I have shit to do, but I’m waiting. I know she’s going to push. Especially after leaving her all hot and panting for my touch like I did. I walk about five steps away from her door and lean against the wall. If I’ve learned anything about my sweet little pet, it’s that she acts on impulse. And right now, she’s not too happy with me. But she needs to learn that she’s not always going to get what she wants. I readjust my erection and think back to how she writhed under me. She fucking wanted me. But she didn’t beg. And I had to get the fuck off of her before I broke my word.

I log on to my phone that’s now on silent and go through the alerts. There’s a logger on her computer and I set up a script to monitor what she’s doing. Even shit that she types, but doesn’t send. Titles of books or authors that could trigger clues. Words and phrases or certain sites that she’d think of going on. There’s also a feed. I can watch everything she’s doing as she’s doing it. And I can veto it, too. I go through the list of triggers again. Three triggers--Comfort Food, “help me, please”, and “taken.” The last two triggers seem harmless enough in context, but that first one? I know what my kitten was up to. I thought about going over and busting her ass. But I’m gonna wait until she makes a clear offense. Something she can’t deny is wrong.

I lean my head against the wall realizing what that means. I don’t want her back in the cell. But she’s going back. I’d bet my life on it. And that fucking sucks. I was hoping we’d make more progress; I was sure we would, but I was wrong.

Ping. Another notification pops up and I’m quick to hit--blackout. My kitten is about to freak the fuck out. I hear her cuss and move around in the room. Her screen just went black, and she sure as fuck knows why. I pocket my phone and punch in the key code to her room. I check my other pocket for the sash and it’s there. Good. I’m gonna need it. I’ve got all sorts of shit I use for work out here in the hall. She doesn’t need to see that and think it’s for her.

I open the door and examine her room. She’s nowhere in sight, and the room is silent.

I close the door behind me quietly. “Kitten,” I call out for her, but she doesn’t respond. Even I have to agree the calm manner I’m calling out with is creepy as fuck. But it’s better that I’m calm. She’s already on edge, and I can’t push her away with my anger. She’s scared, and I don’t need her to turn violent. She would. I’m sure she would.

“Kitten, you will answer me.” I take a few steps past the living room area and into her bedroom. “Do you want to make this even harder on yourself?” I ask. There’s only a hint of anger in my words. I don’t want her scared of me. I want her scared of displeasing me. There’s a very big difference.

“I’m sorry, Anthony.” I hear her words as I open her closet doors. They came from behind me. I look at the bed, and then at the space underneath. Oh, how...pitiful. I walk over and stand where she should be able to see me, if she has a view from wherever she is under there. At least I feel a little relief knowing she responded to me at all. That’s a good sign.

“Kitten, you need to come out,” I say.

“Please,” she begs with a sob. She sounds remorseful and truly upset. And she should be.

“Please what, kitten?” I ask.

“Please don’t kill me,” she whimpers. I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose as I exhale with frustration.

“I’m not going to hurt you, kitten.” My words come out soft to help her relax somewhat. “I can promise you I won’t. You already know your punishment.” I hear her sniffle amidst the small sounds of movement. “I knew I’d have to wait to leave. At least I can say I’m only mildly disappointed that you disobeyed me so quickly. It’s best we get this out of your system now.” A moment passes, and she doesn’t appear. I’ll give her one more chance.

“Come out now.” I make my voice harder and then regret that I did. She cries louder, but I still don’t hear her moving to come out.

“If I have to come get you, you’re really gonna regret it.” The thought of dragging her out makes my cock jump in my pants. Fuck, I would fucking love it. I can’t wait until we’re at that point. Once that pussy is all mine, I want her to hide from me so I can punish her. I want to punish that ass with my dick, rather than my hand. Soon. I remind myself that I just need to be patient. If I did it now, it would ruin everything.

As I open my eyes, I see her sliding out. Her small body drags on the floor as she squeezes between the floor and the frame. Poor Catherine. She looks so despondent.

