Page 51 of Clawed
Oh God.
Shifting back into position before he saw her, she panted at what she’d witnessed.Whatever he was looking for in that cupboard was likely to spell more bad news for Hannah.Nothing good ever came from the dark places where Lawes hid things away.He’d warned her to be quiet, yet the intensity of the strikes meant there’d been no choice but to defy him and vocalize at least some of what she’d been feeling.
Surely, he understood that?
Of course, he understands.She blinked away her emotion miserably, wishing she could offer her pained backside a comforting rub.That’s the point.He knows.He just doesn’t care.
She braced at the sound of his approach, brushing away the tears making tracks along her face with the side of her arm.
“Open up.”
His voice was calmer than before, but that was little consolation when he dangled the latest evil-looking gag at the side of her face.
“No.”
She didn’t know why she bothered to protest when the outcome was inevitable, but she supposed, after so long reconciling Lawes’ wicked acts, she needed to articulate her complaints.
Capturing her and treating her that way was wrong—a point that had repeatedly been reinforced during his trial—and deep down, Lawes must have known it.He’d never seemed to have a problem wrestling with his conscience, though, and if the authorities hadn’t intervened, she reasoned that she, April, and the others would have spent many long and agonizing years in his and Fuller’s custody.
What difference does that make now?Her head ached with despondency.I managed to break free just so he could drag me back into hell.
The air in the dank room seemed to disappear at her bleak appraisal.Was that what was in store for her again—more months of protracted and excruciating ownership at Lawes’ hands?
How would she deal with that?
A fresh surge of emotion drowned her as the answer smacked her hard in the face.
She wouldn’t.
“Hannah.”
He sounded more irritated than angry, as, standing flush against the back of her body, he held both ends of the gag out in front of her.The latest implement of her torment was much like the ball gag had been, but instead of the black plastic ball that he’d shoved unceremoniously between her teeth last time, the middle of the current gag’s straps was met with a large black circle.
Her brow furrowed as she struggled to recollect if he’d used something similar on her the last time.Not that it mattered.He seemed set on doing so, regardless.
“Last chance to open up, or I double the number of strikes with the brush.”
His threat reverberated from behind her, distracting her from his hard length, which he was grinding against her punished backside through the fabric of his trousers.
Double?She mouthed the word, hardly able to focus on the threat of his hips.
He had to be fucking joking with a threat like that.The brush hurt like hell!
Desperation scratched at her insides, reminding her she was fucked whichever way the process played out.
Either he was going to stick that plastic ring in her mouth and effectively silence her before continuing to spank her with the cruel brush, or he was going to double the number of strikes and no doubt find some way to force the gag into place, anyway.
Pulling in a pained breath, she accepted glumly that there was no decision to be made.Lawes would do whatever he liked.
“Okay.”She tried to calm her breathing as his hot breath grazed her nape.“Please, don’t double the strikes, sir.”
“You are in no position to negotiate, little girl.”His face appeared from her left side, his green eyes steely as he concentrated on getting the right angle for the gag.“Now, open.”
Eyes flickering closed so she didn’t have to see its descent, she did as he asked, forcing her lips wide until she felt the gag lodge inside her mouth.Accepting her fate, time lengthened around her, desolate seconds when she was suspended in the midst of her bitter vulnerability.He had her then—entirely.He’d had her before, of course, but no moment so far had seemed as lonely as the one when she was forced to acknowledge the awful circular gag.
Compelling her eyes open, she watched as he ensured the circle was in position in her mouth.Her breaths were coming hard and fast as he leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss on her outstretched lips; an absurdly intimate act for any captor to bestow upon their hostage.
Gazes locking for a long moment, he withdrew, and the next thing she sensed were the straps attached to the gag being tightened around her face.By the time the buckle was secured behind her, her tongue had already explored the confines of its new master, and even though she hated herself for the response, her clit throbbed in an eager response.
