Page 77 of Slave

Suddenly I wasn’t in my seat anymore. I felt him pick me up, and then I was sitting in Master’s lap. As his arms surrounded me, my breathing became easier. I leaned into him and felt his lips brush against my hair.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yes.”

His hand ran up my arm before coming up to cup my face. He turned my chin so that I was looking at him. “I know the news was unexpected, but why did you start to panic, Brianna?”

I swallowed. “What if they don’t like me?” I whispered.

Master’s eyes widened at my question. “Why do you think they won’t like you?”

Without thinking about it I looked down, and I immediately felt his hand tighten. My eyes snapped up to meet his again. Instantly his grip relaxed.

“Your uncle doesn’t like me,” I stated.

He closed his eyes briefly before meeting mine again with a sad look. “Richard doesn’t dislike you,” he sighed. “He’s worried about you.” Then his hand came up to brush through my hair. “He wants to make sure that I am taking care of you.”

My brow wrinkled in confusion. This didn’t make sense. Master was so very good to me. How could his uncle think that he wasn’t?

My thoughts came up short as he asked, “Would you be willing to talk to him? Without me in the room?”

I swallowed hard and knew my face had to show the apprehension I felt. “If that’s what you want me to do, Master.”

He sighed again, but this time it was in frustration. “Brianna, this is not an order or a command or even a request. It is a question. I think he might feel better about things if you were to talk to him, but I will not force you into that situation if you do not wish to do it.”

So many thoughts ran through my mind as I considered talking to his uncle. He had been nice when he’d examined me. But Master had been right outside the door then. Would he be the same if we were completely alone? Did I want that?

Master must have seen the confusion in my eyes because his hand found my chin again, and he made me look at him. “You don’t have to decide right now. Think about it, and you can tell me your decision once we reach the house, okay?”

I nodded. “Thank-you, Master.”

He smiled and patted my thigh. “Now get back in your chair and finish your breakfast.”

For the rest of the morning I couldn’t think of anything else. A part of me wanted to talk to Master’s uncle. I didn’t want to cause problems between the two of them.

But I couldn’t shake the fear. No matter how much I tried to convince myself that I shouldn’t be afraid, I couldn’t make it completely go away.

We pulled up to his aunt and uncle’s house at twelve forty-five. Master shut off the car but didn’t move to get out. Instead he continued to look ahead and asked, “Have you made your decision, Brianna?”

I took a deep breath, closed my eyes as tightly as they would go, and said the words, “I will talk to him, Master.” I paused. “If . . . he wishes to speak to me.”

Master didn’t comment on what I’d said. He just nodded and got out of the car before walking around to open my door.

We walked inside just as we had two weeks before and headed straight for the kitchen. The only difference was this time a deep voice I didn’t recognize stopped me in my tracks halfway there.

Master noticed that I was no longer moving and walked back to me. His free arm circled my waist, and his lips brushed softly against my forehead.

“It’s fine,” he whispered and waited for some of the tension to leave my body.

I took a deep breath and let the scent of Master relax me. He didn’t move or say anything more until I had once again calmed down.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said, remembering not to call him Master. He stepped back and squeezed my hand before walking again.

Once we entered the brightly lit kitchen, it took everything I had not to run from the room. There was a man standing by the counter a few feet away from Diane, and he was huge, at least twice the size of Master. He was laughing so hard it shook his entire body. It was only the smile on Diane’s face as she talked to the man that kept me from running in the other direction.

I stepped closer to Master and gripped his hand tighter. He seemed to know how nervous I was because he didn’t try to move away from me to greet his aunt. “It seems I’m missing out on a good joke,” Master said with a chuckle.

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