Slave (4 page)

Brianna didn’t look at me again for the rest of the weekend. I’d never insisted my submissives avert their eyes except during specified times of play. A person’s eyes revealed so much about them, and I wanted that connection with whomever I was playing.

With Brianna it was different. I’d never played with someone so damaged. Of course, we weren’t playing.

No matter how much I waited and watched, Brianna’s personality showed no signs of emerging during the long weekend. The only real emotion I saw in four days was fear.

Stephan

My alarm went off on schedule at six Monday morning. Per my normal routine, I showered and made my way into the kitchen. What I hadn’t expected to find was Brianna kneeling on my kitchen floor.

We were going to have to talk, and soon.

I’d told her I would be returning to work this morning, but since she still wasn’t talking, we hadn’t really discussed anything. “You may stand.” She complied immediately.

“Do you like ham and cheese omelets?” I asked as I pulled the ingredients out of the refrigerator.

She didn’t respond right away to my question, which made me wonder just how long it had been since her opinion had been asked. Finally, I heard a weak “Yes, Master.”

It wasn’t until I glanced up at her that I noticed she was still standing, head bowed. She was watching me though, albeit covertly. I turned back to the stove to continue cooking. “You may sit, Brianna.”

Her quick response threw me, but it wasn’t what I’d wanted. She was back to kneeling on the floor. I sighed. After four days, I thought she would have known what I’d wanted when I told her to sit. This was going to be interesting. “Sit on one of the stools, please.”

I heard her movement and knew she’d done as instructed even though I wasn’t watching her. There was silence as I finished preparing breakfast and then came around to set both our plates down. She didn’t eat, even after I started, until I gave her permission.

After finishing breakfast with absolutely no conversation from my companion, I took her into my bedroom and gave her another T-shirt and a pair of my jogging shorts. She took them hesitantly and waited for instructions just as she had each day since arriving. “You are to go to your room and change into these clothes. I will be leaving and won’t be back until this evening. You may watch television, read any of the books in the living room, and make yourself lunch.” Then I handed her a piece of paper. “This is my cell phone. You are to call it if you need to.”

I closed the distance between us and raised her head to meet my eyes. “You will not be punished if you call me, Brianna,” I whispered.

With that, I picked up my jacket and left for work.

I was late, as I knew I would be. Things with Brianna took more time than I usually allotted myself in the mornings. It was quite obvious from my observations that she had not been able to do much past breathing without permission. She didn’t do anything because she was afraid. Fear had no place for my submissives inside or outside of the playroom.

So, when I arrived at my office, the first thing I did was tell Jamie I needed to see Lily as soon as possible.

Lily strolled into my office less than an hour later. “You asked to see me?”

“Yes, Lily,” I said. “Please shut the door.”

She did and took a seat across from my desk. Her expression showed concern. “Is everything okay? Logan said he tried to call you over the weekend.”

Of course, Logan had tried to call me. Not showing up to work without notice was strange behavior for me. I’d talk to him soon.

Instead of answering her, I got directly to the point. “Lily, I need your help.”

“Sure,” she said, smiling. “What do you need? I already talked with Karl and . . .”

I cut her off. “This doesn’t have anything to do with Karl. Or work, actually.” There was no easy way to say this so it was better to get it over with. “I have . . . inherited a . . . woman. And she’s . . . well she’s . . .” I grunted in frustration.

“Stephan, what’s going on? Are you talking about a new submissive? You didn’t say anything about getting a new sub. I mean, I know you were looking, but . . . when did you find her?”

She was rattling on in regular Lily fashion. And as much as I didn’t want to have to tell anyone about this, I knew if I wanted her help there was no choice. I cut into her monologue. “I bought her Wednesday night.”

Lily shot up from her chair. “You . . . you . . .
bought her
!” These last two words were said in a shout.

“Sit down, Lily,” I commanded. She wasn’t my submissive, but I was her boss.

After a few seconds delay, she sat back down. “What do you mean, you
bought her
?” she said with a hiss.

“I mean, I bought a woman from Ian Pierce last week.”

At the mention of Ian’s name, Lily’s back stiffened. After spending the weekend with Brianna, I knew Lily had good reason for her reaction. The man was obviously a sadist, and it didn’t surprise me that she’d heard of him. People talk.

“Is she okay?” she asked, her voice full of concern for this girl she didn’t know.

“Physically? I think so or at least she will be. Emotionally? Not at all from what I’ve seen. That’s why I need your help.”

“Anything.” And she was completely serious. Logan and Lily were two of my best friends; they would do anything they could to help me.

I nodded. “First, I need you to take her shopping. She has nothing but what she left Ian’s wearing, which isn’t suitable. I’ve had her wearing some of my old things, but she needs to have clothes of her own.”

“Do you know what size she is?” Lily asked, the excitement behind her eyes broadcasting her true feelings about my request. Lily loved a challenge, and this would prove to be a substantial one. Buying an entire wardrobe for a woman you’ve never met and knew nothing about wasn’t something to take lightly; and knowing Lily, and her desire to please, she would do her best for Brianna.

“No clue. She’s about your size. Maybe a little taller, I’d say. Does that help?”

“It gives me a place to start,” she said, and I could see her mind already working.

“Good.” I reached into my pocket, pulled out my wallet, and extracted a credit card. “I want you to take the day off, go pick her up from my place, and get her what she needs.”

Her eyes lit up as she reached for the card.

I retracted my hand slightly, making her meet my eyes. “Needs, Lily. Needs.”

