He captures another chunk of meat and offers it to me. I wrap my lips around it and pull it off the fork, but my attention is entirely focused on him.
He flashes me a quick, dangerous smile, all teeth and promise. “Looks like I’m staying longer.”
I watch him intently and warily. The look on his face and in his eyes is strange. I see anger, annoyance, regret and suspicion. All tangled up with other, warmer emotions.
“I don’t think you’ve done this on purpose, Little One. But if I discover that you have, I will kill you. No matter how good you feel on my cock.”
I lean forward and lick the meat juices off of the fork he is still holding. His eyes narrow, but I ignore him. Threats of death don’t scare me. Death is a reward, not a punishment.
After a long moment, he sighs. “I need to grab some things from my flat. Tie up some loose ends. I won’t be long.”
He takes the fork away and the plate. He turns his back on me and dumps the things he has stolen into the sink. I glare at his broad back and wonder how his flesh would feel as it teared under my claws.
“Come on,” he says as he walks into the main room.
Like a puppy, I follow. I cross my arms and scowl at him as he picks something up from by the bed. He turns back to face me with chains in his hands.
I scuttle back and somehow miss the doorway I just walked through and hit the wall instead. My head hits the brick and my vision swims. My heart is pounding.
“Sorry, Little One. It’s just while I am gone,” he says.
All I feel is dread and horror. I’d scream if I could remember how to get my lungs to work.
Suddenly, he drops the chains on the floor with a loud clang. The noise reverberates through me and makes me shudder.
“All right,” he sighs. “No chains.” His eyes fill with sadness. “Just try to remember that the people in the main house upstairs are your friends. I’d rather not come back to a bloodbath.”
The front door opens and closes. A blast of fresh air and daylight washes over me and then it is gone. Just like Mal. Mal is gone. I blink several times. But he is still not here. I walk up to the door and run my hand down the wood. I am all alone.
My heart is beating loudly. My legs are shaking. I whirl and cast my gaze around the room. Four walls. One high window. A ceiling.A floor. Mal’s bed. My hammock. One chair. Nothing else. Just me, the silence and the shadows.
A strange whining noise comes out of my throat. My arms are shaking now. I’m alone. All alone. No one is here. Mal has gone. I’ll never see him again. He has left.
Soon others will come. They will find me. I cannot defend myself. I’ve been caught before. And now I’m broken and pathetic. I won’t even be a challenge to them. They will chain me. Keep me. Use me. Hurt me.
I huddle in the far corner and wrap some shadows around me, as if I think they can save me. Tears flow from my eyes. Sobs wrack my body. I cover my ears with my hands, but I can still hear the awful noises I am making.
A blast of sunshine and fresh air. They are here already? Terror consumes me. A silent scream chokes my throat.
“Forgot my phone,” says Mal’s voice.
A heavy and silent pause.
“Little one?”
I cannot answer him.
“Gray?”
I keep my face buried in my knees.
“Look at me,” he commands.
My head lifts. My eyes find his. It is hard to see through my tears, but he is squatting down in front of me. Is he really here? Am I imagining this?
His eyes look sad. Worried. A little exasperated. He slowly holds his hand out to me.
“I’m going to regret this, but do you want to come with me?”
