Page 81 of Slave

“Lily . . .”

“No.” She cut me off. “I did something very wrong, and I need to tell you that I’m sorry.”

“But . . .” And then a fear went through me. “You’re not . . . leaving. Are you?”

“No. I’m not leaving. I’ll be here as long as you want me to be.”

With her reassurance, I was finally able to release the breath I’d been holding. “I don’t want you to leave.” She smiled back at me, but it held a hint of sadness.

“Last weekend when we were in your bedroom you asked me a question, and I didn’t fully answer you or encourage you to talk to Stephan like I should have.” Swallowing, I tried to remain calm. I knew exactly which conversation she was talking about.

“I told you I was never Stephan’s slave and that you weren’t either. But I should have stayed and made sure that you understood, that you knew that you could talk to me and to Stephan about anything. I failed you, and I’m sorry.”

“But he bought me,” I whispered. My voice sounded weak even to my ears.

Her hands gripped mine tighter. “You are not a slave. Talk to Stephan. He’ll explain everything.”

I didn’t know what to say. Denial rang through my brain, and I wanted to scream. I was a slave. It was what I was. I’d accepted that.

But then the doubt I’d had since last weekend began to push its way in. What if Lily was right? What did that mean exactly? Why . . . ?

There was movement in the doorway, and my head came up. My eyes met the worried ones of my Master.

He entered the room with slow, steady steps and crouched down beside me. His left hand came up to brush the side of my cheek, while his right slid into the strands of my hair. A level of calm that was only present when he touched me had me leaning into him. He pulled me closer against his chest, and I wrapped my arms around his waist.

At that moment, I didn’t want to think about what Lily had told me. There were obviously things that I didn’t understand. She knew my Master much better than I, and I trusted her almost as much as I did him. I would do as she said and talk to him. Just not right now. Right now I needed to know that he was here and that I was safe. That no one was going to take me away from him.

All too soon we got up and joined the others waiting for us in the sitting room. Everyone looked at me huddled into Master’s side.

Master thanked Diane for dinner and told everyone that I wasn’t feeling well so we were going home. Diane came up to us and asked if she could give me a hug. I felt Master’s arms hold me tighter, but for some reason I didn’t feel panicked at his aunt’s suggestion, so I nodded.

Her arms surrounded me, even though I never released my hold on Master. The hug was brief and not nearly as forceful as the first one I’d experienced from her. I felt bad that everyone seemed to feel they had to handle me with kid gloves but grateful at the same time. She turned to Master and gave him a much tighter hug, whispering something in his ear that sounded like take care of her.

Once Diane walked back across the room to stand beside Richard, the awkwardness increased. No one seemed to know what to do, and Lily was standing by Logan’s side, back to not acting like herself.

Master said a final goodbye to everyone, and as we walked out the door, I heard Logan say they should be going, too. It seemed that I had ruined the dinner for everyone.

Stephan

I was teetering somewhere between rage and the overwhelming desire to hold on to the creature at my side and never let her go. The dinner was going so well. I thought giving Richard a chance to talk to her alone would be a good thing. I had been beyond stupid.

And then there was Lily. She had been quiet all throughout dinner. Punishment, I suspected. But then the first words I heard out of her mouth left me trying to remember how to breathe.

I thought that we were making headway. That she was starting to see herself as a person again. An individual. But that was obviously not the case. Brianna understood nothing, and it was entirely my fault.

As I pulled into my spot in the parking garage, I could see Logan behind me. I had a feeling they would be coming to make sure Brianna was all right. It wasn’t as if we could speak openly about the situation while at my aunt and uncle’s house.

All the way home I’d tried to provide what little comfort to Brianna that I could with my touch. We needed to talk. She needed to understand once and for all what had happened and what I wanted from her. For her.

I didn’t wait for my friends before going up to my condo. Even if I only had a minute alone with Brianna before everything started, I wanted it.

We walked into the open layout of my home, and I wrapped her in my arms. Her hair brushed against my lips as I took in her scent. I knew what needed to happen now, and I could only hope that she didn’t run away from me screaming. That she would understand what I was trying to do, and that she would allow me to help her.

All too soon, Logan and Lily made their presence known. I released my hold on Brianna and let them in.

We all walked over to the living room. I went directly to my chair and had Brianna sit on my lap while Logan and Lily took seats on the couch.

My best friend was one of the most levelheaded people I knew and got to the point quickly. “I know that you and Brianna need to talk about some things, but I felt that Lily needed to explain herself first.”

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