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“You’re bleeding.”
Had that deep voice been mine? I barely even heard it as I stalked in her direction. Blood was smeared under her nose, and her cheek was pink and slightly swollen. Even the seam along her gold blouse was torn. Before I could touch her, my Mistress’s hand shot out as a warning. She was angry. Or maybe she was scared.
“It’s still crazy out there.” She took out her card, handing it to the tattoo artist as she pulled me deeper into the room to look at me. Her hand lifted, peeling back the clear wrap covering my neck. For long moments she scanned the dark shades. “I like it. Stop chewing on your damn lip. I’ve had a lot worse.”
She finally looked up and met my eyes.
“What happened?”
“A drunk fool, that’s what happened. He didn’t see me, or maybe he didn’t care as he overexpressively swung his stupid arms through the air. Idiots. All of them.”
Despite knowing she was going to get angrier, I reached up, trailing my finger along the swollen part of her cheek.
“I’ll take care of you when we get home.”
No slap to my hand. No threat of the closet or a beating. Her lip quivered, and she left me there, heading back to the counter to retrieve her card. I caught up, listening to the tattoo artist finish up the last-minute instructions to my Mistress and apply the new wrap to my neck. It didn’t take long before I was holding the door open as we began to leave. Was she limping?
“I got your cream. He expects you back tomorrow at the same time.”
She couldn’t disguise the fear in her tone. We rounded the turn, faced with the chaos all over again. I glanced at my Mistress, taking her by the bicep to pull her in. Her gaze met mine and she swallowed hard, her eyes filling with tears as she nodded. I felt whatever happened out here without me went beyond what she was telling me. Something bad transpired that knocked her into a mindset I hadn’t seen on her before, and it enraged me. I lowered, barring my arm under her ass as I lifted her against the front of my body. To my surprise, her arms wrapped around my neck loosely, and the side of her face came to settle against mine. Wetness slid against my cheek and the heat boiled inside my chest as she shook through the silent sobs. Maybe people could see it. Maybe they sensed I was looking for someone to put through a wall. All I knew was someone hurt my Mistress, and if I wasn’t a killer now, I could easily become one soon.
Shops blurred by. Sound faded to a dull roar. I took in every man I could see wondering if it were them. Praying she’d stop me and point them out. She didn’t. Charlotte stayed glued to my body, allowing me to carry her all the way to the elevator. Silence followed us the entire ride up. She wasn’t crying anymore, but her eyes were still red and swollen from how hard she had. My jaw was even still wet from her tears. A part of me loved to have her like this, but not at the price it had come. If she wasn’t crying over me, I didn’t want her crying at all.
“It suits you.” She cleared her throat, sniffling. “The tattoos; your anger. You were made for this look.”
“I’m assuming I don’t get to know what really happened.”
“I think your ego needs to drop another notch or two, Mr. Badass. There’s nothing to say. I told you, it was a drunk asshole who was waving his hands around. I wasn’t prepared.”
“Waving around at first, before he saw you? What happened after that, he just continued?”
The elevator door opened, and Charlotte’s eyes got so small through her glare, I was sure she was going to start beating me on the spot. Instead, she took off at a fast pace, heading down our hall. When she threw open the door and pushed me in, I was ready for her wrath. The door slammed shut, and she was shoving her hand hard into my chest.
“You are my protector. My slave. You are not my daddy, and you arenotmy boyfriend. You have one job and it’s whatever the fuck I say.Down!”
I’d barely budged two steps through all her pushing, but I lowered to kneel in the middle of the living room floor anyway. The sobs were back, and her anger was evident. She immediately held both sides of my face as she leaned in towards me.
“Do you hear what I’m telling you?”
“Yes, Mistress.”
“Do you understand that you are my slave? That your job is to obey everything I say?”
“Yes, Mistress.”
“Do I need to put you in the closet?”
“No.”
At the look, I let out a breath.
“No, Mistress.”
“Come shower me. It’s almost ten, and I’m going to bed. I’m done with this day.”
Again, she left, and again I caught up. Charlotte stormed from the closet with clothes in tow, still stomping her feet as she made her way into the bathroom. My eyes cut over in time to see the weakling smirking.Enjoying and basking in my Mistress’s pain.The rage I projected wasn’t intentional, but I knew when I’d jerked to a stop and glared in her direction, she felt every emotion that was boiling inside me. The girl immediately cowered, lowering her head as I started walking again and pushed the door open to join my Mistress. She stood there, waiting. Ready.
The moment I approached, she lifted her arms. I tried to ignore the tear on the blouse but didn’t miss the dirt smeared further along the side. I hadn’t seen that earlier.
