SIX
I’m groggy as I wake and push to sitting. My hair is a tangled mess around me. I need a comb. I need some bands so I can braid it.
I need to not be locked in a kennel.
I realize I’m still sucking the pacifier, and I yank it out and set it on the mattress. Luckily, I can sit upright in here, but I don’t have enough room to move around, and I’m trapped.
Pulling the blanket around me to cover my nudity, I start to panic. Seconds later, the door to the room opens, and Julan hurries into the room.
He’s smiling as he squats next to my kennel and opens the door. “You slept well, Little pet?”
“I think so. Do you have a comb and some bands for my hair?” I need something normal.
“I’m sure I can find something that will work.” He reaches for my leash. “Heel, Little pet.” He points to the spot next to his leg.
I’m gripping the blanket, hoping he’ll let me keep it, but I can’t crawl on all fours and hold on to it.
“Leave the blanket, naughty girl,” he orders, his voice stern.
Dropping it, I sigh and crawl out. “Can I have clothes?”
He grips my chin and tips my head back. “Perhaps someday in the future. Not now. You are my pet, and I like looking at your body.”
“Do your women go naked all the time?”
He narrows his gaze. “That is not relevant. You are my pet. You will wear what I allow and nothing more. Would you like to argue further?”
“No, Daddy.”
“Good, now come.” He swipes his palm up to his chest. “Let’s see what we can do about your hair, and then you need to be fed again.”
He stands, holding the leash, forcing me to crawl alongside him. He leads me into an attached room. I realize immediately it’s a bathroom. Now I know why I can’t use the toilet. It’s enormous and way too far off the ground. I would need a stool with several steps to get to it, and then I would run the risk of falling into it.
Everything in the bathroom is too high and too large.
Daddy drags a chair to the middle of the room before lifting me to sit facing the back. “Spread your legs wide, Little pet.”
I’m confused. Why does he want me to sit backward on the chair? But I part my legs as he settles me on my padded bottom.
“Lean your forehead against the back of the chair, Little pet.”
I don’t know what’s happening, but I continue to obey.
My breath hitches when Daddy lifts my hand and cuffs my wrist to one of the rings on the side of my collar. He does the same on the other wrist before securing the front ring to the middle rung of the chair.
“Daddy?”
“Sit still. I don’t want you to fall while I work the tangles out of your hair.”
I sigh and let my forehead rest heavily against the chair. I don’t like being restrained. It’s not natural. I think he’s going overboard to test me or prove that he’s in charge.
What Idolike is having him comb through the tangles in my hair. It takes a long time, but he’s very patient and doesn’t pull too hard. When he’s done, he divides it into three parts and efficiently braids it down my back.
I’m surprised, and I twist the tiny bit I’m capable of to look at him while he secures the end with a band. “How do you know how to braid hair?” I stiffen and sit taller, a strange panic seizing me. Before he can respond, I ask two follow-up questions. “How many pets have you had? What happened to the others?”
He frowns for a moment before chuckling. “You’re my first pet. I’ve never even had a furry pet. And to answer your first question, I watched a tutorial while you were sleeping.”
My eyes widen. “You did?”
