He seemed so close already that she didn’t bother teasing, afraid he’d find it more annoying than pleasurable right now. A few minutes later he released over her hand and his stomach. She stared at it for a moment, unsure.
“Well? What do kittens do with cream?”
Her eyes widened for a split second before she licked her hand clean. Then she turned her attention to his belly and lapped up the warm, salty liquid from his toned stomach. He stroked her hair while she ran her tongue over him.
When she’d finished, he flicked the lamp off and went back to petting her hair as he held her against his chest. “Go back to sleep now.”
Within minutes she drifted off. The rest of the night, her dreams were unmolested by Lucas and instead filled with her master’s voice and hands. And images of playing kittens.
***
Asher woke to find Grace still lying across him, just as she’d been the night before. He’d assumed they both would have tossed and turned in their sleep, but if they had, they’d ended up together again by morning. Her hair splayed across him, and he found himself wanting to run his fingers through it again, but he resisted the urge. She looked so peaceful, he didn’t want to wake her.
He carefully shifted her to the pillows and put a robe on, then slipped from the room. When he reached the kitchen, William had already started breakfast. The butler glared up at him.
“Oh, God, William. Are we back to that again? I thought we’d had this discussion.”
William turned away and went back to scrambling the eggs and flipping the bacon. “Will Grace be dining with us?”
“She’s still sleeping. And she won’t be eating at the table. I’m starting her training today.”
The butler started scrambling the eggs more vigorously. Finally, his ability to hold his tongue broke. “With all due respect, sir, I don’t believe it’s wise to train her like Darcy.”
“Why not?”
“Treating her like an animal after what she’s been through is just––”
“Stop right there. You say it like I’m going to keep her chained up and in a little crate. She’s going to be treated more like a beloved pet. And it won’t be all the time, anyway. Not like I’m going to make her meow or never let her do human things. She’s going to garden and cook. Do cats do those things? Besides, I’m curious to see how this will go. With Darcy it was all a game. A fun game, most definitely, but Grace brings a different . . . flavor to things.”
William scraped the eggs onto the plate, added bacon, and poured a glass of juice. He placed the food on the table and left the room, his final opinion on the matter delivered without words. Asher sighed. William had always been so loyal, and now it was a constant struggle with him. Apparently this house couldn’t be run without at least one mouthy brat in it.
His cock twitched in his pants as he thought about Grace lying in his bed upstairs. His frightened little kitten. He was still appalled by the things Lucas had done to her, and yet the resulting effect was nothing less than spectacular.
He tried to ignore the voice in his head that told him he never could have trained a woman to be this way himself. He wasn’t a hard enough master, although he found himself being more firm with Grace. She called something deep inside him that even he hadn’t been aware of. He’d always known his own nature, but the nuance his newest slave called forth was at times both baffling and scary.
It was hard not to compare the two women. They were so different. One dark. One fair. One playful and disrespectful, the other so utterly broken that it caused both his chest and his pants to tighten for contradictory reasons.
Each time he found a way in which Darcy was lacking but Grace excelled, he felt guiltier. As if he were betraying his former pet’s memory. He’d loved Darcy. More than life. Yet Grace stirred him out of his preoccupations with the past.
He finished his breakfast and made a list of exactly what he wanted to do with his pet for the day. Her first day had gone better than he’d expected. He’d decided being weak with her would be a greater mistake than being weak with Darcy had been. He was sure at least this time it wouldn’t end in anyone’s death.
Asher let her sleep for a couple more hours then climbed the stairs, wondering where she was. He found her in his bed, sitting against the headboard.
“How long have you been awake?”
“An hour,” she said. She’d wrapped herself in the blankets, shielding her nudity.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
“Yes, Master.”
It hurt his heart to think she’d been sitting in his room, scared to leave or do anything without direct permission. If he’d just left her to come downstairs when she felt like it, she might have spent the whole day in the room. Though at some point William or he would have sought her out and at least fed her.
“You’re allowed to leave this room, kitten. No one is locking you in. You need to stay on the property so someone doesn’t try to run off with you, but you can go outside and down to the beach or the garden. And in a few days I’ll take you out somewhere.”
She tensed at that, and he remembered. The only times she’d been out with her former master had been when he’d paraded her around naked at those showings or when he just wanted to go to a club and show her off.
Asher opened the drawer in the bedside table and retrieved a platinum collar. The collar had Property of Asher Collins engraved in heavy block letters around it. He locked it around her throat.
***
Grace sat perfectly still, barely breathing as he slipped the collar around her neck and the lock clicked into place. She’d caught a glimpse of the engraved letters. She’d never had a real collar before. She hadn’t known she was missing something until she’d seen other slaves wearing them when Lucas took her out. Sometimes he’d put a collar on her simply so he could attach a leash, but it had been black leather and buckled in place. It didn’t lock. Not like this one.
Other girls had platinum bands locked around their throats, and Grace had felt somehow that, right or wrong, not having one of those platinum bands with her owner’s name engraved on it was some sort of mark of shame, telling the world she was bad. As if Lucas didn’t want to truly lay claim to her and didn’t want others to know who she belonged to.
