I walk over to her and duck my head closer to hers. “Tell me what happened today. What upset you like this?”
She shakes her head and her hair falls over her face. She’s healing fast, the black marks around her eyes are fading to brown.
I take hold of her chin and I nudge her face back up, forcing her to look at me.
“Tell me, Sophia.” She takes a breath and opens her mouth, but nothing comes out. “When I left you this morning you were doing so well.”
She bites her bottom lip her whole face crumbles. Tears sneak from her eyes, each one finding its way to my heart.
“Sweetheart,” I whisper. I pull her into my arms and gently caress her hair. “Tell me so I can fix it.”
She covers her face with her hands and her shoulders jerk with her cries. Fuck, this is breaking my heart. She didn’t cry after the beating and that must’ve hurt a shitload. She’s been putting up such a brave front.
“I’m … scared,” she finally sobs out. She takes a shuddering breath. “I don’t … understand … anything.” Her crying gets worse and she looks up at me with the bluest eyes, swimming in fear and confusion. “I … I want to … please Master, but I … I don’t know how.” She slips from my arms to the floor and kneels in front of me. She scoots close to my leg like a dog. “Tell me what … to do. I’ll do it Master! I’ll be … good,” she hiccups all through the words.
Rage explodes white and hot behind my eyes. I’m shaking from the anger pulsing through my body. I’m going to kill every last fucking one. I am, I swear I am!
I kneel down in front of her and cup her face with both my hands. “This must all be so confusing to you. I can’t imagine what you’re going through.” Her eyes keep darting from my chest to my face and then back down. She’s totally out of balance. She’s busy losing her old habits, but she doesn’t have new ones and that makes her feel lost.
“I’m going to tell you exactly what I expect of you, Sophia. Everything you learned through your life was wrong. I’m going to teach you the right way.” I get up and pull her up alongside me. I walk over to the couch and sit down, then I pull her down next to me. I place my arm around her shoulders and pull her into my chest. I lean my cheek on her head.
“My parents died when I was young, so Nanna raised me. She taught me everything I know. You like Miss Ella, don’t you?”
She nods against my chest. “I do.” The words come out hoarsely from all the crying.
“She told me a good person will always look you in the eye. Bad people don’t make eye contact. You were taught to never make eye contact because those people didn’t want you to see the real them, the monsters they are. They didn’t want to see the person you are, the person they were hurting.”
Placing my hand on the side of her jaw, I nudge her face up. “I want you to look me in the eyes, because I want to see what type of person you are. I want you to look in mine, so you can see I’m not one of those people.”
She turns her face slightly away from me and whispers, “What if I’m bad? What if Master looks in my eyes and Master sees that I’m bad?”
I bring her face back to mine and I’m happy when she makes eye contact this time. That’s one win.
“Sophia, we all have good and bad in us, but it’s your reason behind your actions that matters. The people you’ve known all your life were greedy, sadistic monsters. Everything they did was for their own gain.” I take a deep breath and I hope what I say next won’t set us back a step. “Good people aren’t supposed to kill other people.” She gasps and her eyes drop back down. I quickly rush through the words. “Some of us do it anyway. Some kill for the pleasure of taking another’s life, and they are bad. Some kill to protect others, and I’d like to believe that they are good. Some kill to protect themselves, and I can’t possibly believe that makes you bad. You have a right to defend yourself and those you love.”
I lift her face back to mine and whisper, “I’ve killed people. I’ve killed bad people and people who have been a threat to my loved ones. I’m not proud of it, but I’d do it again to protect them. To some people there is no excuse in taking another’s life, but those people have never faced a moment where they had to choose between their loved ones and the person threatening them. Those people judge what we do and our reasons for our actions.” I place my hand over her heart. “You have to do what you feel is right inside of you. I’ve done bad things for good reasons.” I take a deep breath before I get to the point. “Sophia, you were forced to do bad things by bad people. Anything bad you might’ve done was purely for your own survival, and I for one will never judge you. There is good and bad in everyone, you have to decide which part will be the dominant one.”
