Emma's Master Ch. 01

"I don't know yesterday maybe. I don't know. What do you care!" I spat out.

Jed was next to him offering him a banana.

He took it from him, "she's hypoglycemic and it's a very stupid thing not to eat."

I mumbled angrily, "what do you think I was doing at the grocery store before that fucking gorilla got me? Buying lotto tickets?"

He ignored me, holding the banana to my mouth. I reached up to take it but he grabbed my arm and held it to my waist.

"No."

"If you think I'm going to let you feed me-"

"I do think you are. And you know why? Because you plan on fighting me and if you plan on fighting me then the fainting is going to become increasingly inconvenient, wouldn't you say?"

I frowned. He had a point. It was just a little fruit anyway. It's not like it meant anything.

I opened my mouth warily and let him slide it past my lips, taking a bite. I looked up and caught him grinning slightly as he pushed the banana further into my mouth. I rolled my eyes. Seriously? His gaze darkened somewhat but he kept feeding me. I stiffened at the threat but it wasn't like I was really going to have been able to avoid punishment. Not after dodging him for five years like I had. The thought of what he had in store for me made my stomach heave again. Maybe it was a good thing I hadn't eaten so much lately.

I hadn't even noticed I'd eaten the whole thing until he was pushing me from his lap and standing up. He towered above me and I moved to rise. Fuck him if he thought I was going to just kneel there docilely. But before I could get my legs out from under me he pressed a strong arm to my shoulder and leant down to grasp my neck with his other hand.

"Emma."

"Jack," I glowered and vainly pulled against his hand.

He gave me a warning look and reached into his pocket. I saw the object in his hand and immediately lost my shit.

"NO! No fucking way Jack! Get that thing away from me or I'll tear your goddamn eyes out, I swear I will!" I was thrashing wildly, not caring that his grip was tightening around my throat.

"No Emma. You won't sweetheart. This is happening and if you'd prefer that I call Jed over here to help, I will."

I stilled slightly, chest heaving, eyes wet with tears. He was going to do it and I was powerless to stop him. God, I hated feeling this powerless but the thought of Jed's hands on me again disgusted me and I stopped thrashing. I stared up at him while he brushed my hair out of the way and fit the slender ring around my neck, locking it behind me. I could feel tears escaping now, running down my chin and over the...the "thing." He brushed them aside and tested the fit with his finger.

Just like that he'd claimed me again. After everything I'd been through. After all the years of running, of hiding. I had been on the run from him longer than I'd been his but it was all for nothing at this moment. The silver band felt like cool acid against my throat and my emotions were threatening to erupt in ways inconvenient to my resolve to exude strength. I took a deep breath and met his gaze again.

"I'm not." I said confidently. I couldn't even say the word.

He brushed my hair back again and lessened his grip on my head. "Your collar has a GPS chip in it this time, my little runaway, so don't get any ideas."

Fuck.

He gave me one more soul-stripping stare and turned toward the door "Come Emma, let's go home."

It's not my home asshole, I thought. But when I thought about it, I wasn't really sure where my home was anyway. Certainly not that dingy cupboard I'd been living in the last few months and both my parents had died years before Jack found me so there was no home there either.

He was almost to the door when he turned his head for a moment to see me still kneeling, thinking on the floor. Why was I still on the floor? I was supposed to be showing strength god damn it! I started to stand.

Jed inserted himself again and my chest contracted "I don't suppose I could persuade you to--"

"No." He was still looking at me. I exhaled in relief.

He raised an eyebrow, "Are you coming? Or would you rather stay here with Jed?"

Jed looked like he wouldn't object to the latter option. I ignored them both, my choices laid out before me as I fixed my eyes on a point beyond the door, squared my shoulders and walked right past them.

He said nothing but I could feel him a few steps behind me.

Outside on the sidewalk I didn't recognize any of the cars and I curbed my violent urge to continue walking right on down the street, past that lamppost, past that far-off mailbox and straight on into the next town and then the next and the next. Of course I wouldn't have gotten much farther than the next block with this thing around my neck but it was a nice thought.

