by Chloe Carpenter
Amy's lower lip trembled. She whimpered, calling out yet again for Nick, even though she knew he wasn't there. Her wrists chafed uncomfortably against her restraints as she struggled to gain enough movement to bang on the wall behind the bed with her fists. The room was gloomy as Nick had closed the curtains and switched off the light; it was cold too, her thin cotton dress offering her little warmth. Her teeth began to chatter. She felt miserable, truly wretched and utterly alone. The tears came again, falling from red-rimmed eyes, but there was no one to hear. He had abandoned her.
Her crying increased with a vengeance ... huge gut-wrenching sobs that left her hoarse. Her throat was parched; how she longed for a drink of water. So caught up in her own heartache was she, she didn't hear her name being called until a succession of loud knocks sounded from behind the wall, close to her head, followed by a familiar voice.
"Amy? AMY? Is that you?"
Relief surged through her. "Yes!" she croaked. "Help me! Please ... please help me."
"Hold on, sweetheart. I'm coming round."
"Thank you," she whispered, and as she lay shivering in the darkness, she clung hold tight to the thought that Ben was on his way.
A few minutes later came the sound of the front door being opened ... the slam as it was closed ... and then footsteps hurrying through the hallway.
"Amy?" Ben's voice had an edge to it, conveying concern and urgency.
"Ben..." The sudden bright light hurt her eyes, making her squint as it illuminated the room.
"My God ... what the hell has he done to you?" His eyes scanned the small figure on the bed, ropes threaded through the D-rings of her wrist restraints, the ends tied to the bed posts. Her long blonde hair was matted, her eyes red and sore from crying, and tears and snot adorned her pretty face. Her sleeveless dress was hitched up above her waist, revealing a sodden diaper; her legs and feet were bare. He rushed over. "It's all right now," he soothed. "I'm here. Let's get you out of these cuffs... damn ... easier said than done." The steel cuffs had welded chain links and a locking mechanism.
"He keeps the keys on one of the shelves near the fish tank," said Amy.
Ben found them. He worked swiftly and methodically, releasing her slender wrists from the cuffs and rubbing her ice cold porcelain skin to help restore her circulation. She looked up at him in mute appeal, her pale face flushing with humiliation as he tore off the diaper and hurled it onto the floor.
"You're frozen." He lifted her effortlessly. "I'm taking you to my place. You're safe now."
"Thank you." She stifled a sob. Her arms went around his neck and she clung on like a limpet.
Ben's face was grim as they left Nick's apartment and at that moment he felt he would take great pleasure in throttling the arrogant, irresponsible bastard. He would tackle Nicholas Morton at the first available opportunity, but right now his sole concern was Amy.
Returning to his own apartment, Ben deposited Amy on the sofa in the living room and covered her with the quilt from his bed.
"Ok, sweetheart. I want you to snuggle down and get warm while I go through to the kitchen to make you a hot drink."
Her eyes flared with a rising tide of panic. "Please don't leave me!" she implored.
"Hush. You're safe now ... I promise." He dabbed her face with a paper tissue and then handed her the box. "Look, I'll leave the door open so you can see where I am. Okay?"
"Okay." She nodded, biting her lip. "When did you last eat or drink?"
"This morning ... at breakfast. What time is it now?"
"Just after seven." He leaned forward to brush her hair from her eyes. "This is what I'm going to do: I'm going to make you a drink and get you something to eat, then when you feel a bit better, I want you to tell me what happened."
"But what if he comes back and finds me gone? He'll be so angry," she said fearfully.
"Don't worry about that. I'll deal with Nick," Ben said ominously. He gave her hand a squeeze and went through to the kitchen, returning shortly with two mugs of tea. "Drink up," he said, handing her one. The look of gratitude she gave him tugged at his heartstrings.
Returning to the kitchen, Ben looked in the fridge. Several microwave meals sat on the top shelf. He selected two and popped them in the microwave as he grabbed a couple of trays, napkins and cutlery.
"I'd like to make out I prepared this myself," he said, giving her a mock bow as he presented her with her meal. "As microwave meals go, these are pretty good. It's salmon with watercress sauce ... and you have potatoes, carrots and broccoli too."
"It smells delicious." Amy picked up her fork. "Ben ... thank you." Her eyes filled with tears again.
"Nonsense. No need for thanks. Just eat. There's chocolate mousse for dessert." He was encouraged by the tremulous little smile she gave him at the mention of chocolate.
