Page 141 of Spark

I turned on my heels and did as he asked, lifting my hair to allow him to place the pendant around my neck. It felt heavy and cold as it rested right in the middle of my chest.

“Thank you,” I said as I turned around.

“You’re welcome. Now, let’s go.”

Taking my hand, he led me out to the circle drive and opened the door to his Ferrari for me to climb inside. I watched from the rearview window as Clive and Owen got into the idling black BMW behind us. Since it looked like they were the only ones tagging along for the ride, I assumed we were going to another place Darren trusted. It made me feel a little better.

As Darren pulled away from the estate, the anxiety began to pick up again. I still had no idea where we were going or what was in store, and it just felt too necessary to know. Finally, I found my voice.

“Anything particularly special I should know about tonight?” I asked.

He released a sigh through his nose as he concentrated on the road, clearly conflicted about answering me.

“You’re likely going to be upset at first, but you’ll quickly get over it if you want the night to continue.”

I regarded him closely. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Do you remember my friend, Matt? I introduced you to him at—”

“At your brother’s baby shower. Yes, I remember,” I said quickly.

Darren clenched his jaw at my interruption, and I quickly looked down at my lap in apology.

“We’re going to his house for dinner.”

“Okay. What could possibly cause me to be upset there?”

A ghost of a smile fell over his lips, and it had me all types of concerned.

“Matt recently acquired a slave from one of my auctions. His rules for her are much stricter than mine are for you, and since you’re so fond of complaining about your life, I thought it would be educational for you to experience hers.”

Son of a bitch.

I couldn’t stop myself from scowling. What a fucking prick. He would try to pull something like this. I knew I had to admit that my life compared to some others was probably better. Darren did keep me in a nice house, kept me well fed and cared for, expensive clothes, shoes, and jewelry, the ability to wander outside, a dog; I certainly was a pampered slave. But that still didn’t make any of it okay. Even if he did take care of me, at the end of the day, I was still a fucking prisoner.

But then something in Darren’s words caught my attention.

“Wait a minute. What do you mean by ‘experience hers’?”

“You’re going to abide by Matt rules tonight.”

I felt my eyes bulge out of my head. “What? What if they conflict with yours?”

“They won’t. He and I have already discussed it.”

“What kind of rules?”

“You’ll see. Just do exactly as she does. Don’t say a word. Don’t complain. And do not fucking push me. Make one wrong move, and you’ll spend a week in that cage, got it?”

I gritted my teeth so hard my jaw hurt.

“Yes, Darren,” I said solemnly, folded my arms and shrank into the passenger seat, not even bothering to focus on anything as I stared out the window. This was going to fucking suck.

When we eventually pulled up to a black gate, it opened almost immediately, allowing Darren and Clive and Owen to pull into an even bigger circle drive than the one at the estate. Looking out the window at the house, I had to force myself to stop from gaping. It was a big white colonial with giant white pillars at the door and big open windows.

Once we had parked, Darren got out of the car and came around to open the door to my side, taking my hand and helping me out while Clive and Owen rounded the car.

“There is one more thing you need to be aware of,” Darren said, a glimmer of warning shining in his eyes. “You need to stay within twenty feet of me if you want to remain within your designated perimeter. Understand?”

---