I nodded then followed her back to the court.
"Have you played?"
"I've played tennis."
She taught me the rules. They weren't difficult. Then she gave me one of the balls and told me to try serving. It took several tries, but I got the hang of it.
After that, we volleyed. She let me serve, and then she gave me easy hits. "See how long we can keep it going."
I wasn't very good, and even when she was gentle, I did poorly. After missing another easy hit, I hung my head. "I am sorry, m'lady."
She stepped to me and lifted my chin. "Are you playing the best you can?"
"Well, yes, but-"
She put two fingers over my mouth. "That is all I ask. Do your best."
"I have poor coordination for things like this."
"Are you having fun?"
"I feel badly."
"Then you are focused on the wrong thing. We are here to have fun together."
I stared at her. "Fun? Vampires have fun?"
She began laughing, and I colored immediately, but she hugged me and said, "Yes, vampires have fun. We haven't lost all our humanity."
"I believe it's my serve."
She released me and laughed.
I started hitting more of them. She kept her strikes easy, but made me move all over the court to return them. Then she said, "It's time for a game."
"This will be quick."
She smiled. "You can't hit them in fashion I can't return them, so instead you gain a point, or take back the serve, if you do five volleys. I am going to make you work for them, but I am trying to make you win."
"What do I get if I win?"
"What do you want?"
"A canvas, brushes, and paint."
She smiled broadly. "Then that is what you are playing for. What do you offer me if I win?"
"You can already take anything you want from me."
"I want something you offer."
"I like when you feed from me."
"Something different. Don't try to guess what I want most. Offer something you haven't been giving."
I thought about it. She waited patiently. "Do you enjoy having your feet massaged?"
"I do," she said. "Is that your offer?"
"It is. Is that bad?"
"No. It is lovely. I accept. Your serve."
The score ended twenty-one to three. Mine was the three, of course, but she celebrated every time I "scored" by her rather unusual rules, and I was pleased to have gotten the three. By the time we were done, I was wringing wet and worn out.
"Well played," she said, and she seemed to enjoy it. She hadn't cracked a sweat, and I was sodden, but she didn't seem to mind.
"Did you really have fun, m'lady?"
"A great deal. And did you?"
"Yes. Thank you." I paused. "Can we play tomorrow?"
"Not tomorrow. I'm sorry. But the next day after I wake in the morning."
"Will I see you tomorrow?"
"Yes. I have meetings, but I will visit with you before I leave. I will be home late and will find you." She paused. "You are going to grow bored, aren't you?"
"Yes, but I didn't earn my paints."
"No, but you perhaps earned company, and Ashlyn's tablet has movies on it."
She led the way from the court, leading me back to the dressing room.
"Undress and shower here," she said. "That is the rule for you."
"I remember," I said. "Are you going to watch?"
"Oh yes."
I smiled shyly, but undressed and headed for the shower. There was no curtain. She leaned against the wall and watched me avidly.
"I need to ask you about something, m'lady. I do not know how to do so and be assured I will not get anyone in trouble."
"Did someone do something that will anger me?"
"No one did anything that I believe should anger you."
"Then ask."
"Maria was upset with her daughter for last night. She worried she would be fired for an overly presumptive daughter. She also did not know why you treated Penny the way you did, and you do not come out looking as good as you should in the version of events Penny is sharing."
I glanced over, and her features were clouded, and then I saw her fangs appear.
I gulped. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."
She stood there, and I could practically see the steam rising from her, so I dropped to my knees then crawled to her, lowering myself and began kissing her feet slowly.
"You don't have to do that," she said, but I could tell from the change in her voice she was still wearing fangs."
Instead I grabbed a shoe. "Take it off, m'lady."
She let me remove both her shoes, and then I was kissing her bare feet, which I imagined both of us enjoyed better than kissing her athletic shoes.
"You don't have to do that, either."
I didn't stop until she knelt down and partially lifted me. She still sported fangs. I stared at them.
"Do not be frightened."
"I am sorry. I did not want to upset you."
"I need to hear the rest."
"I told Maria the truth about Penny. She may not have believed me. Lady Dunn, please do not be angry with your staff. If someone must be punished, punish me."
"No one is going to be punished."
"Did you need to feed?"
"Later."
I reached up and caressed her face, trying to soothe her. "How about now and later?"
She didn't say anything, so I intentionally pierced my thumb on her fang, then slipped it between her lips.
She sucked on it for only a moment. It was hardly anything, but the fangs slowly withdrew. Another moment, and she pulled my thumb from her mouth. It had stopped bleeding.
"It must have healed almost immediately," I observed.
"Yes, there was only a drop or so. It was the gesture that helped." She stood, lifting me, then said, "Finish your shower. Is there more of this story?"
I stepped back in and began to wash my hair. "No more to the story, but advice from your blood slave, if you would hear it."
"I would."
"I believe you should tell your staff what happened. I take it you didn't because of some vampire reason, but I believe your household would be far more harmonious if they knew their old view of you was accurate, and you were not as capricious as someone has tried to paint you."
