“I’m not mad at you. You were right when you said no, and I’m actually glad that you did,” he says, smiling a little. “But I understand if you are mad at me.”
“Why?” It’s the only word I can come up with right now.
The guy that my Master demanded stay here suddenly appears in the doorway, peeking in as if he doesn’t know what else to do.
My Master turns his head, and then says something that confuses me completely. “Him.”
***
Marcus
It was all to free that boy.
I knew that if I did this, it would mean her undoing.
I can see the anger in her eyes, the poison of mistrust seeping through her heart at this very moment.
And it’s all my fault.
I made the deal with The Lady … To buy him, I would have to fuck her in front of everyone at a sex party. So I did. But her wanting more from my Ava was a step too far.
I risked her love and trust to save him … I sacrificed something I shouldn’t have.
And that woman dared to ask for more?
Just thinking about it makes me want to rip her heart out and feed it to her.
I should’ve pulled the trigger.
Perhaps then Ava would’ve felt less used.
Then again … I can’t possibly kill someone in the Alliance. It would mean my own end as well. I’m not ready to go out yet.
And I’m not ready to lose Ava either.
But I understand why she’s so upset. I took from her without asking her if it was okay… just as one of her previous masters would have. I’m no better than they are, even though I tried to make her believe that.
How stupid could I be?
I get up and look away, not wanting either of them to see the regret in my eyes.
I have to remember … this is the only way.
Even if she hates me for what I did, it had to go this way.
“What about him?” she murmurs, gazing at the boy with the bright orange hair and blue eyes standing in the doorway.
I look up at him, and he immediately clenches his fist. “Whatever you’re thinking, don’t,” I say.
The boy makes a run for it.
I follow him into the living room, taking my time to make sure I don’t agitate him further, confident he will not escape. All the doors are locked; there’s no way out.
“Don’t run,” I say.
“No!” he yells. “I have to go back to Mistress. She’ll punish me if I don’t.” He slams the door as if it will break. As if he can claw his way out. I guess he’s just as broken as she is.
“She won’t. You’re not going back there, and if it’s up to me, you’ll never see her again either.”
With widened eyes, he turns around, his fists still on the door. “What did you do?”
“I own you now,” I say. “I bought you from her.”
“What?” He frowns heavily, and I get the sense he’s about to attack me.
I hold up my hands and say, “I’m not here to harm you. Calm down. I made a deal with her. She sold you to me for a specific price, which I paid in full,” I say. “I’m your master now.”
“No … that can’t be.” He takes his fists off the door, but now, he turns toward me and they don’t look any less threatening.
“You really need to calm down,” I say. “I’m not going to do anything. No one’s going to hurt you.”
“But … you had a gun.”
“It was necessary because she wanted to up the price after the deal was made, and I don’t do that. Period.”
He winces. “If I don’t go back there, she’ll kill me.”
“I won’t let that happen.” I step closer, holding my hands up so he can see I don’t have anything. “I won’t let her get anywhere near you. I promise.”
“You don’t understand. She doesn’t just hurt you. She breaks you.”
“I know, which is why I bought you in the first place.” As I step closer, he growls.
“Don’t come closer,” he hisses.
“I know you don’t trust me,” I say. “But you have to believe me.”
“That gun. Throw it away,” he says, pointing at my jacket.
So I pull it out and throw it on the kitchen counter, proving to him that I mean him no harm. “Good?”
He doesn’t answer.
“Look, you can try to break my door and windows all day, but it won’t get you anywhere.”
“Why did you do this?” he asks.
“To save you.”
“Why me? What’s so special about me? I don’t even know you,” he says, his stance a little less threatening now.
“Because I know how mistreated you’ve been while under her care. I couldn’t stomach it any longer, knowing what she does. Same goes for the monster that used to own Ava.”
His eyes flash toward something behind me, so I turn around and notice Ava standing in the doorway.
“Stay back,” I whisper to her. “This could be dangerous.”
She looks at me as if she doesn’t understand why.
Then the boy suddenly makes a leap toward the table and grabs the first sharp thing in sight; a letter opener.
“Wow, wow, you don’t wanna do that,” I say.
“Stay away from me!” he yells, the blade shaking in his hands.
Ava steps forward. “Let me try.”
“No. I don’t want you to get hurt,” I say, placing my hand in front of her so he won’t target her.
“I won’t get hurt, Master,” she says. “Please, let me try.”
I look at her innocent eyes, still noticing the anger floating around in them, but then I realize saying yes to her might be the only way to ever regain her trust. She wants to do this… and maybe she can reach out to him.
So I lower my hand. While I hold my breath and grip my own jacket, I watch her walk toward him with confident steps.
16
5862
The sharp blade trembles in my hand as I struggle to cope with the situation. I’m trapped in a home that isn’t mine and being told I no longer get to return to the place I came from. I don’t know whether it’s a blessing or a curse. I don’t know these people, and now, I’m finding out that this man bought me? It’s almost too hard to believe.
