“I rarely see you here with your own girl,” he said.
Quill just shrugged.
The Viking studied her a few minutes longer. She shrank away when he pushed her dark hair behind her ears.
Quill gave her a warning look. “If you can’t handle it, safeword out, but don’t do this wilting flower routine with me.”
“I’m sorry, Master.”
“Are you comfortable playing with my girl?” The Viking asked.
Saskia glanced over at the blonde, who now leaned against the desk. The girl looked friendly and happy enough to be there.
“Yes, sir,” Saskia said.
He took Saskia’s hand and squeezed. “Good girl.”
Quill moved to one of the school desks along the back row and sat, his legs splayed in the chair.
The other man sat at a desk in the front row. “Kane? What’s your girl’s name?”
“Saskia,” Quill said from the back, his eyes not leaving hers. She felt as if she were being graded. A school room was appropriate.
“Saskia, are you wearing panties?”
“No, sir.”
“That’s good. Take off the top for me. I want to see those lovely tits.”
She took a breath to still the tremble in her hand and removed the top and laid it across one of the chairs on the front row.
The blonde girl pushed off the desk, and took Saskia’s hand. “Don’t be nervous,” she whispered. She threaded her fingers in Saskia’s hair and pulled her in for an open-mouthed kiss.
Saskia sighed against the other woman’s lips as the girl’s hand reached up to fondle her breasts.
“Put your hand between her legs and stroke her until she comes,” Quill said from the back row.
Saskia glanced at the stranger. His expression wasn’t lust. It was calculation. He wasn’t convinced she was here by choice. How could Quill have thought forcing her into this scenario would warm her up to his grand pimp plans? Or did he just not care if she kicked and screamed the whole way?
She wanted to stop it even if Quill might punish her when they got back to the gallery. But before she could decide to do that, the blonde girl had taken her hand, brought it to her mouth, sucking on Saskia’s fingers.
Saskia let out a surprised gasp at the warm tongue moving against her skin.
“Please,” the blonde whimpered, “touch me.”
She didn’t protest as the girl pushed Saskia’s hand between her legs. The blonde was excited. Saskia dragged a finger slowly through the trail of wetness between the other woman’s legs and then began to stroke her sensitive flesh.
She wasn’t sure if this girl liked to be touched the same exact way she did, but the response was encouraging.
The girl moved against Saskia’s fingers. “Yes, please... please...”
“Bend her over the desk and spank her,” The Viking said. “She knows not to beg like that. It’s unseemly. Like a poodle begging scraps.”
Saskia pressed gently against the girl’s back as she laid over the desk. The girl wriggled her ass in the air, and Saskia took that as an invitation. She smacked her a few times on each cheek until a blush of red burst out over the girl’s skin, then she rubbed her heated flesh.
Despite any misgivings he might have about Saskia’s presence at the club, The Viking was already becoming aroused again. His erection pushed hard against his pants as if it might burst through the seams. He turned to Quill. “Are you sharing her? I mean, privately?”
“I am. For a price.”
Saskia tensed.
The Viking smiled and pulled out a checkbook and pen from his back pocket. Another check-writer. Definitely a friend of Quill’s. And yet, the physicality of the moment made a sharp impression on Saskia’s psyche.
“How much for an hour with her?” The Viking asked.
Quill glanced at Saskia, who stood frozen beside the blonde girl. “No fucking. She’s not ready for that.”
“That’s fine.” His pen was poised over the paper ready to put a dollar value on Saskia’s body and time.
Quill smiled. “You want the friends and family discount?”
The Viking didn’t respond. He just filled out the check with some mystery amount and got up and gave it to Quill. “Does that work for you?”
“That’s extremely generous. Take her.”
The Viking smiled and turned toward Saskia and the blonde. He helped the blonde off the desk, and pulled her skirt down to cover her and helped her back into her panties. He kissed her on the cheek. “Go find someone to play with for a while. You will tell me every detail of what you did later.”
“Yes, sir.”
He playfully swatted her on the ass, then he took Saskia’s hand and led her down the hallway as Quill disappeared into the room across the hall.
“Where is he going?”
“The screening room,” The Viking said as they moved down the hallway. “You saw the school room. There is also a medieval dungeon, a harem-themed room, a medical room, the mirror room, and this one, which is where we’ll be.”
He led her into a black boxy room and shut the door. It didn’t escape her notice that he didn’t lock it. Quill probably wouldn’t like it if he did. A camera was aimed down on them from the top of one corner, red light blinking.
The room felt claustrophobic, but maybe that was just the panic moving in. The Viking was in no way repulsive. He took good care of himself. He had beautiful hands and stern, yet kind eyes. His blond hair was sun-streaked and he looked as if he could have just walked off a battlefield.
The idea of doing something with him wasn’t off-putting. But everything was happening too fast for her.
