Sloan gives me a grateful smile, as though relieved I broke their uneasy connection. She reaches for the container and takes it from my hand. “Yes, please take the salad. You have to eat something.”

Reed looks at the salad as if he’s never eaten one before, then at Sloan and me. He is angry, and it has nothing to do with anything. He is just pissed off. He wants to be angry at Sloan, but she hasn’t given him a reason, hasn’t said or done anything revolting. Still, he’s choosing to be angry with her. Finally, he sets his briefcase down on his chair and takes the container. “Thank you,” he says.

“You’re welcome,” Sloan says, in that soft way Caleb would use on me when he was feeling fanciful. Sloan watches Reed’s face, and then her gaze skids away when he glances at her and quickly averts his eyes.

Ooooh…she likes him. It surprises me and yet not. I tend to see Dr. Sloan and Agent Reed as robots, like they have no lives. It’s interesting to see them in a new way.

Reed’s face looks a little red. I can’t believe he’s blushing. He actually looks adorable. I don’t want him to leave. I want to sit on my bed and watch the two of them squirm under my scrutiny. I mean really…it’s only fair.

“Come on, Reed, stay.” I pat the spot at the foot of my bed, grinning. He looks at me silently. If looks could kill… “You said you’d listen to the rest of my story remember?”

“I really can’t, Miss Ruiz,” he says, “but I’ll be back later. In the meantime,” he opens his briefcase and removes his recorder, “tape it for me?”

Sloan takes the recorder and nods, carefully not looking at anything. “Of course.”

Reed nods tightly and closes his briefcase again before practically running from the room. I really can’t believe what I’ve just seen.

“What the hell’s going on between you two,” I ask Sloan around a mouthful of fries. She turns her head away from the door and looks at me, startled. I wiggle my eyebrows and she laughs.

“Nothing, Livvie. Nothing at all,” she says, her voice shaky. “Now stop eating my fries and give me those.” She reaches into the bag and takes out a burger and a container of fries before she sits in Reed’s former seat.

“Mmm,” she says when she pops a fry into her mouth.

“Mmm,” I mimic and do the same. When I’m done swallowing, I jump straight to the good stuff. “So…did you really come to see me or Agent Reed?”

Sloan smiles and shakes her head. Her mouth is full, but she tries to answer me anyway. “You, of course.”

“Liar,” I tease.

Sloan shrugs. “I’m not here to talk about Reed.”

“Don’t you mean…Matthew?”

“Livvie,” she says in warning.

“Janice,” I say sarcastically. “Come on, Sloan. I’ve been telling you both some pretty deep shit. I think I’m entitled to a distraction and some gossip. Reed’s hot. I understand.”

“There’s nothing to tell,” she insists, but she’s getting pink in the face. No matter the age, what I feel is universal. You can’t fight who you’re attracted to. Sometimes, fate gets it right, and then makes you pay for it.

“Whatever. I know something’s going on. Caleb used to get upset when I’d use his name in front of other people, but, in private? Whole other story. I saw Reed’s face when you called him Matthew. He was giving you the business.”

Sloan chokes on her burger and greedily takes a sip from her drink to clear it. “Livvie!”

“Fine, fine,” I say and pick up my burger, so disappointed. The burger is so greasy and I can already feel the grease running through my veins. I moan as I chew. “You don’t have to tell me, as long as you bring me another one of these tomorrow.”

“Deal,” Sloan says and takes another bite.

We eat in companionable silence for several minutes. The occasional moan and gluttonous eye roll as our only means of communication.

Afterward, Sloan and I talk about how I’m feeling. Fine. She asks if I might be ready to talk to my mother. No. Definitely, not.

“What could be the harm?” Sloan asks. “She misses you very much.”

I look down into my lap. I’m not sad. I’m embarrassed to look Sloan in the eye and admit the truth. “I want her to suffer.”

Sloan is quiet.

“The last few months have been awful,” I continue, “I’ve been beaten, humiliated, and forced into situations no person should ever have to suffer.” I pause, brooding and getting angry at my mother. “Still, I’d live it all again, if I could change the past eighteen years with my mother. I spent so much time already, trying to make her love me, understand me. I spent so much time giving a fuck about what she thought. I’m done, Sloan. I’m done caring. It’s time for me to live my own life, my own way and I don’t want her to be a part of it.”

“What is your way?” Sloan asks. There is no emotional quality to her voice. If she’s judging me, I can’t tell. If she agrees with me, it’s also a mystery.

“I don’t know. I have no idea who I’m supposed to be anymore. I only know I don’t want to be who someone else thinks I should be.”

“Good,” Sloan says.

Sloan and I talk for a while longer before I tell her I’m tired and want to lie down. I let her hug me goodbye and perhaps…I hold on to her for just a little longer than I intended. Sloan doesn’t seem to mind.

Once she’s gone, I turn down the lights and get in bed with Reed’s recorder. I turn it on and start talking.

***

Another surge of electricity pumped through me. I was starved for release. I screamed behind my gag and struggled against my tethers, but all it did was heighten my suffering. I lifted my ass, trying to find a way to move and create enough friction to send me into orgasm, but it was crushingly useless. I whimpered and let the tears flow when the pulsing stopped. The door opened and a sigh of relief swept through me. Caleb had finally come back to end my suffering. I knew he would.

