Chapter 18
Gage returned some time later. The light switched on before his heavy feet brought him down the stairs. He stopped in front of me, where I’d kneeled like a statue for the past…three hours, maybe? The only thing I knew for certain was how badly my knees ached. How my whole body ached.
“Can I please stand, Master?”
He grasped me by the shoulders and helped me hobble to the bed. My legs were numb, full of tingles, and I could hardly walk without his support. I sat at the end and waited for him to speak. The way the corners of his mouth twitched told me he had much to say.
He sat next to me and entwined his hands as if to keep them busy, so he didn’t lose control and use them on me. “I went to see Ian,” he said.
I held my breath, my heart pounding too loudly in my ears.
He lowered his head. “He’s my fucking brother, Kayla, but all I could think about as I looked at him was you.” Pushing to his feet, he paced the area in front of me. “You touching him, kissing him, fucking jerking him off.”
“Gage, I’m sorr—”
“Let me finish.” He pushed a hand through his hair in agitation. “I’m rotten to the soul because all I could think about was how his death would affect you. Call me a selfish bastard, but I don’t want you grieving him. He doesn’t deserve it.”
I held my breath, deliberating between anticipation and dread.
“So I convinced him to check into a special treatment center out of state.” He held up a hand, silencing anything I might say. “I love you enough to give you the world, and that includes doing everything in my power to save his life.”
To say I was shocked was an understatement. “Master—”
“Can you shut up and listen?”
I nodded, clamping my lips.
“But that doesn’t mean my motives are selfless.
He’s leaving in two days, and you won’t ever see him again.
” He paused, and the hard line of his mouth put me on alert.
“It doesn’t matter if he lives or dies, Kayla, because he agreed not to come back.
I made it clear that if he comes near Oregon, or contacts you in any way, I will punish you for it. ”
Gage knew how to play people to perfection. Ian loved me enough to stay away. I hoped to God he loved me enough to live.
“I own you.” Gage bent and twisted his fingers in my hair, jerking my head back. “With the exception of Eve, there is no one else in your world but me. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Master,” I said, my words drifting across his lips in a breathless whisper.
“You had better, because I’m demanding every last molecule of your heart.”
“I understand, Master. I never meant for any of this to happen. If I could take it back, I would.”
“Well, when you fuck around with temptation, you get burned.” He let me go, rose to his full height, and crossed his arms.
“I hate myself for ruining your trust in me.”
“You think I forbade you to see him because I didn’t trust you?
Fuck, trust has nothing to do with it. It’s just cold, harsh reality.
You’re weak when it comes to your greedy cunt, and even weaker when it comes to your heart.
I exploited that, baby.” He paused long enough to let out a cruel laugh.
“I can’t even blame you for it because I knew you loved him.
Hell, Kayla, I wrecked any fucking chance you had with him from the moment I forced your legs apart. ”
Matching action to words, he bent and slipped a hand between my thighs. “Spread them, now.”
“Yes, Master.” I opened wide for him, and he feathered his fingers so lightly over my pussy that I wasn’t sure if he meant to touch me at all.
“I stole you from him,” he said, voice ragged. “And I’d do it again. I have no remorse or shame in making you mine. My only regret is allowing you to stumble.”
“I did that on my own.”
“No, you didn’t. I own you, which means I own your mistakes. And you can be sure this one won’t happen again. That taste of freedom you got? Savor it. This is the last time I leave you to your own devices.”
Unable to speak, I simply nodded. My heart beat in a frenzied tune of fear. I’d backtracked us by months…years possibly.
“I confiscated your cell and the key to your car. It’ll be a frozen day in hell before you get them back.” He gave my inner thigh a sound slap. “Thank me for disciplining you.”
“Thank you, Master.”
His fingers pinched my thigh. “Beg me to punish you.”
“Punish me, Master. Please.” I gazed at him through my tears, meaning every word, despite the terror of the unknown rising in the form of vomit. “I deserve whatever you decide.”
He palmed my cheek. “This decision wasn’t easy for me. I want you to know that. But I feel this is the only way to ensure you never stumble again.”
I swallowed hard, barely getting past the huge lump of terror in my throat. “What are you planning to do to me?”
He dipped a finger between my legs, crooking it in just the right way. “No orgasms for the duration of your punishment. That’s a start.” He stood and gestured to the bed on which I sat. “You’ll sleep here tonight.”
I blinked a tear down my cheek. God, this hurt. The distance growing between us, the way he couldn’t quite look me in the eye. I already missed him.
But he’d gotten Ian help. If anything good came from this, it was the chance Ian now had at living.