Chapter 15

Strauss

" G rab her," I tell Sev with a nod. "It's probably good she sees this."

Sev hurries to throw open the door as the little snake tries to slither away, but he snatches her around the waist. She kicks and bucks against him as he drags her into the torture room, then slams the door shut again with the heel of his foot. After he drops her, he quickly bolts the door.

"Sit right there. And watch." Snapping my fingers, blood sprays from them as I point to a bench along the far wall.

I saunter over to the high table and pick up a glass rod, holding it over the Bunson burner. The sound of the flames drowns out my wife's panicked breathing.

"Who—who is that?" she asks, a shaky finger pointing to the far wall.

Brandishing up the long, clear tube, I smile at how it glows in the heat. Perfect.

"That!" I pause for a dramatic moment, letting the man's eyes get reacquainted with consciousness. He fainted after the last bit, but I want him to fully be awake for this. "Is my latest toy! Isn't he cute with all the suppurating sores, wounds, and welts? I feel like his skin is a nice rainbow of color now. But since he still refuses to tell me what Clavius's next step is, we get to focus on painting his insides now. Maybe even spread them to the outside. What do you say, toy?"

He's still not talking. Head hung low in the stockade, he only whimpers a moan.

"Where did he come from?" Her innocent blue eyes won't leave his form, so I grab a blade and swiftly move to her side. She flinches when I hold it out to her. "Why don't you ask him? We found him lurking about during the breach on the property. Ask your questions and feel free to take off more parts when he won't answer."

She drops the knife, looking appalled. "I-I can't do that."

"Oh? Even though he was sent here to capture you? To take my wife away from me?" I laugh at his utter demise. "Stupid fool. No one will win." After heating the rod a second time, I glance over at the little doll, who's shifting uncomfortably on the bench as she observes me.

Spinning on my heel, I take a few steps closer to him and let the light dazzle his eyes as I flip the instrument in my hand. His worried gaze follows the motion as a ragged breath parts his parched lips.

Maybe I'm disturbed for getting so excited about the possibility of hurting him, but this is truly the only part of life I savor. Well, that and the inevitable cries of his agony, begging for me to stop. Somehow, it always settles me to understand how much pain I've caused. To be the commander of satisfaction or annihilation.

When I unleash, no force shall withstand.

Wielding destruction, demons tremble at my hand.

I am wrath wrapped in a suit of power.

Disrobing only at the rightful hour.

The anticipation is mouthwatering. So much so, I lift my bloodied hand, coated with the life he's leaking all over the stones from removing his appendix earlier. And I lick it. Sucking on every morsel as a predator hunting its unwilling prey.

I hope he doesn't talk.

"So, this is probably going to hurt." I can't help the riotous giggle that tickles my chest. Then I grip his tiny, soft dick as his hips try to pull back from me, but his ass hits the wall, preventing further movements.

Shifting from foot to foot, his whimpers escalate. "No, please. No. No."

"Fuck, when you say that, I get hard, you know? Like…it just makes me want to do it more." Grasping my thickening firmness in my pants, I show him. Then I hold the hot rod at the end of his dick and slowly push inside his hole.

His wailing screams fill the air with its own torturous melody. Closing my eyes, I memorize it, a little smile soothing my face. Adding a spin to the glass, it catches as some of his tissue sears to the hot tube, which only makes his voice raise from tenor to alto. Hmm, maybe I could aim for soprano once I'm done.

A putrid odor of sick covers the burning smell in the room. When I spin to check out Sev and the little girl, she's vomited all over the floor and covers her eyes, shaking in the corner like a delicate leaf.

"I haven't finished yet, angel. Well…unless you want to tell me what the next plan is, toy. Hmm? Want me to stop?"

"Please, please no more."

"Okay." Clapping my hands together a few times, they spray red drops all over my coated chest. I really should invest in some torture pants. The ones I'm wearing are ruined. But I'll revel in watching the water turn pink once I soak my bones after this. "So talk."

Snot drips from his nose as he cries, but he stays silent.

"Then I'll continue." Dragging a small table over, I place it underneath his reddened cock, stretching out the tissue so the rod is laying perfectly across the table. I snag the hammer off it and slowly raise it high in the air as his eyes watch with horror. "Last chance."

I think he faints even before I bring it down, but fortunately, he wakes up quickly when I smash the tube filling his urethra. His shrill howling deadens the sound of the crunching glass.

Some of it doesn't break, so I lift and smash again.

Then again.

