"Corey, let it drop!" Audrey pleaded.
"Don?t you think I?d love to!" Corey retorted. "Give me a bit of hope of freedom and I will."
They kept silent.
"O.K., you?ve said it better than words. I?m some sort of prisoner?"
"Assef wants you."
"Am I expected to go willingly to my dungeon?"
"Well, if you don?t, the only ones to be embarrassed is me and Audrey."
"What about me? I suppose the hired help will tie me up and dump me in the plane. I?ll wake up in Aslam?s New York oubliette?"
"He hasn?t got one of those. I?d thought that if the worst came to the worst you might like Audrey to… sort of… restrain?"
"You mean tie me or chain me?"
"Couldn?t you just enjoy your dinner?" Reid was annoyed.
"Could you?"
"Hold it!" Audrey laughed at their acerbity. "Look, Reid, leave her to me. If Corey escapes I?ll let you whip me the way you want. But she won?t…! You?ve just got her riled…"
"She keeps harping…"
"So would you if you thought you were a prisoner for life and were going to get whipped every day."
"It?s not that bad…"
"Are you sure?"
Reid Hunter waved a despairing hand. "I?m not sure. I?m not into this stuff." He focused on Audrey Cotswold. "You?d know better than anyone…"
"Alright, so I know!" Audrey had the bit in her teeth. "Aslam had me whipped day after day when he first had me. I was kidnapped and rebellious as hell. It all seemed so damn unfair. I was never free of chain or rope or straps or wire… He used everything…! He was the overlord, coming to view the aesthetic picture after his help had done their work on me." She made a moue of deprecation. "It took me a hell of a long time to realise it was me who was out of line. I was female and subject to these things. I?d never known that before. Once I caught sight of reality he didn?t have to whip me any more… except for his own pleasure, of course. He still does that."
"He broke you, Audrey." Corey was bitter.
The English girl shrugged. "If you want to see it that way. But if you analyse it Assef simply made me understand my sex and his in relation to each other. I?ve been happy with him."
"Except when he whips you for fun?" Corey demanded.
"Dammit, Corey, Seth Burdett whipped you…!"
They looked at each other askance. Corey knew guilt. These people were her friends. Audrey loved her. "I?m… I?m sorry." She stammered contritely. "I?ll forget it for now. Do what you must later on. Let?s have a lovely dinner. I think I?d like to get a little drunk."
That?s what they did.
"Reid?s position isn?t easy." Audrey said reflectively as the two girls undressed for bed. "He?s been more involved with Aslam than anyone knew. They like each other. If Aslam desires you, Reid doesn?t see it as any different from him wanting to buy a block of Standard Oil."
"Gee, thanks!"
"Well, that?s the way of it. Corey darling, haven?t you got the message yet? Men do what they like with us girls. We can make a fuss to keep up appearances but it doesn?t change a thing. We end up getting whipped or fucked or traded. We?re a part of their possessions like the grand piano."
"Unless we fight…!"
"Don?t be silly. We can?t fight men and win. But if you enjoy getting yourself whipped, go ahead."
Corey stripped away panties and bra?. It felt good to be naked again. Naked was naturel. She longed for Seth Burdett.
"Darling, your whip marks have faded wonderfully, they?re almost gone." Audrey tenderly fingered the satin skin of the girl who had shared her chain on the coffle.
"Gosh, you?re beautiful!"
"So are you."
"Aslam wouldn?t be bothered with us if we weren?t. Any girl who?s beautiful is lucky. Let?s make love. Look, I?m naked too!"
They made love. They adored each other. Drunk with affection and alcohol, Corey remembered something.
"Weren?t we supposed…?"
"You mean about making sure you didn?t escape?" Audrey was herself besotted. "Do?you really want me…?"
"I expect you should." Corey was absurdly solemn. "I?m not to be trusted, am I? I mean, it?s so easy to run away…"
Audrey giggled. "To find Seth Burdett and get yourself fucked? Y?know, Corey, you?re absolutely wanton. Let?s make love again?" They made love again.
"Feel better now?" It was a long time later. Audrey sounded amused. "Dammit?, you sexpot, you?re a full time job."
"I feel wonderful. Think we could do that all night?"
"Corey, you?re a disgrace to heterosexual relations… and I have to get some sleep."
The two girls giggled steadily in their search. A pair of handcuffs were belatedly sighted where Reid Hunter had thoughtfully placed them on the bedside table. They sparked debate.
"In front? They?re harmless in front. Just a sort of insignia?" Corey wheedled.
"But they don?t stop you going places."
"No, I suppose not." Corey grappled with what was obviously a major decision involving more than herself. "How about behind my back?" She giggled. "I?d feel awfully silly walking through the brush with no hands."
"Mmmmmm, but you could still walk. I expect you could run?"
"Gosh, I?d no idea things were this difficult." Corey wrinkled her brow in thought. "How about handcuffing me to you? I mean your wrist to my wrist?" "Too much like that damn coffle, darling."
"Huh, I suppose so. Hows?bout my wrist to the bed someplace?"
Corey possessed a slander ankle. They compromised by handcuffing it to the bedrail. Giggling, they fell asleep.
It was hours later in the dark when the gunshots brought them back to fear. Audrey was out of bed in seconds, she dragged on clothes and dashed through the door. From somewhere she had produced a revolver. Dazed and fearful, Corey Gibson watched her go. It was all too swift, too much a reversion to what she had wanted to forget. Apprehensively, Corey slid from beneath the covers and headed for her clothes. It took her an appreciable time to understand why she was suddenly flat on the floor with one foot oddly trapped. It was then she remembered the handcuff. It held her prisoner.
Corey Gibson was frightened. She was also angry. She struggled back on the bed and surveyed the metal band round her left ankle in a fury of frustration. To think she had allowed a few drinks and giggles to place herself in this predicament…! But Audrey was fun, it has been a laughing romp between two girls, that was all. Or was that all? Corey Gibson found it all too easy to look into her future and see nothing but a handcuff, a chain, a rope, and the threat of being whipped. She kicked fretfully at her bond, deliberately making it hurt.
But the sounds were still there, and Audrey had not returned. In frantic hope, Corey lifted the pillow atill warm from Audrey?s head. But there was no key. Panting but methodically she stretched her nudity to the limits the handcuff would permit. Her questing fingers found nothing of any help. If the handcuff key was in the room it had to be on the dresser, and for her to reach the dresser she would have to move the bed. Standing on her free right foot, she began to tug and heave…
It was then the sounds became louder. There was one more shot, and another. Heavy footsteps thudded their way upstairs…
Everything was the same except Corey herself. Previously, when she had hung suspended before Abdul Nour?s desk it had been by both wrists, her legs spread wide to present the guerilla with an excellent view of her vulva. Now, she hung by one wrist only, the other was handcuffed behind her back to its opposite ankle dragged up awkwardly from a bent knee. It was a hateful posture. It hurt. She was close to tears.
It was all too unkind. Audrey had vanished. Abdul had found her cuffed to the bed like a neat package awaiting delivery. Smugly he had freed her ankle and clipped both her wrists behind her back. Dragged to the waiting plane, she had beheld with horror the sprawled dead figure of Reid Hunter. There had been two other motionless bundles…
That was all! So simple to alter lives and rob a girl of freedom! Now, Miss Corey Gibson awaited her interview with Abdul Nour. If she was about to be offered employment she could guess what it would be.