Tragic Beauty (Beauty & The Darkness #1)(44)

“Don’t look at me!” he yells. “Never look at me!”

The beast stands and begins pacing around me again, like a shark circling its prey. I close my eyes tight, praying I haven’t doomed Gavin’s life as well. He keeps moving around me, until slowly, his breathing begins to settle and his footsteps begin to fade, until he’s silent again, just standing near my head.

“Alright, Ava,” Shayne says, his voice that deep eerie quiet that has me trembling harder. “I’ll make another deal with you. You don’t deserve another chance, but I’ll give you one.” He crouches down and pulls my hair out of my face, so he can see me. “You give me your word that you’ll do everything I say—and I mean everything—from here on out, without question, and I’ll let him live. If I tell you to come, you come. If I tell you to get in that crate, you get in that crate. If I tell you to get me the whip, you get me the whip. But if I have to tell you something twice—he’ll pay, one way or another. Got it?”

I nod without hesitation, the tears bleeding down my cheeks.

“Who knows,” he mutters. “Maybe this will teach you how to keep your word.”

Shayne starts petting my hair, slowly, like he’s petting a dog.

“Alright, Ava,” he says, his voice so soft now it’s almost a whisper. “Here’s what’s going to happen. You like it when it hurts? Well, I’m going to hurt you, baby. I’m going to hurt you in ways you can’t imagine. I’m sure it comes as no surprise that I’m a bit of a sadist. I would’ve tried to keep that side from you, as much as possible anyway, but after what you’ve done to me, I think it’s only fair I get to turn the sadist loose, you know, take it to a whole other level. It’s not something I’ve ever done before. Oh, I’ve forced girls, been rough with them, but I haven’t really let go with anyone. But I’m going to let go with you, Ava. You’re going to see the deepest, darkest side of me, because that’s what you’ve unleashed.

“And as you can see, I’ve set us up a little room here. Some of those things over there in that cage, I don’t even know how to use. I just bought whatever caught my eye online. And there’s some crazy shit out there, let me tell you. But I’m going to learn, my little Ava, and you’re going to learn with me. It’s just you and me, baby. From here on out.”

I wonder for a moment, if I’ll wake up and find out this is all just a nightmare. But I know that’s silly. That’s little girl talk. Because the beast over me is real. The fear inside me is real—so real I can smell it, taste it, feel it pumping through my blood, seeping to every part of me.

Shayne’s hand drifts from my hair, to along my shoulder and down my back. “So, where shall we start, hmmm?” He runs his fingers over my old cuts—scabs now—and around the brand. “I was thinking about taking the Cat O’ Nine tails to you, you know, in honor of that day on the playground. It’s the black whip on the right side over there, the one that’s got the nine strips hanging off with the little metal beads at the end. The Cat for short,” he says, like a teacher teaching a student. “But…I think I want to let your skin heal first. I want a blank canvas to start with. A clean slate so to speak.”

I try to swallow down the rock in my throat, but it won’t leave. His fingers move back up to my shoulder and on to my breast. I close my eyes when he takes my nipple between his fingers and tugs.

“I think instead, I’ll focus my attentions here,” he says. “Fuck, you have perfect tits, you know that? So plump and firm and just the perfect shape. I like the curve here, the underneath part, where it’s so full. And, Christ, these little pink nipples? I want to lean down and bite them off so bad, it’s making my mouth water.” He gives a tight pinch, causing me to whimper, then let’s go and points to The Cage. “See that dark grey chain hanging on the inside of the door, with those clamps at the end? Go get me those. And grab that black blindfold too.”

It takes all I have to climb to my feet and walk to what I know will be a place I visit often. I open the door and take the chain between my trembling fingers, and the blindfold, then turn around. The beast stands by the black metal X now. He motions with a finger to come to him. I keep my eyes down and move my legs, one by one. They feel wobbly, taking me someplace I don’t want to go. When I get to him, the first thing he does is slip the blindfold on me, and I know it’s so I can’t see his face.

The world goes dark, and in some ways, I prefer it. In other ways, it’s terrifying. I won’t see what’s coming.

I’m still holding the chain when Shayne moves me so the cold metal X is at my back, then he shoves his knee between my legs, and lifts up until I’m off the ground, straddling his thigh.

“Arms up,” he orders.

I can barely lift my arms for the fear that’s making me weak, but he takes them one by one and gets them the rest of the way and fastens my wrists in thick leather bindings that he pulls tight. “This is called a St. Andrews cross,” he explains, pulling his leg away, so I hang from my wrists now, then moves on to fasten my ankles. “Named that because Saint Andrew is said to have been martyred on one just like this. Turns out he didn’t think himself worthy of being crucified on the same type of cross as Jesus, so he came up with this little gem. Found that out on Wikipedia. Strange. You can find the damndest things there. And this one’s special too. I can make the X wider, rotate it so it lays you back. Turn you around. I can set you up however I want.”