Chapter 24
Ping. My phone goes off again with another bid on Mason’s latest pieces as I unlock the back door of my house.
Just as I expected, people are feral for it, and the bids haven’t stopped coming in all day.
He really is incredibly talented. I made the mistake of turning my notifications back on after my closing shift at the restaurant, and it basically hasn’t stopped the entire drive home.
I head upstairs to let Pete out, and when I unlock the door, I’m surprised to find Mason already asleep in bed.
It looks like he started another painting that wasn’t there this morning, so it must have taken a lot out of him.
There’s an empty plate next to the door, so at least he ate the dinner I left for him.
Ping. My phone goes off again, and I scramble to turn it to silent so it won’t wake Mason as Pete trots past me and down the stairs. I try to shut the door as softly as I can before following him down and find him impatiently staring at his leash where it’s hung up next to the back door.
“Who’s more dramatic, you or Mason?” I mutter as I attach the leash to his collar. “I wasn’t even gone that long.”
My phone continues to buzz sporadically in my pocket as we head out into the backyard.
When I take it out, I see we’ve officially passed his previous record for the most he’s earned on a single painting.
A surge of pride hits me in my chest at his accomplishment and the small part I played in him achieving it.
I can’t wait to show him. It sort of feels like we’re partners in his business now that I’m handling the admin and marketing side.
Not for the first time, I wish things were different between us. That we were actual partners, and I could support him because I care about him and not out of necessity of hiding my prisoner.
The sex and the dynamics we’ve established when he’s just my “Pet” and I’m his “Master” are incredible; I love it, but the more time I spend with Mason, the more I like the casual version of him too. He’s funny and playful and makes me happy to just be in his presence.
It might be wishful thinking, but I think I’m good for him too.
His body responds so well to me, and I visibly see the way he relaxes in response to my reassuring touches and lights up from my attention and preens under my praise.
Even at something as simple as me complimenting his art or when I told him I loved his hair after he dyed it again, it all makes me feel like I’m having a positive influence on him despite our captor–prisoner situation.
It might be strange to admit, but for the first time in my life, I have real feelings for someone, and the most mind-fucky part about it is I don’t even know if any of what exists between us is real. If things were different, it’s easy to imagine Mason as my boyfriend.
A loud bang distracts me from my seemingly ever-present thoughts of the pink-haired man locked in my bedroom.
What the fuck was that? It didn’t sound far away. It actually sounded really close, almost like a door slamming shut, but that wouldn’t make sense at this time of night. All of my neighbors have been in bed for hours.
My gut sinks as a horrifying realization sets in. I didn’t actually lock Mason in my room. I sometimes forget when I’m only letting Pete out, and I was definitely distracted by my phone when I was up there.
But he was sleeping.
There’s no way it was actually him, right?
“Fuck!” I yell into the dark night as I run to scoop up Pete and put him back inside because it’s not a chance I can take. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I round the corner to peer up the stairs where there’s a clear view of my bedroom door. Please be closed, please be closed, please—
It’s wide open.
“Fuck!” I shout again as I turn to run out the front door after him; the echoing bang as I throw it closed confirms it was definitely the same sound, and he isn’t hiding somewhere in my house.
I run to the sidewalk, frantically glancing down my street to see if there’s any sign of him.
It’s dark, but the streetlights make the sidewalks visible enough.
A burst of bright pink catches my attention near the end of my block in the direction of the public park. I sprint after him, praying that my height works to my advantage to catch up to him before anyone else sees.
I run faster than I ever have, as though my life depends on it because it literally does.
If he finds someone else who’s still awake at this hour before I’m able to stop him, my life as I know it is over.
He’ll tell them that I’ve been keeping him as my prisoner for nearly a month now, that I’ve had him locked up and chained in my basement, that I took away his phone.
That I’ve been forcing him to have sex with me whenever I feel like it.
Bile rises in my throat. I fight to swallow it down as I continue chasing him, closing the distance between us as images of Mason on a witness stand flash through my mind. Us wearing stuffy suits in a courtroom while he tells everyone about the things I’ve forced him to do.
Because I did, didn’t I? I’ve been the aggressor in all the sexual situations between us. It doesn’t matter that he’s the one who taught me about half of the shit we’ve done; consent while being held prisoner wouldn’t hold up in any court.
I’m going to go to jail. I knew this situation was too good to be true.
Fuck, I had no idea when I woke up this morning with Mason wrapped in my arms that it would be the last time.
And I never even kissed him.
Somehow, despite everything else, that’s my biggest regret. Because even as I face a future behind bars, I can’t find it in myself to regret knowing him. Mason set me free in a way I never could have imagined. He showed me a life and a happiness that I never would’ve experienced without him.
If my future is the price I’ll have to pay for the time we did have together, it was worth it. I just hope my friends don’t get dragged down with me. Grant might’ve accepted my bi-identity with ease, but I don’t think he could accept me being a kidnapper and abuser.
Hearing Mason inevitably tell me it was all a lie is going to break me.
Holy shit. What a weird moment to realize I’m in love with him.
Because that’s what this is, isn’t it? The way my heart feels like it’s crumbling in my chest at the thought of things between us truly being over. The way I simply can’t imagine a future without him in it.
Mason turns into the park, still running away from me as he takes the path that leads toward a small river.
The park is barely lit, and I haven’t seen anyone yet.
Having nearly a full moon helps illuminate the path though, and I close in on him, only a few feet between us now.
Maybe he’ll give me a chance to explain…
to tell him how I really feel and beg him to come back with me. Find a way for us to work things out.
He looks over his shoulder, and his eyes widen as he confirms I’m just behind him now.
To my surprise, he leaves the path, slowing down as he approaches a cluster of thick trees.
It would be easy to lose him if he continues into the forest, but he stops in front of an oak tree, spinning completely to face me.
He’s panting, his chest heaving as I follow, only stopping when I’m right in front of him. I raise my arms to lean against the tree on either side of his head to trap him there so he can’t try to escape again.
He looks up at me with an unreadable expression, parts his lips, and I slowly shake my head, dreading the next words out of his mouth. He’s never said it, but I know this is the moment he’ll finally use his safe word.
I also know I don’t have it in me not to listen to it.
That I’ll let him go.
“You boys alright? I saw you running through the park just now,” a deep, slightly out-of-breath voice calls out, and I look over my shoulder to confirm my absolute nightmare has come to life.
A fucking police officer is here.
And he just caught me chasing Mason.
My blood freezes over as my entire body fills with dread, and I turn back to look at Mason one last time before he answers with my damnation.
The corners of his mouth lift, and a warm smile takes over his entire face as he turns his gaze to the cop. I try to commit his smile to memory, to catalog every detail of his perfect features as he finally opens his mouth to turn me in.