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Again, Sarah's attention waned. It was all so unspeakably boring.
“Sarah,” he said, more sharply this time. “What are you...”
She laid back and turned over on her stomach. “Just punish me,” she said. “I cannot understand anything you are saying.”
His hand hooked in the back of her tunic. He pulled back, hauling her up to a kneeling position. “You're not paying attention,” he said, leaning over her as he held her in place. “You're doing everything you can to avoid learning. If you could turn your brain off, you would.”
Sarah shrugged in his grasp. “Why do you care if I read? You want me to hunt. Hunters don't need to read.”
“I suppose I could keep you in a kennel, take you out when I need you to work, do nothing for you other than provide the basics of life,” he mused. “But I doubt you'd like that. And I don't think it would be good for your work either. A good hunter is well rounded.”
“You want a well-trained pet. A puppy who balances a bone on her nose.”
“I want a happy pet,” he said grimly. “Eventually you will realize that.”
“If you want me to be happy, take me out and let me go free. I won't live in this city. I can't.”
“You can,” he said, his voice softening. “I know you don't like it, but we will return to the wilds soon enough. We will spend days at a time hunting ores and proteins. You will see the world you love again, but not until you're trained enough that I know you'll be coming home with me at the end of the day.”
“I'll never be that well trained.”
“You're already halfway there,” he informed her with that handsome smile. “You just need a little more time, that's all.”
He was so sure of himself. She wondered what made him so certain. How many other hunters had he trained? And where were they? Lost, probably. The wilds were dangerous for domesticated people. If she spent too long in the city, she too would lose her instincts.
“I need to go back,” she said. “If you keep me here, I'll forget what I know. I'll lose strength. I'll lose connection with the wilds. And then I will be useless to you.”
He frowned. She'd made a point.
“You know what,” he said scratching his chin. “Let's go out.”
“Truly?”
“Wait there.” He pointed a finger at her, instructing her to stay on the bed and then he left. She waited for what seemed like a long time, wondering if perhaps he had lied.
“Right,” he said, coming back into the room. “Let's get ready.”
He was wearing the same camouflaged outfit he'd had on the day he captured her. Mixed emotions of hatred and lust shot through her. He looked damn good in his hunting attire; the armor conformed to his musculature perfectly, emphasizing the breadth of his shoulders and the powerful set of his hips. His hair had been tied back, leaving his jawline clear for her admiration. He locked eyes with her and smiled. “Today we hunt.”
“We hunt?”
“That's right,” he said. He had something in his hands, a band of metal. She recognized it from the first day they'd met. It was a collar, meant for wrapping about her neck, meant for control.
“I'm not wearing that.”
“Ah, but you are.” He beckoned her forward with a crooked finger. “You're going to wear it because this is your ticket to running free today. No leashes. No cages. Just you and me.”
Sarah chewed her lip for a moment. He almost made it sound appealing. A collar which represented freedom. She supposed she could wear it. Perhaps. Her feet made the decision for her in the end, shuffling her body within arm's reach of him. He wasted no time in snapping the collar about her neck, leaving the cool, light metal to rest against her neck.
“This collar can have some unpleasant effects,” he warned her. “It contains a locator, so if you run, I'll be able to find you. It also contains a few disciplinary tools, just in case you decide to disobey.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean it will give you a hell of a whack on your behind if you misbehave.”
“But it's on my neck.”
“It uses some of that technology you hate to send an impulse to your mind. It will feel as though your bottom is being spanked, even if I am miles away.”
“Lies,” she scoffed. “That is not... ow!”
He pressed a button on a little disc in his hand, and she felt a flare of heat and pain in her posterior. It was quite impossible, for nobody had touched her, and yet she felt as though she had been swatted.
“It's very effective,” he said. “Keep that in mind as we go through the city and out into the wilds.”
“I get the idea.”
