Maria
There were no words to describe what I was feeling. It was strange, the way my heart was beating faster. I could feel my pulse raging in my neck, right below my ears. It was harder to breathe, sitting in such close proximity with Master.
Lyov. Lyov Ivanshov. That was his name. He wanted me to call him by his name, yet it felt weird to call my Master by his name.
I felt like I wasn’t submitting any longer.
The thought made me sick. If I weren’t submitting, then what was I going to do?
What was he going to do with me?
Wasn’t that why he bought me? To be his slave, serve him, worship him, like the whore everyone wanted—needed.
My eyes stayed on the window, watching the world swirl by as the car sped along the highway. I was finally seeing the outside world after eight long months.
Only eight months but it felt like an eternity.
Eight months since I was taken away from the sweetness of home.
Eight months since I was stripped of my dignity and innocence.
And eight months since I became a slave, no longer holding the value of a human being. I became a toy. One that could be played with and then discarded when I wasn’t needed any longer.
My gaze shifted from the windows toward the man who saved me. His eyes were already on me, watching me so intensely that I shivered.
His grey eyes looked like a soulless pit of blackness in the dark. He looked dangerous. Vicious. Like an animal stalking its prey, holding it still with its gaze.
In this case, I was the prey and he was the predator.
My heart accelerated, and I felt tingles down my body. His heated eyes didn’t waver from mine.
He held me in the palms of his hands, and I was a willing captive, falling deeper into his trap.
I had no chains around my neck, yet it felt like I was chained to him. His words. The way his gaze touched my body wordlessly, it had me captured. My mind, my heart, my body. And my soul.
He didn’t have to touch me to assert his ownership.
I was his. With a single gaze, I became his.
The moment our eyes met in that room, with me kneeling between his legs, I became his.
I should have fought it, but I couldn’t. The feeling brewing inside of me, the way my stomach twisted—butterflies—all those feeling became stronger with each passing second.
It felt like so much more.
When he touched me…there were no empty promises. When he spoke, he meant every word. Every word held a meaning. Whether it was good, bad, light, or dark. It meant something to my already fragile heart.
He touched me to give me something nobody had ever given me…without asking anything in return.
I gave, and he took.
He gave, and I took.
A balance of power.
A slave and a Master. I should have been doing the bowing, kneeling at his feet. Yet he bowed for me.
He didn’t force his dominance. It was given to me, and I accepted it.
I willingly submitted to him because he earned my submission.
But now that I looked at him, his dangerous eyes tracking me, drinking me in, I wondered…was it all a game?
He was a Master. One of them. I was most likely not the first girl he bought.
Did he kill the others? When he got tired of them, did he discard them like a used toy—like they meant nothing?
Did he steal their innocence and then sell them? My previous Master did.
He wasn’t any different, was he?
My brain was in a constant battle with my heart. I wanted to believe he was good.
He saved me. He smiled at me with soft eyes. He held me gently. He kissed me sweetly.
This Master desired me, not as a slave, but as a woman.
You were so good, Angel. So beautiful. So perfect. You amaze me.
Such beautiful words for a slave who didn’t deserve them.
I was dirty—filthy. A whore. A slave.
“What are you thinking so hard about?”
I flinched at the voice, so hard, so sudden in the silence of the darkened car.
When he placed his hand on my knee, I flinched again. A small tremor caused my body to feel cold and then hot. He dragged his hand up, caressing my leg until it rested on my thigh.
He touched burned my skin, and my gaze flew down, watching his rough hand on my naked thigh. It looked so big, manly, and so dangerous there.
The touch could have appeared innocent. But it wasn’t. It spoke of so much more.
The hold he had on me…it said that he was claiming me.
His hand tightened just a little, a warning. My eyes went to his, and he raised an eyebrow, waiting for my answer.
While my previous Master didn’t like it when I would speak, Lyov Ivanshov was trying to hear my voice every time.
