Richard-3
1212 Words
She knew we’d be alert for the tracer coming out from cover….
“…. Then she started banging on the cell door and yelling for her own shoes back. I didn’t understand why at first, but when they gave them back to her, she took off the ones she was wearing and gave them to me. She told me to put them on, wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
“What was that all about?”
“I was still wearing the high heels I’d put on for a shopping trip, but the new ones were flat trainers. Shoes I could run in. Anyway, it was getting dark and they came to take us away. Charlotte whispered that I had to pretend to be very scared….”
Pretend?
“…. and to do exactly as they told us until she said different. She had hold of my hand. Wouldn’t let go. Then, just as they were going to put us in the truck, she set off and took me with her. We ran into the dark. There were trees, and a couple of times we banged into them or hid behind them. There was a lot of yelling and shouting as they came after us. At one point, I nearly screamed, but Charlotte clapped her hand over my mouth. Then we ran again. And we kept running….” Elizabeth’s heart yammers through her body and mine.
“Would you like some more wine?”
“No. Just let me tell it…. We seemed to lose them, and I was breathless. So, she let me rest for a few minutes. We were in the parking lot of a cafe….”
“A road-side cafe?”
“Yes.”
“f**k! We parked there ourselves for a few minutes.”
She jolts. “That was you? We ran when we heard a car coming. but I felt better by then. I’d caught my breath and….” Her mouth works. “Charlotte made me eat. She found food in the trash can. She made me eat it….”
Second nature to a child runaway….
“…. It was alright, but it came out of the trash can. She told me she’d learned to feed herself that way when she was small, running away from Blessingmoors after she’d been picked up by the police before, for stealing food…. Anyway, it was only a few minutes after that when you saw us. We didn’t realise it was you at first and she tried to pull me away….”
“Yes, we saw that….”
“But then, when you shouted, and the other cars arrived, she just pushed me towards you. She said she’d see me soon when you picked her up as well…. And then….”
She starts crying again…. “Where is she, Master? She’s sacrificed herself to get me back to you, but….”
I hold her to me, nuzzling into her neck. “Shhh… It will be alright. You’ll see. She’s smart and she’s fast-thinking. No-one’s ever beaten Charlotte before…. “
But inside, sick with shame, my gut churns.
“Let’s get you to bed,” I say. “You’ll feel better for some sleep. And who knows, perhaps we’ll have heard something by the time you wake.”
Elizabeth doesn’t move, so I lift her, wrap a robe around her and carry her to the bedroom. She sits, inert, as I towel her hair, then blow-dry the worst of the damp from it, before lying her back and pulling the blankets over her.
But she shows no sign of resting or of trying to sleep. She’s in no condition to be interviewed, so I need to talk to Will, to tell him what she has told me. But I can’t leave her alone like this.
I sit by her, holding her hand, stroking the fingers, waiting for her eyes to close. As her lids droop, I hover for a couple of minutes, then stand to make my call.
Her eyes snap open, full of panic. “Don’t leave me. Please….”
“My Love, I’m not going anywhere. I just need to make a phone call.”
Her hands clutch at me, pulling me close. “Master, please...” There’s pleading in her eyes. “I want you.”
Surely not?
“You want to make love? I thought.…”
“Please, Master. I want you inside me. They…. they made me feel dirty….” Her words have a desperate edge. Her eyes are clouded, imploring.
My Love.... What have they done to you?
Elizabeth has been abducted before, but it was only a matter of hours before I reclaimed her. This time they have had her for days….
My beautiful Elizabeth…. Wounded inside….
“Shhh.... Lie back.” I stroke her forehead and her cheek, framing her face with my hands as I press my mouth to hers. Shrugging off my robe, I slide away the sheets to kiss her neck and breasts, my lips around one n****e as I nudge at the other with my thumb. I try to be gentle, to ease her.
Will she come?
Does she want to?
Or does she simply want to feel me inside herself?
I'm not sure....
What is it she wants?
…. Needs….
?
And it comes to me.
Her doubts and fears, raised by Charlotte’s words, spoken in all innocence, and for good reason. My Love fears that I might think her besmirched. Soiled.
Second-hand….
…
…
Take ownership of her again.
Claim her.
Make sure she knows she's mine....
And now, understanding what she wants, seeing the need in her I cease my gentleness. Instead, cuffing her wrists with my hand, I raise them over her head, pulling her taut under me as I cover her with my body. Then, sliding inside, roughly, I take her. Take her body. Take her soul.
Take what is mine.
She trembles, and I feel it in her, to be mine, to be owned again. Wholly. Completely.
And as I enter her, withdraw, enter her, withdraw, I cup her chin between my palms, watching her grey-green eyes flicker and glaze.
“You’re mine,” I say, my embrace and my words fierce. “You're mine. I am your Master, and you are mine. No matter what happens.”
Her eyes growing obscure, her breathing deepens as her body rises and falls to meet mine. I reach beneath, hitching up her hips so I can penetrate her more deeply. Her legs swing up and around, locking, welcoming me. And thrusting more strongly, driving in now, I kiss her, bruisingly hard.
“You're mine. No one else's. And never, ever, doubt that. If we are ever parted, I will always reclaim you….”
She’s shuddering now, moaning under me as need melds to wistfulness….
“…. And the only reason I would ever not reclaim you, is if I believed you did not want me to.”
“Never.” Her words are breathy and broken. “Never.”
And at the end, her flesh clutching at mine, she gasps and arches, her nails digging into my shoulders....
“Master....”
“Always,” I whisper as I spill into her.
*****
I lie beside her, in the dark, one arm crooked over her, my hand cupping the warmth of a breast as I wait for sleep to take her.
And all the while I think on her words.
I can speak of some of what happened freely enough. Elizabeth’s abduction, her imprisonment, Charlotte’s plan for their freedom….
But should I repeat to James and Michael the rest? Tell them Charlotte’s mother was a w***e?
Dishonour her?
Without the chance to speak and defend herself?
Should I tell Will?
It’s part of the investigation….
Charlotte’s past….
Indecision gnaws at me, a cancer in my belly as I consider what is best to do. After what Charlotte has done for Elizabeth, how can I shame her?
When we get her back, that’s the time….
When we get her back….
Better to stay silent….
…. For now….
*****
- Writer
