4

Leo woke late in the afternoon to find Faith sitting up in bed, her knees drawn to her chest and the blankets wrapped tightly around her. She cowered when he looked at her.

“Did you sleep okay?”

“Y-yes, Master.”

An obvious lie. She was too afraid for truth. If anything, in the light of day her anxiety was heightened. Her eyes were red-rimmed.

“Go take a shower and get dressed. We’ll go down to the kitchen for something to eat.”

She remained frozen against the headboard, and Leo frowned.

“Do you want to start your day off with punishment?”

“P-please, Master, no. I-I… please don’t look at me.”

This was not going well. She felt violated just being naked in his presence. Even if he didn’t touch her. It had been one night, nudity, and one spanking, and she already acted like some tormented refugee. If he pushed her farther, she might retreat inside herself and never come back out. The idea that he was damaging her with such small actions was another nail in the not-kinky coffin.

His fantasies meant nothing in light of the very real human being he was ruining with them. The slight weight of her body lifted off the bed, and she scurried into the bathroom and shut the door. The click of the lock snicked into place.

Leo opened his eyes. A moment later she shot out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her, into the closet to retrieve clothes, and then back to the bathroom like a frightened mouse.

While she was in there, he grabbed some clothes of his own and went down the hall to another bathroom to shower and get ready. During the night he’d dreamed of her. In the dreams she was sweetly submissive, obeying his every command, becoming aroused when he delivered pain, desperate to please him and getting off on it.

The gap between the dream and the reality was so disappointing he could kill his brother for doing this to him. Nevertheless, he closed his eyes and stroked himself in the shower, thinking of Dream-Faith, the girl he wished his captive could have been but so clearly wasn’t. Even if he planned to torture himself today with an attempt to slowly draw her into his world, he already knew it would be fruitless. And the cost to her would be higher than he could stomach.

He found himself angry, not just with his brother, but with Faith. As if it were her fault she wasn’t kinky. As if she could be blamed for being afraid of him. His feelings were unreasonable, but still, the anger built as he jerked himself off.

After showering, he re-entered the bedroom to find her on the edge of the bed like an animal caught in a trap with nowhere to go. His anger faded, replaced by a pain in the center of his chest. I did this to her. And in only one night.

She wore jeans and a T-shirt. Her feet remained bare except for the gauze which had gotten wet in the shower. Leo went to the bathroom and took a first aid kit from the closet. Faith flinched when he returned.