The girl steps forward. Her face is the first thing I see, and the way she briefly smiles at me draws my attention immediately. She looks innocent but confused, almost as if she’s trying to understand me more than I am trying to understand her.
The first time I saw her was here at the party, where Mistress told me she was going to be fucked and that she was going to watch while I licked her pussy. Now, I see her again, only this time not bound and naked. There’s something intrinsic about the way we met. Like the stark contrast between the perverseness and the normalcy connects us in some way.
Something about the way she moves closer makes me want to lower the letter opener.
“It’s okay,” she says, her voice like that of an angel. “Like he said, no one’s going to hurt you. I only want to talk.”
For some reason, her presence isn’t as nearly as threatening as that man over there. She has this aura of curiosity that I can’t describe … something intangible, but I can feel it. Hope.
While that man … when I look at him, all I see is death.
Who are these people? Did he really buy me? Why?
“I know you must have a lot of questions,” the girl says. “I did too when Master Marcus bought me.”
My eyes widen. “You … are a servant?”
Somehow, the letter opener in my hand lowers. Perhaps it’s her voice. Or maybe I feel like I can trust her … and only her.
She nods, carefully stepping forward. “I know you may not trust him, but at least, know that I won’t harm you.”
I swallow as she comes close enough to steal the letter opener away. Or get stabbed. I don’t understand why she’s not afraid. I could stab her … but I don’t want to.
“I
know you’re not going to hurt me,” she whispers. “I just wanna talk, okay?” Her hand hovers over the letter opener, and before I know it, she’s taken a hold of it. I let it slide from my hand as she takes it away from me and places it on the table. “There.”
“I’m sorry,” I say. “It was wrong of me.”
“I understand,” she says, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Actually, more than that … I did the same when I first came here.”
I frown, confused. “You used a letter opener as a weapon?”
“I was afraid,” she says, shrugging. “I didn’t know what was happening. When Master Marcus told me he had bought me, I felt so confused. Alone. Terrified. I didn’t know what was going to happen.”
“I … I feel …”
“Like the world was being pulled out from underneath my feet,” she says.
And she’s right.
That’s exactly what I feel.
Like the world has slipped away and I’m falling into an endless pit with no way to stop it.
“I know how you feel,” she says. “And it’s okay to feel that way. You don’t need to apologize. Master Marcus always understands.” She glances at him over his shoulder. “Don’t you?”
He nods intently but stays put, which is a good thing. I don’t want him anywhere near me right now.
When the girl grabs my arm, I flinch. “You don’t need to worry about your Mistress anymore. Or anything else for that matter. You belong with us now.”
“Is it true that he bought me?”
“If my Master says he did, then he did. But it’s not a bad thing. Not at all. He’s really nice, you know.” She blushes, and she tucks a loose string of her brown hair behind her ears again. “You’ll like it here. I promise.”
“But what about Mistress? Won’t she be mad?”
“You don’t need to worry about that,” the man interjects. “I will protect you for as long as you’re here.”
“Why?” I say. “Why did you do this?”
A complicated look flashes on his face. “I just want to make the world better. Even if it’s only with two tiny steps.”
I frown, not entirely sure I’m satisfied with that answer, but I guess it’ll have to do.
I don’t have any other choice in the matter. I’m a servant. Someone who’s owned … and this time, he owns me. I wonder what he wants with me. Why he chose me. But I also know that asking these questions as a servant is never okay.
A Master’s will is law.
He bought me.
End of story.
A long, drawn-out sigh escapes my mouth, and I let go of the pent-up frustration.
It won’t change anything about my situation, so it’s useless to stay angry.
The only thing I can do is accept my fate with dignity and hope that my new Master will take better care of me.
And from the way he fucked her in front of everyone, I’m not so sure.
“Are you okay?” she asks, pulling me from my thoughts.
“Yeah … I guess.” That depends on what she considers to be okay.
She holds out her hand. “I’m Ava. What’s your name?”
“Five-eight-six-two. Mistress calls me boy or pet.” We shake hands.
“We’ll have to figure out a new name for you then …” she muses, smiling, and her nose twitches like that of a rabbit when it sniffs.
“Let’s just take it easy, all right?” the man says.
I watch him as he steps closer, realizing this man is now my new Master. I don’t know him. I don’t trust him. But I have no other choice—I’m in his home, subjected to his rules.
He stops somewhere right in the middle between coming toward me and back where he first stood as if he’s waiting for me to make the first move. I won’t budge. It’s not in my nature to be curious. Not like that girl. I’m always wary, always on my toes. It comes with being raised among many, always fighting over who got the scraps. There wasn’t enough left for the last one in line, so fighting was the only way we knew how to stay alive. Fighting to survive. That’s how I’ve lived and how I’ll always live.
It’s eat or get eaten in this cruel world, and I don’t intend to let anyone make a meal out of me.
“C’mon,” the girl says, grabbing my hand. “You have to meet my Master.”
