"Why haven't you attacked him?"

"Why didn't you attack Mayer?"

"I guess. Couldn't you escape?"

"Why didn't you run from Mayer?"

"Because of my brother."

"You can't escape this guy. Please Sheila, you have to listen to me. You can't get away. I've watched it happen so many times. Me. Others. He just stops you in your tracks and holds a gun on you. Or worse your family. You always end up doing what he says. You wouldn't like what happens to you if you try to escape."

"He won't hurt me if I don't try to escape?"

I heard Jane sigh. "Sheila, honey, I can't guarantee that. He likes hurting girls. I don't know why. But he's not malicious about it, like that a.s.shole in the other room. He wants to see something. You don't want to do it. Problem is, he can make you do it. And it is so much easier and less painful if you just do it the first time. Believe me. He can be kind."

"W-will he rape me?"

"Hold still. I'm trying to get this G.o.dd.a.m.n clamato out of your hair. Hold still," Christi chastised the girl.

"I don't know, sweetheart," Jane answered Sheila's question. "He hasn't raped anyone. Never demanded s.e.x. As far as I know. He hasn't raped me. And Christi has had s.e.x with him, but I'm not sure you could count that as rape. Sometimes I've heard women offer s.e.x to him to avoid something. But he rarely takes them up on it. I've offered myself numerous times but he's never taken me." Jane conveniently left out the forced lesbian s.e.x epidemic that was going around.

Sheila sighed at something.

Christi spoke up. "You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm okay. It's just a bit tender over there. I'm sorry."

Jane spoke to her. "Sheila, honey. You sure you understand? We really don't want to get into trouble if you decide to make life hard on this guy. We've been through it. Time and again."

"I'm okay with it. I've been a s.e.x slave for the last three months already. Another few days aren't going to matter. And he did rescue me from that monster in the other room. If you two aren't completely off your rocker then I won't remember it anyway. And if you are wrong then he's going to get caught soon."

"G.o.d, don't we wish," from Jane wistfully.

"I'll behave for now," Sheila promised.

"He's going to tie you up, you know."

"That's okay. You should have seen some of the stuff that I've been through. One night the f.u.c.king b.a.s.t.a.r.d decided that I had to sleep suspended from the ceiling. Upside down. Yeah. I got a lot of sleep that night. And he didn't even give a c.r.a.p. Still had to be on duty at five. He took me down at 4:45, slapped me around to wake me up and then went back to bed. I'm used to ropes." I could almost hear the shudder in her voice.

Another long silence. Just the sounds of the girls washing themselves.

"He punished your b.r.e.a.s.t.s?" Sheila asked.

Jane answered her. "Yeah. I was dumb though. I disobeyed. He wouldn't have done it if I'd done what I was told." This wasn't entirely true. I would have found some excuse to punish Jane's b.r.e.a.s.t.s anyway. She probably knew it as well, but there really wasn't any sense in frightening the new girl.

"What happened?" I wondered which incident she was going to relate. I smiled to myself.

"He was tormenting another girl. Badly. And he'd just told me to sit and watch. I got up and stopped him. He took it out on my b.r.e.a.s.t.s. But he was careful. No lasting marks. Just pure agony for a while. He didn't send me into some insanity if that's what you are worried about. It hurt. But it wasn't unbearable. I survived. I'll always survive."

So she picked the Kimberley incident. Or maybe the Amy incident. No, the Amy incident had been when Jane hadn't whipped Amy when ordered. She hadn't stopped me from tormenting her. Different story. Must have been thinking of the Kimberley incident.

"Oh. Will he hit my b.r.e.a.s.t.s? G.o.d. I remember the first time that f.u.c.ker hit my t.i.ts. Oh my G.o.d, I thought I was going to die. I thought I had died and gone to h.e.l.l. That is what it's like. That f.u.c.ker drew blood. I couldn't wear a bra for a week. I could barely wear my uniform. I cried every night after that. He won't do that to me, will he?"

"I doubt it," Christine piped up. "He's pretty careful about going overboard. I accidentally drew blood when he made me whip another girl and he urged me to be careful. And though I've seen him leave marks, the pain generally fades after an hour or so. Whatever he's done. No matter what a b.a.s.t.a.r.d he is. No matter how cruel he seems. He's never punched or kicked anyone as far as I know. And he doesn't leave any bruises that we don't put on ourselves."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, if your b.r.e.a.s.t.s are being whipped and you are tied down, then you tend to ahhhh struggle a bit. Right? And the ropes can leave bruises if you pull too hard. But you can't help it. Right? They're usually small bruises and they tend to fade quickly. At least on me. I don't think that he finds bruises particularly attractive on a girl."

"I see. G.o.d. If I had to be a slave, I'd take your master over mine any day."

"Me too," Christi piped up.

