"What?" Beth stared at Dmitri in disbelief.
"I told you to strip."
Beth shook her head, her brain suddenly submerged in fog and unable to comprehend what she had just heard. Her eyes flicked from Dmitri to Ivan.
In her mind, although Dmitri was the bad guy, she had come to see his employee as a potential future ally. True, she had only spent an hour or so with him in the back of a car, albeit not engaged in activities that would have encouraged them to get to know one another, but she thought he was the decent sort. Only he did nothing. He just sat there, impassive, while his boss ordered her to take off her clothes. Her expectations that he would come to her aid were dashed. It was obvious she would receive no help from him.
But did Dmitri honestly expect her to undress in front of him?
"Here? Now?"
Dmitri nodded. "Da."
"No! I can't!" She stepped back towards the door, wanted to bolt, to run away from the awful situation she had found herself in.
Dmitri snapped his fingers. "Ivan, call my men. Tell them to wait until Miss Noble returns to her home before they visit her family. I want her to witness what the consequences of her refusal will be first hand." He took another sip of his vodka.
A chill crept into Beth's bones. She did not want to contemplate what those consequences would be.
"Please! Don't!" She lurched forward, as if she was preparing to snatch Ivan's phone from out of his hand.
"And why not?"
"Please!" She heard the desperation in her voice and it was pathetic. She lowered her head, her voice dropping so that Dmitri had to strain his ears to hear her. "My Mum – she isn't very well. Please, don't hurt her."
Any tinge of guilt was overcome by the elation of triumph. Dmitri knew he had her. When he was younger, his father once told him that someone who knew what your weaknesses were was someone who owned you. Now he had discovered what Beth's weakness was, she was his. Casually, revelling in his victory, he transferred his glass from one hand to the other before placing it on a nearby side table.
"Miss Noble, I will make this clear to you once and only once. By entering into this arrangement, I will write off your family's debt. In return, I expect nothing more than your complete obedience, devotion and loyalty for the next two months. Your family, including your mother, will be completely unharmed. At the end of your service, you will be free to go your own way. But until then, I own you. You are mine. Do you understand?" Dmitri pressed the tips of his fingers together as he waited for her acknowledgement.
"Yes, I understand," she replied bitterly. "But – "
"No buts, Miss Noble," he cut her off. I do not want to have to fight you every day. I will not tolerate your arguing with me constantly," he rebuked her sharply before his lips slowly curved into a smile. "But as it is your first night, I will allow this indiscretion to slide. Only I warn you, do not always expect me to be this lenient." He picked up the glass and drained it until it was empty. "Now take off your clothes, or Ivan will make that telephone call."
The tone of his voice was utterly without mercy and told her this was no idle threat. Then again, Beth did not think that Dmitri was capable of making idle threats. And yet she could not bring herself to move.
The fire in the room burned brightly, the air was warm, but Beth shivered. Her legs had turned to jelly and trembled like they were about to give way beneath her.
"Do I need to repeat myself again? Strip. Now!"
Something about the command snapped her out of the trance she had been in. Beth slid the robe from her shoulders, allowing the threadbare fabric to fall in a crumpled heap on the floor. Biting the inside of her cheek hard enough to taste blood, she toed off her slippers. The carpet pile was soft and thick beneath the soles of her feet, plush and luxurious like all of Dmitri Voronov's surroundings.
Then she hesitated. Should she remove her pyjama bottoms or her shirt first?
"Please," she whispered, beseeching him. "Please don't make me do this."
"Go on," Dmitri brushed aside her entreaty. "Continue. Bystro!"
"Please," Beth begged. "I can't!"
"My patience is wearing thin, Miss Noble. Take off your clothes or I will not hesitate to remove them from you."
"Dmitri," Ivan interjected with quiet calm, "My friend, perhaps this is not the way – "
"No, Ivan," Dmitri held up a hand to silence him. "She needs to learn to obey."
Learning to obey was, at that moment, the hardest lesson he could have insisted on giving to Beth. Hell, differential calculus would have been easier – and Beth was absolutely useless at mathematics.
Hot tears pricked the corners of Beth's eyes. Closing them, she undid the string of her pyjama bottoms, bending to push them down her legs, taking care to keep her knees together and squat so that the motion was as unsexy as she could make it. She stepped out of them, sucking in desperate gulps of air, forcing herself to gain some semblance of control, to not to break down in tears. She didn't wear panties to sleep in, but always pyjamas, so the sensation of her most intimate parts being bared was somewhat foreign.
She had to remind herself that, although Dmitri had given her the order, it wasn't he who she was undressing for. She was doing this for her mother, to keep her mother safe, to protect her family and her home. This was just a hoop she had to jump through. Yet jumping through hoops offered her little comfort. At least the flickering glow of the firelight would disguise the marks on her body and hide her bruises.
Her hands were shaking as she struggled to unbutton her shirt. Even with her eyes shut, she could see what she was doing in slow motion. It was as if she had detached herself from her body. All too soon, the buttons were undone and the front of the shirt flapped open. Removing it completely, it joined the pile of her clothes on the floor. Beth covered herself with her arms as best she could. But she could not rid herself of the sensation of being watched.
Dmitri held his breath. To call her beautiful would be a lie. But then one did not need to be a model to have allure. Her curves were as generous as he had imagined them to be. Her breasts were pert, her hips begged to be grabbed.
The way she undressed revealed she had never had a career as an exotic dancer. But that was just another attraction. Her awkward movements, her discomfort, how her eyes kept flicking towards Ivan, not to entice, but because she didn't want him to see her – it all just stoked his desire. Her innocence was endearing. Her lack of awareness turned him on. There was so much he could teach her about her body. He couldn't wait to begin.
On the one hand, he was glad that she didn't look at him like she looked at his friend. It was obvious she was uneasy with Ivan's presence. He did not want her to always be uneasy with him. But he did want her to know he was there and not to ignore his presence.
