clear her throat before she spoke.
‘Dax,’ she said, trying to get strength in her voice so she could get volume. ‘Dax.’ It wasn’t enough. ‘Dax!’
A tense score of seconds passed and she wasn’t sure she’d been heard until she heard the click of the lock. The door took its time to open, then eventually a topless Dax came in wrapping his hand with a long strip of narrow fabric. He took his time observing the bars caging her, the bare concrete floor, the single foam mattress and her bucket also known as her toilet. After he took in the details, he examined the chain on her ankle and the one on her wrist.
‘I didn’t say it before, but it’s quite the place you have,’ he said.
‘Minus the chains I’ve actually lived in worse,’ she said and his expression flickered like he hadn’t expected a response.
‘What do you want?’
‘I’ll do what I’m told.’
‘You will?’ he asked, leaning against the doorframe, crossing his arms and ankles now that both hands were wrapped.
‘Yes.’
‘You’ve got another day of this to think about whether or not you’re sure.’
He began to head out and her panic forced her forward onto her knees, jangling the chains in the process. ‘No Dax, please, don’t leave me here.’
‘Not so easy is it,’ he said, peering over his shoulder. ‘To admit when you’re wrong.’
‘Me staying down here isn’t getting any of us anywhere… I know now that…’
‘You know now, what?’ he said, and the sinister curl of his lip made her want to lash out.
Only that would get her nowhere. If he left her here again, it could be days before he was back. The basement was making her ill, just being here was a symbol of her fragility and Ivy resented that humiliation. Fighting for her freedom would mean making sacrifices, like letting this depraved duo believe that they’d broken her, but it would be worth it if it got her away from here.
Good sense didn’t trounce years of conditioning, she bit back her impulse to curse at him. It took her some time to garner the will to respond, and in that time his focus switched back to the exit.
‘I know now that I was wrong,’ she made herself say. ‘You have the power here. You have power over me and I’m asking you to please let me out of this room.’
‘What do I get?’ he asked, without turning to look at her. ‘You get free and what do I get?’
‘Anything,’ she said. ‘Everything you want.’
When he turned, his new victorious smile said it all. ‘Now you’ve got it.’
Dax gave her a bottle of water to drink on their ascent of the basement stairs and then she was allowed to eat at the table in the kitchen while the men lurked in the sliding glass doorway that led out to a covered deck. When they decided that she had eaten enough, she was commanded to clean up in the kitchen. From the looks of things, neither had washed a dish or clean a surface since they arrived, but they’d somehow managed to ensure that every knife and sharp utensil was locked away in a corner drawer of the kitchen.
Her movements were sluggish, but she was in no hurry to get to the next directive, so she took her time. Throughout her stint doing the chores, she was supervised by one or both of her captors, though neither of them spoke to her. At least not until they were making her go back over work she had already done under the guise that it hadn’t been completed to their satisfaction.
Her dreaded fear became reality when Bruno led her upstairs and told her to wash herself in Dax’s bathroom. This time the man remained there with her, leering through the clear glass screen to scrutinise her naked form in the shower.
Being observed in such a vulnerable position made Ivy speed through her grooming, but when she emerged from the steam, she wished that she hadn’t. Bruno produced a string bikini and told her to put it on.
‘You’ve got a killer body,’ Bruno said while she tied on the scrap of material which made
‘Dax,’ she said, trying to get strength in her voice so she could get volume. ‘Dax.’ It wasn’t enough. ‘Dax!’
A tense score of seconds passed and she wasn’t sure she’d been heard until she heard the click of the lock. The door took its time to open, then eventually a topless Dax came in wrapping his hand with a long strip of narrow fabric. He took his time observing the bars caging her, the bare concrete floor, the single foam mattress and her bucket also known as her toilet. After he took in the details, he examined the chain on her ankle and the one on her wrist.
‘I didn’t say it before, but it’s quite the place you have,’ he said.
‘Minus the chains I’ve actually lived in worse,’ she said and his expression flickered like he hadn’t expected a response.
‘What do you want?’
‘I’ll do what I’m told.’
‘You will?’ he asked, leaning against the doorframe, crossing his arms and ankles now that both hands were wrapped.
‘Yes.’
‘You’ve got another day of this to think about whether or not you’re sure.’
He began to head out and her panic forced her forward onto her knees, jangling the chains in the process. ‘No Dax, please, don’t leave me here.’
‘Not so easy is it,’ he said, peering over his shoulder. ‘To admit when you’re wrong.’
‘Me staying down here isn’t getting any of us anywhere… I know now that…’
‘You know now, what?’ he said, and the sinister curl of his lip made her want to lash out.
Only that would get her nowhere. If he left her here again, it could be days before he was back. The basement was making her ill, just being here was a symbol of her fragility and Ivy resented that humiliation. Fighting for her freedom would mean making sacrifices, like letting this depraved duo believe that they’d broken her, but it would be worth it if it got her away from here.
Good sense didn’t trounce years of conditioning, she bit back her impulse to curse at him. It took her some time to garner the will to respond, and in that time his focus switched back to the exit.
‘I know now that I was wrong,’ she made herself say. ‘You have the power here. You have power over me and I’m asking you to please let me out of this room.’
‘What do I get?’ he asked, without turning to look at her. ‘You get free and what do I get?’
‘Anything,’ she said. ‘Everything you want.’
When he turned, his new victorious smile said it all. ‘Now you’ve got it.’
Dax gave her a bottle of water to drink on their ascent of the basement stairs and then she was allowed to eat at the table in the kitchen while the men lurked in the sliding glass doorway that led out to a covered deck. When they decided that she had eaten enough, she was commanded to clean up in the kitchen. From the looks of things, neither had washed a dish or clean a surface since they arrived, but they’d somehow managed to ensure that every knife and sharp utensil was locked away in a corner drawer of the kitchen.
Her movements were sluggish, but she was in no hurry to get to the next directive, so she took her time. Throughout her stint doing the chores, she was supervised by one or both of her captors, though neither of them spoke to her. At least not until they were making her go back over work she had already done under the guise that it hadn’t been completed to their satisfaction.
Her dreaded fear became reality when Bruno led her upstairs and told her to wash herself in Dax’s bathroom. This time the man remained there with her, leering through the clear glass screen to scrutinise her naked form in the shower.
Being observed in such a vulnerable position made Ivy speed through her grooming, but when she emerged from the steam, she wished that she hadn’t. Bruno produced a string bikini and told her to put it on.
‘You’ve got a killer body,’ Bruno said while she tied on the scrap of material which made
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