Twenty Three

'All I want is for you to fully submit yourself to me', is what he had said.

He was asking her to be vulnerable to him. Which would never happen at the current stage they were at.

There was nothing

preventing him from

claiming her. She was no

match compared to his

strength. He could easily

take what others believed

him capable of doing. Only

to do so would break the

fragile grain of trust that

glimmered in her eyes.  At first he was willing to take whatever he could get no matter how slim it was but his desire to have her ran his patience thin.

He wanted

more. He needed more. He

wanted her to ... want him. Even if he had to manipulate and make his methods more extreme to do so.

Silla's consciousness woke

before her body but she

remained cloaked in

darkness. Her eyelids

refused to open as every

single part of her felt too

heavy to move.

What the hell happened?

She lied on the incredibly

soft.. Bed? She struggled, but managed to crack open one eye and confusion washed over her from being unable to recognize her surroundings.

Her heartbeat quickened,

and with that little spike of

adrenalin, suddenly

everything came rushing

back. All the time she had spent in the room recently. The memories bury her like an avalanche and that freezing feeling envelopes her entire body again. She tried to keep her breathing even in case he was watching her, but after a few moments, she discreetly opened her eyes once more.

She was in her new bedroom. There were painted and embellished walls, a vaulted ceiling with wide exposed beams. It was daylight out, she had been out for hours.

She still hasn't gotten used to being in this room day after day. Yet everyday she awoke surprised by her surroundings and confused.

She hadn't see the boy Raizel she rescued or her friends in four months. They were probably worried. Or was it five months? Her perception of time had begun to blur.

Though strangely there were less tears than when she was in the lower ring. She always thought she would've cried more in a situation where she was taken. The deep sadness she usually felt in the back of her mind seemed preoccupied.

Silla felt the soft covers beneath her hands and something heavy on her leg. Glancing down, she remembered the large golden cuff latched onto her ankle that connected to a thick chain. Her eyes followed it's trail as it

wound behind her.

There was roughly ten feet

of chain that was secured

with a padlock. It was wrapped around the large bed post that was  imbedded into the ground. She had however gotten used to the impossibility of detaching herself from it. She didn't care much for the cuff as she was still able to reach the bathroom and entertain herself with various shows. The weight of it was slightly annoying though.

There was nothing obvious

that she could use to pick the cuff or padlock, let alone the door. The first week or two she spent in the room she had ignored Phanes much to his frustration, she had even looked for ways to escape the room. She wanted to explore and use the estate more, as leaving the property itself was useless. She might as well enjoy the luxury.

She laid down, lazily, she had long given up on getting the cuff off or escaping. She only had one chance to escape and she blew it, now she was trapped in a completely different part of the city.

Over time she learned the

schedule. It was always the same time. At first she didn't know how frequently he came. If it was once a day. Twice. Once every other hour. Eventually she figured it out but in the end, it didn't really matter. Each time was the same. Phanes would watch how she reacted to him while he fed and cleaned her.

Day. Night. Night. Day.

It was all the same.

Silla was by nature a

contemplative who enjoyed

shutting herself up in a

dimly lit room and disconnecting from the world. Despite having friends and a job to keep up with. She was someone who preferred to stay at home and be alone in her room. If she gets invited out or has an appointment once in a while, she tended to worry over and over whether she should go or cancel it, and then be overjoyed when the other person canceled it.

For her, living in a hell

was where she had to do

something every day and

where she was forced to

believe that this was all life had to offer. This was a whole new world.

Her dream of enjoying a life

of idleness and doing

nothing had come true in

some small way.

She stared at the ceiling,

wishing cool air would

come seeping through the

overhead vent.

A vent!

She sat up slightly as hope filled her. Perhaps this was her chance to leave the room! Then quickly laid back down incase she was being watched. she didn't want to give her idea for escape away before she had even figured out how to free

herself from the chain.

Scenarios were running

through her head tirelessly

until a loud clang pulled her

from her thoughts.

Phanes slowly entered the

room and she was met with

the same sharp eyes as

before. In his hands were two different trays with food. He stepped in, and placed one on a nearby table closing the door, then turned to stare at her.

He slowly came toward her

and when he sat down her eyes darted between his piercing green gaze and the food in his hands. Generally he saw her at least ten times a day, three times for food, and the rest for his own sick enjoyment she guessed. She never knew why, she was the most boring and uncharismatic person in this godforsaken city.

Phanes remained silent, just watching her.