I stand with my arms folded across my chest and watch as she slowly stands up. She hangs her head low and she’s angling her body in a way that makes it obvious that she expects me to hit her. She should know that I won’t. But she's still going to be punished. It will help her. I remind myself that this needs to happen. She’ll learn. I only want the pain to be pleasurable. And this punishment will contain zero pleasure.

“I had to try.” She looks at the ground as she speaks, and I fucking hate it.

“You didn’t. You didn’t have to.” It makes me angry that she thinks she needed to disobey me. She needs to get over that shit. Hopefully a day and a half in the cell will be enough. “You chose to.”

I pull out the blindfold and she submits to me, turning around so I can tie it and lead her to the cell.

We’re quiet the entire way to the cell. The only sounds are the echoes of our footsteps and her uneven breathing. I pet her back with every step and at times she seems like she’s ready to lean into me, but she doesn’t. She’s rejected my touch, my comfort, my trust. I sigh heavily as I take off the sash and prepare to leave her, but then I see mascara running down her cheeks as she crumples onto the floor and scoots away from me.

I need to wait until she’s calm. She’ll learn to accept her punishments. When she's fully aware of what she'll receive in return, that knowledge will keep her from failing to obey me.

I lean down and stroke her cheek. “It’s alright, kitten.” She doesn’t respond, but she doesn’t move away from me either.

“I’ll have to go get your things without you. You need to tell me everything you want.” I don’t tell her that her things will always be there for her. I plan on keeping up with her mortgage and bills. Every contact that she gets will go through me, and to her, and then back to the sender. I don’t need any red flags to go to the WPP. Fuck that.

The reminder of life outside of these walls pisses me off.

None of that will be necessary if I have to kill her at the end of the month. I press my lips into a straight line. That’s not going to happen. I’ve only just started to have my time with her. Vince will give her to me. I bring in so much fucking money with these hits. He’ll give me this. I just need to deal with the Cassanos.

“I--” She hesitantly looks at me and then back down, grabbing onto her fingers nervously. “I have a pair of earrings in my armoire.” She speaks so quietly I can hardly hear her. “I need them. Please.” She looks up at me with a pleading expression. “They’re owls,” she says as her voice cracks and she breaks down at my feet. She bends over with her hands on the floor as a wretched sob heaves through her chest. She needs me right now. This is more than just being sorry about getting caught. It’s more than being ashamed that she broke the rules, or fearing that I’m going to hurt her.

I sit on the floor next to her and pull her shaking shoulders into my embrace.

“I’ll make sure to get them. Anything else?” I speak softly into her hair and breathe in her sweet scent. Her small body is so warm against me. She’s leaning into me like I’m her savior, regardless of the fact that I’m about to leave her in a cell with nothing.

After a few minutes of me gently petting her back and her hair, she pulls away slightly. She still doesn’t look me in the eyes. “I can’t remember.” She wipes her eyes and sighs. “Nothing I can think of.”

I’m going all the way to her house for one pair of earrings. It’s nearly two hours away. Obviously they mean something to her though. I give her a curt nod that she doesn’t see, because she’s not looking at me.

I take her chin in my hand and force her eyes on me. “You’ll be here until tomorrow night. That’s your punishment.”

She noticeably swallows, but nods her head and manages to push out, “Yes, Anthony.” Good girl. She’s taken this well at least.

I have to leave her. I don’t want to, but I do. “I have to go, kitten,” I tell her gently. I hate that I’m leaving her in here, but she knew the consequences. It’s important for her training that I stick to my word.

She leans against my leg as I pet her hair. I know she doesn’t want me to leave, but I have to.

I pat her head to let her know I’m going, and she responds by looking up at me with sad brown eyes, glossed over with tears.

“I promise I won’t do it again,” she says, but her plea is weak. She’s resigned to her fate.

“You earned your punishment, kitten. I’ll be back to give you dinner,” I say.

With that I turn and leave her. She barely grips my leg, but releases me without me having to scold her.

It fucking hurts my chest as I press the keys to leave.

I wish she hadn’t done that shit.

But if I was her, I would have done it, too.