Page 235 of His Flash Mate
After holding the cup until I drained it, she held up the plate.She fed me like that.One offering and confirmation at a time.
When I finished, she went into the bathroom and returned with a bedpan.
I stared at it for a long while.If Konni didn’t come soon, I’d have to use it or pee the bed.Both were horrible options because, either way, Marta would need to undress me while the camera saw everything.
Slowly, I shook my head.
I caught a hint of empathy in her gaze before she put the bedpan back in the bathroom.Then she collected the food tray and left.
The light peeking around the window faded, and I struggled to distract myself from how long it was taking.But my fears echoed in my mind until I couldn’t think of anything else.What if the delay in my rescue wasn’t just due to logistics?What if Konni didn’t know where I was?Had whoever had taken me somehow slipped by my bodyguard unnoticed?
I redirected my focus to something else countless times.The number of flower petals on the awful bedspread I was lying on.The gowns I would design for Miranda and Wrenly.All the ways I would stomp on Hestian’s withered testicles.I even mentally redecorated the room into a BDSM themed escape room.When I grew too restless thinking, I did leg lifts and tucks.
I wasn’t used to being so mentally or physically idle outside of the occasional hangover day, and it started to get to me more than the cuffs and ropes.
When Marta finally reappeared, I was grateful for several reasons.It was something more than just lying there.
And I needed the bedpan.
She offered the water first.I shook my head and nodded toward the bathroom.
That flash of empathy returned to her gaze.It was mutual.I was mortified, but she was the one stuck helping me.
I blushed as she unbuttoned my pants then fought the sting behind my eyes as she shielded me from the camera until my pants were up again.After she removed the cloth she’d used to clean me and the pan, she returned to offer the food and water once more.
I drank, but didn’t eat, already dreading the morning.
The light faded in the room.
Hestian appeared again.
“You have a remarkably composed resilience, given the circumstances,” he said, sitting on the bedside chair.“It’s a very refreshing trait I don’t often see in females.”
“You’ve been surrounding yourself with the wrong females.”
He chuckled.“I believe you’re right.Have you given my proposal any thought?”
While laughing in his face and saying I wasn’t desperate enough would convey how I really felt, I didn’t want to tempt him to level up his insanity.I chose to carefully feed his delusion instead.
“I have.The prenup doesn’t tempt me even a little because I’d need to survive to make use of it.What’s the survival rate of your ex-wives again?”
As I’d guessed, a refusal that showed intellect didn’t offend him.He smiled.
“All accidents, I assure you.”
“Let me guess.Fell down the stairs?Tripped into the pool while intoxicated?A brake malfunction?No, that’s too third-world.An engine malfunction in your private jet.Loss of a jet would be a business write-off, a reason to buy a newer model and still save millions in legal fees and divorce settlements.”
The humor faded a little from his eyes, and I knew I was hitting closer to home than he would like.
“Your kids aren’t smart enough for you because you chose easy victims.Intelligence comes at a price that you’re obviously not willing to pay.”
The hint of anger in his expression vanished as he studied me thoughtfully.
“It seems I have much to consider.I will return in the morning.”
I watched him leave and hoped I wouldn’t still be there in the morning.
Very rarely didI ever stop to care what people thought of me.I lived according to my own rules.If I drank myself silly, I owned it with zero regret.Walk of shame?What shame?Men didn’t feel it after a one-night stand.Why should I?Tripping in public?Everyone trips.I laugh and carry on.
