Page 32 of Captive

The word dominant clicks in my head. My gaze lands on the pile of leather strips Blake had dropped on the vanity. I reach forward and pick one up. The leather is soft and supple, cool to the touch. It's short enough to fit around my wrist and is tethered together with a crisscrossed leather lace. There is a silver ring attached to each. In addition, there are two slightly longer and more narrow leather straps. Anklets, I conclude. The silver rings around the room begin to make sense and at the same time send a cold chill throughme.

Blake and I look at each other through our mirror reflections. "You'll enjoy yourself, darlin'. I promise. Besides, that's what the nectar is for. It warms you up, if you catch mymeaning."

"The nectar? It wasn't my imagination then," I say. "It has aphrodisiacqualities."

"Yes, compliments of our brilliant leader. He formulated the perfect sexual stimulant for women, but the pharmaceutical companies decided not to release it. They claimed it was not tested enough and it was too addictive. Mr. Freestone says it was because of maledominance."

"I don't understand. Don't men want women walking around hot and horny? After all, they've got pills for men that can make a mummy have a four hourerection."

Blake laughs. "You're asking the wrong man. The boss says it's because men want to keep control of everything. Who knows, maybe they'll feel like they lose that when women start initiating sex all the time." He reaches for a lipstick and then thinks better of it. "Those lips of yours are attention grabbers without all thepaint."

The last thing I need is to feel off balance and heady like I did with the champagne. I need to be fully aware of everything going on. "I can't drink any more of that champagne. We'll just pretend that I'm high," I suggest confidently. Blake doesn't seem to be buyingit.

He quickly changes the subject. "I had to guess on the size. I picked small, deciding you had just a little too much curve for petite. Drop the terry cloth, darlin'." He holds up the lingerie. It's just a slight step above beingnaked.

"I'm perfectly capable of dressing myself. In fact, you go on and enjoy the pool party or whatever else you do when you're not pampering me. I'll get ready for Mr. Freestone's visit on myown."

He laughs again but it's not a humorous sound. "Sorry, sweets, but I have specificinstructions."

I tighten the towel around me. A flicker of anger crosses his face. "Look, darlin', if we don't do this exactly the way he's instructed, then you will be back on the street and I'll be right behind you. And I spent the last five years living in shady motel rooms and blowing stranger's dicks for money. I will drown myself in that big bathtub before I ever have to live like that again. So drop the towel." It is the first time he orders me to dosomething.

I drop the towel not because of his command but because of the short summary of his past life. I don't want to be responsible for him losing hisjob.

I lift my arms and he drops the garment over my head. The fabric is luxuriously soft and silky. It's nearly as transparent as glass. The thin ribbon shoulder straps look as if they could break with a harsh sneeze. The front two panels open up to the top of the bodice. Blake hands me a matching string bikini bottom that is merely a white silk triangle connected by a series of lacey elastic. A strand of ribbon cuts my bottom into two cheeks and holds the flimsy triangle in place over mypussy.

Blake walks to the vanity. "Now don't freak out. This is all part of the fun." He turns around with the leather cuffs andanklets.

My heart starts racing. I tighten my fists to fight the natural urge to put up all my defenses. Each breath I take grows deeper and comes quicker as Blake approaches me. "You won't be hurt. I promise. If you just let yourself relax and go along with it, you'll soon find that you made the right decision coming here." As he speaks, he deftly ties the cuffs around my wrists, lacing them up just tight enough that my hand can't slip out and loose enough so as not to cut off circulation. They look entirely out of place with the shimmerylingerie.

I lift one arm and look at the cuff. "I feel a little like Wonder Woman but without the cool outfit and invisible plane." Humor is the only thing helping me hold it together. If I let the gravity of the situation get into my head, I'll loseit.

Blake drops to his knees and ties on theanklets.

"How long do I have to wear these?" Iask.

"Until Mr. Freestone tells me to take them off ofyou."

I laugh and then realize he's serious when he looks up at me from below. His face has taken on some of the stonier appearance fromearlier.

Blake pushes to his feet. "I need you to follow me, and again, don't freak out. It's just aprecaution."

"A precaution? You know, if there's one word in the English language that always precedes the phrase freak out, it'sprecaution."

Blake is not amused by my comment. He heads over to the recess in the wall that has a silver ring at each corner of the opening. While I've been slightly naive about the situation I'm in, it doesn't take long for me to figure out what's going on. I rub one of the cuffs on my wrist to make sure I'm not just imagining the whole damn thing. I'mnot.

I grow stiff with tension. "Blake, you can't beserious."

"Step right here." He points to a spot on the carpet. "I won't be leaving you here, I promise. Mr. Freestone has asked that you be in bed when he arrives. I just need—" he pauses. "It's aprecaution."

"You said that. But what if I promise to be a good girl and just lay nicely on thebed."

He continues to point at the spot on the carpet without lifting his purple eyes to me. "Please, this will only take asecond."

If I don't comply, I will most likely be drugged and dumped back off on some sidewalk in the middle of nowhere. Something tells me they won't even have the decency to dress me before they toss me out. I chose this. I pleaded withClark.

I move to the magic spot on the carpet and turn to face Blake. He still avoids eye contact, which is just as well. I don't want him to see that I'm holding my breath in anticipation of what might happen next. I feel slightly nauseous. A small tremor of nerves starts in my legs and works its way up mybody.

Blake fastens each wrist cuff to the rings on the wall. I'm standing with my arms outstretched and slightly above my head. Instinctively, I tug at my constraints to see just how fast they are holding me. The only movement is in the minuscule stretch of the supple leather around my wrists. My feet are frozen to the spot, but Blake patiently pries each one loose. Seconds later, my feet are wide and secured to the rings near the floor. I'm standing like a near naked human X in the opening of the wall. The feeling of helplessness floods over me, and a short sob bursts from mylips.

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