Black Rose

Loyal obedience.

Content warning:
Chapter contains violence and manipulation.

I knew he was there before I even opened my eyes. I could feel his hand on my bare thigh, gently pressed against my naked skin, balancing in a tender act of warning.

I knew it was him, not her. His cologne was a dead giveaway.

"I know you're awake, my rose." He muttered, his voice low and unamused.

Slowly, I opened my eyes. I wasn't upstairs anymore, but nor was I in what I had come to refer to as my bedroom. No. I was lying on the bed of nightmares, the slick canopy bed in Blake's torture room, the very spot he had taken the very last shred of my privacy. I bit my lip to stop myself from crying and focused on him. He looked disheveled, his hair scruffy, and his eyes tired. He was wearing a business suit, but his tie was skewed and the top few buttons of his shirt were undone.

He matched my gaze for a few moments then shook his head. "You know, my rose, I thought that by now, you would have gotten the message. Particularly so after your last test."

"What message?" I muttered, weakly.

He stared at me for a moment before speaking, his voice holding no remorse. "You are mine. I can do whatever I want with you. You do whatever that is."

I rolled my eyes. "Trust me, you've made that perfectly clear."

"Have I?" He said, curiously, and I could hear the anger seeping into his voice. "Why then, if I've made myself perfectly clear, do you keep disobeying me?"

I bit my lip, unsure of how to answer. After a moment, in a quiet voice, I spoke. "I haven't disobeyed you."

He chuckled darkly. "Is that so? Well, my rose, tell me. Do you remember rule number 1 that I told you the first time you screwed up?"

"Don't piss you off." I said shakily.

He nodded. "Indeed! Now can you tell me why I might be pissed off right now?" He began rubbing his hand on my thigh, strong and steady, a reminder of his power over me. I slowly shook my head, too scared to speak.

He set his jaw and raised an eyebrow at me. "No idea? Nothing?"

I shook my head again, shaking involuntarily from the fear.

His next words made my heart drop.

"Iris told me you tried to escape."

A sickening darkness filled my chest, a mixture of terror and betrayal.

She didn't let me go. She knocked me out. And she told him.

She told him. Knowing he would punish me again. Knowing that I wasn't even recovered from the last session.

She told him anyway.

He let out a laugh. "Oh dear, my rose, don't look so surprised. Iris is a good girl, unlike you. She wouldn't keep these things from me. In fact, she was dutifully rewarded for her honesty. Would you like to know what her reward was?"

I shook my head, tears clouding my vision. He smirked at me. "Well I would love to show you some time, but I'm afraid that only good girls get rewarded. Bad girls, on the other hand, they get punished."

He paused for a moment, his hand going still on my thigh. Then his fingers slipped inwards, and I let out a yelp and pushed his hand away, scrambling through the sheets to get away from him. His eyes went dark with anger, and slowly he rose, standing up and towering above me, a demon in all of his anger.