Page 1 of The Toymaker
Chapter One
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“Get out! I said you’re not staying!”
Kit fell on his rear in the dirt outside, and his pack came flying after him. “I said I’ll behave! I won’t-”
Perry stood in the doorway with his lip curled. “You never listen for long, so why should I believe you now? You don’t even want to get out when I say so. I knew you were going to make a fuss, and I'm done.”
Kit had tried to ask why when Perry had been hauling him toward the door. Of course, he didn’t want to be made to leave so abruptly with barely a minute of notice.
“Please don’t make me go.” Kit couldn’t help it as he started to sob. “Why would you throw me out like this? At least talk-”
“I don’t want a brat. I’ve already said this, but you don’t pay attention. I want someone who actually listens and does what he’s told! I've had enough, and it's over between us. You've known the rules, and I'm tired of this nonsense.”
“Give me one more chance!” Kit wiped his eyes and scrambled to get on his knees as he looked up at Perry. The glare he received said there would be no more chances. “Please! I’ll try really hard.”
Perry leaned against the doorframe and pursed his lips. “I’ll tell you what. If you can last a year at the toymaker, I’ll take you back.”
Kit scrunched his eyebrows together. “What?”
“Do you remember the notice we saw last week?”
“Um, yeah.” Kit swiped at his damp cheek. Perry had pointed it out, but he couldn’t remember much of what it said because he hadn't considered it important.
“If you can last a year and learn how to behave and have self-control, I’ll take you back for a month and see how you do. You can stay if you’re suitable.”
Kit nearly gaped at him. “But-”
“The first thing out of your mouth is a complaint!”
“You’d only take me back after a whole year?!”
“It’s that, or it’s nothing. If you want to be a pleasure slave, you have to learn how to act like one and obey. I shouldn't have to train one beyond a couple of simple things, and I don’t see how you could start to forget things after six months or have issues with keeping a cage on until I say otherwise. Maybe someone else who’s willing to put up with you for a year can whip you into shape and beat out the defiance.”
The door slammed, and Kit was left in the dirt as the welts on his back stung thanks to the rough handling he’d just received. His last whipping had been for punishment, and he’d been given a little time to heal.
He hadn’t been told he’d be kicked out afterward. The morning had started like usual, and Kit hadn’t known Perry was packing his things when he’d been doing the breakfast dishes.
Kit knew he had deserved the punishment because he had disappointed his Master again. Over and over, he’d told himself he’d do better. Punishment always made him learn before, and he thought he could since his previous relationships had always gone well.
He didn't understand what was wrong in his head lately. It was his fault. He knew that much.
The dirt road led toward Raven’s Landing. Perry hated living in the city itself since he said it was too noisy, and his house wasn't that far. The weedy fields along the side of the road wereempty except for a yellow chuckle chickie giggling to itself as it swooped around. Kit trudged along since it wasn’t like he had anything else to do.
A flock of ravens flew overhead as he rubbed his bare neck. He’d worn a collar for the past year to remind him of his place. The one Perry had given Kit had been made with lirek which meant his magic had been suppressed.
Kit focused and brought his fire to his palm. Being forbidden their own magic was used as a form of humiliation for some pleasure slaves, not that he’d truly been embarrassed by it. The dancing orange fire didn’t make him happy, and he snuffed it out.
There was nothing like being owned full-time, and Perry had said he’d been thinking about marriage in their future. Perhaps two or three years. Kit had messed it up like an idiot. He couldn’t even say why since he’d been mostly good for the first six months after he’d signed the contract. It was after that he’d started going downhill even though the rules hadn’t been hard.
A purple and yellow theybug landed on his arm to crawl along.
“Even you probably think I'm a failure,” said Kit.
The bug flew away.
“Figures.”
