Page 19 of Slave

He was asking, not commanding, I could tell. But could I really refuse him? I didn’t know the answer to that. And even if I could say no, did I want to?

No. No, I didn’t want to refuse him. It would clearly make him happy to spend the day with me, and that had been my goal this morning, right? So I answered the only way I could. “Yes, Master.”

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Stephan

Brianna was a total enigma to me. I didn’t understand her. And in order to be able to help her like I wanted, I needed to.

My original plan had been to spend the day at home, talking. But after our brief conversation, I knew that wouldn’t work. I would spend the entire day dragging sentences out of her, all the while wondering if she was answering truthfully or just telling me what she thought I wanted to hear.

The new plan involved us going out. It was a risk, yes. I had no idea how she would react to being around people, although Lily said she’d had no major problems. With me, it was different; I knew that. She viewed me as her owner with her sole job to please me no matter what her wishes were.

So today, my goal was to learn about her.

It didn’t take me long to come up with a place to take her. I needed somewhere she could open up, let her guard down. Nothing accomplished that better than animals.

Before heading out, we both went into our rooms and changed into jeans. I grabbed my favorite pair, the ones I wore to family barbeques over at Richard and Diane’s house. There was an excitement humming through me as I got dressed for the second time today.

Walking back out into my living room, I waited for her. Brianna stepped out of her room wearing a fitted pair of jeans and a dark blue long sleeved shirt. Her hair was pulled back in a sleek ponytail, pulling it just slightly off her neck but still allowing it to tumble down across her shoulders. A brief flash from this morning crossed my mind of long brown hair brushing against my thighs, and I had to turn away abruptly before I did something stupid.

I took a deep breath to calm myself. “Are you ready?”

“Yes, Master,” she said to my back.

Opening the door, I motioned for her to go first. She did, all the while keeping her gaze downcast.

Our drive was a silent one. She kept her eyes down for the most part, but occasionally I would catch her looking out the passenger window. Then it was like she’d catch herself and look back down at her lap. “You may look out the window if you’d like,” I said giving her a smile she didn’t see.

She did hear me, though, and brought her head up to look out the window once again. We were getting close to our destination, and I wondered what she’d think of my choice of activity.

I knew exactly when she figured out where we were going. Her eyes opened wide, and she shifted in her seat. “Is there something wrong?” I asked.

“No, Master,” she quickly assured me.

I watched as pressed her lips together. “But?” I prompted.

She glanced down at her hands and blushed. We pulled up to the parking attendant, and she waited until we moved on to find a place to park before speaking. “Why are you taking me to the zoo, Master?”

“Do you not like the zoo?”

“No,” she said quickly. “I mean, yes. I do like it. It’s just, I don’t understand.”

And it was clear from her tone that she didn’t. It was also clear that those simple words were difficult for her to say. Pulling into a parking spot not far from the entrance, I turned the car off, got out, and walked around to open her door. She exited the vehicle, and I shut the door behind her before taking her hand in mine. Turning her toward me, I brought my free hand up to cup her face, making her look at me. “I thought you might enjoy the animals,” I said, rubbing my thumb against her cheek. “If you’d rather we did something else . . .”

The guarded look behind her eyes softened just a little, and she shook her head. “No,” she whispered. “I like this very much.” Then she paused a moment, shifting her weight from her left foot then back to her right. Her eyes lowered again, and although the next words were quieter than the rest, they were still unmistakable. “Thank-you.”

Brianna

I couldn’t believe we were here at the zoo of all places. The first thing to cross my mind when I’d realized where we were was that this was somehow going to be my punishment for this morning. When he’d asked me if something was wrong, I’d quickly told him no. After all, if that was what we were here for, I’d brought it on myself by acting so stupidly.

But then he’d asked me why and . . . well I couldn’t bring myself to ask him again if he was going to punish me for this morning. If that wasn’t what this was, then I wasn’t going to put the idea in his head.

Then he’d surprised me yet again by telling me he’d brought me here because he thought I’d like the animals. I loved animals. Mom had let me get a dog when I was seven. He got me through everything when my world started falling apart.

I followed my new Master up to the ticket counter, and he paid for two as I hung back. When he was done, we walked through a little gate, and a man stamped each of our hands with the outline of a green elephant.

It was still early. The zoo had just opened, according to the sign, and there weren’t many people yet. My Master took my hand and led me to a huge map directly across the plaza. Coming to a stop in front of it, he glanced down at me, but I didn’t look up. “What animal is your favorite?”

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