3. Chapter 3 #2
“Yeah, I’m not fucking using that on you.”
“But… what if I’m bad?”
“Jesus,” he breathed, running a hand through his hair. “I’m not here to punish you. You’re free to go. I’m only allowing you to stay one night, as I said. Tomorrow, I’ll get you some clothes and give you some money. After that, you’re on your own.”
My eyes watered because I was his. He saved me for a reason. I didn’t want to go. “But I… belong to you now.”
His face turned angry again, making my heart beat really fast and my mouth went dry.
He suddenly gripped my aching throat. While it was tight, he didn’t hurt me, but I didn’t dare grab his hand to pull him away.
“I’m not some fucking perverted… whatever that fat fuck was to you.
Do you hear me? No one belongs to me, and I don’t belong to anyone else. Got it? And I don’t fuck children.”
Cleo whimpered and whined and put her body between me and Angel.
“Dammit, Cleo… what has gotten into you? I’m not going to… hurt him.”
My eyes watered, and my lip trembled, trying not to cry. “I’m not a child anymore. That’s why Father was always mad at me.”
“Fath… never mind.” He took several deep breaths and slowly breathed them out of his mouth since his nose was stuffed with tissues. He stood close enough to me that I felt the breeze from his exhale. “Are you hungry?”
I nodded, afraid to say anything else. I needed to find a way to stay with him. He was mine, and I was his.
“What do you like to eat?”
Father always made me eat healthy foods. I never had a choice. Most of my meals were bland and tasteless. If I was really good, I’d get an apple. Usually, I took a lot of supplements, and my meals were small. Father liked me really skinny.
“I don’t know. I usually eat boiled chicken with plain broccoli, spinach, or other vegetables.”
“Fuck, what did I get myself into?” He mumbled the question, so I wasn’t sure if I needed to answer him or not. “I’m not equipped to handle little slave boys.”
Angel made his way into the kitchen, opened up the refrigerator, and pulled out several items. He chopped up a bunch of vegetables, sauteing them in the deep pan, then he added meat and other things.
Sometimes I got to watch Chef cook. He was nice to me when no one else was around, but if they were, he’d ignore me as I watched him prepare my meals.
I loved how he chopped vegetables so fast that the knife was a blur.
It looked really fun. Chef said he enjoyed cooking and chopping vegetables.
That’s what I wanted to learn if my new master allowed it.
Soon, strong aromas filled the kitchen, and my stomach growled.
I hadn’t eaten since this morning. Chef would make me a plain bowl of cereal high in fiber with a glass of some gross green juice that tasted like mashed-up vegetables.
I always hated it, but I drank it all or else I’d go hungry, then get punished for being wasteful.
When my dark angel finished cooking, he placed a bowl of something in front of me. It was red and smelled really good.
“May I have permission to ask a question?”
“Just ask.”
I nodded. “Thank you. What is this called?”
He groaned and sighed again. I seemed to make him do that a lot. I wish I would stop displeasing him. “It’s just spaghetti,” he said, sitting across from me and digging into his meal with a fork, so I copied him.
My first bite was a burst of flavor I’d never tasted before. I hadn’t meant to groan as I took another bite. “Mmphfmphmm,” I said with my mouth full, having no idea what I was trying to say, but it was the best food I’d ever had.
“Good?” he asked, watching me closely.
I nodded eagerly and took another bite. Unfortunately, I couldn’t finish it. I was too full, not used to eating so much.
He cleared the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen. “Come on. You can shower or something, and I’ll show you where you can sleep.”
I followed my angel down a short hallway while holding Rabbit. He opened a door that led to a small bathroom and turned on the shower.
“Can… I have a bath, please?” He needed a title for him, but I didn’t think he was ready for one yet. Would he like me to call him Angel? I liked it, but he’d probably prefer ‘sir’ or ‘daddy’ as most men did.
He said nothing as he turned on the faucet and stopped the tub with a plug. It was a really old tub that sat alone on the floor with clawed feet for legs. I liked it. It would be like climbing onto an animal and going for a ride.
“I don’t have any bubble bath or anything, but I have some bath salts that smell… Well, like medicine.”
“Thank you.” Daddy, Master, Sir, Angel? I was getting frustrated. Should I dare ask? Would he be angry? He seemed to get angry really easily. “Can I ask you a question?”
He nodded as he poured salts into my bathwater.
“What do I call you? You seemed angry with ‘father.’ Should I call you master, or…” I let it hang, so he could tell me himself.
He rubbed his face with his hands and groaned. “Master? Fucking Christ.”
I upset him again and my eyes started to leak, but I choked them back, not wanting him to be angrier with me.
“I’m sorry.” God, I was getting everything wrong.
Learning a new person was hard. He wasn’t like the others, so I was really confused.
Before they would tell me everything I had to do.
But he didn’t tell me anything, leaving me to guess what he wanted.
“I’m Dante Varga. You can just call me Dante.”
“Dante,” I said, rolling it off my tongue and savoring it like his spaghetti. “I like that name. What does it mean?”