There was some movement in the tub/shower. The door opened letting out a cloud of steam. Jane screeched as she stepped out of the shower, not expecting me just sitting there quietly on the counter.

Christi immediately called out. "What is it, Jane? You okay?"

Jane closed her eyes and tried to slow her breathing. "f.u.c.k, you scared me."

"I'm sorry. I was just waiting for you slowpokes to vacate the shower."

"No. I'm sorry. I guess I'm still not used to having no privacy. G.o.d, you gave me a start. I had no idea you were in here." She looked at me shrewdly. "How much did you hear."

"I heard you taking cheap shots at me." Jane paled. "But then you defended me so it all evened out in the end."

Jane began breathing again and reached behind her to shut the shower door. I handed her a huge bath towel. She began to dry her hair. After she was done I motioned her out into the hall. Christi and Sheila had fallen silent after they realized I was in the bathroom with them.

The dripping girl followed me out into the hallway. Soaking the carpet with the water dripping from her naked body. She continued to towel off slowly.

"She okay?"

"Mentally, or physically?"

"Both."

"Mentally, she's strong. If she could survive some of the abuse I heard about, then she should be okay with your brand of abuse. She's getting better now that she's out from under d.i.c.kwad's thumb. Physically, she's a little worse off. He's raped her. A lot. And you were right, she bruised badly from those kicks. Christi suspects that she's got a cracked rib. But I think she'll be alright. The shower helped a lot. Since we scrubbed her, she has cheered up a lot. She's quite beautiful underneath all that c.r.a.p he threw at her. She's got bruises all over. Her a.s.s. Her back. Her b.o.o.bs. Her face. Her arms. Legs. You name it. He got her there. And not lightly. I couldn't imagine what she went through to get them all. But her body will mend itself. She should be a lot better if you just let her sleep for a good eight hours. You are going to get him back for this, aren't you?"

"I am. You want a shot at him?"

"Normally, you know I'm not a violent person. But if you were to order me to, say, give him a dose of his own medicine, I doubt if I'd risk my hide and say no." She gave me an evil grin. "You want us to give her anything to wear? She's going to want something." I shook my head. "I know. What use are clothes on a woman? I doubt if she's particularly shy anymore anyway after what she's been through."

"Finish her up. Get her dried off and presentable. Don't bother with make up for her. I'm just going to put her to bed anyway. Meet me in the next bedroom. The master bedroom. She'll know which one. a.s.sure her that I'm not planning on raping her."

Jane nodded curtly and turned on her bare heel. I was proud of her. She'd had the huge towel the whole time. She'd dried off and then simply held it at her side. No attempt to wrap it around herself. It would have covered her small body neck to toe. She disappeared into the bathroom and I heard her trying to coax the other two out of the shower before they turned into prunes.

I quickly made my way downstairs to the kitchen. I glanced in on the girls but they were engrossed in their activities. Elizabeth looked up from her cla.s.sic and waved as I pa.s.sed. Amy didn't even know I'd checked on her. I a.s.sumed that AC/DC had her attention.

In the kitchen, I found four sandwiches sitting on plates sitting on the kitchen table. Polly, the cook, still stood frozen by the counter forever pouring tea. I walked over to the refrigerator. Opening it, I discovered the largest and best stocked fridge I'd ever seen. I grabbed the milk and set it on the table beside the sandwiches. I had to browse through the cupboards to find gla.s.ses, and eventually found some. I suppose that I should have gotten Elizabeth to do this for me. After all, she'd already done this once. She wouldn't have had to search for things.

I quickly poured a tall gla.s.s of milk and returned the milk container to the fridge. Picking up a sandwich and the milk, I turned and made my way back upstairs. I detoured on my way up the stairs to pick up three pairs of handcuffs from the equipment pack. I walked into the master bedroom and placed the food and the cuffs on the night stand. I lay back in the bed propped up on the pillows. This bed was far more comfortable than the hotel bed. I closed my eyes, faintly hearing sounds from the adjoining bathroom. Soft female voices. The occasional item hitting the counter.

I may have dozed for a second. I heard a soft throat clear and I opened my eyes and sat up. The girls had entered the room. They were standing just inside the door. Radiant. Christi and Jane were standing easily behind Sheila. They had brushed out their hair until it shone. Their face bore light makeup and their skin fairly shone. Their nails were painted a light peach colour. Fingers and toes. Sheila was standing in front of the other two. The blonde was stunning. Perfect figure. No attempt to cover her nudity. Even without the heavy make up her face was like a china doll's. Except for the bruises. I let my eyes run over her exposed body. She flushed but made no attempt to cover herself with her hands. Her hands stayed limply at her sides.

I could see the beginnings of a really ugly purple bruise beginning to form on her left side. Just under her ribs. I could see fainter bruises on her upper arms. Her neck. Her thighs. Even her face and b.r.e.a.s.t.s. I was sure that she was in worse shape on her backside as well. Despite all the aches and pains that she was undoubtedly suffering, she still managed to stand straight and look stunning.