"It will be difficult to remain calm while I tell them."
"I will help if you tell me how."
"No. I can't have you there. I'll tell them."
"I also believe you should decide if you would welcome more offers like the ones last night. I do not believe the offers to join them are made from obligation. I could be wrong. I believe you could accept the offers that are given but perhaps make sure they know they are not obligated to offer. I do not know how you feel about this, so my advice is to ask and be honest with your staff."
"Also good advice. I will assure them I will never be offended and that I may start accepting from time to time."
"Good."
I rinsed my hair and turned to her. "I did not bring a towel. Perhaps I should dry on your clothing."
She laughed, stepped away, and then returned with a towel, holding it open for me. I expected her hand it to me, but when she didn't, I stepped into it, and she wrapped it around me.
"There is a hair dryer," she said. "You may use it if you dry your body and return the towel to me first."
"So you can watch?"
"You could wriggle while you do it."
I laughed. "Yes, m'lady Peeping Dunn."
She guffawed.
Dinner Party
Over the next few weeks, I settled in. I lost tablet privileges for a day after a particularly snarky comment and found myself locked in my room for the entire day until Lady Dunn released me after dinner, inviting me to conversation in her room. But otherwise, I slowly accrued additional privileges.
The tablet charging station moved into
my room, but Lady Dunn reminded me of my promises to her. Similarly, I received a hair dryer. One morning during my second week, I woke to find the drawing pad and pencils waiting for me with a note from the lady explaining I was under no obligation to conserve paper, and I should feel free to draw as much as I liked, but I was not allowed to destroy the drawings, and they were her property once I was done. That day, I imagined her in Victorian dress, drawing as best I could. Before bed, I left the pad on the table opened to that drawing, and in the morning, the page had been taken away. I thought it would be.
The next morning, colored pencils appeared. There was no note.
It was understood the only way I was getting canvas and paints was winning a game of racquetball, and we played nearly every day. I slowly improved, but I wouldn't win the paints any time soon. I wasn't sure if I could paint, anyway, and I wasn't sure I wanted the smell in my bedroom.
During the third week, I was granted access to certain portions of the house. My door would be unlocked when breakfast was served and remain unlocked until my bedtime. I was allowed to travel to the gym and one of the comfortable sitting rooms but was under prohibition to be found in any other parts of the house.
For my part, I continued to do my best to please her. I became increasingly attuned to her needs, although I still found her temper unsettling and oftentimes deeply frightening.
She treated me as she had been, as her slave, becoming even more overt about it. I found myself spending hours at a time sitting at her feet, my leash attached to a hoop on her belt, while she worked at her desk. She allowed me the tablet or my pad but forbade distractions.
She began parading me about during the day, leading me through the house, tugging on my lip, and through the grounds. I remained self-conscious about the nudity. But while I didn't understand this need of hers to display me, I understood she took pleasure from it, and so I didn't complain and, if she was especially moody, might even suggest a walk.
She sampled my blood every single day, and a few days, more than once. She only took the smallest taste, and she rewarded me with her tongue. I developed scars on my neck from the repeated puncture wounds, but I tried to ignore them. Then I found her fingering them and smiling, and I realized she liked knowing she was the cause. I didn't understand, but she was treating me far better than I had expected, and so I didn't complain or inquire.
I began to believe I would survive, and I looked forward to my time with her, and not just for the pleasure her tongue brought me. We had long, intriguing conversations, and the attention she lavished upon me grew increasingly flattering, once I no longer dreaded it.
She refused any questions regarding her motivations.
And then, the Saturday after I had belonged to her for a month, it all came crashing down around me.
* * * *
We played racquetball in the morning, but she told me she was busy that afternoon. I would see her for dinner, and she told me to take care with my hair before she arrived.
"Do we have a date?" I asked playfully.
"Yes."
"Are you taking me somewhere?"
"No. We're staying here. No more questions."
But she locked me in my room without explanation, other than, "No, you have not lost privileges. This is only for the afternoon."
And so, I was ready for her, and quite ready to be free of my room again, but I was not ready for her appearance. She appeared in the doorway a few minutes after I had finished eating and cleaning up. I barely glanced at her before I was on the floor, kneeling, my head bowed. She stepped forward, and she was wearing an elegant pair of strap heels. I bent over further and kissed her feet, slowly, the way I always did, the way that I knew pleased her.
"Stop," she ordered. I froze. She wasn't usually so crisp. I feared I had displeased her. "Kneel."
I knelt up, and she attached my leash. She was rough about it.
That was when I saw how she was dressed. She was wearing a long, elegant silver gown. Her hair was up, and she sparkled in gems dangling from her ears and draped around her throat and wrists. Someone had done her makeup, and she looked pale and severe but with bright, red lips and painted eyes.
"Have I displeased you?"
She stood there, watching me for a moment before answering. "No. We have guests."
I stared up into her face. She was going to parade me to her guests! I lowered my head, thinking quickly, but she jerked my head up with the chain.