“I’ll be conservative, I promise.”

With that, I handed her the card and watched her walk purposefully out of my office.

An hour later, Lily called; Brianna wouldn’t leave the apartment because I had not given her permission to do so. Brianna’s willingness to follow instructions to the letter would be beneficial in the playroom but having it in place every minute of the day was exhausting.

Lily put her on the phone. “Brianna,” I said. “Lily is there to take you shopping for some new clothes. She’ll have you back before I get home.” She remained silent on the other end. “Do you understand?”

“Yes, Master.”

Then the phone was given back to Lily, or more likely taken back by Lily.

“Stephan?”

“I’m here.”

“I’m sorry I raised my voice to you earlier. You did the right thing.”

I sighed. “Thank-you. I just hope I can help her.”

“You can, and you will. I have faith.” Her smile was evident through the phone.

And then she was gone, leaving me once again to think about Brianna. I hadn’t been doing much of anything else since my meeting with Daren last week. Lily would see what remained of her bruises today, but I trusted she would deal with it. They had lightened since I brought her home last week, in any case.

It was thinking about Brianna’s bruises that led me to my next phone call. Taking her to a doctor would raise too many questions, but I did want someone to check her out. I needed to make sure the bruises were the only things I was dealing with, at least physically.

“Hello, Richard. It’s Stephan.”

Brianna

The minute he walked out the door I let the trembling take over my body, and my legs gave out. For the first time in months, I let the tears fall freely without worrying about the consequences.

I didn’t know how long I lay there, but finally the tears stopped flowing, and I took the time to really look around. His home was nice. It was smaller than where I’d been, but less creepy, too. There were large windows all along one wall with a view of the downtown skyline.

Walking to the window, my hand came up and touched the glass. Then I remembered.

Fingerprints.

I ran to the kitchen and frantically opened the cabinets looking for glass cleaner. There under the sink was a bottle of Windex. Clutching it like a lifeline, I took several paper towels and went back to the window to wipe away my error before he came home. He’d been nice to me so far; I didn’t want to make him mad.

Ian had been pleasant enough as long as I did what I was told, immediately as I was told, and I obeyed his rules. But with my new Master it was different. This place was different. And I got to sleep in my very own bed instead of the floor.

The thought of trying to escape crossed my mind, but I cowered against it. No, he’d only find me, just as Ian had when I’d tried to run.

Racing back across the room, I put the supplies back and willed the memories to go away. I didn’t want to remember Ian or anything to do with the last ten months. My new Master was all I needed to think about. I had to make him happy with me.

Hearing a sound I turned quickly and saw the front door opening. Was he home early? Did something happen? Did I do something? I was starting to panic. What did I do?

I ran out of the kitchen so that I was visible from the doorway and dropped to the floor. Maybe, if he found me willing to accept whatever punishment he had in mind, he would go easy on me, and it wouldn’t be so bad.

But I didn’t hear his heavy footfalls. These were lighter, and it sounded like the person was wearing heels. Then they stopped. When I opened my eyes, not realizing until then I’d closed them, I saw two tiny feet wearing tan pumps a foot in front of me.

I didn’t know if I should look up or not, but since she seemed to be waiting for me to move first, I raised my head and found a beautiful woman with long red hair smiling down at me. “Hello. I’m Lily. You must be Brianna.”

Was I supposed to answer? She seemed to be waiting again. “Um . . . yes,” I said, my voice just above a whisper. Hopefully, if I wasn’t supposed to answer, my meek response would lessen the retribution.

All she did was smile at me. “Nice to meet you. Stephan sent me to take you shopping.”

Stephan? My new Master sent her to take me shopping? I was confused.

She didn’t allow me time to ponder, though, before reaching down and pulling me to my feet. “Come on,” she said. “We have lots to do today, and we simply must get you out of those clothes.”

Lily led me into the room that my new Master had referred to as mine. She tossed the large bag she’d been carrying onto the bed and with hands on her hips said, “Now, let’s get you out of those—things.” She paused to lift the front of my shirt with the tips of two fingers before quickly releasing it as if it had bitten her. “They don’t deserve the title of clothing, really.”

Everything else happened in a rush of movement. Before I knew it, she had me out of the T-shirt and shorts Master had given me this morning and into a long sleeved pink shirt and jeans. The jeans were a little big so she added a belt. The shoes didn’t fit right, either.

Her hands went back to her hips as she appraised me. “That color is all wrong for you, but it will have to do, I suppose.” She grabbed the discarded clothing and threw it into the now empty bag. “Now to shop!” she said with excitement as she pulled me back out into the main room and toward the door.

She released her hold on my arm to retrieve a coat from a closet I hadn’t known existed. That’s when I realized we were leaving. I resisted, digging my heels in. Who was this Lily and did my Master really send her? What if he didn’t and came home to find me gone? No. I couldn’t leave.

Lily saw that I was not moving and shook her head. “I’ll have you back before he returns,” she said. The next thing I knew she pulled me into a hug and said, “It’s okay.”

Then she stepped back, still holding on to both of my shoulders. I was still shaking my head, knowing I needed to speak, to explain to her why I couldn’t go. Finding words was harder than I thought, but eventually I managed to blurt, “He . . . he didn’t say I could leave.”

She studied me for a moment, and then, putting a few feet between us, she pulled out a cell phone from her bright yellow purse, punched in a number, and put it to her ear. After a brief pause, I heard her say, “She doesn’t want to go with me.”