easier to
accept the cruelty of his nature when he was clad like that.

His
eyes flicked to me quickly as I sat at the huge polished table. “You’re late.”

“Sorry,”
I said sarcastically. “I just couldn’t bring myself to come any earlier to
enjoy your fantastic company and whatever you have planned for tonight.”

He
rolled his eyes. “Relax, Matilda. I’m not in the mood to play. It’s been a long
week at work and I just want to unwind. This is what this place is for me.”

“Really?”
I reached for the glass of wine that he poured for me. “It’s so depressing
here. It has a bad feel to it. Bad things have happened here”

He
frowned. “Luckily I don’t buy into all that psychic mumbo jumbo, and I sure as
hell don’t believe in ghosts like you do.”

I
let out a slight laugh at that. “Don’t you? You seemed pretty freaked out at
the farmhouse,” I said smugly.

He
caught my eye. “Someone was fucking with you.”

I
laughed again. “Yeah.
You
. Anyway, are you seriously telling me that
you’ve never heard anything weird here in the night?” I sipped my wine and
watched for his reaction.

He
leaned back in his chair. “It’s an old house and part of it is in desperate
need of remodeling. Everything that happens here is easily explained by common
sense.”

I
ran my fingers down the stem of my wine glass. “I wonder what will happen to
them when you tear down that area. Do you think they’ll find peace?”

It
was his turn to let out a laugh. “I doubt that many people ever find peace,
Mattie.”

I
stared at my glass for a second before turning my gaze to him. “What about you?
Do you do the things you do to find peace? Will you be happy when Josh and I
are both completely ruined?”

“I’ll
just have to wait and see, won’t I?” We held each other’s gaze, then the doors
opened and the servants entered with our dinner. We ate in silence. The food
should have been delicious but everything left a sour taste in my mouth. I only
finished part of the meal before I lay my cutlery on the plate to indicate that
I had finished.

Daniel
eyed my plate. “You should eat more. You need to keep up your strength.”

I
placed my napkin on the table. “I don’t need strength to do what you want me to
do. I just need no conscience. Besides, I thought you liked me weak. Everything
that you’ve done so far has broken me.”

He
smirked. “You’re being very dramatic. If I had really broken you, you’d know
about it. I would have let another bidder win you at the auction and left you
there until they had enough of you. That, sweetheart, would be enough to break
someone like you.”

“Then
why didn’t you?” I snapped out.

He
sighed. “Because, Matilda, I enjoy playing with you. You’re entertainment and I
don’t have to worry about your precious feelings. I don’t have to waste time or
energy wooing you or manipulating you. You do my bidding without question. I
like that in a woman.”

I
shook my head at him. “Why do you have to be such a prick? Why can’t you be
nice like you were in the beginning? It wasn’t just an act. It couldn’t have
been!” I got to my feet. I hated losing control in front of him and I left the
room, ignoring him as he called after me. I hurried up the stairs and into the
security of the bedroom, where I threw off my clothes and climbed into bed. It
was easier that coping with my misery. The oblivion of sleep would make
everything better. But it didn’t come and I just lay in the dark, curled up and
my mind racing.

I
didn’t turn when I heard the creak of the door or the footsteps. I knew who it
was who stood over me and swept a hand gently along my face. “Are you crying?”
he asked softly.

I
didn’t answer him, nor did I open my eyes. Not even when I felt the bed dip
beside me and he began to run his lips along my bare shoulder and I couldn’t
help but shiver at his touch.

“Is
this what you want, Mattie?” he asked softly in between kisses. “To show you
kindness?” Gently he rolled me over and I didn’t resist as he positioned me on
my stomach.

“Are
you capable of it?” I asked in a small voice.

“Let
me show you.”

His
hands went to my ass and I felt his mouth on one cheek, biting softly and I
could help but arch up in response to that. He laughed softy, and then his
hands moved to gently spread apart my cheeks and I gasped as I felt his tongue
in between, lapping at my anus in such an intrusive and intimate way. It felt
so intense that I tried to pull away, but his hands held me firm. Small gasps
came from me as I shuddered under his touch and I struggled to get my hand down
so I could stroke myself while he worked that magic with his tongue. My fingers
delved deep into my pussy, feeling my slickness as I bucked against them,
closer and closer to cumming.

A
sharp crack on my bottom made me cry out in surprise, along with disappointment
at the removal of Daniel’s tongue. Swiftly I was turned onto my back to be
faced with him.

“No,
no, no, no, bad girl. I didn’t say you could touch yourself, did I?” I shook my
head, my pussy screaming out for my fingers to be back inside it. But he was
guiding that hand up to my mouth. “Taste yourself,” he ordered, pushing my
fingers into my open mouth. Obediently, I began to suck on my own juices as he
pushed the fingers in and out. “That merits a punishment, Mattie.”

I
couldn’t speak because of the fingers being forced to fuck my mouth, but all I
really wanted to say was that him not fucking me and giving me release at that
very second was punishment in itself. Even in the dark, I could tell that he
was smiling. “No cumming tonight for you, Matilda.”

I
resisted the urge to scowl, content in the knowledge that as soon as he was
gone, I would be bringing myself to climax, time and time again. But he was
Daniel, and he wasn’t stupid. As usual, he was dressed and I was naked. Once
again, all the power was with him. He took off his belt while I watched; still
sucking my fingers even though he no longer ordered me to. He must have been
happy at that, because he smiled before taking that hand from my mouth and
pulling it up to the headboard before he firmly twisted the leather belt around
it and lashed it to the frame. I didn’t even try to resist, not even when he
found my scarves and my other hand was firmly bound above my head. He followed
suit with my legs, spreading them wide so there would be no kind of
satisfaction for me.

The
last thing he did was to give a light chuckle and kiss me on the cheek, before
leaving me bound and horny as hell in the darkness.