A single bright spotlight was recessed into the ceiling, illuminating the center of the room. The floor was wood with a very dark, shiny finish—so shiny it was almost a mirror. The color was nearly black, but upon closer inspection—to avoid looking at him—she saw it was a rich deep brown. The walls were black leather with gleaming metal hooks coming out that had various whipping implements and bondage accessories looped over them. On one end was a leather bench built into the wall that expanded to fill the full width of the narrow room.
In the center of the room, under the spotlight, was a single piece of BDSM furniture, a spanking horse with attached restraints. Simple. Classic. In another situation, maybe not too intimidating, but in this one...
“This is the leather room,” he said.
Saskia could file that in unnecessary explanations. But he didn’t seem to be talking to educate her; it was more to calm her nerves.
He took her hands in his and guided her to sit on the bench with him. She stared down at their interlocked fingers. His hands were so big compared to hers.
“Do you want to be here?” he asked.
Saskia glanced up at the camera, then back at him.
“There’s no sound,” he said. “Only an image. You can speak freely here. I’ve known Kane for a long time...”
Obviously not if you think that’s his real name.
“...but something feels off to me. If you want out of here, I’ll help you.”
The Viking was at least six-foot-five. And broad. Quill was a big guy as well and might be able to take him. But, then again. maybe not. This guy could possibly get her out.
“If you have nowhere to go, I can arrange something safe for you. Kane is not your only option if that’s not what you want.”
Saskia was silent, staring down at the shiny reflective floor.
“Look at me.”
Her gaze rose to his.
“Are you here of your own free will, doll?”
“It’s complicated,” she said.
“Well, that’s a no.” The Viking sighed, disappointed, clearly not wanting to believe his friend would cross the lines and boundaries this man seemed to respect.
He stood and extended a hand to help her up. “Let’s go. We aren’t doing this.”
“But... where are we going?”
“I’m gett
ing you out of this building, and then we’ll figure it out from there.”
He clearly planned to fight his way out with her or cause a massive scene. It might be the only way he could manage it if Quill was watching from the screening room.
She allowed herself to be dragged down the hall, back toward the big room with all the dungeon equipment and bird cages.
Saskia tugged to try to get her hand out of his grasp, panicking. “Wait, no!”
He stopped in his tracks and turned, concern clouding his face. “I’m not going to hurt you. I don’t know what he’s done, so I realize that may be hard for you to believe, but I’m trying to help you. If you can just trust me for a short period, you’ll see. You will be safe.”
The Viking continued to pull her along with him into the main lower level room. Quill was no longer in the screening room. He was in this main room, occupied with the two blondes who’d thrown themselves at him in the lobby.
He hadn’t even been watching? What if she’d needed him? But, then again, if he knew The Viking well, Quill knew her boundaries would be respected. Even just looking scared had prompted the stranger to ask all the appropriate questions. He hadn’t laid a hand on her in private. Except for the one gripping her hand, trying to drag her out of there.
Saskia wasn’t sure where it came from, but the panic rose out of her clear and sharp. She didn’t think The Viking would hurt her. She believed he might actually be able to get her out, but seeing Quill against the wall playing with the blondes he’d restrained... Fuck. She had to be crazy, but she didn’t want to leave him.
Presented with a real choice, finally, she chose.
“Let me go, I want to stay.”
“No, you don’t. You’re just scared.”
“RED!” she shrieked.
He let go of her immediately, and everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and stared in her direction, a few casting disdainful glances his way. The music abruptly cut off.
“Don’t tell me what I want!” she shouted. She shook with rage and pent-up adrenaline. She glanced over to see Quill whispering to a man in leather. The man went to work to free the chained blondes, and Quill moved toward Saskia, eating up the path that cleared for him in long powerful strides.
He stood in front of her and faced off with The Viking.
“What the fuck, Ari? You know I wouldn’t just leave a girl with anyone else but you like that. What the hell do you think you’re doing with her?”
“She looked too scared to me. I was getting her out of here.”
“She is scared. She’s new. I thought that made you a good choice. Did you think I kidnapped her? How would that work exactly?”
Saskia could lay out the process for everyone, but she’d made her choice, and explaining that The Viking was basically right about things wouldn’t improve her situation—especially given that she’d decided she wasn’t willing to be separated from Quill.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t think,” Ari said.
“No. You didn’t think. Do you see the collar? Should I have had my name put on it?”
Which one?
“Kane, I’m sorry. Really. It was just a reflex.”
“Saskia, we’re leaving.”
“What about my money?” Ari asked.
“You can take a rain check,” Quill said.
Saskia glanced at Ari. She may want to stay with Quill, but what Ari had just tried to do for her—yeah, she could play with him later if he wanted.
He studied her a moment, then nodded. “Fine.”
She could already see the wheels in his head turning as if he wasn’t convinced and might try to rescue her again. But she was sure Quill wouldn’t be foolish enough to leave her with him unguarded a second time.
The room remained tense and still, all eyes fixed on them as he led her up the spiraling staircase. They moved quickly down the hallway with the nude photographs, through the main warehouse, and out to the car.
They drove for several minutes in silence, Quill’s hands gripping the steering wheel. The anger radiated off him.
