Chapter 6
Ilie back in the furs, curling them around me as I shift onto my side and search for a position where the pressure eases. Every time I move, I look up and see the collar resting on top of the cage, the leash already attached and a little matte-black bell hanging from it.
I wriggle again and press my legs tightly together. Frustration boils inside me. I have been free for so long, living wild and depending upon no one. Nobody tells me where to go. Nobody tells me what to do. I live this way for a reason, and...
If I do not call for them, I’m going to pee myself.
I rush to my feet with a scowl. Holding the fur closed around me with one hand, I reach between the bars and grab the leash with the other.
Then I pull.
The bell rings with a soft, tinkling sound.
Talarin appears almost immediately. I never hear him coming.
He has changed out of his white robe. He is shirtless now, wearing loose white linen trousers that fall smoothly from his hips without disguising the heavy print of his cock.
An Adonis V arcs down from his chiselled abdomen beneath the waistband.
His body is simply art whenever he moves, every muscle rippling in perfect proportion.
Broad house slippers of supple dark leather, lined with thick cream sheep’s wool, cover his feet, every seam precisely stitched.
He stops before the cage and cocks his head questioningly.
“There’s no bathroom,” I say, standing as still as I can and doing my best not to wriggle.
He continues watching me.
A flicker of humiliation passes through me. For all his restraint and control, he is waiting for me to say it. He wants me to admit it. He is taking some kind of pleasure in making me say the words aloud.
“I need to go to the bathroom.”
“I’ll bring you to the washroom. But this is my home. If you leave your cage, you wear the collar and leash.”
“Look, I understand. I know you like your women obedient, but I’m not in your harem. There’s a Commissioner coming tomorrow, and I’m going to plead my case.”
Talarin keeps looking down at me. One eyebrow rises so slightly that I almost miss it.
Then he begins to turn away.
“Wait.”
The pressure has become unbearable. I shift my weight and reach between the bars, keeping the fur closed with one hand while taking the collar with the other.
The buckle slips twice as I try to fasten it one-handed, the attached bell jingling with every clumsy movement.
When it finally catches, I pull the narrow band tighter than I mean to around my neck.
The print of his cock thickens beneath the linen, swelling enough to shift the smooth fabric while he watches. I look away, hot anger mixing with shame. He knows I am being forced to obey him. My only alternative is to pee myself inside his cage, and that still arouses him.
Talarin squats with the same practised control he brings to every movement. He draws a key from his belt and inserts it into the lock, turning it agonizingly slowly. Every motion is precise. He does not care enough about my desperation to hurry.
The cage door swings open.
I lower myself onto my hands and knees and crawl out, dragging the leash behind me. When my head clears the cage, I begin to rise, then freeze.
This man enjoys control. I can feel it in the patient way he waits, offering no instruction and leaving me to wonder which movement will earn punishment.
“Do I need to ask permission to stand?” I demand.
“You may stand.”
I straighten while struggling to keep the fur closed around me. Talarin holds out his hand.
I bite my lip before placing the end of the leash in his palm.
He turns and starts walking. His stride is long, but he shortens it for me without acknowledging that he has done so. I follow behind him, gathering the fur around my body while the little bell at my throat marks every step.
Three doors open off the corridor. The closest stands ajar, and through it I glimpse a tall oval window.
I recognize it instantly. I have watched those three windows from the upper branches of the tallest tree beyond the wall, wondering which parts of the house lay behind them. These must be their bedrooms.
At the end of the corridor stands a broad heartwood door. Talarin stops before a sliding panel set into the opposite wall, across from the three bedrooms. He hooks one finger into its recessed grip and draws it aside as though it weighs nothing.
The washroom beyond is enormous. The same pale, rough-dressed limestone covers the walls and heated floor, softened by dark heartwood cabinets and shelves.
A deep bathing pool is sunk into the stone, its interior lined with smooth river rock and fitted with rows of small jets.
Beyond it, an open shower spans almost the entire back wall, large enough for ten Aurelians without crowding them.
A huge mirror hangs above a basin that nearly reaches my chest. I look up and see myself properly for the first time in months.
The river only ever gave me a broken reflection. It was never enough to show me how lean I have become, how close I am to looking truly gaunt.
Autumn has been wet. My mother always said that heavy autumn rains meant a bitter winter was coming to Colossus. I believed her, and each of the three times autumn had been this drenched, I was glad for the extra stores when winter came.
