I’m certain that she has been bored with only the television to keep her entertained. Her only human interaction for the last day and a half has been with Smith when he brought her meals.
“I’m sorry that you’ve been bored. I wanted to return sooner, but it wasn’t possible. I trust that you’ve been treated well in my absence.”
“It’s been… hunky-dory.”
“You’ve had dinner?”
Another drawn-out sigh. “Yesss.”
“Tell me what you ate.”
She closes her eyes and tucks both hands beneath her head. “Filet steak… potatoes… asparagus… and a very nice glass of… red wine.”
“Did you drink the whole glass of cabernet sauvignon?”
“Of course. It was… delicious.”
Perfect. “That’s my good girl.”
“The wine is making me warm. And very relaxed.” Her voice is soft. Barely even audible.
“Not the wine. The sedative cocktail—that’s what’s making you feel so calm.”
“What’s a sedative cocktail?”
“That’s not for you to worry about. Just enjoy your sleep. And when you wake, you’ll be in your own bed in your own bedroom.” In your new home. My home.
“Mmm… that sounds… wonderful. I want… to go… home.”
I rub my hand over her forehead, pushing away the hair that is covering her face. “No worries, sweetheart. I’m going to take care of everything, including you.”
* * *
Dr. Catherine Miller enters Emma Lia’sbedroom and stills when she sees her lying on the bed. “This is my patient?”
“Yes.”
She looks at me. “Tristan… what have you done to this woman?”
“Don’t worry, Cat. She’s just a little sedated.”
Cat has been on retainer with me for years. She’s the only OB-GYN that I trust to care for my submissives. The only doctor that I know who understands what it is that I do. Because she participates in the same alternative lifestyle. Because we once enjoyed this lifestyle together as Dom and sub.
“Why is she unconscious?”
It goes against my Dom nature to allow my former submissive to interrogate me.
“You know our policy. Don’t ask questions that you don’t want to hear the answers to.”
“Is she here against her will?”
“Do you really want to hear the answer to that question? Because I will tell you the truth. But if I do, you become involved at that point. Probably more deeply than you’d like to be.”
“I’m pretty sure that I’m already more deeply involved than I’d like to be by just being here.”
Cat and Emma Lia will come to know one another well. We will frequent the same dungeons. Attend the same play parties. They could become good friends—unlike she and Claudia.
Claudia was jealous of Cat. She only went along with being her patient because it was my demand.
