Drake Sisters 07 - Hidden Currents

pain in her head was the worst of al .
    It took a few minutes before she realized that she was the woman weeping. El e made an effort to quiet, to remember what happened. What had she done that had earned another of his terrible punishments?
    â€œSheena, come on now. Open your eyes for me.â€
    Her mouth went dry at the sound of his soft, persuasive voice. There was a metal ic taste in her mouth. Someone touched her wrist and she knew instantly it was Stavros. In al the weeks he’d kept her, she’d never seen another human being, other than his brother that first day. Not one. She hadn’t heard another voice. He brought food and water. He tied her up and used her in every way he wanted. He whipped her repeatedly, left her alone until she thought she might go insane and yet often spent hours attempting to pleasure her with his hands and mouth and body. She never knew what his touch would bring. Her heart slammed hard in her chest and she tried to jerk away.
    â€œShhh, my sweet. I’m going to carry you to the bathtub. When I put you in the water, you have to stay on your hands and knees for me. Can you do that?â€
    She felt him slip his arm under her legs. The moment he made contact with her skin she suppressed a scream. Pain flashed through her and her stomach lurched. She tried to bring her hand up to cover her mouth, but her arms were too weak and felt too heavy, as if she were weighted down. Her wrists were burned and swol en.
    His arm came up under her back and she screamed, arching upward trying to avoid contact. Her skin hurt and every movement made the pain crash through her skul . Fear ate at her. She couldn’t remember. She was so thirsty she could barely part her swol en, dry lips.
    â€œShhh, Sheena, stay stil . You’l only hurt yourself more.†He sounded sad, his voice almost sorrowful and disappointed. “You have to get control of yourself. You can do that for me, can’t you?â€
    He gently set her in the bathtub on her hands and knees, the warm water lapping at her body. El e managed to open her eyes to narrow slits. Blood turned the water to a pale pink. Her skin burned and stung, causing her to shiver uncontrol ably.
    â€œIt’s antiseptic, my sweet. It wil help numb you.†Very gently he wrang a warm cloth over her back. “Let me take care of you.â€
    But he had done this to her. She remembered now. Al of it. He’d been so angry, although he hadn’t shown it, never raising his voice, but she knew him now, knew when she displeased him. He wanted obedience from her. She was his to do whatever he wanted. She knew that the weeks spent in his company, forced to turn to him for comfort, for companionship, food and water, even permission to go to the bathroom, was al designed to mold her and break her spirit. And God help her, sometimes she couldn’t remember who she was anymore.
    The island had some kind of energy field that prevented her from defending herself using her psychic abilities. She’d tried testing it over the weeks, looking for weaknesses, trying different levels of strengths against it, but every single time, she’d been defeated, her headaches instantaneous and so painful she would vomit. Sometimes the pain was so severe she bled from her nose or mouth. Each time he’d forced her to have sex, usual y daily, she’d tried to stop him, fighting physical y and with her psychic talents. And each time had been a disaster for her.
    First there was the pain in her head driving her to the floor where she could only writhe and weep. And then his retaliation, whipping her or beating her with whatever he chose, and he had a variety of instruments at his disposal, each worse than the other.
    Her first time with a man had been with him. Shockingly, he had been gentle with her. He’d actual y tried to make it pleasurable for her, and that was his way to break her. One moment he would offer comfort, taking care of her, seeing to her every need, and the next, if she in any way defied him, he would be ruthlessly frightening, punishing her swiftly and without mercy. She could never relax, never know what was coming next, fixing her attention on him the moment he entered the room, thinking about him when he wasn’t with her, so that he was her entire world and nothing else mattered.
    He washed her body gently. “Don’t make me do this to you, Sheena. Accept that you