The pull is slight, but all it takes is a nudge to get me moving. She has a sort of magnetic effect on me, as if she can draw me out, even though I’m unsure of my surroundings.
I let her take me to him, where I stand and gaze down at the carpet, realizing what just happened.
“Hey,” the man says. “I’m really glad you’re here now. Sorry about the messy introduction. If I could’ve brought you here another way, I would have, but this was my only option, so I took it. I hope you’ll forgive me.”
Forgive him?
Forgive a Master.
Forgive the one who bought me from Mistress.
“You don’t have to be scared. Nothing’s gonna happen to you.”
“I’m not,” I say resolutely.
A bit too hastily.
Guilt chews at my heart, and I look back over my shoulder at the letter opener still lying on the table. I tried to use it against them. Against my new Master.
He’s wrong for telling me I shouldn’t be scared. I should be begging for my life.
Immediately, I kneel and put my head down. “I apologize for grabbing a letter opener and threatening you with it, Master. I beg your forgiveness.”
“Stand up, boy,” he says, and I immediately follow his instruction. “You do not have to beg for my forgiveness. It’s already forgiven.” He smiles and places a hand on my shoulder, and for some reason, it feels as though a weight falls off me. “You’re part of us now. You’re where you belong.”
***
Hours later
After she had shown me around the house, she led me to a room our Master told her to. When she opens the door, she seems as much surprised as I am. “Wow. Another guest room. I didn’t know Master had this many.”
“Maybe he was expecting me,” I say casually, but her flinching brows tell me she might actually think it’s true.
“Well, this is your room now,” she says, briefly sighing as she allows me to step inside.
I look around for a bit, wondering what I’ve done to deserve my own room complete with a bed. I sit down on the mattress and wiggle a bit. It’s so soft. It’s not often I’ve actually sat on one of these.
“Feels good, doesn’t it?” she says.
“What does?”
“Your own bed. And the desk. And the closet. And pretty much everything else.” Her smile is radiant. Like the sun, only much brighter. It warms me up just the same.
“Yeah, it’s quite nice.” I look down at my legs, rubbing them, suddenly realizing I still don’t have a shirt on. All my clothes are at Mistress’s.
“Oh, wait, let me grab something for you,” Ava says, and she scurries off.
Seconds later, she comes back with a pajama top. “Here, put this on.”
“What, why? Doesn’t this belong to our Master?”
“Yes, but he wants you to have it,” she says with a quirky smile. “He has plenty more clothes. Tomorrow, he’ll buy you some more, so you’ll have a closet full of them.”
“He’ll buy clothes for me?” I raise a brow.
“Yeah. Our Master is very kind, you know. He’s not like …” She pauses, almost as if she’s rethinking her words. “Well, he’s different.”
“Different …” I repeat, letting out a breath.
“Different is good,” she says. “Right?”
“Yeah, I guess so. I just don’t understand why.”
“Our Master is just kind. He wants to help us.”
I frown. “But why us? Why not any of the other servants?”
She shrugs. “I don’t know. Maybe he will, one day. I won’t ask. It’s not my place. I just think we should be grateful for what we’ve been given.”
; What we’ve been given … she makes it sound like some gift from heaven.
Like trading one Master for another isn’t still bad.
She comes into the room and closes the door behind her then she tentatively sits down beside me. “Are you mad at him for buying you?”
“No.” I lower my head.
“You can speak the truth here,” she says, lowering her head too so she can still look into my eyes. “Master won’t punish you for having real feelings.”
“Are you sure?” I ask.
“Yes,” she says. “He’s told me many times before that he wants me to express my feelings and to be okay with them.”
“He’s told you, yes. But he never said a word about me. I don’t even know him.”
She muffles a laugh. “I thought the same thing when I first came here.”
“Why are you so sure of his acceptance?”
“Because I just know. I’ve lived here long enough now to know what he wants … how he responds … how he likes things.” Her cheeks flush with a soft shade of pink. “And I think you’ll find out too soon enough.”
I turn my head away. “I don’t want to find out.”
“It’s okay.” Suddenly, I feel her hand on my back. It’s warm and runs up and down my spine, creating goosebumps wherever she goes. It feels good. Too good.
Only Mistress has ever touched me like that before, but it was never comforting. To her, I was simply a pet to play with, like a cat you’d stroke whenever you thought it deserved some attention.
But this … this feels like something I could get used to.
“You’ll be all right. It’s a good life here. Master is very lenient. He doesn’t punish, ever.”
“Really?” I look up at her. “Then what do you call that fucking session at the party?”
Her pupils dilate, and she parts her lips, but only short sounds come out as if she’s lost her tongue.
“Wasn’t that punishment? It sure looked like it to me.”
“No,” she says, frowning. “He did it to buy you.”
“That doesn’t make it okay. He used you.”
“He …” She clears her throat. “I am his. Like you are. And he has every right to use us as he pleases. That is the meaning of our existence.”
Ultimate Sin Page 14