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CHAPTER 35: SALT FOR SUGAR
Mariah's heart pounded as she served coffee to her master and mistress and their guests. She kept her eyes carefully averted, and breathed the slightest sigh of relief when none of the humans paid any attention to her. She returned to the kitchen as if all was normal. Glancing out the window, she saw that Pepper was still in the courtyard, pretending to weed, glowering at her exclusion from the event inside.
And then came the sound she had been expecting. A surprised cough, followed by an expletive, and then her name shrieked by her mistress. Keeping her face completely blank, she returned to the dining room. "May I serve you, Mistress?" she asked.
"You stupid cunt!" Mistress Suzette yelled. "There's salt in the sugar bowl!" She backhanded Mariah on the cheek, harder than Mariah expected. When Mariah stumbled but kept her feet, Mistress Suzette switched hands. This time Mariah let herself find the floor.
* * *
They had fallen asleep with Rose's back against Animal's front. When he turned over she woke up. She felt an excitement in the pit of her stomach and groggily tried to remember why. The events of a few hours earlier came back to her in flashes. She remembered Animal inside her, and touching her, and her explosion, and his.
And then she remembered what he had said. Did he really want to keep her forever? Mariah would say it was a mindgame. She would say Animal had raped her.
Had he? He knew she hated buttfucking. But when she thought of what he had told her -- that he didn't want other humans to have that power over her, the warmness inside of her grew. She replayed all that he had said, all that he had done, and all that she, her body, more than her body, had done in response. Would he have stopped if she had asked him to? Could she have asked him to?
Rose knew with certainty that the answer to both those questions was yes. He would have stopped; she could have asked him to. She hadn't, because he had told her to trust him. And she did trust him. He was a good man.
She looked over to him. He was so determinedly shaggy. His ragged beard, his untrimmed hair, the paint splatters in unexpected places -- how did he get paint on his stomach? She smiled tenderly. None of it hid from her the sensuous curve of his mouth, the length of his fingers or, now she thought it, how his fingernails were neatly trimmed, the one part of him that was meticulously groomed. So he wouldn't scratch me, Rose suddenly understood.
Animal turned in his sleep again, now lying on his stomach.
As if of its own accord Rose's hand reached out and touched his back. He sighed heavily. Rose sat up and gently massaged him, her hands moving slowly lower until they were rubbing his buttocks. The jar of gel he had used on her was still on the bed; she opened it and rubbed some between his ass cheeks. When his breathing didn't change Rose gently spread his thighs.
She waited. Animal's back rose and fell with his breath. She couldn't help herself. It was like the first time she had snuck a look at the portrait Animal was painting of her old master and his family, when she belonged to them. Her heart pounded, but she had to go on.
She dipped her forefinger into the gel. She put her hand on Animal's ass, and pushed her finger in, slowly, slowly, like he had done to her the night before. And pulled it out just as slowly.
Animal turned his head. Rose froze, shocked at what she was doing. But Animal looked at her with languid eyes. "If you want, you can keep doing that," he said casually. At Rose's troubled look, he added, "But give me a kiss first."
Rose lay down next to him, but hesitated. Animal parted his lips and Rose gently licked the inside of his mouth, tasting him. She remembered how he had kissed her in the courtyard the night before, and what had come next, and suddenly she was not shy. She felt again like the girl he had drawn on the horse, strong, powerful.
She kissed him deeper, stronger, and lay her leg across his back so that her cunt was rubbing his side. It was paradise. But after a minute she pulled back. When Animal merely watched her she reached for the jar again and gently moved her gel-covered finger into his asshole. He moaned softly. Her body responded as if he was stroking her sex. She moved her finger in and out of him. He gasped and groaned, and raised his hips to give his swollen penis room to breathe. Rose twisted around so that she could put her mouth around it while she continued to push her finger in and out of him. Animal reached down. Rose separated her legs, inviting his touch. Aah, so good. Rose realized she had spoken aloud. In unison they moved their fingers in and out of each other. In unison they came together, in a blinding fury, for the second time that night.
* * *
Master Griffin roared in outraged pain. He shoved Mariah off the bed, sending her sprawling onto the floor.
Beside him, Mistress Suzette sat up groggily. "What happened?" she asked into the confusion.
"The bitch bit me!" Griffin yelled, grabbing his now-soft dick.
On her hands and knees, forehead pressed into the floor next to the bed, Mariah rolled her eyes. "Bit" was an overstatement. She had carefully scraped her teeth along his shaft. As her mistress pulled her up by her hair she cried, "Forgive me! I must have fallen asleep."
* * *
Someone was shaking Mariah gently awake. She opened her eyes, groaned, and shut them again. "Come on, sleepyhead," Gabriel said. "We need to leave by first light."
Mariah forced her eyes open. Moonlight through the window illuminated the room. Gabriel sat on the edge of her bed, looking at her tenderly. When he realized she could see him, he blankened his face.
Mariah struggled to sit up. "You're already dressed," she said, stupid with sleep.
Gabriel nodded. "Margolit -- the woman with the broken leg -- developed an infection. I've been with her for hours."
Mariah tried to process this. "Master Animal will be disappointed," she said. "He really wanted to go today."
Gabriel smiled softly. "I'd be disappointed too," he said. "But I was able to drain the wound. There are other healers who can keep an eye on her today."