Then, I think I must be having too much fun as he jerks and sobs, so I tap repeatedly as the tiny shards cut through every bit of his flesh, leaving a mangled piece of what he once must have enjoyed.

Gone now.

"Stop, please." A whimpered cry comes from the other end of the room, and I snap my head to Astrid. She's quivering, holding one hand over her eyes and the other over one ear, and she scrambles as far away from me as she can get.

"You want me to stop, wife?"

Lifting one blue eye carefully to my face, she nods while glancing at the piece of meat laying in front of me.

"Come here and stand next to me."

She doesn't move, so I shift my gaze to Sev, who gently helps her up. Her knees wobble as she walks toward me, keeping her face hidden by her hair as she stares at the ground. Reaching over to the table, I grab a handgun and thrust it into her palm. She studies it curiously.

"Remember what I taught you. Even pressure. Fingers here. Hold it like this." I place her hands on it appropriately. Then I nod at the body in front of us. His head hangs and the deep rattles within his chest let me know he's almost gone anyway. I'm probably not going to get any answers out of him. "So either end his misery or mine."

Part of me thinks she'll run away. Or just shoot me. I don't think she's gone enough to do it to herself. Maybe she'll kill Sev… Probably one of the girls, for sure.

But the angel straightens her back and gives me a cold, dark stare. Without even looking at the intruder, she lifts the barrel and points it at the top of his head and pulls the trigger. The loud bang fills my ears until they ring while brain matter sprays us both in the sides of our faces.

And some bizarre feeling rises deep within my soul. Brutal and primal, an urge roars out of my chest until my vision blurs with tears of passion.

My eyes narrow as she continues to glare at me with ferocity, not even blinking. Dropping my gaze, I assess her bosom, but her chest isn't even rising as quickly as mine.

Desire seems to have left me long ago, but now?

I don't think I've ever been this turned on.

Snatching her by the back of the neck, I pull her into me. As her lips part in a gasp, I shove my mouth to hers and thrust my tongue inside. She pushes the gun between us, into my chest, trying to escape, but gives up quickly, dropping it to her side. Her mouth mirrors mine as she strokes me with just as much force while digging her little fingers into my arms.

As firm as the instrument of torture, my cock is more so with every cotton candied taste of her. Clutching the cheap fabric of her dress, I rip it straight off, tossing it on the little table over the mangled pieces of flesh. We're swapping saliva, lips biting and gnawing at each other, panting for air, and only breaking apart for a moment before colliding again.

In the back of the room, a shuffle breaks through the muffled sounds in my ears as Sev's deep voice murmurs, "I'll be, um, upstairs…" But we barely pay any heed as he exits.

Lifting her by the waist, I plop her onto the table beside the bloodied appendage, then scoot her closer to my core. Pressing my forehead to hers, I breathe out a command. "Undo my belt."

Her fingers hurry, shaking with the motion when she slides it out of its loops, and I snag it from her. Folding it in half, I snap it a few times, then tilt her chin up and graze my lips against her blushed and bruised ones. Pink buds pebble with lust as I lean over to suck on one. An erotic whimper leaves her throat as she tosses her head back with pleasure.

When I let it go, I blow on her little nipple and say, "You need to be punished for earlier. For being such a bad girl and splashing Yasmina. Turn over."

Her big blue eyes grow larger as her shoulders raise up to her ears, but she does as she's told.

"Put your elbows on the table and stick your ass out for me."

She's so obedient that my dick throbs with urgent need, leaking pre-cum in my pants. I loosen the button on my trousers to give it some space. Snapping the belt a few more times, the corner of my lips jerks up into a smirk as she shudders. "I'm sure you're still very sore, is that right?"

"Yes," she says hesitatingly.

"Good." I slap the belt across her perfect round ass. She yelps and surges forward, the wooden table scooting across the stones.

Snagging her hair in one hand, I lift her head so her neck strains to the sky. "You were so naughty today. Do you need more punishment?"

"It hurts."

It doesn't go beyond my recognition that she didn't answer. But she's young…and too inexperienced to know what she enjoys or doesn't yet. I whip the belt across her white skin and give it a bright red streak. "Mmm, angel. Are you still a bad girl?"

"I-I…" Since she refuses to answer, I wait for a moment. Then, her hips slowly edge back toward me, the action making my chest tighten.

Astrid likes pain. That realization wraps around my mind until the crotch of my pants cannot contain my erection. This is not how I am with the other slaves. Studying them is just what I need to do to maintain order and control in this household. Discovering something about my wife is completely different.

It's arousing.

