Page 172 of Master of My Heart

“Stay in bed, Cara,” he said softly. “Nadia said you weren’t feeling well. Has Dr. Weston been in to see you?”

Cara nodded. “Yes, Master. He says it’s just a bad cold and bed rest is the best thing.”

“He’s right,” Richard agreed. “Have you been eating?”

“I had a little soup earlier, but I couldn’t finish it.”

“All right. I wanted to check on you.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Do you need anything?”

“No, Master,” she said, adoration in her tired eyes.

“If you need anything, tell Patrick and he’ll get it for you.”

“Yes, Master.” Cara stifled a yawn and Richard stood.

“Get some sleep. I’ll check on you Friday.”

“Yes, Master,” she said sleepily and closed her eyes. Richard pulled the covers up to her chest and smoothed her hair before walking back to Sabrina. He opened the door and they walked out into the hallway.

She followed him back to the large room, her head full of new thoughts. The girls were still on their knees, but had started talking again in his absence. They returned to silence when they walked into the room. Richard spoke to a few more of the girls as they made their way across the room and through the door.

“Do you still feel the same indignation as before?” Richard asked as they walked down the stairs.

“No,” she whispered. There was something free in their manners. They had none of the burdens she felt. They were happy and obviously loved Richard.

*****

Richard led her back down the way they had come and out the door to the hallway. At the very back of the house was a wide marble staircase that wound down until they arrived at a medium-sized waiting area that had a heavy white curtain on one side.

“This is the Gathering room,” he said, pulling back the curtain. A wide staircase led down to a room the size of a large movie theater.

On a platform surrounded by a low, black-stone wall, a golden statue of an enormous eagle occupied most of the far wall. It half-crouched, poised as though ready to launch itself into the air, wings caught forever in the act of spreading, its head tipped defiantly, raised beak inches from touching the twenty-foot ceiling.

The walls of the room were paneled oak, the floor covered with red carpeting, except for the outer five feet or so, which was white marble. In front of the eagle was a platform with two chairs that remind her of thrones. Around the room, clusters of couches and comfortable chairs formed intimate zones within the larger, more impersonal space. On one side, a large opening led to a hallway of some sort. But she couldn’t be sure because of the lack of light.

As she took in every detail, dizziness crept over her like a blanket. She felt the same light-headedness Ramon often induced when he deprived her of oxygen during one of his sex games. She blinked, trying to clear the gray film from her vision, and gasped for breath, but a tightness in her chest denied her vital air.

Then she felt something else. The energy of the room swirled around her. She leaned back and closed her eyes, arms spreading wide as it caressed her. Soft sounds surrounded her, then she felt ghostly hands on her body. She forced her eyes open, but saw no one.

Richard spoke as he stood next to her, but her ears failed her. She may as well be underwater, trying to understand someone talking from above the surface.

She fell to her knees, struggling to breathe. Hands... So many hands touching her, caressing her, feeling her. She moaned as she felt a hand between her legs. The energy touched her. It wanted her, and she wanted it.

Then she was jerked back to reality and found herself looking into the golden eyes of Theo.

“Theo,” she moaned, her voice hoarse. “I...” She looked around wildly, confused. “Someone was touching me.”

She felt the hands trying to reach her again. Her vision clouded and her body collapsed to the floor.

“She is unprotected,” she heard Theo say. “You must take her.”

“I can’t do that to Chase.”

“She is here without a Master. She is vulnerable and will succumb if you do not.”

Sabrina didn’t understand what they were saying.

“I didn’t know... ,” she heard Richard say.

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