She brought her eyes back to

him. He had a slight crease

in the middle of his

forehead, and he clenched

his jaw a few times as she

stared at his lips. They were

full, and looked smooth. Damn him for being so beautiful.

Every day she realized more

and more how handsome

Phanes was and every night she thought about how idiotic she was for thinking so of her capture.

How loneliness and his

softer edges in comparison

to the razor blades that

were her previous life before him, was surely warping her brain. Sometimes as she laid at night and he caressed her head she would imagine that he was her lover rather than the man who captured her. A man who had respectfully wooed her and took her out on dates before asking for her to be his.

A long silence stretched out

between him and her. He

continued to watch Silla

intently. Finally, without

ever breaking eye contact,

he pointed to the spot on

the bed beside him.

"Sit."

The order was soft, but she

slowly shook her head,

feeling her face screw up as

she tried her best not to frown. Frowning got her

nothing but looks of displeasure from him.

"Sit," he said more

forcefully and his eyes

narrowed the tiniest bit

more.

She wanted to move

forward, but she just couldn't bring herself to actually do it. She still had too much pride and stubbornness. "I don't want-"

"Silla." The way Phanes said her name was in a split tone of dominance and desperation. From the look on his face, she imagined he was counting down in his

head. The starting number

was unknown to her, but she didn't wanna find out.

She slowly inched her way

over to him and sat down.

Every part of her annoyed

but he was already showing

her more patience and the more she behaved the quicker she'd get out of this room. She needed to remember that she couldn't test the waters anymore, because she didn't want to find this man's limits unless absolutely necessary.

"Good," he nodded in

approval.

His expressionless face

looked eerily cold and

emotionless. But when his

eyes met hers, he looked

so calm and gentle that she

wondered when he had

ever looked that way

before. "You haven't eaten yet today. You don't have an appetite?" He asked, his eyes, green as the forest outside on a cloudy day, turned to her, narrow and curved. She lay helplessly on the bed, and he sat neatly in the mahogany chair placed

next to her.

Glancing down, she saw a small cup of water in the center of the tray he held with a piece of bread and some cut up fruit surrounding it. Her brain instantly declared it to be drugged, if not laced with

something inhibiting and she wanted to keep her wits.

She hadn't trusted any food he gave her since he drugged her with tea, during her first and probably last escape attempt. Any food he gave her the second he left she proceeded to stick her fingers down her throat and hurl up into the toilet bowl.

"Eat," he demanded.

Lifting the bowl, she eyed it

suspiciously before sniffing

its contents. Even though it

seemed fine, she knew some

drugs were colorless,

tasteless, and scentless.

Shaking her head, she

whispered, "I'm not hung-"

Right on cue, her stomach

growled. Phanes reached

down and plucked out a

piece of banana. He held it

out as if to plainly show it

to her, then ate it in an

attempt to prove she won't

keel over and die if she

accepted the offered food.

"Eat," he said a little softer.

The man held a silver

spoon in his long fingers,

while in his other hand he

held a bowl of fruit. He took

a spoonful of the fruit, then thrust it in front of her and smiled beautifully.

"Ah- Try it. I'll feed you."

She turned her head away, not complying with his gentle command.

Her eyes turned to the

carpet on the floor and, his

eyes falling slowly, was

good as an obsession.

"Let me go... Let me leave the room." The tip of her voice faltered as she hadn't spoken for a while. The man's face tilted to the side as he readily responded to her nonchalant request. Immediately, his well- defined features created a

strange expression.

"Not yet."

Picking up the bread, she took a bite. It was sweet and

tasted homemade. Phanes nodded again in approval. She took another bite, then placed it back in the bowl holding it out for him to take.

"More."

"I'm full."

"More," he demanded.

She wanted to fast in order to protest and frustrate him but after a week he wasn't having it. Silla slowly lowered the bowl back onto her lap and picked up a blueberry. She kept her head down and her eyes on the food until everything was gone. Her apprehension to drink the water was the same, and again, he lifted it to her lips and she took a sip. She drank it all, reveling in how it soothed her scratchy throat.

"Good," Phanes said as he

took the now empty cup

and bowl. He set it on the

ground beside the glass of

water, then moved to stand

directly in front of her.

She didn't even realize he was digging in his pocket for

something when she feels a

tiny prick in the side of her

neck.

Her body begins to

numb and she slumps in his

arms. He flips the hair

away from her face and his

lips brushed against her ear.

When she first arrived at the castle, he began giving her shots, of what only he knew. Apparently they were to help her with weight gain and making sure she got the right nutrients to help make up for her years of malnutrition.

