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“Did you come?”
“N-not in the shower, but yes.”
“Were you loud like I taught you?”
“Yes, Master.” Claire felt the heat rising and knew he could see the telltale pink in her cheeks.
“Good girl. Sit.”
Claire sat at the table as Ari spooned out breakfast casserole onto all their plates. She could detect eggs, cheese, sausage, onions, and mushrooms.
“I smell something delicious,” Kane said wearing jeans and a black T-shirt with paint stains on it. He didn't have shoes on. He'd made himself right at home this morning.
Kane winked at Claire as he sat across from her, and she was certain she blushed again. She knew he was talking about the food, but the way he looked at her when he said it made it seem as though he might also mean something else.
It felt strange seeing him after what had happened the previous day. But even more strange was the fact that this man didn't scare her. He was very intense, but he seemed to respect Ari. That fact alone made her feel safe near him.
Ari sat at the head of the table. “Did you put down drop cloths?” he asked, before taking a big bite of the casserole.
Kane rolled his eyes. “Of course I put down drop cloths. I wouldn't dream of getting paint on your playroom floor. Do you think I'm a barbarian?”
“A little bit, yeah,” Ari shot back, but there was no venom in it.
“Careful. You'll scare the poor girl,” Kane said, his eyes never leaving Claire's as he took a bite of the casserole. Claire had to bite back a moan when she finally tasted her own breakfast.
“Holy shit, this is amazing.”
Artisan, architect, captor, chef. So many ways to describe this man she was already half in love with even as she knew how foolish and wrong such feelings were.
Ari chuckled. Then the two men started discussing the painting. Claire quietly ate and let them talk, not understanding half the artist jargon that was bandied between them.
“Come here,” Kane said to Claire when they'd finished eating. Ari stood and began to clear the table. Claire looked to him—a question. Ari nodded in response.
She moved around the table to Kane and sat when he patted his lap, her breath coming faster now. Kane gathered her long blonde hair in his hands and piled it on top of her head, pulling a few loose wisps down to frame her face.
“Do you have a hair clip?” he asked Ari. “I think I want her hair up like this when I paint her.”
“I'm sure Holly left something. I'll go check.”
When Ari had gone, Kane's free hand began to travel under the robe, trailing up along her thigh. Claire jerked away. He removed his hand and let her hair fall freely around her face. When she chanced a glance at him, he didn't appear angry or offended. He instead seemed perplexed, a question in his gaze.
“Are you upset about what happened with the three of us yesterday?”
“No, Sir,” she said.
He seemed impressed she'd remembered to call him Sir. Or maybe that she'd chosen to do it without prompting.
“I can tell he's very happy with you,” Kane said. “Anyone would beveryhappy with you.”
“Really?”
He nodded. Claire tried to find the lie. Was he softening her up somehow? Was it a line? But his words seemed nothing but sincere.
“Do you not want me to touch you or are you afraidhedoesn't want me to touch you?” Kane asked.
“I-I'm not sure.” It was the truth. She was afraid Ari would be bothered if she just let his friend touch her without him there. It felt somehow like cheating. Even though she was his property, not his girlfriend. So why the fuck should she care about that? And she shouldn'twantthis man to touch her at all, whether Ari was there or not. Her reactions to almost everything since coming here violated all the things she thought she should want. But her body wasn't prepared to listen to any of the reasons why she should recoil or run.
If it weren't for her past... if it weren't for the basement... wouldn't she want these things? Hadn't she fantasized about these things? Night after night after night, these pathologically repetitive fantasies had always been there, the background track to her private pleasure. If not for the basement... wouldn't she have jumped on this? So why shouldn't she now? Why should she let that monster take just one more thing from her?
