Page 36 of Clawed
“Here.”He thrust the bowl under her nose, dropping it unceremoniously to the ground.“What do you say?”
Her focus flitted to the contents of the metal, her stomach still in knots about the prospect of having to eat from one.She’d recognized the smell of the bacon cooking, but it looked as though he’d cut up a boiled egg for her as well.
“Thank you, Mr.Lawes, sir.”
She glanced at him nervously, undecided how she felt about the food.She supposed she was hungry, but it was hard to feel positive about anything her captor provided her with, especially when it was delivered in a fucking animal bowl.
“Don’t look so skeptical.”
He blew out a breath as he rose, as thoughshe’doffended him somehow.She—the woman with no clothes, leashed to his fucking kitchen.She might have laughed had her heart not been galloping so fast.
“I have the same as you.”He gestured to the plate on the counter behind him.“It’s just that you have the privilege of eating from the bowl.”
His voice was definitely droll as he turned back for his food, and collecting it from the side, she watched him pick up cutlery and wander to the small table between them.
“I want every piece of the egg and bacon eaten, Hannah.”Sinking into his seat, he didn’t peer her way.“You don’t want to piss me off, little girl.”
Her brows knitted as she glanced down at the bowl.Piss himoff?What the fuck was he talking about?
“Oh, you’ve forgotten your performance next door, have you?”Picking up his knife and fork, he chuckled.“Forgotten the way you spoke to me?”He threw her a pointed look.“Because I haven’t.”
Shit.
Fresh trepidation seeped into her system.After her recent horrors, she’d overlooked the way she’d behaved when he’d compelled the gag into her mouth, but what did he expect?
Hannah had been free for years, and in that time, she’d rebuilt her self-worth.She knew she deserved better than the shitty way he was treating her.In that fractious moment of heightened tension, there’d been no choice but to fight.
“No, Mr.Lawes, sir.”She stared at the cooling food in the bowl.“I just...”Her voice trailed away.There was no way she could tell him how she really felt about the event.All she would do was offer him fresh impetus to exact his revenge in some bloody, dreadful way, and it appeared he had plenty of motivation of his own.
“You just?”
His cutlery paused, and she didn’t need to look up to know he was staring her way.She sensed the weight of his gaze from her place on the floor.
“I’m just sorry,” she concluded, unwilling to exacerbate whatever new hole she’d managed to land herself in.
“Right.”His knife began to move again, his unconvinced tone echoing around her.“Eat before it gets cold.We’ll talk about it later.”
Great.Edging closer to the metal, the word rebounded in her head.I can’t fucking wait.
A jittery hush fell over the room, his attention returning to his plate, while she was left to contend with the bowl.Relieved that for once his focus was elsewhere, she contemplated what he expected.
He wants me to eat from the bowl.
Staring at the pieces of sliced bacon and egg, though, she couldn’t quite fathom the deed.It wasn’t so long ago that he’d had her over another bowl, lapping at the cold water he’d provided.Her gaze flitted to that vessel, currently sitting on the other side of the table.She’d achieved that feat somehow, so why was she hesitating over the new challenge?
“Hannah.”Her name was like a sigh on his lips, and she froze at the resonance.“Are you going to make me get down there and help you?”
“No, Mr.Lawes, sir.”
Just like that, she was back on the brink of tears again, something about his scrutiny and the promise of worse repercussions to come amplifying her overwrought emotions.
“Really?”Cynicism reverberated in his voice as, dropping the end of her leash, he slid from his seat.“Because you haven’t touched your food.”
“I...”Her head fell as he advanced, panic flaring at what he might do next.Surely, he was going to punish her for the delay?He’d find some twisted way to exact a penance while he made her eat, and there’d be nothing she could do to stop him.
That was how it went with Lawes.
That was always how it went.