She remembered the day he told her what the needles were for and how Phanes had walked in swiftly that day and shut the door behind him. He was in a plain white dress shirt and slacks; his typical night-time visit apparel. He strode over,

sitting beside her on the

bed with his body angling

in her direction, keeping his

hands behind his back.

"I have a gift for you," he

whispered, excitement

sparkling in his bright green

eyes.

Her head tilted to the side in curiosity. It was only within the last month that he began bringing her craft supplies because she had barely mentioned about how she liked creating things. He had also given her a new nightgown to try on. All they ever did was talk. She had learned quickly to hold her tongue and snide comments from him.

There he told her about the syringe he had been injecting into her as she stood in front of a full length mirror. He had come up behind her and hugged her from behind. His hands lovingly traveled down from her chest and settled rubbing her hips, his groin pressed right up against her bum. "I like my woman plump." He whispered against her ear nudging her lovingly. She schooled her expression in order to not cringe away. It surprised her how bold he had been that day.

Watching him finally leave her room she quickly ran to the bathroom so she could purge the food he gave her. It was unsavory but worth while since she had no idea what he might have been putting in her food. Since he was a bit obsessed with her health she just hoped he didn't catch on. Propping up the toilet lid she gagged a bit as she stuck her finger to the back of her throat, trying to puke up what she had eaten. It was nasty getting the bits of chewed up food on her fingers but it was better to go ahead and get it over with. Not hearing the bathroom door squeak open because she was preoccupied.

It wasn't till she looked down next to her that she saw the long black leather shoes, facing her. She scrambled to stand, attached to the shoes were two long legs and the man she had been dreading.

"What. Are. You. Doing?"

It was obvious he already knew by the look on his face. There was no point in trying to lie her way out of it.

"I leave for a second and this is what you do?" His eyes narrowed and his nose crinkled, frown set deep on his face. He grabbed her and went to turn her around but she resisted. He was going to punish her again. Only this time she wondered what it would be? Would it be worse than her being locked in a room for months?

Typically, she had been somewhat docile and gone along with whatever he wanted out of fear ever since he took her, but for the first time she truly broke character, there was no point in pretending.

"FUCK YOU."

She screamed like a mad woman. Maybe being locked up for so long she just didn't care anymore.

His eyes widened at first, but then his face quickly went back to the stoney shape it always took.

Silla pushed and kicked and

squirmed as she screamed

and cried and begged for

him to let her go. For him

to stop. For him to believe

her when she said she would

obey and that he didn't

have to hurt her. She had finally broken the camels back. He was angry, oh so angry.

He allowed no excuses to fall from her lips, immediately babbling out anything you could think of to make him reconsider, apologies, promises, anything.

He spun around and tossed

her onto the edge of the bed. Silla landed on her back, feeling the springs pinch into her skin as she bounced from the force he used when he threw her down. Phanes advanced toward her but she managed to raise her legs, planting both feet in the center of his chest and pushing with all her strength.

It didn't even move him. He had recovered quicker than she could scramble away. She felt him grab a hold of the chain and pull her back across the bed. The feet that were once on his chest trying to push him away were now in his large strong hands. Her ankles in his palms, unable to get away, like a deer stuck to a barb wire fence.

He was too fast.

Too strong.

She screamed until her voice

cracked. "NO! STOP IT STOP!" Phanes lips were pressed tightly and his eyebrows were knitted together; he was angry and she was terrified. She tried to kick him again but he promptly leaned his body down, forcing her knees to fold, pinning them.

"You have to learn to be

respectful!" His face suddenly came right in front of her tiny face staring at her with a dark gaze. There was

something in his eyes

which Silla luckily didn't

see otherwise she would

definitely faint.

Her screams died in her

throat and she couldn't hide

the shock on her face when

he yelled a complete, coherent sentence. It was

the thoughts of a mad man. She dreaded whatever violent thing he was going to do to her.

He looked possessed,

obsessed, and out of

control. His eyes showed

the beast inside

him.

Trying to weasel out of

his hold, doing the only

thing she could think of. The

smooth skin of his face

ripping under her

fingernails as she raked them down his face. Black blood running down the scratches on his face, the wounds slowly closing up.

His hold loosened enough for her to pull away, but the look on his face had Silla unable to move. She couldn't help but miss the tender look his scorching green eyes had held when he first entered to room, but this, this was what this man truly was. A dominating obsessive alpha male, not the patsy he pretended to be when trying to earn her favor.