"Sheila, come here."

A look of fright crossed her features, but she took a deep breath. Jane whispered in her ear and she began to move slowly and daintily towards the bed. When she made it to the bedside, she slowly sank to her bare knees and lowered her head. Very submissive posture.

She spoke, "So you are my new master?"

"Shhh. In a minute. Okay?" I turned to the other two girls. "Jane? Christi? Come here."

They padded over, knowing instinctively that they didn't have to kneel like Sheila had. They were about to be dismissed.

"Wrists."

Jane began a soft protest but I cut her off with a glance. Her mouth snapped shut. As I was carefully placing the restraints back on their wrists, I spoke quietly to them. "You know this isn't a punishment. Seriously. I want to thank you two for helping Sheila. You did a great job. She needed you two. Are you hungry?"

The girls nodded. For some reason Christi and Jane were both fighting back tears. Not sure why. I'd have to ask them later.

"Elizabeth has made Club sandwiches downstairs in the kitchen. They're good. Pour yourselves some milk. There is a sandwich each plus an extra she made accidentally. Share the extra between you. You can go back to what you were doing before I so rudely pulled you away. Enjoy your lunch. I'll be down for you soon."

Christi looked at me, fear in her eyes. She spoke softly, "Sir? Can I speak?"

I nodded rea.s.suringly to the frightened girl.

"Please. The milk."

"What about it. It's good for you."

"Oh G.o.d. I know. And I love it. But, please. It doesn't love me."

"Allergic?"

She nodded. Tears almost falling but she fought them back.

"Truly?"

"Yes sir."

"Alright. You can have water instead. That better?"

"Thank-you." I suspect that she was remembering the peanut b.u.t.ter incident where I'd forced her to eat it despite her intense dislike for it. But this was different. She was allergic to the stuff. I needed Christi sick like I needed a sudden flood. "One more thing?" she was feeling a little braver since I'd allowed her to drink water instead.

"What is it?"

"Please sir. Sheila. She. She's hurt enough for today. Please don't hurt her. If you need to hurt someone, I'll take it for her. Okay?"

I nodded. I had no intention of hurting the girl kneeling on the carpet. Christi was right, she'd had more than enough for the day. "Go on. Go eat."

Jane and Christi both turned and I heard them make their way slowly down the hallway. Finally I could just sense the vibrations from their bare feet through the house as they descended to the first floor and to their meals.

I turned back to the girl kneeling nude on the floor. She was shaking like a leaf. Tears br.i.m.m.i.n.g in her eyes, but not falling. She was looking up at me. I smiled at her, trying to put some warmth and kindness behind it. Unlike her former master.

Chapter 71.

I just sat up on the bed and gazed at the new girl. Her eyes were lowered and she just knelt quietly and suffered my scrutiny.

Finally, she spoke softly, "Sir, you aren't going to hurt me are you?" She sounded so forlorn. So resigned to her fate.

"Sheila, honey. I'm not going to hurt you. I promise."

"Wh-what should I call you?"

"I'm not sure. Sir? Master? Hey you?"

I actually saw a smile play along her lips. I could still see a faint red hand print embedded on her right cheek where she'd been slapped earlier. It distorted a bit when she struggled to control the smile.

"You don't have a name?"

"Nope. I'm nameless."

"A shadow in the dark? I think I'll stick with Sir or Master. I get the feeling *Hey you' will probably get me in trouble."

She was finally looking up at me. Her defenses were beginning to crumble. I was being careful to be kind to her. She was actually on the verge of a smile. In her position I doubted if I'd ever smile. I nodded to her.

"Sheila? I have to admit that you are a sight to see kneeling there, but why don't you come up here? It's more comfortable."

Her eyes betrayed her fear. "If you don't mind, I'd rather stay here." Still afraid of rape, I'd wager. She simply didn't want to come up on the bed with me there. Even if it was infinitely more comfortable than being on her knees on the floor.

"Sheila. Sweetheart. I'm not going to hurt you. I promise. I won't even touch you." I slid down to the foot of the bed and leaned back against the foot board. Giving up my spot for the naked female.

The girl warily got to her bare feet and hesitantly walked to the bed and sat down. Sighing as her bare body sank into the bed.

"Comfortable. Isn't it?"

She nodded. She hitched herself up onto the bed, pulling her bare legs up onto the coverlet and relaxing back into the pillows. Her bare legs and feet lying alongside mine, legs together modestly.

"You know. I wasn't even allowed in this room. Gertrude cleaned it herself. Very private woman. This is the first time I've ever even seen it."

I thought of Gertrude on display tied to an oak tree in the backyard in her nightgown and smiled. Private, huh? Sheila didn't miss my quick smile.