Sitting opposite to Amy, Ben ate his meal, watching her closely without being too obvious. She was such a sweet, pretty little thing, and he'd been surprised when Nick had introduced her as his girlfriend six months earlier ... Nick's tastes usually manifested in big breasted, overtly sexual and sophisticated women, typically redheads; he had a thing for redheads, especially rich ones. Whereas Amy was petite, being around five feet two, with a mane of long blonde hair. She was attractive, and though slender, had curves in all the right places. But the thing he had noticed most of all about her was an air of almost childlike vulnerability ... not that she was a child at twenty-four. He didn't know her as well as he'd like to, but at one of Nick's parties had spent some time chatting to her and found her delightful. She'd been a frequent visitor at Nick's until last month, when she'd moved in. "I'm a permanent fixture now," she'd gleefully told him when he bumped into her in the foyer of their building, and he recalled a pang of envy that Nick had found himself such an adorable little woman.
He smiled as Amy put down her fork with a replete sigh. "Was that good, hon?"
"It was the best thing I've ever eaten." She smiled at him over the rim of her mug of tea and he was relieved to see some colour had returned to her cheeks.
"Want a refill?"
"Please, if it's no trouble."
"Of course not. More tea coming up ... and chocolate mousse." He took their dirty dinner plates through to the kitchen and returned with dessert, which Amy ate with obvious enjoyment.
"I feel so much better now," she told him.
Ben noticed how she unconsciously rubbed her wrists where the cuffs had chafed as she struggled to be free of them. "Are you ready to talk now, pet?" he asked quietly.
Whatever chocolate-induced pleasure she had gained rapidly disappeared. Her face fell, and she stared at him with those big baby-blue eyes of hers.
"Amy, I need to find out what happened. I want you to be honest with me, no matter how uncomfortable it makes you feel." Rising from his chair, he moved to sit beside her on the sofa. He took hold of her hand; in comparison with his own it was tiny, and her fingers were already starting to shake. He soothed them, stroking her hand gently, feeling a sense of obligation to this woman. He knew then that he would do whatever it took to protect her. "I won't let him hurt or neglect you ever again," he vowed. "You don't have to go back there if you don't want to."
"He won't let me leave ... and even if he would agree to me moving out, I-I'm stuck there." She took a deep, steadying breath. "I was made redundant last month, and he borrowed my redundancy money."
Ben raised an eyebrow. "He borrowed it? What ... all of it?"
"Most of it. He used it to buy a new car."
"Ah." Ben recalled the shiny red Mazda in the car park. "I don't have much else saved, and since I gave up the rent on my own place, I've nowhere to go."
"Right ... well we'll come back to that in a while. First, tell me about what happened today."
Amy squirmed and looked embarrassed. "You wouldn't understand ..." she began.
"Try me."
"Um ... we, er ... we play certain ... games, you see." She stared at her feet and blushed.
"Bondage and spanking games?"
She looked up and nodded. "Yes." It was a whisper.
"Fine. Nothing wrong with that if done responsibly."
Encouraged, she continued. "And ... and sometimes I ... well quite often really, I call him Daddy. And he calls me his little girl."
"Okay, so you're into ageplay. That's fine also, but what I want to establish is why he left you tied up like that in a darkened room."
"Wait ... you know? You know about ageplay and stuff?"
"Yes Amy, I do."
"Ohhh." She exhaled and looked at him, seeing him in a new light. "I thought you might think badly of me ... that I'm nuts or something."
He shook his head. "Amy, the only person I think badly about is Nick. When did he tie you to the bed?"
"This morning. About 8:30."
"What?! Bloody hell - that's ten and a half hours! You're telling me he left you alone the entire time?!" She nodded, miserably. "What the hell for?"
"We had an argument."
"About?" It was none of his business but he was determined to know. The mounting anger that had been simmering within him since he heard her crying through the wall flared to boiling point. He had no great liking for Nick, finding him to be shallow and selfish, but this ... this was off the charts irresponsible.
"He wanted me to give him the rest of my savings ... about £2,000. But I didn't want to because ... well ... he inherited a lot of money about two years ago after his father died. He bought this apartment, and ... he likes to drink and gamble. He blew the rest of his inheritance..." She trailed off, looking at him as though for reassurance.
Ben nodded, understanding. "You're doing good, pet. Carry on."
"He wanted me to give him the rest of my money so he could place a bet on a horse - said it was sure to win. But I said no, and he got angry." She shuddered at the memory of him pacing up and down, his face a twisted mask of fury. "He said I was ungrateful. He said a lot of nasty things. And he ... he hit me with his belt." Her voice took on a distinct wobble. "It wasn't done in the way we usually play. He ... he was vicious. He hurt me." Her face crumpled, and she buried her head in her hands and wept.
His heart went out to her as he gathered her into his arms and let her sob against his chest as he stroked her hair and held her close.
"S-sorry," she said at length, reaching for the box of tissues.
"Do you want to press charges against him?"
"No."
"You should, Amy."
She shook her head and looked fearful. "No ... he'd make things worse for me. And anyway, there's no proof."
"There is. There's me. I know the state you were in when I found you. And presumably there are marks left by the belt?"
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