But what looks most obscene is the narrow collar around my neck, the matte-black bell hanging at my throat.
I want to rip it off. I know Talarin would punish me if I tried.
He reaches towards my neck. His movements are so precise that his fingers never touch my skin as he releases the leash from the collar, leaving the collar itself fastened around me.
“Can I please use the shower?”
He says nothing.
Being this close to the toilet makes the pressure suddenly unbearable. I shift from one foot to the other, unable to tell whether he is considering my request or enjoying watching me squirm.
“Yes. You have ten minutes. It is voice-activated. You may take a robe from the hooks afterward.”
The door slides closed behind him.
I hurry to the shower.
“Activate,” I order in Aurelian.
Water erupts against the stone, loud enough to conceal every other sound. Only then do I rush to the toilet.
Afterward, I wash my hands and step beneath the spray. Heat pours over me. Now that the danger and cold have passed, I discover every scratch and bruise left by the forest, the chase, and the tendrils that wrapped around me.
A huge bar of soap waits in a recessed shelf. Beside it is a dispenser of shampoo carrying the same faint woody scent I noticed upon Talarin. I work it through my hair, losing myself for a few precious moments in the heat.
Then I remember the time.
What happens if ten minutes pass? Will he come inside and drag me out?
He has already seen me naked without snapping, but the thought still makes me hurry.
I rinse the last of the shampoo from my hair, shut off the water, and dry myself as quickly as I can with one of the enormous towels.
Three huge robes hang from hooks near the door. I lift the first to my nose. It smells only of clean fabric.
The second is also freshly washed, but beneath the soap is the faintest trace of testosterone-fuelled sweat, as if even washing cannot entirely cleanse the beastly rank from Arrek. It just so obviously belongs to him.
The third carries Talarin’s subtle woody scent.
I take that one.
The fabric is finer than anything I have ever worn, impossibly smooth against my clean skin. It is also made for an Aurelian giant. The hem pools around my feet, and I have to gather both sides in my hands like a woman curtsying at court.
I feel ridiculous.
I open the sliding door and start.
Talarin is standing exactly where I left him. He has not shifted so much as an inch. With his pale marble skin and perfectly still body, he could be a statue waiting outside the door.
Without speaking, he lifts the end of the leash and reaches towards my collar. His movements are so precise that his fingers should never touch me.
I shift my neck slightly as he attaches the clasp.
One fingertip grazes my skin.
Talarin draws a deep breath through his nose. The print of his cock thickens beneath the white linen, swelling enough to shift the fabric.
One touch, and the mirage of his control shatters for an instant before he regains it, his body becoming statue-still once more.
He turns, and this time he allows me to walk ahead of him. My heart pounds as I wait for the leash to tighten or for him to yank me backwards, but he never does. He simply follows while the bell jingles softly at my throat.
I can feel his eyes burning through the enormous robe.
When we return to the dining room, he stops beside the cage.
“I apologize,” he says in his precise, deep voice. “I should have asked before. Were you injured while running from us? I saw several scrapes, but nothing that appeared serious.”
“No. I’m all right. I’ve lived through worse.”
“We have a Med-Bay. I can heal the cuts.”
“I didn’t think you would have a Med-Bay. I’ve never seen any of you use the Reaver, or any technology, or...”
Something cold enters his expression.
“It’s fine,” I say quickly. “But thank you. I appreciate it.”
He waits.
“Look, Talarin... Can I call you that?”
He nods.
“I’m scared. I’m all alone here, and the three of you are...”
The words fail me.
“What are you going to do with me?”
“That will depend upon what the Commissioner says tomorrow.”
I look down at the open cage.
“Do I really need to go back in there?”
“Yes.”
I lower myself onto my hands and knees and crawl inside. Once I am through the little door, I turn and reach towards the collar, looking up at Talarin.
His rules were clear, and I realize I was stupid to ask for permission to stand before. There is no trickery in him. I am back inside the cage, so I can release the collar...
For now.
These men did not make a cage for one night.
He has not lied, but he is planning something deeper for me.
Talarin allows me to remove the collar. I place it and the leash back on top of the cage carefully enough that the bell remains silent. He closes the door, turns the key, and walks away.
But the fire is crackling dreamily, the furs are so warm and cozy, and I have been awake far too long, my body exhausted from the chase. All my adrenaline crashes at once. My belly is full, my head warm and fuzzy, and the darkness is oh so inviting...