Clearing my throat, I answered him. “Nothing, Master. I am just grateful that you have saved me.”
“You think I saved you?” he questioned darkly.
His hands moved up, stopping when he reached the hem on his suit jacket. I internally smiled. He had given me his jacket. One of the sweetest things a Master could have done.
I nodded. “Yes, you have. My previous Master wasn’t a good man. But you are.”
He chuckled low in his chest, a tiny smirk on his face. It made him look dangerous but very handsome. I liked it.
“You think I’m a good man?”
I nodded again. He was. Better than the others. Maybe it was a childish thought, but he had proved himself to be better so far.
You are safe.
He had whispered those words to me, and my heart had skipped a beat. It was that moment when I decided that he was a good man. My mind was in denial, but my heart…it believed.
So I was going to trust my heart. I was going to believe my Master—Lyov.
And I was going to serve him with all of me—mind, heart, body, and soul. I was going to become his favorite so he wouldn’t discard me.
Releasing my thigh, he sat back into his seat. I instantly missed his touch and felt cold again.
He gave me warmth…I loved it.
And now I craved it.
Master shook his head slightly, a smile on his face. Like he was having an inside joke with himself. I liked his smile.
It made him look young and happy.
I wanted him to smile more. I wanted to make him smile.
“I will be a good slave to you, Master,” I whispered softly.
The air around us shifted and changed, almost instantly. It felt colder. Darker. Angrier.
Master lost his smile.
No. No. No.
I whimpered, hating it. Because I realized that I must have said something wrong. And he was going to punish me.
Wasn’t that what they always wanted?
They didn’t want good slaves. Good slaves didn’t get punishment.
Masters loved to give punishments, so they wanted bad slaves.
He moved forward in a flash, grabbing my chin and holding me roughly. “You will never call yourself a slave again. I don’t want to hear that word from you. Is that understood, little Angel?”
Master looked so angry. Furious. His beautiful eyes crackled with intensity, and I almost cowered back.
I nodded mutely, submitting, giving him what he wanted.
He closed his eyes, breathing in and out, like he was trying to calm himself. When he opened his eyes again, they looked softer. His touch turned gentle. He caressed my skin, his fingers moving sweetly over my cheek.
“You are an Angel, Maria. And you will address yourself as such,” he continued quietly. The words were softly spoken, but I heard his command. “Is that understood, little Angel?”
I nodded, although it didn’t make sense. “You want me to call myself Angel?” I asked in return, confused.
He smiled then, another beautiful smile. “I want you to think of yourself as an Angel,” he whispered, his lips so close to mine.
“Okay,” I answered quickly, wanting to please him. I wanted to make him happy…please him in whatever way he wanted.
“Good girl,” he praised with another caress, his fingertips featherlight on my neck.
My own lips lifted up, smiling. He made me smile.
“You have a beautiful smile, Maria. I want to see it on you every day.”
My heart soared at his words, and when he smiled wider, I felt suddenly giddy. He was making me giddy…happy.
His words were my safe haven, and I drowned in them, wanted them desperately.
I will always smile for you, Master. Promise. Forever. Until my last breath.
When he pulled away this time, I didn’t feel cold. I still felt warm. His words stayed with me through the whole drive.
My eyes started to get heavy, tiredness making its way into my body. But I didn’t want to sleep.
I didn’t want my eyes falling away from the man who made me happy.
I blinked, trying so hard. My body grew heavier, and when he noticed, he nodded his head. “Go to sleep, Maria. I will wake you up when we get there.”
When I didn’t move, he sighed and quickly unbuckled his seatbelt. My eyes widened when he switched seats and came to sit beside me.
Drawing me closer into his body, he pushed me down until my head was lying on his lap. I breathed out, my body going limp.
It felt nice…perfect. It felt right.
His fingers were in my hair, playing with the strands. He caressed my cheek with his other hand. “Sleep.”
This time it was a command.
Closing my eyes, I did as I was told.