Page 11 of Master A-0011

“I see.”

“I can continue now.” As he reached the end of the scar, his palm brushed my nipple. A moan left me before I could stop it. Ethan’s eyes shot back to me, and my head turned again, this time in mortification. “Please, if you’ll let me get up?—”

Harder, he turned my face back to him.

“Stop looking away from me. Don’t make me tell you again.”

“I’m sorry. I just want you to stop.”

“I truly don’t care what you want. I’m the Master, not you. Do you understand what that means?”

“Yes.”

A look I wasn’t familiar with crossed his face, fading as his lids narrowed. The way his gaze lowered to my breasts had my legs drawing up so that my feet were flattened on the bed. Again, my hips arched, and I caught myself before I turned away. To see him taking in my body so freely had tears blinding me. I felthumiliated. Disgusted, just like he should have felt looking at me.

“Master, can I please get dressed?”

“Has anyone seen these?”

Not only did his index finger trace the scar, but his middle finger lowered to join. I was back to gripping the blanket underneath me.

“Only the doctors. No one else.”

Slowly, he made a path back over to my nipple, circling the hard nub.

“What about these.”

My small cry couldn’t be contained as he gave a slight pinch between his digits.

“No one. I was never around many people. I’ve…never.”

“Never,” he repeated, quietly. Almost disappointingly?

Something flashed on his face and his fingers drew back as if the heat coming from me had burned him. Maybe it did. I was on fire. Confliction drew in his features, and he grabbed a new glass of amber liquid from the bedside table, finishing it all off in one long gulp. Immediately, his lip peeled back.

“I don’t drink. Ever.Ever,” he repeated again. “Not just because it’s not good for my diet or routine, but because I become uncontrollable. I like control. I haven’t had that lately. The last few months have been off. I’ve brought you in to make me better. Pearl, you’re going to make this work. That means no more passing out. No more being weak. You have to bestrongto survive with me or you’re dead. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Master.”

“Good, because you’re going to go in there and you’re going to kill and quarter thatbfor me. Not every time. Killing is my thing, but for learning-sake, you’re going to do it tonight. Your job, and the reason I bought you, is to look after me. I have a very strict schedule and diet. I have an image to maintainfor the outside world. That means you’ll clean. Cook. Most importantly, you’ll do all the preparing. That’s the quartering. The butchering, if you will. All the menus, which I will approve before you finalize.

“Butchering? To…prepare…it? The food?”

Ethan scanned my face, putting back down the glass.

“Theb’s, Pearl. I’m sick of ordering out. I’m tired of not having the control to keep what I want within my own walls. You’re going to prepare and cook them like a five-star gourmet fucking chef. Not just for me.For us. You live here with me. You belong to me. You’ll eat what I do. Is that clear?”

“Eat?” My head lifted, turning to stare at the bathroom door in horror. But it wasn’t a horror I could feel yet. The oil was twisting that fear with a warped sense of lust. “You want me to…cut them apart? To.” I swallowed back the bile. “To prepare and cook theb’sfor you? Into fancy meals?”

“Stop singling me out.For us. And I will bring in a chef to teach you everything you need to know. You will make this role I’ve provided you your life because frankly, it’s the only thing keeping you alive right now.”

Ethan scooped behind my knees, spinning me on the bed, helping me to sit. For seconds, he didn’t move. He just leaned down inches from my face. There were still dots of blood along his cheek, but his jacket was gone and his collared, button-up was untucked and completely open. His body was all hard, defined muscle. It was pure perfection, not marred like mine. And as much as I should have feared him, I couldn’t when he was looking at me like I was beautiful. Like I was…someone worth looking at. I’d never been this close to a man, and this wasn’t just anyone. He was one of the most gorgeous men on the planet, and my body knew what he wanted. That did things to me I’d never felt before. It left my mind in dangerous territory with the ‘what-ifs’.What if the accident never happened? What if I had neverbeen taken and brought here? What if…this lust transitioned to a hunger that would have him killing me? Eating me?

“You’re okay? No dizziness?”

I shook my head. “No, Master.”

“You’re flushed.” His fingers went to my forehead. “You can’t sit still. Did they put anything here?”