Page 212 of The Life of Anna-Tenth Anniversary Edition: Act 2

Alex sighed, but was glad of the distraction. “Not as much as I hoped to. As I understand it, the final bonding ritual is very similar to the first one, with a few subtle differences. The most important element seems to be the strength of the bond that has formed between Master and slave since the first ritual.” He gave his father a sad look. “Vati, I don’t want to take Anna like that. I don’t want her to be my mindless slave. I want her to be free.”

Vati stroked his chin. “The whole point of that ritual is to get the mindless slave...”

“I want my wife, not a slave.”

“What would happen if it wasn’t performed?”

The silence in the room grew heavy as both men contemplated Vati’s words. “Is it... possible?”

“You would know better than I.”

Alex chewed his lip. What would happen if the final ritual simply wasn’t performed? Would her bond to Devin dissolve? Would her bond to himself dissolve? Would something even worse happen? “I need to study more.” He turned to leave, but his father stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

“Alex, you can’t bury yourself in the library again.” Vati gave him a sad smile. “We’ve missed you too.”

Alex nodded. “You’re right.” He had missed his family terribly. “Please help me find a balance. I’ve been isolated for a very long time.”

Vati chuckled. “Your mother will drag you out if you stay away too long.”

Anna threw her phone down on her bed and sat down hard on the floor, drawing her knees to her chest. Wilhelm had abandoned her. He had his own family to worry about and he had finally realized that he needed to attend to them first. She was just a side distraction. A plaything.

She stared at the floor in front of her until there was a soft knock on her door. She looked up to see Hugo standing in her doorway, looking concerned. “Is everything okay?”

Anna shrugged. “As okay as it ever is.”

He walked over and sat behind her, hugging her to him. She sighed and relaxed into his embrace. “I’m glad you’re here.”

He kissed her cheek. “As long as you need me, I will be here for you.” He kissed her cheek. They sat together in silence for several minutes. “Do you want me to leave so you can go to sleep?”

Anna bit her lip. “I don’t want you to leave,” she whispered. “But I understand if you need to.”

Hugo hesitated. “I don’t want to leave you like this, Kittycat,” he said softly. “I’ll stay if you want me to.”

Anna nodded. “I want you to.”

“Okay. Let me tell Aaron.” He stood and helped her to her feet. “And I’ll be right back.”

Anna sat on her bed. This wasn’t how she’d envisioned the night going, but she was glad he was willing to stay. He’d been adamant about not staying with her for weeks. Was it because he knew what she was now? No, he didn’t really know what she was. He just knew her guardian had abused her. He wanted to take care of her and she was grateful for it.

Several minutes later, he returned, closing the door softly behind him and held up a pair of sweats. “Aaron lent me something to sleep in. Jeans aren’t very comfortable.”

“Oh! I hadn’t even thought about that.” She smiled shyly. “What do you normally sleep in?”

He grinned. “My underwear or sweats.” He wagged his eyebrows and she giggled. “What do you normally sleep in?”

She looked down. “Something like this, I guess. Or naked.”

His grin widened. “I can’t say I’m not looking forward to the second.”

Anna looked away and bit her lip. The idea of being naked with Hugo made her body tingle with excitement.

“I’ll go change if that’s okay?”

She nodded, realizing she hadn’t even seen him with his shirt off. That was very unusual. Normally, she saw a man naked first and rarely got to know him better.

The door opened and she turned, butterflies in her stomach. Why was she nervous? Well, there was reason to be nervous, she supposed. They were spending the night together, although she had a feeling there would be no sex involved, which was fine with her. She was sore from Jack and really wanted to be able to enjoy their first time together.

He smiled and walked to her bed, pulled down the covers, and looked at her. “You sleeping over there?”

---