I'd have to wait for him to show me which car was his so I stopped as he strolled right past me and the taillights blinked on an expensive looking SUV. He reached for the passenger side door, motioned for me to get in and waited. I stared at the door for a second and then glanced past him up the street. Somewhere far away I heard a sharp, shrill laugh and it occurred to me that somewhere there were people living their lives, going about their day, completely oblivious to this man standing patiently in front of me, holding open a car door. It didn't seem possible.

I knew he was waiting for me to effectively commit myself into his keeping. To step inside that car of my own volition. But I was certainly in no hurry so I dragged it on a moment longer until I heard a quiet "Emma."

Suddenly, I wasn't so sure he wouldn't just leave me there with Jed. Not forever of course but an hour would have been too long. So I jerked my chin back up and walked, with all the dignity I could gather straight into the vise-like clutches of my captor. He waited for me to get in and situate myself before closing the door softly as if we were only on the way to the movies or a night on the town.

He got in on his side and put the key in the ignition. "Put your seatbelt on." I did. The car started. And then we were on the road. Back to Boston. Back to the life that I had spent five years running from and the house that had been my prison.

He said nothing as the car made it's way along the highway, whipping past other drivers like the wind. I clutched at the door handle. He had always driven too fast and I had never liked it. I tried to concentrate on a point in the sky. A tree, a mountain. Anything.

I felt pressure on my thigh and realized that somehow he had reached out without me noticing and closed his hand on my knee, squeezing slightly. I looked up startled and caught him staring at the road as if his hand acted of its own accord. It shouldn't have but it calmed me just a little and I let his strength seep into me for just a moment. Just long enough to suck in a breath before the hand went back to the wheel.

"Don't you ever worry about getting pulled over?"

"No."

I huffed and rededicated myself to the scenery. The mountainous terrain surrounding us was actually quite breathtaking and I wasn't thrilled at the prospect of returning to a city. Not that I'd be seeing much of it, I thought despondently.

We rode on in silence for a few more hours and I could feel the tension of all the years I had managed to stay away from him between us, mounting and intensifying as the hours grew. My palms started to sweat a little and my breathing became shallow. I kept stealing small glances his way but he never looked away from the road. Well, I thought, it wasn't like he had anything to worry about.

When we stopped in a motel parking lot I looked at him bewildered. I had half-expected him to drive through the night, not even stopping for food. But he got out of the car and came around to mine.

When I had stepped out he put his hands on my shoulders and bent down so he was level with my eyes, "We are going to go inside and you are not going to say a word. You know you'd only hurt them if you did. I'd have to make a call and I know you don't want that."

I swallowed. He had that dangerous look in his eyes that reminded me again why he was the sort of man who was capable of taking a woman from her life and making her his slave. Yes, I knew I would only hurt anybody I tried to make contact with. That had been made abundantly clear the first time he'd snatched me seven years ago. Again, there would have to be another way.

I nodded and he looked into my eyes for another minute before he pulled away, apparently satisfied, and pressed his hand against the small of my back, urging me toward the main office.

____________________________

When we were standing inside the beat-up motel room he'd procured for us I let the reality of my situation descend fully. For two whole years I'd been his. Lived in constant fear of him, never daring to contradict or disobey. Not until the day I'd finally seen a way out, only to spend another five years in fear. Terrible, soul-rending fear. And now here we were. Just the two of us. Alone. No more distractions. And again I felt that sickening fear creeping back up my spine. I couldn't look at him. The atmosphere in the room seemed palpable as I stared at my shoes and felt his eyes on me.

"Sit."

Now I had to look at him. If only to prove to myself that he couldn't order me around anymore. I was my own person now. I'd fought hard for that. I held my ground and he rewarded me with a look that would have brought mountains to their knees had they been afforded the appendage.

"I said sit Emma. You look like you're about to be sick."

I looked at him for another minute. Just to be sure he knew I was sitting because I wanted to sit and then sat down on the edge of the bed. He nodded as if I had obeyed him.

"Good. Now," He pulled a chair up to where I sat, "we have some things to discuss and then I'm going to fuck the ever living daylights out of you." I sucked in a breath and felt a familiar shiver run through me. Just like that. as if he were discussing dinner.