That desire had been mutual. She had never been proud to be owned by Lucas. She’d mostly just been afraid and hoping for it to somehow end, but still, she’d looked at those other slaves with their expensive collars and she felt they must have something better. Something she didn’t have and would never have.
Now one of those collars was locked securely around her neck with Asher’s name on it. Her fingers moved tentatively to run over the smooth metal and engraved lettering. “Thank you, Master.”
“I should have put it on you yesterday, but there were so many other things going on. Would you like to talk to your friend before breakfast?”
She looked up at him. Did he mean Lainey?
“The one you spoke with yesterday on the computer.”
Grace wasn’t sure if she wanted to talk to Lainey or not. She felt bad that her friend had worried and mourned, but all further communication would bring were questions and more questions. Questions she didn’t want to answer now. Or ever. Like what Lucas had done to her. And questions she didn’t yet know how to answer. Like was Asher good to her.
He was good to her right now, but it had only been twenty-four hours. She couldn’t bring herself to be that stupid, naïve girl again. Yet, at the same time, she wanted to lap up every good thing he gave her in case it all disappeared.
She flushed, thinking of the night before, waking from the nightmare and then what had happened after. Her pussy ached as she thought about his hands and what they could make her feel. How they could help her lose herself.
“Grace, I asked you a question. Would you like to speak with Lainey?”
She shook her head. “No, Master.”
“Why not?”
“Too many questions.??
?
He nodded with an understanding look on his face, and she thought the matter was dropped. But it wasn’t. He pulled out his phone. “I want you to call her. What’s the number?”
Grace shook her head furiously, tears welling in her eyes. “Please don’t make me call her. I can’t. Please . . . I don’t want to . . .”
“This house is not a democracy. What’s the number?”
She recited the numbers, resenting him as each word passed through her lips. Why was he doing this to her? If he was really good and she wanted space and to be left alone, then why . . .
His eyes narrowed as if he could read the thoughts playing through her mind. “After you get through, we’re going to talk. Here, it’s ringing.” He passed the phone to her.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Lainey?”
“Grace! Is that really you?” Her friend practically shrieked over the phone. “I wasn’t totally sure it was you on the computer. I mean he could have had your account information and logged on for some reason and . . .”
Grace just listened as the babbling on the other end of the phone continued, the tears streaming down her face.
“Grace?”
“Yeah?”
“Are you really okay? I don’t like that you’re there.”
“Just stop. Please. Jesus. I’ve been through hell and here you are babbling on and on. I know it was hard on you, but shit. It was harder on me. You have no idea what I’ve been through. You’ll never know or be able to understand. Talking to you is like talking to a stranger.”
“Then why the fuck did you call?”
“He made me.” She looked up to see Asher leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest, not looking happy at all. She closed the phone, unable to take it any longer. His glare on her and Lainey’s voice in her ear. She just wanted to go into a dark, quiet, place. Even Lucas’s dungeon––without him in it––seemed better than this, where there was too much attention and too many demands.
Asher pushed himself off the wall and came toward her. Immediately instinct kicked in and she dropped to her knees in front of him.
“Why did you hang up on her?”
“Please, Master. This slave . . . she can’t . . . she can’t . . .” So stupid. Why did I do that? It was just a phone call. It wasn’t one of the hundreds of awful things Lucas had done to her. How could she have been so stupid? And now what? From the anger radiating off him, she just knew his mercy was at an end. How could she allow herself to disappoint him so much in the space of only a day?
He must be regretting buying her. That thought made the bottom of her stomach drop out. He’d been so . . . decent to her. And she was throwing tantrums? It was just too much. Surely he must understand. If he knew what she’d been through, even a little of it, he had to understand. But she’d never done this shit with Lucas. Not once. She was too terrified of him to do anything but beg and obey. Somehow Asher deserved less than Lucas now?
“Don’t move.” He left and she stayed where she was, imagining all the horrible things that could happen next. If it had been Lucas, her thoughts would have been only about what she would have to endure. But with Asher, the biggest thought on her mind was how she’d disappointed him. And how much she wanted to obey. He returned several minutes later.
“Master, I’m sorry. I’m trying. I’m a bad slave, you must be so disappointed. I don’t know why I can’t . . .”
“Shhh.” He sat on the floor beside her and lifted her chin. “Sit up. I want you to eat something.” He gave her a banana and a hard-boiled egg that must have been sitting in the fridge overnight. And some juice.
“I don’t deserve . . . ”
“I take care of what’s mine. Remember? I’m not having you missing meals. You’ll get sick. Eat.” When she started to eat, he got up and crossed the hall to her room. She looked up when he came back to see he had a brush in his hand. Grace couldn’t stop the little shudder, as if he might beat her with it. Instead he sat behind her and brushed her hair while she ate.
