Page 45 of Reclaimed

“Yes, sir,” I whispered.

“Very nice.” His fingers moved around to where my necklace rested on my chest. “And this?”

“Yes, sir, for my eighteenth.”

“Eighteenth!” Mark ’s usual stoic mask dropped for a second in surprise, and then he laughed. “I’d forgotten. So how old are you now?”

“Twenty, sir.”

He kissed my shoulder before sending me back upstairs to bed. I was grateful to be out of his presence. I couldn’t figure him out – he seemed disapproving of our arrangement, and yet he clearly felt comfortable enough to keep Ray’s secret; he had no qualms about touching me, but in his own way, he was showing me care…

18

My alarm went off early. I’d had no idea what time Mark would rise, but I knew I was expected to get him breakfast, so I needed to be up and ready early. I’d got through my first night alone with Mark and should only have to endure one more.

I couldn’t decide what to make of his actions the previous night. In the kitchen while I was cooking, he’d seemed so disdainful, but then in the middle of the night, he’d been gentle – he’d touched me but not tried anything. I was beginning to truly hate the mind games these men could play on me. If he was going to treat me like shit, I’d rather he just insulted me outright; if he was going to fuck me, I wished he’d just take me straightaway – at least then I’d know what I was dealing with. I was tired of trying to second-guess everything; I’d had to do that enough with Ray, and I didn’t want to have to do it with Mark as well.

I’d heard movement upstairs and managed to have Mark’s meal almost ready by the time he ventured into the kitchen.

“How long have you been up?” he asked, taking in the range of food and drink options waiting for him on the kitchen counter.

“Since five, sir.”

“Aren’t you tired?”

“No, sir.”

“Liar. You look exhausted. Did you get any sleep last night?”

“Yes, I did, thank you.”

He simply grunted before pulling a small jar from his pocket.

“Ray told me you need to take this.”

“Yes. Thank you, sir.” I took the pill from him and noticed that his usually stoic face seemed… disturbed by something.

“He doesn’t make me take it. I mean he does, but I was on them before he… you know.”

He raised his hands as if to say it didn’t concern him. “Whatever your Master says.”

I expected him to take his breakfast into the dining room, but instead, he stayed in the kitchen with me, and we ate in silence. Once we’d both finished, I started to put things away, but Mark still didn’t show any signs of leaving.

“How long have you been here now?”

“I don’t know exactly… about five months I think.”

“Has he hurt you?”

“Yes, sir,” I replied tentatively. I couldn’t work out if his tone was concerned or merely curious, but his questioning made me feel uneasy.

“Did you want him to?”

“Sometimes.” I shrugged casually as if we were discussing a TV show, hoping that my nonchalance would put him off.

“And the other times?”

“I made him angry.” I played nervously with my necklace, toying with the pendant in a defensive response to Mark ’s questions. Why was he so fascinated by what things were like between Ray and me? If he was happy to keep Ray’s secret then it couldn’t be that he disapproved, and he certainly didn’t seem to feel any pity for me. If it was his own curiosity, then why didn’t he just take advantage and do with me whatever Ray’s rules allowed him to?

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