She tilts her head slightly and peeks up at me and I can’t help but smile. This girl is something else.
“Will Master show me how to be good? I want to be good.”
“I’ll show you and I’m sure Nanna will show you too.”
I lean back against the couch and stretch my legs out in front of me. She cuddles closer into my side. This woman must be starved for any kind of affection.
“You need to remember to call me Adam. You’re not a slave anymore. No more sex unless it’s something you really want with a person you really like. No more kneeling,” I pause to make my point, “I mean it, Sophia. No one here is a God, you don’t bow down to another human being.”
She nods and a faint smile plays around her lips. Keeping my one arm around her, I take her hand with my free hand. “Now tell me what you did today. Did you learn something new?”
Her face brightens with a smile I haven’t seen before. It makes the one she’s been giving the past few days look bland. I realize that even her emotions are in sync with what she thinks another person expects of her.
“Miss Ella showed me how to make fluffy scrambled eggs. I burned the first batch, but I got the second one right!” She’s so excited, her face is animated, showing every single emotion.
“That’s really great, Sophia. I’m sure they were tasty.”
“Yesterday I learned how to make pancakes. I can’t flip them yet, but I’ll keep trying.”
She leans her head against my chest and covers her mouth when she yawns.
“Do you like cooking with Nanna?” I ask, holding her a little tighter.
“I do! Miss Ella is kind and patient. I like learning new things from her.”
“You should spend lots of time with her then, she can teach you how to cook and bake lots of things.” I’ll have a talk with Nanna. I’m sure she won’t mind teaching Sophia.
“I’d like that very much,” she says in a sleepy voice.
I stare at the coffee table, hoping that we’ve taken a whole bunch of steps forward. I know she’ll keep lapsing to her old ways for a long while. Diane has been with us for a year and she still lapses.
I lean my head back and close my eyes. Her arm goes around my waist and her fingers grip my shirt. Just before I drift off I hear a soft whisper, “Thank you, Adam.”
I turn my face into her hair and whisper, “Anything for you, Sophia.”
~*~
We both fell asleep on the couch. I wake up with Sophia pressed to my side. She’s still asleep and I don’t have the heart to wake her. I sit with her for a good thirty minutes before she wakes up.
“Hey, sleepy head.” I smile when she lifts her head from my chest. She sits up, kneeling on the couch and rubs her eyes. She’s clearly still half asleep. “I’ll get us some coffee.”
I leave her sitting on the couch and make us some coffee. I notice her getting up and then she walks down the passage. Minutes later I hear the toilet flush. I place the coffee on a small table. It’s not a huge house, but it’s home. There’s a cozy living room, small kitchen, one bathroom and two bedrooms. I don’t need something bigger.
When Sophia doesn’t come back I peek down the passage. She’s standing in front of a bedroom, just staring in.
I walk up to her and look into the bedr
oom. “It’s not big, but you can use it, or you can stay up at the manor. It’s your choice.”
Her hands grab hold of the sides of her dress, and she scrunches the material as she makes fists. “Really? I can really stay here with you?”
I pull her hand away from the death grip she has on her dress and I bring it to my mouth. I place a kiss over the one welt that’s fading fast. “You can stay here for as long as you want.” I pull her towards the kitchen. “Come, we both could use that coffee.”
We stand and have our coffee and when I finish mine, I say, “I’ll go with you to the house so we can get your clothes. You can settle in the room and then we’ll see what else the day holds for us.”
She drinks the last of her coffee quickly, then she rinses both our mugs. She comes to stand next to me and slip her hand into mine. I should stop holding her hand now. She’s going to get used to it and I don’t want her replacing one habit with another.
I give her hand a squeeze and then pull mine free. I walk to the door, open it and then smile back at her. “Come on, we have lots to do.”