“I understand this is all hard for you. Whatever I tell you to do, I expect you to do. I will punish you, and eventually punishments will involve a cane. But not today. Don’t try my patience, Grace. I won’t ever allow myself to be weak with you. If you start to view my mercy as weakness, then we’re going to have a serious problem. And I don’t want to cause you further damage, do you understand?”
“Yes, Master.” Every time he said something like this she just felt worse. Like such an ingrate. If this was real . . . if she could manage not to do anything to sway him away from the way he was being with her, she owed him everything. And she was disobeying him left and right already.
“I know I’m pushing hard with your friend, but I want you to have your friendship back. I insist on it.”
By this time she’d finished her breakfast and he’d stopped brushing. “Go stand in the corner.”
He helped her to her feet and she moved to where he’d pointed, fighting the tremble in her body as she went, wondering what was coming next. She stood, tensed for a few minutes, waiting for . . . something. But whatever she’d thought was coming never arrived.
“Don’t move from that spot. I want you to spend this time thinking. I’ll come get you when it’s time for lunch. We’ll talk further about the rules in this house at that time.”
Eight
Asher descended the stairs, clicking the most recently dialed number on his cell as he went. “Hello?” a guarded voice answered.
“Is this Lainey?”
“Yes, who is this?” But she knew. He could tell from her voice that she knew.
“This is Asher. Grace is with me.”
A long silence. When she spoke, her voice cracked. “Please let her go. She needs to come home where she’ll be safe.”
He sighed. “I need you to listen to me, Lainey. The things she’s been through . . . you don’t just recover from them. Do you understand what I’m telling you?”
There was more silence, except for the sound of soft crying. Perhaps he was justifying keeping what he wanted, what he’d paid so much money to acquire.
No. He was right. Even the way she’d reacted to calling Lainey, like he was somehow punishing her by trying to get her to speak to someone who loved her. She couldn’t live in that world. Not anymore. But he could give her a small piece of it.
“I need you to do me a favor.”
“Why would I do anything to help you?” Her voice was like acid.
“It’s for Grace. I’m not the one who hurt her.”
“But you’re the one keeping her now.”
He sighed. “I’m not going to debate this with you. You can think I’m the bad guy all you want. There is nothing you can do to alter the course of her life. What you can do is help her by doing what I say. I want her to be able to maintain a friendship, so I need you to agree to not bring up anything about her current or past situation on the island. It’s too upsetting for her. If she chooses to talk about it, let her come to you. Can you do that for me?”
“Fine. But I don’t like you.”
He chuckled. “I can’t imagine what you must feel about Lucas, then. And Lainey?”
“What?”
“Thank you.”
He stared at the phone, unsure why it mattered so much to him that Grace be able to connect with this friend. It made her so uncomfortable.
Even so, he couldn’t let her erase it all. He wanted to give her every chance possible to heal as much as she could. Rekindling a close friendship seemed like a step in that direction.
A few hours later he returned to the bedroom to find Grace standing naked in the corner, just as he’d left her. His cock hardened at the sight of her so delicate and vulnerable. He’d made sure to keep his footfalls silent when he’d come back, to see if she was where she was supposed to be, not trying to cheat or squirm out of the punishment. She hadn’t moved an inch.
“Kitten?”
She looked up, her eyes
red, her lower lip trembling. It made him want to shove her against the wall and fuck her right then. It was so wrong that her tears turned him on.
“Yes, Master?”
“Are you going to continue to show me attitude?”
“No, Master.”
He knew it wasn’t the punishment that drove her. It wasn’t the idea of standing for hours in a corner like some recalcitrant child. She was ashamed she’d displeased him. It genuinely upset her. When she looked at him, he could see how much she wanted to give to him and how afraid she still was that he might be toying with her. He was surprised she was already as willing as she was to please and obey, but she’d latched onto him as her savior, as her god. And every second standing in her presence made him want to step more firmly into that role.
It obviously weighed on her, her two minor bits of disobedience. With Darcy, he wouldn’t have worked up to punishment for such minor issues. It wouldn’t have been worth the hassle. Right or wrong, though, he couldn’t stand to let Grace get away with even the smallest infraction. He wanted everything from her. Every tiny corner in her mind and in her heart he wanted as his own personal real estate. He wanted not the slightest bit of hesitance when he issued a command. He wanted her to be willing, grateful, subservient putty in his hands. And he was quickly running out of motivation to feel guilt for that.
He handed her the cell phone. “Call Lainey again.”
A flicker of something passed over her face. Not defiance. Resignation. Good. She was already resolving to be his good girl.
She took the phone from him and dialed. The call started tentatively, but within a few moments they were edging around the circumstances of Grace’s life to talk about other things, catching up on what Lainey had been up to. He was thankful the friend was listening to him and not letting her personal feelings get in the way of Grace’s own good.
He made the bed, smiling when she lost herself for a moment and gushed about her room and the balcony and the view. Already she sounded somewhat like a person. For all Lucas had done to her, he hadn’t left her an empty shell yet. She was still in there somewhere, with wants and desires and dreams that had been cast aside in favor of survival.