As I opened my mouth to protest he held up a hand and said seriously, "before I came for you I checked out that rat-infested shithole you were living in to see if there was anything worth taking. How long were you living there?" I didn't even ask how he even knew where I was living.

"I don't know six months maybe?" I grumbled defensively. It was definitely not one of the more glamorous hovels I'd deemed habitable in the last five years but it wasn't the worst.

He ran his hand through his hair in annoyance, "for fucks sake, Emma, there wasn't even any food in that place! Do you realize how dangerous that is for you?"

I tensed at his anger. He so rarely let it show. "I was going to the--"

"Why were you living like that? Why didn't you just come home?"

"It's not--"

"Forget it, I don't know what I was thinking. It's pointless to pursue the matter right now."

His gaze skated proprietarily over my body and I stiffened. He met my eyes again and sighed, "I know why you left Emma. I even understand in some part why you stayed away." He did?

He ran his hand through thick hair again and followed my eyes, "So I'm letting you know right now that I'm not going to punish you for that. I think the last five years have been punishment enough."

I felt enormous relief wash over me. The single most terrifying thought I'd had during the entirety of my time away from him was what he would do to me if he ever got his hands on me again.

"You understand of course that while it's not exactly a punishment I will have to revoke all privileges you'd gained. You'll be starting at zero again." I couldn't have expected much else. In truth, the revelation that he was not, in fact, planning to kill me had me somewhat more amenable to his terms.

"Okay," I said indifferently. Besides I'd find a way out again anyway. Even if it took another two years.

His look darkened slightly as he stood up and walked toward me, "however while I am not going to punish you for running I do need to address these little rebellions of yours before they get out of hand. I know you're struggling to accept it and I'm a patient man but I am your master Emma and I will not tolerate disrespect. Turn around and bend over the bed." He gestured casually toward the end of the bed.

Oh fuck, oh fuck. This wasn't happening. I couldn't let him do this. This would only be the beginning. If I did this I would be admitting to him, to myself, that I was his again. That he had the right to do what he planned. I started to feel the panic rising up into my chest as my breathing got quicker and I started to hyperventilate.

He brushed a hand agains my cheek and sighed again, "Okay Emma, I can see this is difficult for you so I'm going to go ahead and tie you down this time." Yeah great. A regular fucking white knight.

I rigidly sat and gripped the sides of the bed as he moved over to his bag and pulled out some rope. I stared longingly at the door but I knew it was pointless. Even if I made it out before he caught me, I wouldn't make it far and the GPS chip in my new collar pretty much ruled out any long term plan. So I was forced to wait, resentfully docile, while he gathered the means for my impending confinement.

I savored the fact that at least I was still clothed and as of yet, collar incident aside, had not really cried. I was certain, however that both of these boons were teetering on the brink of destruction as he stalked toward me, rope in hand, stern expression holding me in place.

He reached out for my arm and jerked me up, turning me away from him. I struggled against him but he brushed a hand down my side, "shh, be still. I don't want to have to punish you any more than I already need to."

He pushed me roughly over the end of the bed, onto my chest and looped the rope around my wrists. I was breathing hard and squeezing my eyes shut in anticipation. He grabbed the rope around my wrists and tied it off to the iron headboard. I pulled against the bindings briefly but it was a token struggle as they were well and truly captured.

I tensed as I felt him move closer and slip his arm under my stomach. He lifted me off the bed slightly while his other hand moved to the buttons on my jeans. He undid them quickly and then held me tightly while he slowly slipped them down over my ass and around my knees. He paused briefly to run a hand over my white cotton underwear and I shivered. Why did I do that? Keep it together Emma.

He gripped the elastic band of my panties and yanked the thin material unceremoniously down to my jeans. I flexed my trapped hands uselessly, as I was bared to his gaze. I could feel it burning into my back as he moved a hand searchingly down my thigh. I knew what he was looking for and I cringed and squirmed when his hand stopped at his brand and he rubbed the evidence of his ownership slowly, reverently.

I felt him pull away from me and tried to turn my head to see what he might be planning but he was hidden behind me. Then I heard it. The soft sound of leather sliding free of cloth. His belt. Now I knew the instrument of my chastisement but I was no better off with this information than I had been without it.