She quickly walks by me and then waits for me to close the door. We walk to the house and I keep my pace slow so she can get a good look at her surroundings.
She doesn’t have much so we only have to go up and down once. I show her where all the basics are, and then leave her to get settled. I go take a shower and enjoy the water beating down on me. It’s been a long week.
Sophia showers after me and comes out looking fresh in a light green dress. I didn’t know her favorite color so I got her a whole bunch. She seems to like the dresses.
We walk back up to the house. Tristan is helping me out while I help River with getting Sophia and Jack settled.
When we walk into the kitchen Jack is just finishing up his food. “Morning,” I say, keeping my voice neutral. Jack and Sophia are so very different from each other. I’ve never had a case like Jack, so I’m not sure what to do to make him feel at ease.
I glance down at my watch and notice that it’s already past eleven. “It’s more afternoon than morning. You two enjoying your brunch?”
“You know I love a snack here and there. At my age there’s no such thing as watching my figure. Who knows what kind of foods they have in paradise. I want to get my fill while I still can.”
I laugh at Nanna and tease her, “Excuses, excuses. Nanna, do you have two more plates?”
She prepares two plates and I make sure to sit down in front of Jack, so he can see me at all times. I don’t want him to feel threatened.
When it looks like he’s going to get up I quickly say, “Stay a while, Jack.”
His shoulders slump and he lowers his head slightly. I can feel his eyes on me as I pour two glasses of OJ for Sophia and myself.
I reach over and then fill his glass too. “I’ve noticed you’ve started on the garden. I’m glad you’re feeling better. There’s a chapel close to the river. I’d like to go show you. I think you’ll be able to do something with it.” I’m trying to make small talk. I want to see how he reacts to it.
“Yes, Master.” He almost bites the words out. This man has a lot of anger in him. I don’t blame him at all.
“My name is Adam Stone but you can call me Adam. There are no masters and mistresses here,” I say for what feels like the hundredth time, and I’ll keep saying it until they start using our names.
He frowns and then asks, “Then why did you call yourselves Master and Mistress Ryland?”
I’m surprised by his question. He’s not as broken as Sophia. This man still has a lot of fight in him. It must have been a nightmare for him. How did they get him to submit? I would fight to the death and Jack looks like a man who would do the same. He has the body strength to defend himself.
“That was all a show to fool the fuckers who had you, Jack,” I almost spit the words out. The anger I feel is always simmering in the background, ready to erupt. “No one has the right to keep another human being as a slave. It’s wrong!” I shake my head and get up fast. The chair falls back and I see Nanna reach a hand out to me.
“Fuckers, the whole lot of them!” I need to get away from Sophia and Nanna. I’m just going to upset them. I walk to the door but stop and glance back at Sophia. She has a panicked look on her face and it makes me feel terrible. “Stay with Miss Ella.” I look at Jack. “Come, Jack.”
The walk down to the river gives me time to reign in my temper.
When we reach the clearing, I stop a few steps away from the chapel. “This is the chapel, at least that’s what we call it.”
I let Jack take a closer look. His eyes are vibrant and intelligent. I can see him already planning what he’d like to do here. Seeing Jack out in nature is like watching a wild beast finally get set free. It’s a beautiful thing to witness. It’s the little moment like these that makes it all worth it.
“If you need to get some of your supplies here, just let me know and I’ll help you drive it down. It’s too far to walk up and down with everything.”
Jack makes direct eye contact with me. I see anger, confusion and a strong will staring back at me.
“You’re safe here, Jack. River and I will make sure nothing happens to you.”
I leave Jack in the clearing so my words can sink in. It’s going to take a very long time to win his trust, but it’s something I’m prepared to work for. Jack needs a friend, and I’ll be the best one I can be.
Sophia~
I get to spend the whole day with Miss Ella. I help her squeeze lemons so we can make lemonade. After that we squeeze more oranges for orange juice. My hands are red from all the squeezing. We then cut apples for apple pie. I’ve never seen so much fruit in my life!
