Page 10 of Master A-0011
“Allow me to help.”
I didn’t give her time to process my words. I placed my hand back over hers, lifting the hatchet and slamming our hands forward, slicing through muscle and embedding in bone. Thebgasped, not able to scream through the shock. Blood sprayed all over me and my new slave. And she was gone…My slave’s legs gave out, and I barely managed to catch her as her body went limp and she passed out.
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Heat. Wetness. I was on fire as tingling prickled along my skin. I could feel the rise and fall of my chest, but I felt so far away. It was the wet pressure along my cheek, moving down over my chest that drew me from the dark emptiness I’d been barely existing in.
Color blurred as I opened my lids, only for them to fall. What I saw in the quick flash didn’t make sense. Dark hair. A man. He was next to me, but…leaning over me. Pressure. Wetness. The sensations had my head shaking back and forth as my legs managed to scissor through the need that was suddenly taking over. I’d felt it before. Before…what?
Touch. A finger dipped into the missing part of the muscle on my shoulder, and I gasped, my eyes flying open as if I’d been doused with ice water. I was on the bed and my robe was completely opened. Ethan was rubbing a washcloth along the side of my face and neck while he traced my scars with his digit. For the life of me, I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe through the primal twisting in my core.
“What is your name?”
It took a moment to process the question through his hard tone. “…I have to say it?”
“I go through too many slaves to refer to you as one. I want your name.”
Tears. They came, but I managed to hold them in. I didn’t want to say it. To say it made what happened real. It would make the screams return.
“Slave.”
“Pearl.”
Ethan’s lips parted. Expressions were unreadable as his eyes left me and he paused for a long moment. “Pearl. I didn’t expect that.”
“Did you expect something just as ugly as me?”
There was no sarcasm or even pity in my tone. Just mere curiosity.
“If you’re ugly then I’m blind.”
“I would say you’re just being nice but…” I trailed off, knowing he wouldn’t lie to me through the perplexity in his soft words. He had no reason to. “I’m sorry for passing out. That’s never happened before. I think it was just too much, too fast.” At the trail of the washcloth along my neck, again, my legs scissored. It drew attention to not only his other fingers running the length of the scar inches from my breast but also to the heat and prickling that was consuming me. My hands flew up and I quickly pulled the robe closed. “I’m better now. I’m ready to continue if you’ll let me sit up.”
Ethan’s lips pressed together, and he put down the washcloth, re-opening my robe. His other hand went back, continuing to move down the scar towards my cleavage.
“Master.”
“Yes, Pearl?”
“I’m ready to continue.”
“How did this happen?”
I swallowed hard, my head turning away just as my eyes rolled. My hips arched and I fisted the comforter, needing more. Needing…
“Boating accident,” I managed. “I was twelve.”
Fingers traced my far jaw, bringing my face back towards him. The touch was so soft. So…unlike what I’d seen of him towards the other women.
“Tell me about it.”
“I…can’t.”
“You will.”
“No.” The word was breathless. “I really can’t. I don’t remember. I was sitting on the front of my father’s boat. Then, nothing. I…must have fallen in. I woke up in the hospital hours later. Barely. The first month is a blur. Doctors say I repressed the memories. They were too traumatic, I guess.”
Green eyes lowered to the scar he kept tracing back and forth above my breast.