Page 76 of Slave

Now that business was out of the way, I wanted to steer her to a more relaxing subject. “Have you been reading your books this week?”

“Yes.”

“And what do you think so far?”

All at once her shoulders relaxed, and her face lit up. For the rest of dinner we discussed characters, plots, and writing styles. It was the most I’d seen her open up outside of my home since she’d arrived.

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Brianna

My eyes fluttered open to the soft light of the morning coming from the window, and I couldn’t help but smile. I didn’t know the last time I’d felt so relaxed.

With that thought, I felt a moment of panic and glanced over at my alarm clock. Seven fifty. I took a deep breath and let the tension leave my body. Somehow I’d managed to wake up before the alarm.

And the alarm was set. I’d watched as Master had done so last night just after I had climbed into bed.

I was still trying to wrap my mind around yesterday. When he’d had me talk about John and what had happened, all I’d wanted to do was to please him. And although I was nervous as to his reaction, I had known that I had to be honest. He’d made it very clear that he prized that above all else.

But, as something I was becoming more able to accept from my Master, he had comforted me. He hadn’t gotten upset that I’d tried to get away from my captors.

Master’s arms had held me tight as I’d told my story, grounding me to the present and not letting me fall into the past.

Master had kept his arm around me the entire time we walked back to the scooter, and it had calmed me. I knew he wouldn’t let me fall.

Once we’d gotten back into town and he’d returned the scooter, I thought we’d go home, so I’d been surprised when Master had led us into a restaurant. The man, Tony, had made me nervous as all men did, well except for Brad. I still didn’t understand that really, but he didn’t frighten me at all. With Tony, I tried to remember that Master was with me and that he wouldn’t let anyone hurt me.

As I remembered our dinner, I groaned. I couldn’t believe I’d slipped and called him Master. I was very lucky he didn’t punish me for it once we’d gotten back home.

Today was a new day, though, and we were going to have lunch with his aunt and uncle again. Diane was nice. I liked her.

Dr. Cooper—Richard—still made me nervous. Last time he and Master had gotten into an argument, and I knew it had been over me. For some reason he must not like me. Or maybe it was that he didn’t want Master to have me.

Before I could go further with that thought, the alarm went off. I turned it off and made my bed before getting dressed in the clothes Master had laid out.

After a quick clean up in the bathroom, I walked out into the main room. I’d expected Master to be upstairs in the gym waiting on me as he usually was, but instead he was standing in the living room talking to someone on the phone.

I wasn’t sure what to do, so I slowly walked into the room toward him. Thankfully, he saw the movement and looked up. My momentary good mood faltered when he didn’t return my smile.

Master asked the person on the other end of the line to hold on before addressing me. I was trying very hard not to let my nerves get away from me. “You can go on upstairs and get started, Brianna. I’ll be up shortly.”

He went back to his phone call, and I hurried past him and up the stairs to the gym. I had no idea who was on the phone, but Master was obviously not in a good mood this morning.

Almost twenty minutes passed before he joined me. The look on his face told me nothing. He walked over to the mats and began stretching without glancing at me.

It was another ten minutes before his eyes met mine. They were guarded but not angry. I took a deep breath and relaxed a little. Whatever it was, it didn’t appear to have anything to do with me.

We finished our workouts and went downstairs for breakfast. Master was quiet until we sat down at the table. “My aunt called this morning. That is who I was talking to when you came in.”

I didn’t comment or react in any way. I just waited. His mouth went hard as he said the next words. “Diane has invited some friends to join us.” At his words I dropped my fork, and it made an awful sound as it first hit my plate and then bounced to the floor.

Master picked up my fork, wiped it off, and then laid it on my plate as if nothing had happened. “Although I’m not thrilled about it, it’s not my decision. I’ve asked Diane if I may invite Logan and Lily along, and she has agreed.”

Then he stopped and reached for my hand. I hadn’t realized it was shaking until he held it in both of his. “You’ll be fine, Brianna. Nothing has changed. You will be perfectly safe inside the house.”

I didn’t move or even know how to respond. Today I would not only have to face his uncle again, his uncle who didn’t like me, who’d picked a fight with my Master, but I was also going to meet people I’d never met before.

The knowledge that Lily would be there was comforting, but what would these new people be like? Would they be nice? Or would they hate me? I was a slave after all. Or was I? Why did this have to be so confusing!

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