Now his hand was brushing down over my back, resting on my ass, "One for improper use of address, two for failure to obey a command and five for lying."

Eight strokes? I wasn't sure I could handle eight. That would have been excessive even back in the old days. Besides, when did I lie?

"When did I--?"

He cut me off. "You tried to deny that you were mine. You've always been mine Emma. You know that." Did I? It was no use arguing with him though. Not with him already standing over me, belt in hand, punishment spelled out.

I knew what was coming. "Count the strikes or they won't count and I'll have to start again."

He was going to make me participate in my own debasement. I felt the inevitable tears threatening to rise as the first blow came down hard on my backside. A pain I had all but forgotten in the past five years came rushing back to me and I eked out, "one!"

"Good girl," I heard him say and I blushed at the old endearment. I hated being spoken to as if I were an obedient puppy and he knew it.

I had little time to ponder my circumstances though before the second agonizing blow rained down just as hard on the backs of my thighs and I called out "two" just before the third arrived in quick succession. I felt a few tears finally escape as I numbered the next few strikes. By six I had devolved to full on sobbing. He delivered the next two quickly and efficiently, never hitting the same place twice as I screamed and writhed beneath him.

When he stopped I was crying so hard I could barely see. He sat down next to me, running his hands all over me, kissing my reddened behind, stroking down my thighs and over my back. Despite myself and to my utter vexation I felt a warmth start to seep into my body, sparking wherever his fingers trailed, sending tingling signals down between my thighs.

"Shhhh, it's over now baby. It's over. Please don't make me do that again any time soon." Make him? All I had done was insist on being my own person. Stood up for myself. Refused to kowtow to his claims of dominance. I knew it would be pointless to argue the point though and truthfully his punishment had, at least temporarily, manifested the intended affect of chipping away at my need to resist him.

I had been so afraid of what he would do to punish me that now that it was over there was actually a certain relief. As he swiped at my tears and brushed back my hair I almost slipped into a kind of subdued torpor.

After a while, he lent down and whispered in my ear, "Are you wet, little bird?"

I stiffened at his words, that old term he'd used to imply my fragility. He always had a way of tearing through whatever small contentment I had managed to attain and returning me right back to extreme unease.

I looked at him wide eyed as he raised an eyebrow and said, "should I check?"

"No!" I shouted in indignation. How dare he make the assumption that I was still so easily aroused by him. Never mind if it was true, he shouldn't just assume.

His mouth was still tantalizingly close to my ear, "No what? No you're not wet or no you don't want me to check?" His hand was moving slowly over my ass and inching toward the crevice beneath it.

I couldn't help it. His soothing touches had managed to affect me as if I had never left his keeping. The response was practically pavlovian. I wasn't going to be able to hide it so I buried my head into the mattress and whimpered. He chuckled when he reached my slit and ran a finger along it, "Ah very, very wet I see." I let out a small sob at the unfairness of my traitorous body.

"Emma," he soothed, pushing the tip of his finger just inside me. I jumped and pulled at my bonds again. "This is just your body reacting to the one who owns it. It knows who I am, even if you still can't accept it."

I gasped as he pinched my clit and drove his finger all the way inside me. Oh fuck. His free hand meandered over my right thigh and he rubbed his brand again before urging me to step out of my jeans and turn over.

I could see him clearly now. The unadulterated lust written across his face. I startled as he took out a knife but he just rubbed a hand over my belly in reassurance and quickly cut me out of my t-shirt and bra. Baring me fully to his roving eyes.

For a minute he just took me in. I was briefly annoyed that I had not spent the past five years arduously committing myself to obesity or some other ploy to make myself less attractive to him. But if anything I had firmed up with all the self defense tapes I'd been practicing with.

"You are beautiful Emma," he breathed while brushing his hand over my right breast, thumbing my nipple. It immediately rushed up to meet him and I groaned in frustration. He quickly ducked down and took it in his mouth as I cried out. His other hand traveled back down to my mound and brushed softly against my clit once, twice, "Ohhhhh" escaped me before I could clamp my mouth shut.