“Master?” she whispered. “Am I in trouble?”
“Of course not. You did exactly what I told you to do. Safeword out if something is really too much for you. I didn’t think he’d try to bust you out of there like a one-man SEAL team.”
The lonely desert road stretched out in front of them as if it might go on like this to the end of the earth.
“Tell me, Saskia, are you going to comply with my rules? Are you going to trust that I won’t send you with anyone who would hurt you?”
“Yes, Master.”
“Good girl.”
“Were you giving me an out?” she asked quietly. Maybe leaving her with someone he really trusted and not watching was a way to let her escape if that’s what she wanted. Maybe he had a soul in there somewhere, a conscience. She wanted so badly to believe he did. She couldn’t handle the idea that the artist she’d idolized was a monster beyond redemption.
Quill stared out at the road, but his hands relaxed their death grip on the steering wheel.
“Even if that’s what I did, you’re mine now. That was the only chance you had to get away from me. I hope you’re happy with the choice you made.”
Already she was doubting it. Quill never made anything easy.
Chapter Nine
Saskia stood in the gallery fresh from a shower and naked as Quill had requested. Was he finally about to take what he’d laid claim to in Venice?
His gaze panned over her body, but he didn’t make a move toward her. “Do you want to know how much Ari paid for you tonight?”
Considering she believed The Viking had planned to bust her out of there and may have been paying for that rather than anything sexual, yeah, she was curious.
“Ten thousand.” Off her shocked expression, Quill said, “It’s a very private and exclusive club. Lots of money to throw around. And as I said, he gets off on paying bizarre sums of money for women. I think it’s because he knows he could get whatever he wanted easily for free. I guess he likes to see how the other side lives.”
Saskia tried to process that amount of money for the questionable thrill of spanking and fondling her for an hour.
“I kept the check, so you will be seeing him at a later date. I expect a less dramatic outcome.”
“Yes, Master.”
He studied her face. “Are you okay with Ari?”
“Yes, Master.”
“I want you to be honest. Don’t lie just because it’s what you think I want to hear.”
“I can play with him. I feel safe with him.”
“Do you feel safe with me?”
She looked down at the cold floor. “No, Master.”
“Then why did you insist on staying with me?”
Saskia shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Well, you’ll have plenty of time to think about it.”
Quill’s key creaked in the lock of the cage. The door swung open with a matching cringe of metal as he motioned her inside. Her lip quivered.
“No,” he said, his voice flat. “Your tears won’t have any affect. I told you this is where you’d be sleeping.”
“But...” She’d thought surely if she pleased him enough, if she were obedient enough, he’d forget about keeping her in the cage and let her sleep with him. If he was so set on having her, why would he lock her up in the gallery all the time? Didn’t her choice to stay with him rather than flee earn her a place in his bed? She internally cringed even thinking this way. What woman with any self-respect would ever think this way toward someone who obviously didn’t value her?
Or maybe she’d thought he was bluffing this whole time. Even with the cage on the plane, she’d just assumed once they were at his house... things would be different.
“In the cage, Saskia. You don’t want another punishment just before bed, do you?”
“No, Master.” She crawled inside, and he turned the key in the lock.
She re
ached through the bars. Quill took one of her hands in his and kissed the back of it like some old-fashioned gentleman. Then he retrieved a small remote from his pocket and gave it to her.
“This is for emergencies only. If you need to use the restroom or something of that nature. Do not abuse this. If Marcus tells me you’re calling him in for frivolous things, there will be consequences. Press the button now to test it.”
Saskia pushed the button, and a few seconds later, Marcus sprinted in as if flames were shooting from the gallery. Even with what had happened between them before, she still felt shy around him. She drew back, covering herself with one of the bedsheets inside the cage.
“She was just testing the remote.”
Marcus glanced briefly at her, then nodded and went back to his post outside the door.
“I’ll see you in the morning for breakfast,” Quill said. He shut out the gallery lights. The switch echoed in the large, hollow room. His footsteps receded, clicking over the marble.
But even with the lights off, it wasn’t dark. The moon outside was full, shining almost directly over the skylight, casting a pool of bright illumination over the cage. A surreal sort of feeling swept over her—as if she were about to undergo some monstrous transformation under the light of the moon, and caging her was merely a precaution meant to keep the villagers safe from her evil.
She peered through the bars at the paintings. All these women were inside their own cages, trapped behind glass—desperate eyes looking into her, following her every movement in the cramped quarters she’d been reduced to.
Saskia shifted and fluffed the bedding, pulling the blankets over her. She tried to curl up and sleep, but every time she shut her eyes, she saw the club. She kept seeing that moment... the potential moment of her redemption which she’d squashed like a helpless bug in her frantic bid to stay with a man who simply brought her home and made her sleep in a cage.
She couldn’t believe she’d chosen to come back with him. She didn’t know where Ari would have taken her or what he would have done with her, but she felt certain that if she’d gone with him, she’d be sleeping in a real bed right now either alone or with him. Both options were better than this.