“Ah, typical.” He sets down the camera and opens the package with pills, then pops one into his mouth. He closes his eyes as if in relief. Then he walks over to the closet and picks up a leather whip, runs his hand over it, and then offers it to me. I just stare at him in confusion.
His lips crack into a smile. “You wouldn’t be here for regular sex, not on the ‘hurt your slave’ day, anyway. How exactly did you plan to explain that you paid a fortune for an hour with me to enact your darkest kinky fantasies and I don’t have a single mark on my body? Or are you going to argue that you expected something else and they misunderstood you? Because that would mean you’d have to leave already.”
“I assumed any marks would fade,” I say, feeling warmth coming into my cheeks. Alessandra told me about that to confirm our deal before I got here, but I didn’t think much of it. “I figured no one would be checking as long as you’re in one piece.”
He laughs. “They’ll check as soon as you leave, and no, most marks don’t fade that easily. Take this.” He hands me the whip. I gingerly take it, touching its leathery surface. I have absolutely no clue what to do with this. I’ve never held one before in my life. Isaac turns his back to me and presses his hands against the wall. A breath catches in my throat. I don’t even want to imagine how much the scars on his back must have hurt. He’s covered in them.
“Hit me,” he says.
“Are you sure there isn’t another way?” I step behind him.
“No. Stop stalling. We don’t have that much time. Unless you want this whole thing to fail.” He takes a deep breath, his muscles rippling. “Do it.”
I raise the whip and bring it down onto his back. He doesn’t make a sound or even flinch, so I try again, the sound of leather slapping his skin the only sound in the room.
“You’re tickling me,” he says. “You’ve got try harder than that. This won’t leave anything. My skin is hard to mark.”
I grit my teeth. I can see tiny streaks of light red where the whip has fallen, but Isaac is right, so I hit him harder and cringe as the whip hits the same place a couple of times, leaving a nasty red mark. Sweat beads my forehead, and my breathing is labored. Isaac is still in position, and he hasn’t even twitched.
“Harder,” he says. I step back a little and bring the whip again with all my strength. This time his body shudders, but aside from a sharp intake of breath, he doesn’t make a sound. I bring the whip down again and again. The welts are now deeper and visible on his skin, and the skin has broken in a couple of places, leaving a tiny trail of blood. I hit him one more time.
“Stop,” he says, and I throw the whip to the ground. Isaac turns toward me, amusement glinting in his eyes. “You don’t think we’re done here, do you?”
My eyes widen and he laughs.
He comes over to me and takes my hand in his. “Just a little something.” He raises my hand up, raking my nails over his chest. My hand is shaking, but his grip is strong, and my nails break through his skin. He lets go of me and goes to the bathroom to take a look at his back and chest. “That’ll do for your first time.” He winks at me.
First time? Oh God. I don’t want to do anything like this ever again. I glance at the clock on the nightstand. We have less than ten minutes left. I look up at him. “Wait, where are you going to hide the camera?” If they’re going to inspect him for marks, surely he can’t have it in his clothes. If he even has clothes... because I can’t see them anywhere.
“I know a place.” He takes the camera and starts for the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
I sit on the bed, tapping my feet against the floor and mussing up my hair a bit so it doesn’t look like I haven’t been doing anything. When Isaac emerges from the bathroom, I look up.
“I hope this will work,” he says. “But give me time. It’s not easy to get into Raphael’s room. He doesn’t like me very much.”
“He said you were one of his favorites.” I frown, getting to my feet.
“You don’t know what that word means to him,” he says, his face deadly serious.
“Thank you,” I say. “For helping me. And I hope I’ll see you again.”
“No, thank you.” He smiles, then goes behind the bed, sits down, and cuffs himself to the post. “Go.”
With one last look at him, I head for the door. My stomach is fluttering, but as I emerge into the hallway and the blonde approaches me, I put on my best smile.
“Did you enjoy your purchase, miss?” she asks.
“Of course.”
“I’m glad to hear it. If you want more, call this number.” She hands me a card.
“Thanks.” I take it and walk past her. As soon as I reach the exit, the guards ask for the now empty box. Once I’m out of the building and safe in my car, I look at my shaky hands in my lap. This better work, or I don’t know what I’m going to do. The thought of Caleb or anyone suffering through so much abuse, being at whim of cruel and twisted people... it makes me sick to my stomach.
Jade bursts through the door to Caleb’s room, and as she’s trying to calm her breathing, Caleb notices her brow is creased with worry and her eyes are bloodshot. He immediately gets up from the bed and places his hand on her cheek.
“What’s wrong?” he asks.
“It’s Isaac,” she says. “I heard... I heard he’s going to be sold.” Her fingers entangle in Caleb’s shirt and she gives him a desperate look. “We can’t let that happen! We have to do something.”
