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“There’s a hot tub?”
“Sure, on the third-floor patio.”
Hope burned to cinders in my heart. A spark of good was turning into a flame of hate. Ordinarily I detested conflict, but I was willing to make an exception because what he’d just said seemed almost purposefully spiteful to me.
“I’m not allowed on the third floor. You were very clear about that.”
“I may have been a bit too limited in my enthusiasm. Privacy is important to me, but it’s also important to be reasonable. How about if I give you the run of the house, particularly the outdoor areas, and you promise to stay out of any doors that are closed?
“Okay,” I agreed, after some careful thought.
“Would you like to see the hot tub?”
“Yes, please,” I said, remembering my manners.
“After dessert,” he said, applying his authority.
As much as I usually hate being bossed around, Adam making such declarations felt okay. In fact, it was a really good, tingling sensation kicking up down below, like no man had managed to cause in me before.
I wondered what it was about him but gave up trying. Some mysteries were too great for mere mortals to understand.
After we enjoyed the best chocolate mousse I’d ever tasted, Adam collected the dishes and brought them back to the kitchen, before trundling through the front room. While I kept pace as best as I could without slipping on the marble from my lack of shoes, he led the way up the ornate steps to the third level of existence.
At the end of the main hall was another set of double doors, slightly smaller than the ones at the front. On the other side of the decorative door lay a spacious balcony with a lit up hot tub at the center.
“I’ll show you how to work it.”
Without another word being uttered, Adam did just that, the tub bursting into swirling life.
“Don’t go in for more than half an hour, you might faint.”
And then he was gone, not even thinking to ask if I’d brought a swimsuit or towel. Left to my own devices, I found a towel in one of the many bathrooms, and then I ventured back out onto the patio and stripped down to my bra and panties, before deciding to be brave.
All alone and without a stitch on, feeling freer than I had in years, I slipped under the jetting water, letting it swallow me whole, keeping my watch nearby to make sure I didn’t overdo it.
It was an amazing soak. And it ended far too soon but I didn’t want to pass out, so I reluctantly exited the hot tub after the proscribed half an hour was over.
Once I was dried and dressed, minus my soaked undies, I tiptoed back to my room, not seeing Adam again. Even so, things already looked better than they had earlier today. I still felt like a prisoner but at least I was one with some freedoms. It would have been much worse in a government-run facility, so I tried to make the best of it.
Getting into fresher clothes, I set out again, looking for adventure or whatever came my way. Despite my new liberties, I walked softly, constantly aware of possibly being caught looking at something I wasn’t supposed to see.
I couldn’t imagine what it might be, but big houses usually held dark secrets. If gothic literature was anything to go by, anyway.
Step by step, I went back up to the third floor. Something about it seemed to pull me there. It was as if my course was driven by an unseen force. Doors passed on either side like trees in the woods, but none of them particularly caught my attention. Until one of them did, making me turn to look.
It was closed, and therefore out of bounds according to Adam’s decree. Even so, curiosity overwhelmed me, and my hand was on the doorknob before I even realized it.
With a creak and a crack, I was in. A cool rush caressed my face from the temperature-controlled room. Lit in soft blue, it certainly wasn’t a guest bedroom, or maybe it was.
It was furnished sparsely with the sort of pieces that came with at least three straps, their only fit purpose apparent by the design. Along the walls, in racks evenly spaced, were some very special tools, used in some very niche sexual acts.
What the fuck.
I definitely wasn’t supposed to see this.
I’d better get out of here.
Closing the door, being careful not to slam it and draw attention, I tried to catch my breath, still deciding whether to be shocked or excited by what I’d seen.
Chapter Six – Adam
My feelings all clustered together like a wig blending too well with hair, I’d taken Petra in against my better judgment. I’d invited her into my home and quickly secured her in the second-best room, but even so, I couldn’t miss how her eyes had that haunted look of a gulag victim.
