This is a revised and extended version of an earlier story here - 'The Next Morning' - and there is more to come.
Waking the next morning, unaccustomed dull fires reminding her of outrage, of cruel abuse of her most intimate places, she knows that something has changed inside her, that she has lost something.
It's hearbreaking.
The heartbreak is not, though, for lost innocence, for the bright promise of her relationship with him now violently shifted into a new, unknown territory, terrible hurts though both of these are. The heartbreak is over something worse, something deeper --- driven by the new knowledge of what is inside her.
From all the vivid, shocking, appalling flashes of memory --- of the red and black infamy of the previous night; so full of firsts, of impossible humiliations, of enforced violations, of casual, debasing cruelties large and small, of ignominy, fear, suffering, and --- terrible to recall --- unlooked for but devastating sexual intensity, one moment stands out as the moment from which this change stems.
The moment at which she had peeled back her blouse to show them her breasts --- so shyly, yet so completely; had so fully exposed herself to these grinning, greedy strangers --- the men she knew had been invited to violate her. The moment at which she had been consumed by the intensity of feeling that claimed her.
That she knows she will need again.
He had told her this day would come --- weeks and weeks ago.
She had laughed at him, teased him at first --- it was a ridiculous joke, and in terribly poor taste, too; but he had been unabashed, had repeated himself, calmly, steadily, without doing more than smile a little, and in the end she had got cross with him --- been shockingly rude; sulked at him, shouted at him, ignored him, flounced out (only to return, embarrassed and --- truthfully --- shocked and unsettled at how little she could cope with the idea of truly leaving).
Through it all he had remained calm, amused, tolerant, friendly, understanding --- so infuriatingly understanding --- waiting until she had worn her mood out, resuming normal relations until she, unable to let it lie, asked to him to repeat what he had said --- demanded it, so that it could be dealt with --- put to bed, closed down, finished.
He would smile at her, genuinely, warmly, almost sadly --- for a long while. If she got huffy, made a face, she didn't get an answer.
This sequence had happened several times.
If she waited, if she persisted, if she kept calm, he would eventually say, patiently;
"Very well, I'll repeat myself. Shortly --- in the next few weeks --- we'll have visitors --- a few of them. Men --- you won't know them. Over dinner, I will tell them that I'm making you available to them, that evening, and for the remainder of their stay --- as a whore."
"I'll tell them that they must not hold back with you --- that they should take the chance to do to you anything they have ever dreamed of doing to a woman --- no matter what --- that they are to consider you as nothing more than a plaything; a warm and willing sex toy --- and if you're not willing, that they should feel free to force you --- with violence, if need be. With cruelty, if they wish --- if it will entertain them to see you suffer."
And she would stand, or sit, open-mouthed, chest heaving, heart pounding, transfixed, trembling, until at last, after minutes --- many minutes perhaps, she would muster from somewhere the energy to make some proper show of outrage, of resistance, of disgust...
Somehow, this got harder and harder to carry off, until one day she had just stopped, mid flow, and burst into tears, stumbled brokenly towards him and begged him to hold her, tight, his strong arms around her...
And, after this had led to one of the most torrid and frankly glorious sexual interludes she could remember, and after she had dozed on his chest, sated, she had drowsily lifted herself from his belly and looked up at him, voice soft but urgent, and very, very sincere;
"Please. Please --- don't tease me. This.. this awful thing you tell me you are going to do.."
She falters, and he helps her;
"Whoring you out, you mean?"
She is all but undone, tears in her eyes;
"Please.... Please, don't.... don't do this to.. to me?"
He lets the silence grow, playing gently with her hair in a way that they both like, until at last he lifts her chin with a lazy finger so that he can look into her eyes;
"Silly girl. I'll do what I want with you, and you'll be surprised how little resistance you'll put up. This has been your fate since about an hour after we first met. It's been fun playing at boyfriend, but it's time to move you on."
She discovers that she cannot answer this, anymore than, when the day dawns, she can make herself leave --- although she has told herself that this is exactly what she will do, has packed her bags for, ordered the taxi for.
But she doesn't open her door when the housekeeper knocks to tell her the taxi is waiting; cannot move, cannot speak --- stands, furiously gripping the bedhead, shaking but immobile, blinking back hot tears, until she hears footsteps retreating, and at last lets the tears flow, grey despair flooding through her.
Tears cannot flow forever, and when eventually they are done, and when she has sat with her despair for further timeless moments, she looks up, looks at herself, quite objectively, in the reflection of a framed picture. The last she will see of the Chloe who is not a whore. Then, calmly, numb, she goes into the en-suite and begins to prepare herself, as thoroughly as for some gala event. There is simply nothing else to be done.
Whenever her mind goes to thoughts about what is coming, about the impending horror, about the fact that she is still here, that she is doing everything she can to make herself look attractive, she refuses to follow the train of thought. Simply, she stops, lets the thought, the question, the fear --- lets it all be, but gives it nothing, no oxygen, no answer, no consideration; wills the numbness, the despair again to fill her mind with nothingness.
It takes a minute or two --- longer each time, perhaps, as the time grows closer --- but she manages to make it through to the point at which He appears, smiling, relaxed as if it were any other day. He compliments her on her beauty, on her choice of dress, tells her she is gorgeous, desirable, ravishing, enticing; caresses her cheek with a finger, softly.
He doesn't kiss her, though; simply takes her hand and leads her down to meet the assembled guests, with whom he has been sharing an aperitif.
She can hardly make herself meet their eyes for the second it takes to see who they are. There are no introductions, except for his announcement;
"Gentlemen, the delectable Chloe!"
None of the men make any effort to speak to her, and neither does He. Already, she has been lessened; already, she finds that she has no will to reject being lessened, to object to such treatment. Already, the feeling of having been lessened, so obviously, for these strange men; men who --- presumably --- know what is to come; already, her reaction to this situation is not as straightforward as it ought to be.
The feeling sits on her; oppressive, yes --- but also strangely calming. All of her turmoil, over the weeks, about this becoming real, is now, in the moment, replaced by a dreamy, tingly feeling of anticipation --- half-numb, half relieved. It's not that she isn't fearful, apprehensive --- even horrified --- but that these emotions are another girl's --- another Chloe's; a Chloe who is no longer at the centre of things, but simply a bystander.
At dinner, she eats only a little, drinks less, sits in silence, suppressing her trembles, looking at her plate, at her hands, at His hands. She works hard at her posture, at avoiding tensing up, at keeping her face placid, smiling politely when they laugh, but not really paying any attention. After all, she is not here as a person, but as a whore. It becomes increasingly unreal --- she feels light-headed.
After dinner, at a lull in the so far perfectly normal conversation, he says, as if he is announcing a tasting of a fine port or some-such;
"Well, gentlemen, we should go into the lounge where you'll find brandy, whisky, cigars and so on. Then Chloe can strip herself for you and then.. well --- she's all yours."