I’m busy stirring the tomato sauce for the meatballs when Mistress River comes in.
“Sophia, how are you?” she asks all friendly.
“I’m good,” I make sure to smile.
Miss Ella comes to stand by me. “Now ask River how she is.”
I frown not following but I do it anyway. “How are you … River?”
“I’m very well, thank you for asking,” she says with a huge smile.
“Now that’s the proper way of greeting someone, my girl. And you listen when they answer. People don’t listen nowadays. If you care about someone then you listen when they talk.”
“Yes, Miss Ella,” I say quickly. I want to show her that I listened.
Mistress River pours two glasses of the lemonade I helped make. I watch her closely as she takes a sip and when she licks her lips, a warm feeling settles in my chest. She likes it. I smile to myself, focusing on the sauce again. Miss Ella said it burns quickly.
Jack comes in from outside and he’s got dirt all over him. Mistress River laughs at him and then says, “Go shower and then meet me here, Jack.”
He listens and quickly leaves the kitchen. Mistress River places some stuff on the one side of the table. I try to keep an eye on the sauce, while watching her. I see pretty pictures of flowers.
Jack comes back in, all clean after his shower. He’s wearing dark jeans and a black shirt. It makes him look good. My eyes go to Mistress River and I see the appreciation on her face. Jack is pleasing her, that’s good.
“Come sit next to me, Jack.”
When Jack sits down he moves the chair away from Mistress River. I hold the spoon tighter and I watch for her reaction.
She doesn’t seem bothered as she places the stuff in front of him. “I’ve gotten a list of flowers for you to start with, seeing as you love them so much.” She points to one and says, “That is a shooting star, Jack.”
I try to see what she’s pointing at but the picture is too far from me.
She picks up a pen and then asks him, “Which hand is your stronger hand?”
He holds up his left hand and I look down at my own hands. I’m stirring with my right hand, I suppose that’s my stronger hand.
When I look up again I see that Mistress River is leaning over Jack. She’s h
olding his hand. I forget about stirring as I watch her teach Jack how to write.
I watch them while doing my work. Jack gets lost in what he’s doing and he almost looks happy.
I pour the sauce over the meatballs and then Miss Ella says, “Ten minutes to dinner time.” She comes to check if I’ve done it right and then pats my arm. I’ve learned that’s her way of saying I did a good job. I like when she does that.
“Let’s do your name quickly.” I hear Mistress River say. “What’s your last name?”
“Hawkins,” Jack answers.
“But that’s Cameron’s last name,” Mistress River says and I glance over my shoulder. She looks shocked.
Jack tenses. I know he hates Master Cameron for what happened to his mother. “He married my mother,” he bites the words out.
“Cameron is your step father?” She asks carefully.
Jack jumps up and storms out of the kitchen. I’ve never seen him behave like that.
I look to Mistress River and I see fear on her face instead of anger.
“Jack’s mom died when he was young. Cameron sold her and the Master killed her,” I quickly explain, hoping I’m not talking out of turn. I don’t want Jack to get in trouble. Mistress River gives me her full attention. She’s treating me like she would treat Master Adam and Miss Ella. The thought pops into my mind – I’m really not a slave anymore! Feelings overwhelm me and I’m not sure what to do with them all. I can’t think about it all now, but I lift my chin when I say, “Cameron had a son with Jack’s mom and that’s the only reason Jack never tried to leave. He did it all for David. He promised his mom that he would look after David. ”
I feel a sudden burst of rebellion for not using the word master. It makes my heart pound faster in my chest.
“Jack has a brother?” River gasps a look of panic on her face. “Are you telling me we left Jack’s brother back there?”
I flinch at the thought of David and what he would do if he knew I wasn’t calling him master anymore. “No. David is Cameron’s son. David was the one who had me and Jack whipped. Jack started a fight with him when he saw me giving David a blowjob.”
Saved By Him (The Monster Series Book 2) Page 8
