Chapter 2

The company never made it to the porch.

Elena heard two suppressed shots in the dark, then nothing but rain. Dimitri came back inside twenty minutes later with blood on his cuffs and a look that dared her to ask, but she didn't.

He stripped, showered with the door open, and fucked her mouth against the tiled wall until she swallowed everything he gave her. Then he slept like a man with a clean conscience.

Morning light cut through the cabin blinds in thin gray blades. Elena woke sticky between her thighs, sore in places she didn't have names for, the sheet twisted around one ankle.

Dimitri was already dressed— black shirt open at the throat, coffee in one hand, watching her like she was inventory that might try to grow legs.

"Up." He commanded

She sat slowly. Every muscle protested. "I need the bathroom."

He pointed with the mug. "Door on the left. You have three minutes. Leave it open."

Heat crawled up her neck. "You can't be serious…" she protested

"I own the air you breathe in this place. Open door. The clock's ticking."

She went. He leaned in the frame the whole time, expression flat, eyes never leaving her body. When she finished he tossed a plain white shirt onto the bed—it was his, oversized, with the smell of smoke and cedar.

"No underwear. No pants. You eat when I say. You kneel when I snap. You come when I allow it. Break a rule and I fuck you until you can't walk, then I fuck you again while you're crying. Clear?" His voice was stern mix with a facial expression that made Elena cringe in fright.

"I'm not an animal." She said slowly with fear.

He set the mug down, crossed the room in three strides, and fisted her hair hard enough to sting. "You're whatever I decide." His free hand shoved between her legs, two fingers sliding into the mess he'd left last night and this morning's lingering ache.

She gasped.

He worked her roughly until her knees buckled and a helpless, traitorous sound slipped out of her throat.

"Already wet again. Your mouth says no. Your cunt begs like a paid whore. Which one should I believe?"

He withdrew, wiped his fingers on her lips, and pushed her to her knees with casual strength.

"Breakfast." he said mischievously

He freed his cock, it was thick and half-hard,he fed it between her lips. Elena choked as he pushed deep, hitting the back of her throat on the first stroke.

He held her there, nose crushed to his stomach, until tears streaked her face and her hands fluttered uselessly at his thighs.

Then he fucked her throat in short, punishing strokes, watching her eyes water with something like satisfaction.

"Swallow everything," he said when he came, hot and bitter across her tongue, some of it spilling from the corner of her mouth. "Good girl."

She hated how the praise landed somewhere low and traitorous, a warm pulse under the humiliation.

He spent the day teaching her the shape of the cage.

She scrubbed the floor naked. She cooked while he cleaned a pistol at the table. When she burned the eggs he bent her over the counter and spanked her until her ass glowed red, then rubbed her clit until she came shaking and ashamed.

At dusk he took her on the bed again—slower this time, almost experimental, mapping every place that made her gasp.

Near midnight his laptop chimed.

Dimitri read the message once then twice. His jaw tightened. He closed the screen and looked at Elena like he was weighing whether to chain her to the bed or put a gun in her hand.

"Your father just tried to sell the same debt twice," he said. "To men who make me look merciful. They're asking where I keep my new pet."

He stood, crossed to the window, and stared into the black treeline.

"If they find this cabin, Elena… they won't fuck you. They'll film what they do to you and send it to me piece by piece. So tell me the truth right now…did you know he was still dealing? Did you help him set me up?"

His hand rested on the pistol on the table. Not pointing. Not yet..

"Answer carefully," he said. "Because the next words out of your mouth decide whether you sleep in my bed tonight… or in the ground behind the shed."

"Dead..!" He muttered the word ruthlessly meaning every word.