The Tied Man

From there on in, the two men simply took it in turns to rip their prey apart as Blaine and I looked on.  She calmly sipped her wine, alternating her approving gaze between the assault and my reaction to it.

Chester was the first to roll away from Finn’s battered body, spent and happy, as Ellis brought himself to one last heaving climax above their plaything’s bowed and insensible head.  He grinned with obscene joy as he came, leaving viscous strings of semen to drip over Finn’s hair and shoulders.

When it was all over, Chester and Ellis lay back on the opulent bed with its bank of cushions and pillows and opened a bottle of champagne, giggling as bubbles cascaded from the bottle and over their naked thighs and flaccid cocks.  I watched in silence as they embraced and raised their glasses to each other, congratulating themselves on living out their sordid fantasy.

They left Finn slumped across the foot of the bed; he had fulfilled his use.  His head was tilted back and turned towards the two-way mirror, and his glazed eyes were open, the left one stained crimson from a burst blood vessel, staring straight at me in blank despair.  His arms were outstretched as if in supplication and his fingers twitched against the sheets.

I was watching a man shutting down, and I was terrified.

It wasn’t just the drugs, or the violence he’d endured; there was something far worse pulling Finn away.  I turned to Blaine.  ‘Let me take him with me tonight.  Please.’

She gave me an indulgent smile.  ‘My, you do like him emasculated, don’t you?  I can’t see him being of much use.’

‘He can’t stay there.  Not like that.’

‘And what would I get in return?’

This is what it came down to.  Blaine had no further need for Finn, but she knew that I did.  We needed to arrive at a price.  ‘What do you want?’

‘A kiss?’ she suggested, because this was only ever going to be a token, proof that I could finally be bought.

So I faced the woman who had recently ordered that my fingers be snapped like twigs and I kissed her as though she were my first love.

‘Thank you,’ she smiled, and I knew I was dismissed.

*****

I knocked softly on the door of the guest room and stepped in with a tray balanced on my palm.

Chester sat up, a look of delight on his face.  ‘My God!  Ellis, it’s Lilith Bresson!’  A Maine accent. Vermont.  He pulled the quilt over his naked torso in a belated attempt to cover his modesty. ‘Ellis and I are such fans,’ he explained, and Ellis gave me a casual wave from his side of the bed.  ‘What the hell are you doing at Albermarle Hall?  Are you a guest?’

I sat the tray, carrying two glasses, down on the bedside table.  ‘I’m… on a kind of sabbatical.’

‘I suppose this is the ideal place for you,’ Chester said.  ‘Some wonderful erotic inspiration.’

I forced myself not to glance at Finn.  ‘I thought you both might want a brandy whilst I ran you a bath.’

‘All this fun and Lilith Bresson on room service.  Aren’t we lucky?’  Ellis finally spoke.  California via Louisiana.  He gave a knowing wink that suggested my lifelong goal had been to play chambermaid to a couple of predatory paedophiles.

I forced myself to smile.  ‘If you don’t mind, I’ll take Finn with me when I leave.  I don’t think this bed’s quite big enough for three, is it?’

‘We managed,’ Chester grinned.

‘I’m sure you did, but if you have any intention of getting under the covers after your bath, it might be a good idea for me to move him back to his own room, don’t you think?’

Ellis gave Finn a cursory glance.  ‘You want us to clean him up first?  We were kinda energetic with the kid…’

‘We’ll be fine.  Goodness, he’s out for the count,’ I said brightly, sounding alarmingly like a nanny I’d had when I was three.  ‘What on earth did you give him?’

‘Lorazepam,’ Chester replied.  ‘We’re lucky to have a friendly MD.  Seems to have taken him a little deeper than expected, but I reckon he’ll be fine after a good night’s sleep.’

‘I’m sure he will,’ I said.

*****

Once I was satisfied that bathtime was well underway, I checked that the bathroom door was firmly shut, then knelt at the foot of the bed.

‘Finn?’ I whispered.  ‘Finn, sweetheart, it’s Lili.  Come on, wake up and talk to me.’

He raised his head to gaze at me with eyes that were the muted grey of a storm-hit sea.  ‘Lili’s gone.’ He slumped back onto the bed.