Page 32 of The Devil's Spawn

“We will talk. We’ll talk about anything you want, butafteryou’ve accepted your punishment.”

“What am I being punished for? Will you at least give me a damn reason?”

His mouth formed an indomitable line. “The way you just spoke to me is a fine example of why your disobedient mouth is getting punished.”

Why bother protesting? Even if I were ready to tell him about the baby, he wasn’t willing to hear me until I took my discipline like the dutiful slave I was. I parted my lips and stretched them around the gag. After he’d tightened the buckle with extra oomph, he ordered me to my knees in the middle of our bedroom.

I did as told, and Gage surprised me by producing a set of leather cuffs. He secured my wrists behind me, and I had to wonder why. He rarely restrained me anymore—he didn’t have to. A slight chill stirred by body as he walked in a slow circle around me.

“I may be your husband, but this is not a normal marriage. You knew going in that I would have absolute authority over your life, your body, and your decisions.” Completing another circle, he came to a stop in front of me. “You have no control here, Kayla. And though I love your feisty spirit—God, I truly do—I won’t hesitate to put you in your place, pregnant or not.”

He cocked his head to the side. “And this is your place—on your knees, naked, bound, and gagged. Your place is on all fours, offering your cunt and asshole whenever I wish. Yourplace,” he said, raising his voice, “is in any damn position I see fit with your mouth wide open and eager to please me.”

Sliding his fingers under my chin, he forced my head up, eyes on him. “There is only one path to freedom, and it’s one I know you’ll never take. I’ve made sure of it.”

Everything he said was true, and it rose inside me, an insidious truth I couldn’t deny. He’d manipulated and molded me, trained and conditioned me. My will was strong and always present, but he’d somehow rewired it to exist for him.

“I’m not just your husband. I’m yourowner.” Crouching until we were at eye level, he caressed my cheek. “And that takes a lot of trust on your part, but I do realize it’s something we’re still working on. Your first instinct is to withhold and deceive, and I will not stop until I’ve eradicated that behavior. You will not doubt me, nor question me, nor fear me. You will learn to submit and serve with total trust.”

Something dark and dangerous crossed over his features. “But we aren’t there yet, are we? Even after the harsh punishment I put you through last week, you still feel the need to hide things from me.”

I shook my head with vehemence.

“The sudden onset of these questions about pregnancy are more than a little suspicious.” He pointed to where I kneeled. “Donotmove from that spot.” He hurried back into the bathroom, his stride full of purpose, and my stomach dropped. This couldn’t be good. If he planned to search my things for birth control pills that didn’t exist…I began to shake. He was going to find the note.

The fucking note I’d forgotten about until now.

To top it off, I was going to choke on my own vomit because I hadn’t told him about the baby. That should have been the first thing I’d done this afternoon, as soon as he came through the door.

Instead, I’d stewed and overthought it too much. I’d worried myself into this position. If I’d only been honest, we’d be celebrating right now. But there would be no celebration tonight. How could I expect him to wield his power over me with caution and safety if he didn’t have all the facts? No matter the sadistic bastard that lived inside him, I knew he would have never left me gagged, unattended for even a minute if he’d known I was suffering from morning sickness.

Calm down. Deep breaths through the nose.

Breathing deeply and purposefully staved off the nausea. I focused on drawing air in and out of my lungs in a slow and steady rhythm as I waited for him to return. Drawers opened and closed, cupboards squeaked then slammed shut. The unmistakable sound of him rifling through my things filtered to where I kneeled. Finally, he appeared in the open doorway of the bathroom, long after my knees had begun to ache from the hard floor, and my burning shoulders slumped.

Entering the bedroom again, Gage came to a stop in front of me. Dread chewed my gut as I saw what he held in his hands. Struggling to dislodge the gag—which was impossible—I whined and shimmied, begging him with my eyes to let me speak.

He took mercy on me. Leaning down, he loosened the strap and pulled the rubber ball from my mouth. But he didn’t free my wrists from the cuffs, and that bespoke of the degree of trouble I was in.

“It’s not what you think,” I hurried to explain, then winced at that particular cliched tripe.

“You’re right. It’s definitely not what I thought.” He began pacing. “I thought maybe you didn’t want another child, but you didn’t know how to tell me.” He clutched my makeup compact in a fist. “I was looking for contraceptives. Instead, I found this.”

“Gage—”

He cut me off by swiping a hand through the air. “How long have you been keeping this from me?”

“It doesn’t mean anything.”

“Howlong?” he demanded, opening the compact before tossing it onto the floor. He balled his fingers around the note, crushing it.

“A few weeks. I would have gotten rid of it last week, but I forgot about it.”

Shit. That wasnotthe right thing to say. His face darkened, a storm brewing on the horizon.

“Wait, that came out wrong, Master. I meant that the note didn’t mean anything to me anymore. I saw that he was okay. In fact, I found out he’s dating Simone, and I’m okay with it!” I struggled to my feet, pleading with my eyes for him to understand. “I would have mentioned it, or thrown it away, but Iforgot.”

“How can you just forget something like this?”

---