He approached me slowly and I made soft, pleading sounds to beg him to make it stop. As if reading my mind, his warm hand cupped my face and I inclined toward it, pressing my wet cheek against his wrist and crying pitifully. Had I been able to see, perhaps I would’ve been more embarrassed and prideful. Instead, I was simply lost in my misery and eager to be free of it.

His hand traveled down my neck and chest as another pulse hit me. I arched. I wanted to come, no – I needed to come. The table shook as I struggled. Caleb’s hand caressed the soft flesh under my breast which only made it more intense. I only needed a little more, just a little more. It stopped. I cried harder.

I pleaded behind the gag, but Caleb said nothing. Instead, his hands cupped both my breasts and then pulled the clamps off my nipples slowly. Blood rushed to my nipples and I screamed behind the gag. It hurt, but it also made me ache for more. He massaged my breasts and I almost cooed as I tried to press more of myself into his hands. Abruptly, the warmth of his mouth kissed around my left breast and the soft tickle of his hair caressed my chest.

“Yes.” I sighed.

Caleb’s mouth was achingly gentle, his tongue swirled around my taut flesh, no teeth, no violent sucking, just soft licks and kisses that made me want to touch him. As he repeated the process on the other breast, yet another jolt of electricity assailed my poor clit.

“Please!” I screamed behind the gag. “Please!”

He stood back until the pulsing stopped and I feared he would leave me again. I heard him unzip his pants and I had to stop myself from nodding fervently. Yes, I want this. Please, I want this. His fingers pulled down the gag and I immediately began begging him for respite.

“Master, please make it stop, let me come. I’ll be good. I swear. I’ll be good.” When he said nothing, I whimpered, “Caleb, please!” The heat of him radiated close to my face, followed by the soft press of his cock against my lips. I didn’t hesitate; I opened my mouth and took him in.

Shocking realization hit me, this wasn’t Caleb. He felt all wrong in my mouth. I tried to pull back, but the stranger held the back of my head firmly in place – and despite my instincts, I didn’t actually want to bite him.

Another pulse hit and assaulted me from every conceivable angle. I moaned around the stranger while simultaneously trying to fuck the air and back away from him. I wasn’t as afraid as I should be. Perhaps it was because he fucked my mouth slowly, without violence. Yes, the stranger made it obvious he wouldn’t allow me to turn away, but he was far from rough. The pulsing stopped and I let my hips drop to the table. I struggled to breathe steadily with the stranger’s cock in my mouth. In the quiet stillness, I heard his soft, guttural moans as he glided in and out of my mouth.

He withdrew without coming and I immediately felt the awkwardness and shame I should’ve felt earlier settle to the forefront. I wanted to ask who the fuck he was. I wanted to scream for help, for Caleb, but I said nothing.

“Beautiful,” he said with a soft Spanish accent. My entire body blushed then. I could feel the warmth of it.

“Felipe?” I asked timidly, on the verge of fresh tears.

“Yes, my sweet girl, but you should not speak unless you are asked,” he said gently. “I know your Master has tried to teach you better. Still, I can’t blame him for being so lenient with you. I let Celia get away with too much,” he chuckled. “Though, I don’t know why he allows you to use his name. It’s so intimate. Are both of you intimate?” I didn’t reply. I was in too much shock. “Answer,” he said softly. I opened my mouth then, but the only thing to come out was a long, throaty moan as the electricity once again assaulted me. He stepped away and there was a clicking sound. The pulsing stopped.

“Oh! God!” I moaned. “Thank you!” My heart didn’t have a chance to slow down.

Felipe’s fingers stroked the inner lips of my pussy almost immediately. I tried to shift away, but all I managed was to move my hips up and down which seemed only to further his efforts. A stutter of “No’s” flowed out of me when I felt one of his fingers trying to worm its way inside me, but he quickly silenced me with a firm tap on the side of my face and an equally firm call for silence. It didn’t hurt, but it was effective.

“I’m only looking,” he said. He pushed against something painful inside of me. I started to cry and much to my relief, the finger withdrew.

I wanted Caleb. How could he leave me here like this?

“You get really wet for a virgin,” he said, and again my body flushed with heat and embarrassment. “Nothing wrong with that though.” Was he smiling? Fear tapped across my insides. I hoped this man would leave soon and Caleb would come back to let me go. A long silence followed, punctuated by my low sobs, and occasional intake of breath as I tried to keep my crying quiet.

Finally, he spoke, “Don’t worry, sweet girl. I’ll be gone soon and I won’t hurt you. I was only curious. Perhaps, when your real master allows it, I can better explore my curiosity.” I tried to focus on the fact he’d said he wouldn’t hurt me and sighed with relief, willing myself to calm and let the tears dry away.

“Caleb is very…enamored of you,” he said and laughed low. It seemed a private joke I was not privy to. “Do you love him?” he asked casually.

I didn’t respond. I was too tired, shocked, and scared to answer.

“I could always reconnect the machine,” he said.

“No!” I shouted before I could stop myself.

“I thought you might say that,” he said.

“I don’t know,” I whispered.

“Explain.”

“I’ve never been in love before. I wouldn’t know.”