So I whip her again until her thighs shake. Pausing, I slick a finger through her wetness. "Soaked. Utterly wet for this. What a dirty little girl for liking your punishment."

My pants drop to around my ankles and I line up behind her. Holding the base of my thickness, I drag it through her pussy until she looks over her shoulder. "What are you doing?"

"Bad girls get spanked, but you were so obedient just now. And good girls…" I have to take a breath at the sensation of her extremely tiny hole choking the head of my cock as I press in. "They get big dicks and orgasms."

Dropping the belt, I use my hand to spank her as I enter with a formidable thrust. She grunts against the edge of the table, some of the glass shards spilling onto the floor. I'm sure she'll be cut up from the ruins of the severed cock lying beneath her, but that just turns me on more. Gripping her hips, I pull her back to me with every forward jut of my hips.

"So you tell me if you need another spanking, and I'll give you one. Otherwise, I'll fuck the wicked right out of you." Pretty soon, she learns how to bounce back off me and the smile that greets my face is one I haven't had in a very long time. "Good girl. It's okay if you need me to spank you. Bad girls need a man to keep them in line. Do you need me to correct you again?"

Whimpering, she nods, her blonde locks falling over her face. "Yes."

With another smack on her delectable ass cheek, I thrust in again.

"Do you need more discipline, little angel?"

"Ye-yes, master."

I spank her a few more times until my palm tickles from the heat of our exchange. Each time I do, she moans, and it makes my cock surge with need inside her.

Her arms rake across the tabletop, and I grab them both. She lets out a struggling breath when I hold them behind her back, her face hitting the surface. Lifting a wrist, I inspect the cuts from the glass oozing with her serum.

Herodius would hate this.

I plunge my mouth over each, sucking her blood from every wound up and down her arms while fucking her roughly on the table.

"What are you doing?" She can't move but tries to lift her head as she asks.

"They want your blood. And I'm not letting them have it." This seems to settle something inside her as her shoulders relax and she eases herself back into me. I place her arms into a folded position on her back and use them as my handle. A slap on her outer thigh makes her whimper. That sound I can't get enough of. "You feel like you're close. Your pussy is pulling me deeper in. Do you need to come, angel?"

"Yes, master!"

Leaning over, I place my lips on her ear. "Will you be my good girl? Not be naughty anymore?"

Her eyes flash open. "I-I can't promise that, master."

I try to hold it back, but a genuine, full laugh leaves my mouth and huffs onto her face. My mirth seems to worry her, so I kiss her cheek fondly. Like she's my little girl. "Come for me. You deserve it."

But something changes inside me as she looks at me with such desperation in her eyes. Such a jarring vulnerability. It was the same upstairs earlier. She looks at me with defiance, like I'm a monster…and she needs me.

While studying her expression, I give another forceful thrust inside and she comes all over my dick, squeezing me so fucking tight, I have no choice but to shoot my full load within her constricted walls. Close to her womb.

"You need a baby, angel." My legs quiver as my knees weaken, but I'm still going, the ecstasy ripping down my spine like wildfire. The pleasure is astounding, more than I've had since I can remember. Clutching her hips, I drop the belt and stand up straight. My head hangs back while reams of my cum continue to surge within her. Thinking about her belly full of our legacy, I can't stop pumping inside her. "Fuck!"

"I-I'm too young for a baby."

I hold still and catch my breath, my thick cock acting as a plug for my seed. Patting her thigh streaked with red marks, I chuckle. "Yeah, you are too young. But you need one. And I'm the only one who can give it to you."

Finally, I slip out of her, and she eases back, her legs wide as if she's sore. "It's tender. Like inside me."

With a nod, I pull up my pants and slip my belt back through the hoops. "Yes. As I said, we need to get you used to my cock." Wandering to the door, I pause to instruct her, "Take another bath and use the salve on those cuts, too." She finds her shift dress and shakes it out, some of the diamonds of glass falling to the floor. Her baby face scans the sorry brute hanging from the stockade, his exploded head still dripping blood and tissue. "Astrid."

She looks at me with something like disinterest.

"Astrid, you did well."

There's no motion to acknowledge my statement; she only covers her body with the little fabric she has and skirts past me through the door, heading toward the back stairs. I don't know why I felt the need to praise her. These moments we've shared…

It's making me feel queasy and unsettled. Out of control, which is something I never am.

Once I reach my room, the aroma of scented oils fills the space. Dilan must have prepared my bath. Sure enough, when I enter, she's stirring the water with her naked arm. "Darling, I have it all ready for you."

