Page 23 of Under Your Care

He smiled, “We won’t be going out for a while, but once I feel comfortable enough with your progress, then we can go on dates and trips and stuff.”

“What do you mean by myprogress?”

“The speed of your acclimation to your new life,” he replied, as if that required no additional explanation.

I sighed, moving on to my next question, “Number four - “Message”implies that I’d have access to my phone, right?”

Greyson nodded, “Yes, you should be ready for that pretty soon. I’ll be remotely monitoring your activity on it.”

“Alright, that sounds okay. Oh, and what do you mean by people not vetted by you? I’ll still be able to talk to Oliver, right?”

“Of course. I’ll never fully take away your ability to talk with Oliver or your parents. I’ll also be adding my brothers’ numbers into your contacts. I don’t expect you to need to be in touch with them, but just in case. The rule is mainly for… For example, any of the men you’ve previously tried to have sex with.”

Reasonable enough.

“Number six - Why no masturbation? And how would you realistically enforce that?”

He grinned, a glint of lust in his eye. “You’re mine. Your mind, your heart, and your body. Meaning, I own you. I own your pleasure, your release, your frustration - everything. I will not allow you to be pleasured or hurt by anyone but me, including yourself.” I swallowed a moan, not wanting to show him how his words were affecting me. “I will know if you come without me.”

I slowly nodded, before hesitating, “Wait… you’re planning on hurting me?”

He licked his lips before declaring, “I have particular tastes that I believe you’ll discover you enjoy. Besides that - if you break any of these rules, I will punish you. Those punishments will most likely be painful. Nothing you can’t take, I promise.”

I shuddered slightly, undeniably curious about hisparticular tastes.

“Okay, um– Number… ten. I’m supposed to still do therapy? Really?” I questioned.

“Ah, yes. It’ll take place in my home office, of course.”

Of course.

“Fine – Number twelve?”

He smiled, “I’ll be giving you your new card in a couple days. No limit on it. I don’t want you using your money or your parents’ money anymore. It’s my job to take care of you, after all.”

“I still don’t understand you, but sure, I’ll use your money. Can I make rules for you now?” He nodded. “Okay, can I have some paper to write on?” Greyson flipped to an empty page before handing the binder and his pen to me.

Greyson’s Rules:

Do not hurt Chloe.

Do not kill Lane.

Do not lie to Lane.

Do not have sex with or romantically see anyone besides Lane.

Safe Word: Red

I passed the new list to Greyson, biting my lip. He read the rules I had written quickly, the corners of his mouth tipped up.

He looked over to me, a tender expression on his face, as he stated, “Agreed. I think having a safe word is a very smart idea. Good job.” He leaned over to pat my head. My heart squeezed as I allowed myself to push into his hand.

???

That night, I laid in what I was considering now to bemybed. And while the mattress felt like a cloud, I couldn’t fall asleep. It wasn’t that I was scared to, more so that my brain wouldn’t power down after everything that had happened. Chloe was evidently not suffering from the same issue, fastasleep at the end of the bed. After several hours of tossing and turning, I made a decision to explore the apartment, hoping that I’d tire myself out by walking around for a little while. I slipped out of bed, inwardly cheering to myself when my bedroom door clicked open. He hadn’t locked me in. I peeked out into the darkened hallway, reasoning to myself that if Greyson had wanted me to stay in my room, he would’ve locked the door. Therefore, he hopefully wouldn’t be upset at my exploration.

Padding down the hallway towards the kitchen, hardwood cool against my feet, I stopped as I came across the only other door in my hallway. Trying the doorknob, I rejoiced yet again when it wasn’t locked. I pouted when I looked in and found the laundry. Backing out into the hallway again, I turned and walked the few steps to the large open-concept kitchen and living room space. Pale moonlight filtered in through the windows, softly illuminating the space. As I moved closer to the windows, I saw that we were really high up. While my fear of heights did not appreciate that, my eyes certainly appreciated the gorgeous view of the city below us and the surrounding forested mountains.

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