"You will speak only when spoken to," she ordered. "You will attend me and only me. You will remain deeply focused, your entire attention, on my pleasures. You will make no effort to hide your nudity. You will obey any order I give you, promptly, with no comment or back talk. No exceptions."
I gulped, and my heart was pounding.
"Tell me who you are!" she said.
I gulped again. "I am your blood slave, m'lady Dunn. I am your property. I live only to serve you."
I hated saying it, right then. I'd told her that before, during sweeter moments, but right then and there, I suddenly hated it, just like I did the first day I arrived.
"My guests are vampires. There may be one or two blood slaves, I do not know. You will make no notice if there are. Do you understand your orders?"
"Most of them, m'lady."
She jerked the chain. "Which ones do you not understand?"
"Will I know if someone is speaking to me, and thus I should answer?"
"Yes."
"Are you-" I paused, frightened. "Are you going to hurt me?"
"If you misbehave."
"Humiliate me?"
She paused. "Probably. You will accept it. All of it. Whatever I do to you. Whatever I make you do, you will do. Do not anger me, not tonight. If you are petulant tomorrow, your punishment will be far less than if you anger me tonight. Tell me who you are!"
"I am your blood slave, m'lady, your property. I live for your pleasure."
"Remember it. Come."
She jerked me to my feet, and it was not kind. I couldn't help it, and I cried out. She didn't appear to notice. Then she dragged me behind her, jerking the chain cruelly, and I whimpered each time.
What had happened to the woman who seemed to care for me? Had it all been a lie?
I whimpered, but I didn't complain. I didn't fight her. She knew what she was doing to me, of course she did, and it was done intentionally. I didn't understand why.
We descended to the main floor, and then she tugged me to the largest of the sitting rooms, the one filled with four different sitting areas, several couches and chairs in each circle of furniture. The double doors were closed, but the two maids stood beside them, and as we approached, they opened both doors. We strode through without pause.
The room was full.
She dragged me to a stop three steps inside the door, and immediately the occupants of the room turned to face us. I knew immediately they were all vampires except for two other blood slaves I could see, one male, one female. They both looked haggard, their eyes dark and lifeless, and I immediately knew: that could have easily been me. Then I wondered if that's how I would look eventually.
Lady Dunn's fist was wrapped around my chain, just below my chin. She used her control to turn me this way and that, giving everyone a good view of me. And then, a heartbeat later, they began to applaud.
Lady Dunn tugged me downwards. "Kiss them," she ordered, giving me slack in the chain so I could kneel, bend over, and begin kissing her feet again. The applause continued.
They were applauding themselves on how low they had taken me, and I colored horribly, but I kissed her feet.
I was already humiliated, and we had only just arrived.
She tugged me to my feet, her fist wrapping in the chain again, and then she dragged me along behind her as she turned to the first of her guests. The applause subsided, and a moment later, the conversation in the room resumed.
"Ah, Derek," she said. "Bridgette. It is so good to see you." And there was a downward tug on the
chain. I dropped to my knees beside her, and she held me there, but a moment later she tugged me off balance, and I found myself leaning against her hip. I took the hint, shuffling very slightly closer, pressing my body against hers.
After that, she moved from small conversation to small conversation. Tugging me to my feet when it was time to move, and back to my knees when it was time to stop. I stared dully at the floor the entire time, ignoring everything else around me.
But then she used the chain to tug my face up, turning me to face the two vampires she was talking to.
"Melissa Walsh," said the man. He smirked at me. "Such a tragic story. Gifted artist, not exactly famous, but known in certain circles, and now reduced to a blood slave." He looked at Lady Dunn. "Quite the coup for you to have captured her."
She inclined her head once, accepting the compliment.
"Are all these paintings hers?" said the woman, gesturing about the room.
"Oh yes," replied Lady Dunn. "Even the tattoo is hers. Fitting, don't you think?"
"Lovely," the man said.
Lady Dunn jerked me to my feet and gestured. I looked around for the first time since arriving, and I saw paintings everywhere, all of them mine. There must have been twenty or twenty-five.
"This one," said the man, gesturing to one behind him. Lady Dunn tugged me forward, and the four of us clustered in front of one of the pieces. "Tell us about this one, blood slave."
I looked instead at the lady. She jerked on the chain. "Answer him."
I turned to the painting, remembering it. "Light of the Lily," I said dully. "Acrylic on canvas. Produced, um, six years ago for..." I tried to remember.
"Opal Banks," furnished the lady.
"Yes," I said. "Mrs. Banks. She told me her grandmother used to love lilies, and how she envisioned her grandmother looking down on her from heaven. She said nothing else, only that she trusted me, so I did a single lily, light and delicate, but then I gave it a glow."
"Like an angel's halo," said the woman.
"Exquisite," said the man. "And this one?"
They drew me from painting to painting. Lady Dunn had some of my very earliest paintings and one I had done only a few months previously. I was blinking away the tears by the fourth. And then Lady Dunn said, "And this is one of her newest pieces."
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