Page 52 of Lost Petal

“Remember our deal, Petal?”

She offers a nod. Not enough.

“Respond to me like I told you to,” I remind her. “Do you remember our deal?”

She bites her lower lip, facing another struggle that ends in the correct conclusion for once.

“Yes, master.”

I can tell that having her eyes closed is making this a lot easier for her, but I let it pass for now. I want something from her and have to be careful not to overexert her right now.

“A few questions, and I’ll make you come,” I say. “It’s as simple as that.”

She nods, pressing her lips together as they threaten to spawn backtalk from instinct.

“Tell me more about the things you saw,” I ask of her. “About the memory, the man you saw.”

“Men,” she corrects me. “There were actually several of them. Three, I think.”

I nod. “Go on.”

“I felt close to one of them. I wanted to be closer to him,” she continues. “He wanted me, too. He was waiting for me, reaching his hand out to me. But when I tried to approach him, I was pushed back.”

“By...?”

“One of the other men.” Her forehead wrinkles as she relives the memory. “He stopped it. He stopped me from getting what I wanted. And I know he’s done it before, many times.”

It fucking bothers me that of all things, he is the first memory she regains access to. He was the main reason we did this in the first place. He was the one who drove her to me. And now he’s still haunting her, still holding his seemingly protective arm over her, even when she tried to shed him.

“Just like you,” she says, sending a hot knife through my heart. “You denied me, just like that man in my memory.”

I shake my head. “That’s not true, Petal.”

She snivels, squeezing her eyes shut as a new trail of tears adorns her cheeks.

“I’ve never been so humiliated. So tormented.”

I can’t suppress a dark chuckle at her words, and I relish the way she shivers when I lean over her, placing my lips right above hers, so close we’re almost touching.

“How would you know, Petal?” I ask her. “You don’t remember anything. How could you even use the word ‘never’?”

She stiffens, holding her breath for a few moments, before she opens her eyes to look at me.

And then, she begins to laugh.

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