He sighed. “It means nothing. It’s just my name. I’ll be right back.” But he stopped and turned around. “Do you have a name?”
“Father called me Baby Boy.”
Another growl came from him, and I was quickly learning he was more angry at Father than at me. I kind of liked him doing that. He reminded me of the guard dogs. It made me feel… protected somehow, now that I knew it wasn’t directed at me.
“Of course he fucking did. Surely, you were born with a name. What about your parents?”
“I don’t remember much about them, but I think I remember hearing the name Luca, though I’m not sure if it was my name or someone else’s.”
He nodded. “Then I’ll call you Luca. A fucking thousand times better than… Never mind.” He growled again and left.
I think in private I’d stick with calling him Angel.
He had a nice name, but Angel fit him better.
After I set Rabbit on the counter, leaning him against the mirror so he didn’t fall, I pulled off my T-shirt and stripped out of my underwear.
As I stood there naked, I realized I didn’t bring any clothes with me.
I guess I could put the old clothes back on, but Father…
No, he was gone now. He couldn’t hurt me anymore.
My angel walked back in, carrying a stack of clothes and a towel, but when he saw me standing there naked, he quickly averted his eyes and set everything down next to Rabbit.
“I have a T-shirt and some basketball shorts for you to wear. They’re going to be big, but the shorts tie at the waist. And there’s a towel and washcloth.
All the toiletries are next to the tub. The drawer over there has stuff you can shave or brush your teeth with. ”
“Thank you… Dante.”
He said nothing, walking out and closing the door behind him. I didn’t know what to make of his reaction. Had he not seen a person naked before? I was used to not having privacy, but maybe he preferred it.
I climbed into the steaming water and scrubbed my body with his soap.
It smelled really nice. Mine always smelled either like strawberries or apples.
His soap smelled like the woods with something else.
It smelled like a man. Usually, Nanny would bathe me to Father’s specifications, but I had watched her enough to know what to do.
After my skin was thoroughly scrubbed and pink, I opened the drawer to find a razor, shaving cream, an extra toothbrush, and toothpaste.
I used to watch Nanny shave me, so I had an idea of how to do it.
But she handled the rest of my body, and that wasn’t something I knew how to do, but I’d worry about that later.
When my face was baby smooth with only a few nicks, I thoroughly brushed my teeth.
Angel’s T-shirt fell to my thighs, and his shorts were really long and big, but the tie worked enough to keep them from falling. I hated not having any underwear, but maybe I could wash my old clothes.
There was a knock on the door. “Uh?”
“Can I come in?”
“Uhm, yes?”
He stepped in and eyed me quickly. “Sit on the counter for a moment.”
To be good and not wanting to upset him anymore, I did as I was told without question. He opened a cabinet under the sink and pulled out a big red box. Opening it, he pulled out some ointment and gauze, along with some hydrogen peroxide. I was familiar with it all since I got hurt a lot.
“This shouldn’t sting too bad,” he said when he poured some of the liquid onto the gauze.
“I know. What about you? How do you feel?” All the blood from his face was gone, at least.
He looked at me and his intense eyes softened for a moment. “I’ve already cleaned it up. I’ll have black eyes later, but it’s nothing I can’t live with.”
He dabbed at my neck where there were burn wounds and chaffing from the leather. I watched his face as he took care of me, being so gentle. I think I fell in love even more with my angel. His dark, thick brows were low on his face, and his pale green eyes were really pretty to look at.
When he finished cleaning my throat, neck, and lip, he dabbed some ointment everywhere.
“All done,” he said, cleaning up the mess and putting away the box. Then he left me again without a word.
With his socks on my feet and Rabbit in my arms, I stepped out of the bathroom to look for him, and found him in his living room, sitting in a large cushioned chair by the fire, smoking a cigarette.
It wasn’t cold out, but I liked it, making it inviting.
Upon closer inspection, I was shocked to see my collar burning in the center of the logs.
I wasn’t sure how that made me feel. I’d worn it for so long, it was almost a part of me, but I hated the thing, too.
Angel sipped on something amber-looking from a glass after taking a long drag on his cigarette, staring off into nowhere.
Maybe I could make him feel better, so I sat next to him on my knees and rested my head on his thigh.
He didn’t move or say anything. Maybe he didn’t notice, so I gently grabbed his hand and placed it on my head.
He just left it there, not running his fingers through my hair.
Nanny would do this for me when I was really sad or hurting.
Cleo walked over and lay next to me, placing her big head on my thigh. I reached over and gently stroked her nose and forehead. She heaved a big sigh and closed her eyes.
The clinking of ice in his glass and slight movement in his chair were the only indications that he was awake, but I barely was.
It was three in the morning, according to the clock on the television, and way past my bedtime.
Plus, it was a really hard day. Angel was warm, and while his thighs were like rocks, I found him comfortable.
And Cleo gave me that extra bit of comfort and protection.
I was shielded between the strong dog and the strong man, and for the first time since I could remember, I felt safe.
I smiled sleepily when his hand started moving through my hair and I yawned.
He was mine, and so much better than Father.