The book was like a schoolbook, one of the few I got through the years. Because, as Sir always said, no one wanted a stupid boy who couldn’t read or do simple things. I could read, write, and a few other things, but not enough to make mesmartenough to run off.
Sticking my thumb in my mouth, my eyes took in the words. A few times, I had to reread the page to make sure I understood what it was saying.
Did people do the things in this book? Did they enjoy it? Or was this just another tale, like Cinderella?
So engrossed in the book, I didn’t hear the door open. I didn’t hear a single thing, forgetting I wasn’t at Sir’s anymore. I forgot who I was, and where I was.
A small yelp escaped, my heart in my throat, as the book was pulled from my grasp, leaving my hand empty.
“You shouldn’t be reading that.” Sabastian’s voice was calm, yet there was a hint of something underneath that I couldn’t place.
“Sorry,” I mumbled, dropping my eyes to the floor. I held my breath, waiting for the pain that was sure to come.
“Here. Read this one if you want. Ones like this, don’t touch again.”
A book with a crown and snakes was tossed to the bed in front of me, barely missing my toes.
I nodded my head quickly but didn’t touch the book.
“Seventeen-year-olds don’t touch my fucking books.”
Got it, I thought. I’d just stay bored while waiting for whatever he wanted from me. That was something I could do well, anyway.
“Go use the restroom. I brought lunch.”
Scrambling, I stood and stumbled towards the bathroom. Now that he mentioned it, my bladder was screaming at me.
It took me longer than I was used to to relieve my bladder and wash my hands. Shame filled me as I stood in the doorway between the bedroom and bathroom, afraid to get too close to Sabastian.
“Come on, let's get that cuff off.”
I still didn’t move as he came closer. All I could do was stand there like a deer caught in headlights while he knelt in front of me, unlocking the cuff and running his hands over my ankle.
“Good, no bruising,” he muttered, standing up.
With the cuff gone, I felt cold. Or maybe it was more to the fact that his touch had been warm and I was chilled by the lack of clothing.
Whatever the case, it didn’t matter. All I could do was follow him out of the room like a puppy, waiting to be fed once more. My tail was between my legs the entire way to the kitchen.
Chapter 10
Sabastian
What the hell?
I know I’ve thought that more in the last twenty-four hours than I have ever before. But again, what is the ever-living hell?
I watched Oakley. I wasn’t lying when I said I had a camera. It wasn’t to be a creep, truly. It was to keep an eye on him. I’d have hated it if he panicked and I didn’t know. Leaving him chained to my bed, of all places, wasn’t right.
But what choice did I have?
I didn’t trust him not to try to make a run for it. Any sane person would have. I figured my bedroom, a place he was slightly familiar with, was better than being locked in the basement that housed spiders and Christmas decorations.
I hadn’t expected him to fix the bookcase, which was overdone for getting cleaned up. It hadn’t bothered me to have messy books piled however they fit there. Most of them were nothing I was ashamed of. And I didn’t care that the boy was looking through them.
It was hard to see his expression while he sat on the floor, his back to where I had the camera placed on the dresser. It was right there, in plain sight, even. I had wished, while I checked on him several times while I was out, for him to look over at where it was.
Leaving him had been hard, but what was harder was the fact that I couldn’t take him with me. Notwhen the clothes he brought had holes in them. I highly doubted he even knew, or cared.