His canines extended as he came towards her again dry blood stained on the freshly healed cuts her nails had left on his skin. His arms wrapped around her waist, and he hoisted her up from the edge of the bed into his arms before throwing her roughly onto the center cream colored bed so that she landed on her stomach.

Snapping out of her stupor she began to beg. Her only way get him to cave in was not fighting back but yanking at his emotional side which seemed to be particularly vulnerable when it came to her.

"Please, Phanes. Please!" She cried and gave another tug to free her wrists. His only response was to pull her hands together and pin them with one hand. His free hand reached down and grasped her knee. She squeezed her legs together and crossed her ankles, no way in hell was she going to let him part them.

But yet again, he surprised

her when he simply pushed

them to the side and slid her over his lap. Her backside completely vulnerable to him as her stomach laid on his muscular thighs.

"It's okay," he murmured into her neck, breathing in her scent. "Don't be scared. I'm not going to hurt you."

Physically.

He really didn't want to bring her any pain. He wanted her to feel comforted by his presence, loved and safe. But at the same time, her fear gave him the ability to make her behave.

Once she was bent over his knee, he yanked up her silk nightgown. Slowly his hand crept up until his fingers rested on her waistband, quickly looping his fingers under her underwear pulling them down, quickly leaving her bottom bare from the waist down, completely exposed to him.

Tears ran down Silla's shocked face as her eyes watered from the sudden sting on her ass. She had never been so embarrassed in her entire life.

Phanes struck her behind. Before this, she had never been spanked before. It stung and she never wanted to experience this again. All her confidence and fighting spirit deflated when she was pulled over his knee.

Phanes hated punishing her, he preferred to have discussions about her behaviour and work out ways together that they could fix it. But today had been rough for him, and coming back to her once again disobeying him was the last straw. He finally had her but she didn't remember nor love him. He was growing impatient, he wanted nothing more than for her to accept him.

She needed to act like a proper lover.

"Do not make z'is v'orse for yourself! You have been misbehaving lately and corrective action is needed." He finally spoke in a sombre tone, but there was a hint of annoyance.

She braced herself for the swift hit that she knew was coming, tensing up waiting for the blow to land.

The first hit startled Silla, ripping a harsh yelp from her throat. She tried to jerk away but Phanes' other hand came up to hold her in place. The hand that landed the blow remained; gently soothing the area.

Phanes to gently grabbed and massage the spot where a bright red handprint was starting to form on her beautiful, smooth skin. It was almost as though he was

hypnotized at watching her bare ass move with the motion of his big yet slender hand just before he decided to strike down again and again to see her juicy cheeks bounce from the heavy-handed impacts.

After a few hits he waited a moment until Silla relaxed again before bringing his hand down again, this time ripping a sob from her.

She tried to stop herself but the tears kept coming. He worked to soothe her again, waiting until he deemed her relaxed enough before the next hit came. And the next, and the next. He completed the cycle again and again until he had delivered many hits. By the time he was finished she was sobbing and trembling in his lap,

hands clenching his pants as she sought out anything she could to ground herself, to escape the embarrassment.

Thankfully, he was gentle in his motions as he soothed her sore backside, softly rubbing some cream into it to help with the ache. He continued soothing her, even calmly speaking to her, telling her how good she did, how much he hated seeing her cry.

Although she felt unmeasurable rage at him, she couldn't help but lean into him for comfort. Just trying to calm herself down.

Eventually her tears stopped and she began to fully relax, shifting, trying to get off of his lap, but he held her still, keeping her in place.

It was confusing, her

punishment was over, he should have let her go, and given her a bit of space, then in a bit he would come in and have a 'discussion' about her behavior, then it was all over, so why was he keeping her in his lap.

Silla's question was answered when he once again looked down at her. His eyes narrowed before

raising his voice. "Now z'at your punishment is over apologize for your behavior."

"I.. I understand. I'm s-sorry.

He whispered,

"Husband. You're sorry, Husband."

"W-wha?"

His eyes darkened at her refusal.

Silla nodded and quickly

corrected. "I'm s-sorry, Husband."

"Good, girl," he

commended. He released

his grip on her and leaned

down to cover the nightgown which had rode up her lower back during her punishment. He gently tucked her in making sure the blankets were snug. Even though he was still a monster, her heart sped up involuntarily and she hesitantly wrapped her arms around his back, pretending just for a moment that he was her protector rather than a new person to just cause more emotional and physical pain.

"To bed with you." She laid down on the soft mattress and curled into herself. Her eyes flicking from the floor, to Phanes face of stone.

"Goodnight, Silla."

________________

to be continued...