Leaning over, I press my lips to hers. "Thank you."

She undresses me slowly, and I slip into the steamy suds, which immediately ease the tension in my neck as the water turns pink. Scooting forward, I let her slide in behind me, her legs wrapping around my waist as I lean back against the pillows of her chest. Taking her time, she massages my shoulders and uses a loofah to circle my skin.

"The healer says he'll be here to give the girls their birth control shots on Tuesday, as well as their examinations. And yours as well."

Nodding, I ignore her discussion of the schedule.

"Would you like me to spread word about the snake to the other families now? I can skirt past the birds next week, I believe, when they have their harvest ritual during the red moon."

"It won't do any good until the girl is filled with my heir. Besides, they still believe I'm the one who destroyed their families, their parents. Just let it be so."

The sound of dripping water soothes my irritation as she takes her time to cleanse every inch of me. "Should we tell the girl that her own brother was the one to set flames to the garage to throw the blame on you? That he was with Clavius? That Clavius killed the other clan leaders? Well, other than Franklin Von Dovish…"

My eyes close tightly. Dilan wants my name to be restored because of her respect for me. I understand, but I don't care about that kind of esteem. "It's not worth it. Let her believe him to be a good man who died in service as a hero."

Her body stiffens behind me. "Why do you care?"

Staring straight ahead, I consider her question. Why do I care?

She doesn't let me answer, probably because she knows I don't have one. "You tried so hard to cut off the funds that Wyatt Barrington was channeling to them through the arms trade. And the ones Kline was diverting from the casinos."

"Well, the East problem took care of itself now that Barrington is dead. South is now independent since Donovan replaced his staff. And West was once Von Dovish discovered his owl mole. So Clavius and Herodius funding is cut short. Step one has been completed."

Things get quiet again, and I know what she's going to ask me. "And step two? How is that going?"

I've never kept much from Dilan. She was the first slave I stole from my father when we were both twelve. Through the years, she became a best friend, a confidante, almost a surrogate wife. The perfect mistress and madam.

But for the first time, I refrain from telling her my inner thoughts. And feelings. My plan to impregnate my wife is mine , something I wish to keep to myself. "It's going fine."

The deafening silence lets me know she doesn't believe a word. "She'll fall in love with you. She's so young, darling. I worry about that and the problems she could cause if you provide her with, um, special treatments. Or your undivided attention…"

There are very few times I have taken a woman alone, other than the one sitting behind me. And I know the underlying worry that she's not saying. Shaking my head, I tell her, "There's no special attention I'm giving her. The goal is to give her a child as quickly as possible to assure our victory. That's it. That's all she is. A fertile womb to fill with the Strauss family legacy."

A flash catches my notice in the corner behind the bathroom door and a bright blue eye stares at me before it disappears. Sitting, I start to say something, but she's gone. Astrid overheard while creeping about. She shouldn't be near here…but she doesn't understand the rules yet.

"I'll tell her to stay away from your rooms if you haven't requested her, sir."

Without me even having to tell her to leave, Dilan stands and hands me the loofah.

"The girls will have your dinner tray on the table shortly. How many would you like in your bed tonight, darling?"

My jaw strains as I reply, "None. I want to sleep alone. Thank you."

She doesn't make a move, except one of her eyelids twitches. "Yes, sir. Goodnight, darling." Leaving me to the peace of my solitude, she shuts the door firmly.

Maybe I shouldn't vary my routine. But I just can't stomach Lydia's or Chloe's annoying noises tonight. Or not having enough space in the bed.

Finishing up, I clean myself thoroughly, then don a robe, eat dinner, and settle against the tall velvet headboard with my book. It's supposed to be peaceful.

But my mind won't let me see the words on the page. Instead, all I can focus on is the little girl in the room next to mine. Her expressions today while I was buried inside her. The candy flavor of her tongue. How tiny her body is when it's wrapped around mine.

And how she killed for me.

My heart thunders as I slip out of the bed and pull on a pair of thin pajama pants, then cross to her connecting door. Why am I nervous about speaking with my wife? Tapping on it lightly, I wait a moment, then enter. It's very dark, but I find my way to the bedroom area.

The bed is perfectly made, not slept in.

Turning on her bedside lamp, I search the room, but Astrid is nowhere to be found.

I hurry into the parlor and flip on every light, but she's not there, nor in the bathroom.

Sev rushes in from my bedroom door looking frazzled and my lungs seize their expansion in my chest.

"Sir, I think your wife just escaped."