Tender Mercies - By Kitty Thomas Page 0,47

went by before he lost patience with it. He gripped her waist, holding her in place as he drove into her from below. “Come again,” he growled.

She did. And then he did. And suddenly she was lying on top of him, and he was panting. Then the realization hit her. He’d come inside her. So he must know what Lucas had done. It must have been in the papers he’d had on her that gave her name and her measurements, and God only knew how many other private details.

A few days into her imprisonment with Lucas, he’d brought a doctor in who had performed a procedure to make her unable to have children. She’d been sore for days afterward. Grace had never thought about having children. Such a choice didn’t seem to fit into the kind of lifestyle she’d wanted. With kids, she’d have to circumscribe her life so as not to warp them. In a world without legal slavery, it would have been child abuse for them to even see an obvious collar clasped around her throat, not understanding what it meant or why it was okay for a man to treat a woman that way when the whole world said otherwise.

Her fingers strayed now to the platinum band resting securely in its place around her throat. No, she’d never thought she would want children, and yet the shock of having that choice forever revoked, of no longer having the option to feel a life growing inside her, had left her mourning for days. The memories caused tears to fall again, a few dropping onto her master’s shoulder.

Nine

Asher rubbed the salve over her back, re-dressed the wounds, and then wrapped a black silk robe around her, tying it at her hip. Her gaze was unfocused. She was off in her own world, and he didn’t know if he should disturb it. Had she gone to a good place or a bad place in her mind? Did she need time to process what had just taken place between them?

Although he felt guilt for pushing her so soon, he also reveled in the way her body gave in to his demands and how good she felt impaled on his cock.

He took her hand, his thumb pausing and pressing against the pulse point in her wrist. Slow and steady. He tugged on her and she stumbled forward a bit before her feet began moving.

“Grace?”

She looked up, her gaze suddenly clear. “Yes, Master?”

Such a fragile thing, as if she’d easily shatter in his hands. He found the power heady and erotic. The moment her back was healed, he had plans. “Are you ready for lunch?”

She nodded.

He guided her downstairs to the kitchen, where she glanced around as if looking for intruders. He recalled watching her at the showing, how self-conscious she was. Though she was too broken to rebel.

He intended to have her dressed in public. In something wicked and kinky, yes, but still, everything covered. Random exhibitionism didn’t turn her on, and Asher didn’t particularly get off on the idea of every dirty old man on Eleu assessing his property like window shoppers, either. The two of them were happily compatible in that way.

Her shoulders loosened as she realized they were alone.

“The driver stays in the pool house, and I’ll ask William not to lurk so much. It’s a large estate, and he can stay in the east wing. He’s got his own apartment and kitchen down there.”

Grace relaxed at that, but she still seemed on edge. They’d gone over a day without him laying out his most basic instructions. Once he got her into a routine, it would be better. He snapped and pointed beside the chair at the head of the table. There was a large, fluffy, round cushion on the floor. William had gotten it set up after breakfast.

“You will never stand in my presence at home. William has put out cushions around the house so you won’t hurt your knees. I won’t make you crawl everywhere, especially if there isn’t carpet.” She tentatively moved toward the cushion he’d pointed at and knelt. Peace drifted into her features as bits of structure were erected around her.

He continued. “You may roam freely around the house, but stay out of William’s living area. Also, my study is off-limits unless I call for you. The dungeon is also off-limits unless I take you there.” Not that he thought she had any inkling toward hanging out in the dungeon alone.

She kept her eyes