So maybe it had been a bad idea to bite him. I should’ve thought about that, but I’d been so desperate to dosomethingto the bastard that I’d acted without thinking.
Then again, thinking hadn’t exactly yielded any great results either. I was still in this fucking cage, just waiting forhim to decide which path on the fucked-up adventure I was going to follow.
I didn’t know how he was going to make me pay, but I could see the deadly look in his eyes. He looked terrifying when he was pissed off, and I realized I hadn’t seen him angry. He’d been so calm since I’d arrived, but now… The mask was off, and the interior matched the exterior.
What would the monster do next?
“You really don’t want to piss me off,” he warned, taking another step back.
“What, are you the Hulk or something?” I asked, feeling emboldened by his retreat. It didn’t make any sense for him to be backing away instead of getting closer, especially when he looked murderous.
He scowled. “Do you ever shut up? Do you ever think about what the fuck you’re saying?”
Well, no, not really, but I wasn’t going to tell him that. “Does it matter?” I retorted. “You’re going to do things to me anyway. I can give in or I can fight, but it’s still gonna happen and—”
My voice caught in my throat as I acknowledged the harsh truth aloud.
He jerked his head in a nod. “Exactly. So don’t make it worse for yourself, puppy.”
“Not a fucking—”
The look he gave me cut me off mid-sentence. I burrowed deeper into the blanket even though it was starting to get too warm for it, ready for him to just leave me alone. There was some kind of punishment coming, though, and I doubted I was going to get out of it.
“I was going to wait until later for this,” he said, setting the food bowl down on the nearby shelf. “But I think you need the reminder.”
Oh, fuck. Fuck, what was he going to do?
He pulled a thick strip of leather out of his pocket, and my heart plummeted to my stomach.
It was a collar.
He tossed it at me, and as it landed in front of me, I fought the urge to fling it into the drain. It was small enough to fit through the grates… and I wanted nothing to do with it.
That was before I noticed the glint of the small padlock in the palm of his hand.
“Put it on,” he told me.
“Why should I?” I asked, eyeing the collar instead of that lock. One thing at a time. One thing at a time…
He unlocked the little padlock in his hand, making sure I watched him.
“Because you won’t like the alternatives. Are you gonna make me spell them out to you? I’ve got plenty of ideas.”
I’m sure he did. The collar was bad news, though, and I wasn’t sure what I would consider worse than wearing the sign of his supposed ownership around my throat.
I shook my head stubbornly.
He set the padlock down on the shelf by the bowl, reached into the cage, and dumped the water out. Most of it ran for the drain, but some of it splashed up on me. I squeaked, not liking the idea of him taking the water bowl away, too. That was worse than him just restricting food.
He left the empty bowl there, which felt especially cruel. This time, he didn’t say anything before he turned for the stairs. He went for them, and I didn’t call out to him to ask him to stop. I was too afraid of what the price for refusing the collar was going to be…
That, and biting him. I couldn’t forget there would be consequences for that too. The fact that he hadn’t told mewhat they’d be only made it worse. I didn’t have time to prepare myself for anything… not that it would matter. I wouldn’t be able to do anything.
I flinched when the door settled into its frame after him, the sound of the lock clicking into place all too loud in the basement. I closed my eyes again. I didn’t want to think about this.
Instead, I tried to sleep.
8
