Chapter 1

 

"Where are we going?" Mira asked as her boyfriend as he pulled her by the hand down the street.

"It's a surprise, Sweetie. I hope you like it." His confident tone and his anticipatory look gave her shivers of delight. Dale was always so good to her, giving her delightful surprises at the most unexpected times. No one had ever been so good to Mira since she entered the foster care system so many years ago. Truthfully, life had been lonely as she worked her way through college until she met him her senior year. Dale had swept Mira off her feet. Just a few days since graduation, she had a feeling that he might be taking her to a jewelry store to pick out a ring. He had been hinting that he wanted to form a longer commitment.

To her surprise, it was not a jewelry store that he stopped in front of, but a leather supply store. "I don't understand..." she trailed off looking at the purses and coats displayed in the window.

"Trust me, Mira. I love you." He opened the door and pulled her gently inside.

The store had that wonderful warm scent of leather that seemed to wrap around you with a soft caress.

"May I help you?" A man asked from behind the counter.

Dale squeezed her hand, "Yes, I am here to see Vasya."

The man looked at a piece of paper taped to the counter and nodded, gesturing for them to come behind the curtain to the back room.

The smell of leather was stronger back here and Mira looked around curiously. She was surprised when the counter man seemed to silently appear in front of her holding a long strip of black cloth. He stood looking at her.

Mira looked at Dale, "What is going on?"

"Shhh, Sweetie. I told you this is a surprise. I am going to blindfold you so when I take you into the very back room, it won't ruin the surprise. Trust me." His warm smile and soft brown eyes made her smile back.

The counter man stepped forward and wrapped the blindfold snugly around her head. She felt Dale take her hand and with the other hand in the small of her back, he guided her. She heard a door open and then close after them. Then there was a disconcerting moment as she could feel Dale step away from her.

"Dale?" her voice was soft.

"Hush, Sweetie, I am right here."

"Can I take the blindfold off now?"

"Not just yet. We're getting the surprise ready."

Her hand that was halfway up to the blindfold was suddenly grabbed by a very strong grip and pulled behind her.

"What?" She started to call out, completely taken off guard. Before she had time to say anything else, something hard and rubber was shoved into her mouth. Her other wrist was captured and also pulled behind her back.

Frantic, Mira began to struggle like a wild creature, but the hands that held her, that were fastening something firmly around her wrists, pushing the ball of rubber deeper into her mouth and fastening it there, the hands that were pushing her down to her knees, were all stronger than she was.

It felt like it had been an epic battle, but it had probably only lasted about a minute. When they were done, she was on her knees, bound, gagged and some sort of collar fastened around her neck. The last frightening part had been the metallic clink of something attaching to the collar and the tug on it.

She could hear Dale talking, but it seemed to be miles away. She felt like she was starting to float away, but a strong slap to her face shocked her back to the sounds around her.

"Excellent stock, Dale. We will give you the usual percentage when she is sold." A new, Russian accented voice said.

"Thanks, Vasya," Dale's voice sounded different...cold, cruel. She whimpered behind the gag in pure fear as the word "sold" seemed to lodge in her brain.

Mira felt Dale's hand caress her face, "Enjoy, Mira. I am sure that your life is going to be full of surprises from now on."

She began to try to get off her knees, but whatever it was that was attached to the collar around her neck held her in that position.

"I'll walk you out, Dale," The Russian said, "Oh, Stefan, please start getting her ready. I have a client coming in an hour to look at her."

Panic set in and Mira began to thrash, pulling on the chain that held her. The shock of ice water being dumped over her head made her scream behind the gag. Stefan's hand wrapped around her long, blonde hair and then yanked back, arching her back into a tight bow.

"This is your warning, little girl. Fight me and you are going to be very, very sorry later. Things are going to be bad enough as they are. Don't make them any worse. None of the girls that have come through here have ever escaped and you aren't going to be the first. Do you understand?"

Fear curling inside her, she tried to nod. Stefan let go of her hair and walked across the room. Mira shivered in the strong air conditioning. She could hear him walk back and behind the blindfold she tightened her eyes in fear. The icy touch of metal against her skin made her jump but again, the chain held her firmly.

"Please, No!" she tried to beg as she felt what she now knew to be a knife, cut her clothing off piece by piece.

Stefan chuckled at her unintelligible pleading.

Mira began to sob behind the gag. This couldn't be happening. How could Dale have done this to her? Things like this didn't really happen anymore, but...

Smooth hands began to caress her bare skin, fondling her breasts, pinching her nipples. She gave another muffled scream as Stefan's hand moved between her legs, pushing between her lower lips and fingering inside her. She felt clammy lips run across the side of her neck, teeth scrapping her skin.

