Nothing but the best for Mr. Steele. But she was going to be free of him now. All she had to do was walk out the back door and run to the highway and hitch a ride.
Freedom!
She tried the backdoor and found it locked. Fumbling at Lucien's keyring, she tried one key after another. None fit the lock. Furious, sure that she'd been in too much of a hurry, she tried all of them again. Still no luck.
Turning to head for the front of the house where one of the keys might work, she stopped dead in her tracks. Sitting at the kitchen table were Mr. Steele and Henrietta. They had been watching her every move.
"Yes, my dear," said the cold Mr. Steele. "We just wanted to watch as you tried to escape. Nothing is more cruel than giving hope, then taking it away. Your discipline for trying to escape will be all the more dreadful for you now. Henrietta, she is all yours."
Tanya watched in shocked silence as Mr. Steele rose, and left the room. All she could heat was Henrietta's evil laugh.
CHAPTER SEVEN
"This is cruel! This is inhuman! You're violating my civil rights. You can't do this to me!" she screamed. But they didn't heed her pleas.
Mr. Steele stood in front of her and simply stared. With her hands tied behind her back she couldn't reach out and strangle the man. With her feet just inches off the cold stone floor, she couldn't kick him. And her head, neck and shoulders hurt like hell.
Henrietta had brought her into the room and strung her up by the long mane of her midnight black hair. The woman had thrown a handful of the hair through a big ring, then tied it firmly in a knot sure not to come loose. Then Henrietta had pulled at a winch and Tanya found herself being dragged off the ground by her hair.
It hurt. It hurt bad.
Worst of all was the stark humiliation in the act. It seemed to her to embody all the hatred and contempt these people had for her. They thought so little of her that they would use her hair instead of chains to securely fasten her from the ceiling.
"What are you going to do to me?" she demanded.
The pain rocketed through her jaw and into her upper chest. She bit down on her lower lip and even this caused strain. She had never realized how firmly her hair was attached. The slightest movement of her jaw caused her scalp to flex – and this gave pain.
"I will do whatever I wish," said Mr. Steele calmly. "You were told not to attempt to escape. You disobeyed. Now it is time to discipline you. Perhaps you will not be so foolish a second time if the lesson is painful enough."
He walked to her and laid his hand gently on her cheek. She tried to snap at him. He moved faster than a striking snake. His hand landed soundly on her cheek. She felt the jolt of the open-handed slap all the way down to her toes.
She swung to and fro. He stood back and waited for the motion to die down before he spoke again. In the same level, calm voice he said, "Henrietta is going to be given full authority in this matter, I think. You shouldn't have tried to bite me!"
"Rot in hell!" the woman snapped.
She quieted down suddenly when she saw the leather-clad redhead come into the room. Henrietta smiled wickedly and moved with fluid grace to a rack of whips on one wall. She selected one with a short lash and came to stand directly in front of the dangling woman.
"I picked this one because it has a lead bead in the tip. See?" Henrietta held the tip of the whip up so that Tanya could see that she told the truth. The tiny lead weight gleamed dully, a reddish stain on it. Tanya didn't have to be told what that stain way.
It was blood. Human blood.
"Don't do this to me," she pleased, panic flaring in her again. "I promise not to try to escape. Really!"
"You lied before. You might lie again. Unless I convince you of the folly of doing that."
Henrietta stepped back, uncurled the slender whip and sent it whistling around. Tanya closed her eyes a split second before the lash landed on her shoulders. She felt the lead weight cut into her tender skin and slice through the thin dress she wore like a hot knife through butter. Henrietta continued to use the whip to strip away the dress.
"Notice how careful I am," said the woman conversationally. "I know exactly how far to go. Like this and this and this."
Every time the lash landed another bit of the dress leaped free. Tanya felt the hot lead against her left nipple, then her right. She had to admire the woman's skill with the whip. If Henrietta had moved the lash just a fraction of an inch, she would have sliced off two nipples.
As it was Tanya felt the hot lead and the way her dress came off her body. There was something magical about it, something sexual. She hated the idea that she could possibly respond to a woman whipping her like this. But she did. The tears rolled down her cheeks and she couldn't brush them away. Hanging from her hair the way she was, she couldn't even toss her head to get rid of the salty tracks.
It took less than five minutes for Henrietta to completely strip away the dress, Tanya hung by her long black hair, hands chained behind her back, completely naked and totally at the mercy of these vicious people. The only problem was, these people had no mercy.
"Very good, Henrietta," complimented Mr. Steele. He moved into Tanya's line of sight again and critically examined the girl's flesh. "Only one or two red marks. The very first lash left a mark six inches long. That was careless."
"I did it on purpose – to get her attention, Mr. Steele," explained Henrietta. "I know what I'm doing. I get enough practice."
Tanya mentally thought, I just bet you get a lot of practice – on girls like me!
"Lucien is the one who allowed her to obtain his keys, is that not correct?"
"Yes, Mr. Steele."
"I would hardly give her over to him. She is all Marcus'. As for Lucien, get him in here. I want to punish him for his stupidity."
"She is beautiful, Mr. Steele," said Henrietta with grudging respect. "I can see how a man might fall for her."
"I pay my men enough for them to get any woman they want. Lucien should have known better. Get him in here. Now!"
Henrietta silently left. Tanya didn't miss the fact that the leather-clad woman carried her whip with her. She would use it on the erring Lucien if the need arose.
"Are you primed for the disciplinary action that must follow?" asked Mr. Steele. "I see you are." His hands ran down the smooth flanks of the helpless girl, seeing the way she shivered and responded. His hand gripped firmly at her snatch.
She twisted, as painful as it was, trying to elude his hand. She couldn't. His finger sailed all the way up into her cunt. She didn't know which was worse, being subjected to such humiliation or the idea that her pussy was damp and ready for a cock. All through the whipping, she had been strangely turned on. The idea of Mr. Steele watching had been part of it, but the way Henrietta narrowly avoided inflicting nerve-twisting pain had turned her on the most. The threat of pain was almost as potent an aphrodisiac for her as a man's prick.
She sobbed and moaned as he ran his finger in and out of her cunt, fondling the velvet walls, feeling her ripply muscles respond to his light touch. She panted and strained, flow she wished she had some freedom of movement!
The chains on her wrists cut into her flesh. Worst of all was the way her hair had been tied to the ring far above her head. She swung helplessly from that bizarre bond.
Lucien was herded in and shoved to his knees in front of her. Henrietta stood behind him, her whip restlessly moving just inches away from his body. The man tried to appear defiant but Tanya saw the stark fear lurking just a heartbeat away. He knew what that lead-tipped whip could do.