load up. We're going in hot."
Chapter Eleven
Hannah
"Dylan... please... talk to me... please... " Hannah was running out of time as she frantically whispered, hoping the small microphone in her earring would pick up her voice over the loud din of sex and punishments surrounding her.
Luckily, Jake had parked her in a quiet corner of the room ten minutes before so he could mingle with the other depraved partygoers enjoying the plethora of carnal opportunities displayed so vulgarly before them. He'd pressed her to her knees, making sure to tie the leash attached to her collar to a ring protruding from the wall as if he were tying a dog in place. She'd been tempted to stand up and untie herself, but knew she'd never escape the guarded room anyway.
Instead, she'd used her time in relative seclusion to try to talk to Dylan, praying for an update on how much longer it would be before he rescued her. Knowing the men would be coming for her was the only hope keeping her from spilling over into a full-fledged nervous breakdown. The fact that she hadn't been able to connect with them had Hannah devolving into a panicked mess.
"Oh God, if you can hear me... please hurry. I don't know how much longer I can hold it together in here."
Like a soldier returning from a war zone, PSTD-like flashbacks of her life in Columbus were closing in on her. Wounds she'd worked so hard with Dr. Henderson to sew together were being split open, filling her with the kind of bone-deep dread she hadn't felt since her father had been hauled away by the SWAT team in the middle of the night on her seventeenth birthday. The sights and sounds of the helpless victims displayed throughout the expansive space were too-close reminders of the painful humiliation she'd witnessed—and worse, lived through—in her childhood home.
As she caught sight of Jake heading back towards her from across the room, Hannah gave herself the internal pep talk Dr. Henderson had helped her develop during her years of therapy. At the time, she'd made up her mind to no longer allow herself to be anyone's victim. She just hadn't known how hard her resolve would be tested.
She took a deep breath, working hard to slow her pulse and keep her wits about her. As Jake walked her way, his predatory gaze penetrated her and she shivered in the cool room. She refused to cower as he stopped, crouching down in front of her to be at her eye level.
"Are you having fun at the party, Hannah?"
It wasn't a question he needed an answer to. The smirk on his face gave away his sick glee at her obvious distress.
Jake rose to his feet, pulling on her leash to drag her up beside him. As soon as she was on her feet, he reached his hand behind her neck, pinching her hard and forcing her to face the sexual depravity all around them. When she tried to flinch away, his grip tightened.
"Look at them good, Hannah. I suggest you be a good girl, or you might find yourself working a hole party next month."
Despite her fear, she blurted out her question. "A hole party?"
Jake's ugly grin enhanced the evil in his eyes. "Yeah. Holes. That's all they are to the patrons. Holes. Mouths—Pussies—Asses—Holes. That, and targets for punishment."
Just as those words left his mouth, the sound of a heavy bullwhip snapping nearby was followed by the guttural scream of a woman in pain. The man responsible didn't even wait for her first cry to settle before hitting her with a second and then quick third lash. This was no playful scene portrayed by actors. This was the real deal. Hannah saw droplets of red collecting across the lower back of whipped woman, the leather implement having sliced into her flesh.
She shuddered, but Jake held her in an iron grip, moving to stand behind her, pressing his athletic body into her back, his hard erection rubbing against her naked ass. "Look at it, Hannah. Watch the artistry of the scene."
"You're delusional. All I see is barbaric pain and humiliation. What I don't understand is how you keep these women from going to the police to file complaints against you after they leave."
Jake's chuckle seemed genuine, which pissed her off. "Are you kidding me? I have a waiting list for the next three months already."
"Are they that desperate for money?"
Jake's voice lowered in her ear, speaking with a passion she