Page 13 of Slave

Unknown? So she was on birth control but didn’t know what kind. I was going to pass over it but then thought it might be the perfect opportunity to get more than her regular answer out of her. “You’re on birth control?”

“Yes, Master.”

Typical.

“But you don’t know what type?”

“No, Master.”

Okay.

“How do you not know?”

I saw her cringe. She thought I was upset with her even though I had not raised my voice in any way. “I . . . I wasn’t told. I’m sorry, Master.”

Ian. His treachery seemed to have no bounds. I could just see him taking her to a doctor she’d never met before, probably some sick friend of his, and not telling her what was being done. Maybe I could help her figure it out, though.

I tried to make my voice as gentle as I could. “Can you tell me about it? Maybe we can narrow it down.” She nodded but otherwise didn’t answer. “Was it an injection?”

She shook her head.

“Did you take pills? Wear a patch?”

A negative again.

That left only one option because I knew condoms weren’t any Dom’s contraception of choice. “Did he put something inside you?”

She nodded this time.

So that left the most likely answer to be an IUD. I made a note of that on her paperwork.

I didn’t ask any more questions. She was going to be nervous enough when I took her to see Richard.

Once we were both finished eating, I took our plates to the sink and instructed her to complete the paperwork. By the time I was finished loading the dishwasher, she was done.

Walking over, I knelt beside her, bringing myself to her eye level. “Brianna, we are going to go see a friend tonight.” She stiffened. I could feel the fear radiating from her body. “He won’t hurt you, I promise.”

I knew she didn’t know me, and my promise meant little to her now, but hopefully by keeping true to my word, we would have a building block of trust. We had to start somewhere.

Brianna didn’t relax the entire ride there. She sat with her hands folded in her lap, eyes down. It was okay; I had to keep reminding myself. One step at a time.

When I pulled up at his office, I saw Richard had left a light on for us. He’d agreed to see Brianna, but that didn’t mean all was right between us. It hadn’t been for the last six months. I took a deep breath and prepared myself.

After parking the car, I walked around and retrieved her from the vehicle. She followed behind me dutifully and remained by my side as I walked through the lobby and back to the offices to find my uncle.

In typical Richard fashion, he was behind his desk reading. When he saw me at the door, he dropped the book and came over to give me an awkward hug. “Stephan. It’s good to see you.” He paused, glancing at Brianna then back to me. “How have you been?”

He was polite, but I could hear the edge of unease behind it. I answered in the same courteous tone. “I’m good. Things have been busy.”

Richard looked past me at Brianna. This time his eyes stayed on her. “Yes, I see that. You must be Brianna. I’m Dr. Cooper,” he said to her, offering his hand.

She just nodded without looking up. He frowned.

I handed over Brianna’s paperwork, and he instructed us to follow him down the hall.

The room we entered held an x-ray machine and a long metal table. “If you could hop up here, Brianna.” She moved without delay and sat on the table waiting for further instructions.

Richard had her lie on the table, and then proceeded to take a multitude of images from her neck down, adjusting her clothing as needed. I stood behind the glass in the adjoining room watching her rigid form. There seemed to be no life to her.

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