Then I take another bite.
And another.
I try, I really try, to eat like a normal person, but something inside me collapses.
I start shoveling food into my mouth, my hands shaking, grease smearing across my fingers. I bite into a potato, the skin crispy and soft inside. I grab some veggies with my fingers, too impatient for the fork.
Callum stands near the window, arms crossed, watching me.
I don't care.
I haven't had a warm meal in weeks. Maybe longer.
My stomach screams for more even as I chew. I scrape the fork across the plate, gathering the last bit of food.
I finish off the whole plate in under ten minutes, and when I'm done, I set the fork down carefully.
My hands are sticky. My lips are slick with butter.
I wipe my mouth on the sleeve of the robe and stand.
Callum tilts his head slightly, still watching.
I don't say a word.
My face goes blank. I let the emotion drain out of me the way I was taught.
Feel nothing. Be nothing. Serve.
I reach for the tie at my waist and pull it loose. The robe slips off my shoulders and pools at my feet.
I stand naked, arms loose at my sides, staring at the carpet, not at him. The air chills my skin, goosebumps rising across my arms. Instinctively, I spread my feet slightly apart. The pose is automatic, trained into me over years.
"Thank you for the meal."
Silence.
I don't lift my eyes.
"What the hell are you doing?" Callum's voice cuts through the quiet, sharp and confused.
I swallow, not looking up. "You fed me. You housed me. This is the payment." My voice comes out hollow, rehearsed. "Just, please be quick."
He moves suddenly and I flinch, my shoulders tensing, bracing for the impact.
A hand in my hair, a push, a command to fall to my knees, something, but I get none of that. He doesn't even touch me.
He bends down, snatches the robe off the floor, and shoves it in my direction.
His breath is hot against my cheek, but not intimate, angry and furious.
"We don't do that here," he growls. "Cover yourself."
I clutch the robe, my fingers trembling.
I blink at him, disoriented. He didn't take it. Didn't want it.
Fuck, he didn't even consider it.