"Stefan, enough. I want her unmarked for the buyer. If he does not want her, you can play with her later. Let her be, she isn't going anywhere." The Russian scolded his helper.

Mira heard both of them walk out of the room and lock it. Terrified, she began to rock backwards and forwards, trying to calm herself. She had never liked being naked. As soon as she got out of the shower, she would always cover up in a robe. Being naked and chained was horrifying. Time seemed to stretch endlessly. She shivered even more as the cold water dripping from her hair was further chilled by the air conditioning.

The sound of the door being unlocked startled her. Her trembling now was from fear.

Footsteps sounded in the room. Several people from what she could tell. She tried to curl up to cover her nakedness.

"There she is, Sir. She was just brought in an hour ago. Other than securing her, we have done nothing to her. Of course, whatever you would like would be included in the offer price." The Russian spoke.

There was no reply, just the sound of dress shoes walking around her...once, then twice. Mira moaned in terror behind the gag.

"Her fear is delicious," A new voice spoke. Educated, cultured. She jerked back when his fingers ran over her back and he laughed a low, deep chuckle. While the chuckle was not overtly sinister, panic shot through Mira again and she pulled at the securing chain, desperate to be free.

There was a louder, deeper laugh from the man, "Feisty, too, I see. Take off the blindfold and let me see her eyes."

The blindfold was roughly pulled off, leaving Mira to blink in the sudden bright lights, frozen in fear, her desperate struggling abruptly over. The counter man was standing beside her holding the blindfold. Another man with almost albino white hair leaned against a wall. Directly in front of her was a distinguished man in a grey business suit. The suited man put his hand under her chin and lifted her head back to look into her eyes.

She could feel him cataloging every aspect of her body-enjoying her long tan legs; her firm breasts and dark, hard nipples, the smoothness of her flat stomach gently flaring in perfect hips. She realized that Dale's insistence on her working out to lose the last bits of extra fat were not for her health, but for the day he would sell her.

His piercing blue eyes seemed to see right through her. Without conscious thought she tried uselessly to pull back. He wiped away a tear from her face with his thumb.

"She is delightful. No training, no experience?"

"No, Sir. She is completely untouched. Even our procurement agent has not used her. She is quite the sweet young thing; orphaned, no close friends, no roots, able to disappear without a ripple."

Mira shook her head frantically in denial. Surely someone would miss her. Her landlady? No, she had told her she was moving after graduation. She hadn't gotten a new job yet. Was there really no one that would wonder what had happened to her? How long had Dale been planning this? What was this man going to do to her? Was he going to kill her? She had heard of snuff films but thought that they were an urban legend. Was this how they got their victims?

"Shhh, girl," the suit whispered to her, "Easy. I know this must be terribly frightening for you. Be a good girl and things will go much easier for you." He stood up and turned to the white haired man, "I would like to see how she marks, please."

The white-haired man nodded, "Of course. Stefan?"

Stefan, the man from behind the counter, unsnapped the chain that held her on her knees and helped Mira to a standing position. He directed her over to a cement wall. Mira noticed the strange array of equipment and items around the room. It looked like a medieval torture chamber. Terrified, she tried to bolt for the door. She actually made it a few steps before the white-haired man grabbed her, manhandling her back to the wall. It took both him and Stefan to secure her tightly against the cold wall, the rough surface scraping against her bare skin.

They had her arms stretched over her head until she was standing on her tip-toes, the left side of her face pressed against the wall. Once there, they had little trouble securing her ankles far apart. She was so snug against the wall that she couldn't even pull back a whole inch.

"What would you like, Sir? We have a nice selection of canes, floggers, some exotics. Whatever pleases you."

"Hmmm...the cane, I think. It tells a lot about a girl how she takes it," The suit walked closer and caressed her firm ass, chuckling again as she flinched. "Nervous as a newborn filly."

The first strike was completely unexpected, catching her just below her buttocks. The pain was sharp and deep. Her muffled scream hadn't time to stop before another one caught her and then another. Secured so snugly against the wall, she couldn't move to escape the five sharp lashes of the whistling cane.

Tears rolling down her face, Mira heard him come closer and trembled again uncontrollably. The hot pain throbbed. He gently brushed his finger over the rising welts and whispered in her ear, "Such a good little filly."

He stepped away briskly, "Yes, I will take her. I want her cleaned up, a triple piercing and my mark on the small of her back. You may let your workers enjoy her mouth if they wish, but I want her looking delicious when she arrives. I must have her by eight tonight."

"Yes, of course, Sir. It will be our pleasure." The white-haired man assured him. "Stefan, take her downstairs, please and get right to work. If you will come with me, Sir, we can deal with the financial transaction."