fuck could she forget?
The one reprieve was that he wouldn’t beat her again, at least not across her back until it healed. He’d find other punishments to torture her with instead. Things that wouldn’t leave marks. Or he’d leave marks elsewhere. He didn’t seem to want to kill her or physically damage her beyond repair. It was a bad sign that she wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
***
Lately Lucas had been taking her out a lot more to clubs and parties. She wasn’t sure what that meant. Each time, she was afraid he’d share her with another, but so far that hadn’t happened. Tonight it was a large brick building with a circular driveway. Cars were parked all the way out to the road. All black luxury sedans. It looked like the secret service was having a dinner party.
She huddled beside her master outside, nothing but a black velvet cloak and slippers to separate her from the chill in the night air. The palm trees towering overhead rustled in the breeze. Whispering about her.
The door opened and a butler took Lucas’s coat and Grace’s cloak and slippers. She looked down at the ground, wrapping her arms around herself. She’d never get used to being like this without clothing to shield her from strange, prying eyes. They went down a flight of stairs until they were in a large, dungeon-like room. There were many men down there––too many to count––and about five other slaves.
Lucas surveyed the room, and then picked a couch to sit on. He snapped and pointed at the floor. She knelt on the ground beside him, her breathing coming fast. Her master seemed to have a new sense of purpose lately. She wasn’t sure what it meant, but each time he brought her to one of these mysterious functions, he seemed more focused.
At previous gatherings they’d stayed on the fringes, observing. Now he seemed in the thick of things, and several men came up and spoke to him. Grace couldn’t follow the conversation because they were speaking in the language native to the island. Lucas had been careful to only speak English to her, obviously not wanting her to understand when he spoke to others.
She flinched and cringed away when several of them touched her. Some took her chin and forced her eyes to theirs, turning her face this way and that, running their fingers through her hair. Others stroked her breasts and between her legs. The latter action brought a chuckle. Though Grace didn’t understand the language, she knew they were remarking on how aroused she was.
Each time a different male approached and started touching her, she was afraid Lucas would allow the man to borrow her. But they simply conversed with her master for awhile and then nodded and walked away.
Hours drifted by. There was dinner and drinks in a dining room, followed by more talking. No food was brought to her. She knew something important was being discussed. Was she being sold? It was the only thing that made sense in light of the business-like way the men all behaved.
She tried to think what that would mean for her. To be sold. She’d given up her silly fantasies. The reality was that she was chattel and whether it was Lucas or someone else, it was going to be bad. It was never going to be okay. The best she could hope for was to survive, though she wasn’t sure survival was the best outcome anymore.
Out of the corner of her eye she glimpsed a figure standing in the doorway, a man who’d decided not to dine. Something compelled her to look up, and when she did she was met with the most brilliant blue eyes she’d ever seen, eyes that stared at her so hard she had to turn away. But it wasn’t fast enough.
Lucas had seen.
He rose from his chair and jerked her to her feet. The back of his hand came across her face so hard and fast she lost her breath. Voices that had been speaking ceased as he gripped her throat and pulled her close, his mouth pressed against her ear.
“Have you taken a liking to Asher Collins?” he whispered. “He’s the one I told you about last year. The one who killed his slave. Be thankful I’ve let you live, pet. You seem to have particularly dangerous taste in men.”
He shoved her back to the floor, and conversation resumed as if this were all