31. Sable
SABLE
When I wake up the following morning, my ass is sore, and I need a shower.
Not only for the cum but also to wash the scent of Parker’s sweat all off me.
I’m up early enough to go running. Part of me hopes Parker will ignore what I said and come get me for a run anyway.
He doesn’t, and even hours later, I’m feeling a lot of different things.
Stupid for being in this position to begin with, small for wanting such a normal bit of freedom, and regretful because why the hell did I make such a big deal out of everything?
He made me come really hard, and that’s what I’m here for, right?
I’ve enjoyed feeling good, so why complain?
A knock on the hall door tells me it’s either Orion or Lex and not Parker, as he always comes through the adjoining door.
When I open it, I find a devilishly handsome man with black hair and green eyes.
Lex looks me up and down, judgment already in his expression, as if something is wrong with me .
I look perfectly fine, considering it’s only nine o’clock, and I just opened the door with no warning.
I didn’t know who might be picking me up today, but I guess it makes sense, given Orion and Parker already had their solo days with me.
“Good morning,” I say, hoping it will indeed be one. It could go very badly, too. You never know with the Bellthorn boys.
Instead of answering me, he stares hard.
Out of all of them, he makes me the most nervous.
Orion is the worst, but he has a big, wounded core that wouldn’t be impossible to get to.
Parker is clearly insane, but I can tell he’s obsessed with me, too.
Lex, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to give a shit, all while looking like the most startling print model.
While he’s an inch or two shorter than Orion and Parker, his beauty is on another level.
Everything about him screams expensive. Orion’s fashion sense is impeccable, Parker looks like a deranged psychopath's portrait of how to blend in, but Lex looks like old money. I could tell he’s ungodly rich just by the way his upper lip curls while he looks down at people, and by people, I mean me, when I sucked his dick before even walking through the front door.
“Something wrong?” I ask, pretending I’m not feeling insecure under his perusal.
“I haven’t decided yet.”
“Do you have fun being morbid?” I take a step back and wave for him to come in.
“You have no idea,” he says as he walks into my space and looks it up and down like it might get him dirty. I’ve barely slept here for two nights, so if something is wrong with it, I’m not to blame.
“I have something for you,” he says in his slow, aristocratic tone.
“I don’t want it.” I hold up my hands, already knowing it’s a trap. My eyes go to the small bag he holds, wondering if it wouldn’t be smarter to run. None of these guys has anything I want, and if he didn’t have a key, I would shut the door and lock it on him.
His lips curve at the sides, and that’s enough to kick off all the alarms inside my head.
I step back, but he’s quicker. With his free hand, he grips the fabric of my top and brings me closer.
Danger flashes in his eyes, and a shiver runs down my spine.
I don’t expect anything but the worst from him.
Lex carefully steps closer, like a predator, until I can see the yellow flecks in his green eyes.
Long fingers slide his gift from the bag.
My eyes follow the movement, but I can’t make sense of the patent leather and silver straps.
He drops the silk bag on the floor, and I look down, following the movement instinctively.
He uses that moment of distraction to get the jump on me.
His hands are behind my neck, and a leather strap cuts off my breath with a snap.
My guy explodes with panic, and I try to run at the same time as my hand flies to my throat.
Neither works, and I fall, kicking and clawing my own skin.
“Whoa, girl,” he taunts as he kneels behind me and slides the strap to a more agreeable length and tightens the clasp. The click of a small lock tells me how deeply I’m in for it.
“Am I a dog now?” I try to hide the fear from my voice, but it trembles, and I’m still lying flat on my back beneath him.
He already has too much power over me without a leash.
He stands over me, and I wish I were smart enough to get to my feet on my own.
He clips a leash onto the collar and pulls.
I try to use my dead weight against him, but I’m not strong enough, and he yanks me straight up.
I’m forced to find my footing or dangle uselessly.
Fuck, I’m his bitch.
This bastard decides this is the time to show me his first genuine smile.
His mouth stretches, white teeth and eyes wrinkling at the corners.
He’s so gorgeous, I gasp, taken aback. He mistakes my surprise for discomfort, and the smile stretches further.
It’s funny that a collar around my throat is what makes him smile.
“Let’s go, Offering.”
He doesn’t need the command when he has a way to pull me along, so I roll my eyes and fall into step behind him.
“Offering.” I huff. “A little dramatic, aren’t we? You’re hardly a demon I’m being offered to.”
He looks at me over his shoulder, wearing a grin that could be considered demonic, but I roll my eyes at his theatrics.
We move through the school, not the way I’m used to going.
Lex moves intentionally through the shadows, up spiral staircases and down back corridors.
I try to make sense of where we’re going, but there are too many turns, and I can’t keep up after a while.
“You’ve been offered to the founders of Bellthorn,” he replies after a while. “A gift for all we do for the university.”
My teeth grind when I think about all the little details I’ve heard.
They all seem so sure I knew and agreed to this, but I never gave myself to them.
My fear is the only thing keeping my mouth shut now, forcing me to stay and play along.
They’ve already taken me in so many ways.
Is letting them have me really so bad if I, in turn, have a place to stay?
I wonder if I should tell Lex he’s put a leash on a woman who never gave him blanket consent, but I decide my safety and staying here is more important.
“How are you the founders of this place? My dad went here.”
He snorts. “Our families had a hand in creating Bellthorn.” We go up another set of stairs. “Our families have continued to support the university, and we enjoy the privileges.”
The privilege of having a sex slave? I keep that comment to myself.
We finally turn into a busy hall, and everyone’s eyes immediately stick to me.
The whole thing is getting old, but at least they’re not paparazzi who are literally trained to make you go insane.
It takes me a second to remember that part of the problem is that I’m collared and leashed.
Shame burns me from top to bottom, and I do everything I can to stop it.
I tell myself Lex is being childish. I’m a big girl, and I’m better than him.
I know I’m not his fucking bitch, regardless of what he does to make me feel small. Yet he might have hit a nerve.
People have called me variations of bitch all my life.
People who never met me, people who mistake my silence, anxiety, and nervousness for something nasty, and people who just saw me as a piece of ass.
I told myself their opinions don’t matter.
Why would I care about what people who don’t know me think in the slightest?
I can talk myself up until I’m blue in the face, but I’m scared that I’ll always be an unlikeable bitch.
And now that I’m poor? I might as well be worth nothing.
“Let's go.” Lex interrupts my thoughts, pulling me into a classroom but closing off the worst of the stares. I breathe in some relief, but it only lasts a half second. Every gaze turns my way when we cross the threshold. I was trying to hold myself up with dignity before, but it’s hard when every step we descend comes with more judgment-filled stares.
But how can I blame them when he’s leading me through the class like this?
Humiliation burns through me as my eyes run over smart girls with their books and computers.
I want to cry when the girl I met in Parker’s math class gives me a sad nod.
She didn’t ignore me, at least. Everyone else who I made eye contact with dropped it as quickly as they could.
Everyone watches Lex too, but they lack the intensity in judgment, and no one says a word as he parades me through the room. We reach an empty section of seats, and I sit before he can yank me and make me look like a dog.
“What class is this?” I whisper once he’s seated.
Lex places a textbook in front of me, instead of replying.
Applied Biochemistry. Worried, I skim through the text, and it’s obvious that if I can’t even understand what’s written in front of me, I won’t do much better for the rest of the class.
Parker made it obvious that nothing was expected of him in his classes, but that’s clearly not the case here as Lex pulls out his computer and books.
“Lex…” I shake my head.
“Med school,” he replies, and right in time as the teacher strolls in with Cillian, who I met my first day walking around with Orion, right on his heels.