Where were they in the middle of the night, then? Mariah wondered to herself as she saw how tired Gabriel looked.
* * *
Mariah did not plan the last straw. Carrying a tray to yet another dinner party, she could not see her own feet, did not see the bored teenage boy stick his foot out. But as she lay for a moment amid the broken plates and spilled food, she looked over to Pepper. Pepper averted her eyes.
* * *
A covered flatbed wagon awaited them at the edge of the lawn. Gabriel checked the hooves on the well-matched mares and thanked the slave who was holding the team. He turned to ask Animal if he wanted to drive and found him engrossed in twirling a lock of Rose's hair. He rolled his eyes and climbed onto the front bench, indicating to Mariah to sit next to him.
Animal climbed into the back. When Rose finished loading the supplies and thanking Raul for his help in toting them from the mansion, Animal took her hand and pulled her into the wagon. He leaned back without letting go of her, so she landed on top of him and he landed on top of a pile of folded blankets she had placed there. Thrumming in his throat, he wrapped his legs around hers and put his hands on her ass, kneading it.
Rose lay on top of him, stock still. As Gabriel shook the reins and the wagon started to move, Animal leaned up to kiss Rose, and although she did not pull back, she did not respond.
Animal rolled them over so that Rose was on her back. He palmed her breasts, usually so sensitive.
Other than an intake of breath, nothing.
Animal stopped and sat up. "Are you denying me?" he asked, incredulous.
Rose's face turned bright red. "Never, Master," she said, her eyes filling with tears. She risked a glance at him, and saw that he was not outraged, but surprised and hurt. "It's just . . . " she said, "Master Gabriel . . ."
Animal drew away from her sharply. "What about him?" he demanded.
Rose said softly, "He doesn't like this."
Animal looked through the opening of the wagon to Gabriel, who was sitting stock-still on the front bench, facing rigidly straight ahead. "He knows I fuck you," Animal growled.
Rose took a desperate breath. "But not in front of him, Master. He says it's private."
Of course Rose was right. Gabriel hated it when humans molested their slaves in front of him. It had never come up before with Animal because he only fucked his slaves at night, in his bedroom.
Until now.
What was he doing? Screwing around with Rose till all hours last night, and now during the day. His art would suffer. He would lose all discipline.
And yet . . .
"I packed extra blankets, Master," Rose said softly. "For later." And although she didn't move towards him, her eyes were luminous, pleading, beautiful, hopeful. And something new since yesterday . . . bold.
Animal looked from her to Gabriel and back again. "Later, then," he said, and Rose smiled, and he had to look away or he wouldn't be able to wait until later. He lumbered to the front of the wagon and asked Gabriel, "So, what gate are we going out through?"
* * *
That night Master Griffin and Mistress Suzette argued. Master Griffin wanted to trade Mariah in for another slave, but Mistress Suzette wanted to keep Pepper alone, arguing it was too much work to train another slave to their liking. At last Master Griffin gave in. "For a little while longer," he said. Skewered on a pole covered with burning ointment, and blindfolded, Mariah could not see their faces.
As far as she knew, Pepper never looked at her. Certainly she never said goodbye, or thanked her.
* * *
The trip to Holden's Gate was quiet. When Gabriel turned to ask that Animal take over the reins, he saw that he and Rose were dozing. He reached back and shook him. But when he made his request, Animal shrugged. "Sorry, brother," he said. "Never learned to drive." He went back to sleep, and Gabriel reached for the thermos of coffee.
Mariah was taciturn. When asked if she wanted to learn to drive, she shrugged. "Only if it pleases you, my lord," she said, and continued staring at the whelping corridor they were driving through, while Gabriel kept his eyes on the road, unable to look at the young slaves forced to work the fields.
It was midmorning when the gate came into view. Gabriel felt a wave of tension wash over him. He wondered what had become of Griley, and hoped rather desperately that he would not see Tonya. He looked over at Mariah. She was staring straight ahead, ashen-faced and gripping the wooden seat of the buggy so tightly that her fingers were white. Gabriel reached over and covered her hand with his. She didn't respond, but she didn't pull away.
As they approached the gate, Gabriel saw with relief that the gatekeeper was not Tonya, but a man calmly chewing a wad of tobacco. He looked at them curiously as he ambled over to unlock the gate. "No leashes?" he asked, pointing to the two slaves. "You a hunting party then?"
"Nope," Animal drawled from the back. "Flower picking party."
The gatekeeper gave him a hard look. "Watch yourselves. Had another runaway yesterday. Just brought him in this morning."
"Another one?" Gabriel asked. "Have there been others, then?"
The gatekeeper spat out his tobacco. "They don't tell you nothing up at the mansion? Every few weeks. Never seen anything like it." He took another bite of the tobacco. "Heard one say he did it 'cause they let the cunt live that ran a few months ago. Heard her mouthing off or something. Stupidest thing the Bearer ever did, if you ask me."
"Have any of them made it?" Animal asked.
The gatekeeper gave a bark of laughter. "Course not," he said. "The Bearer might be old and fat and lazy, but the hunters ain't. They like having more sport. The one yesterday they let the dogs chew on." He swung the gate open. "Enjoy your flowers."
They were quiet as the buggy crossed the field and entered the woods. After a while Mariah pulled her hand away from Gabriel's and pointed. "Over there," she said. "On the other side of this meadow."
"Are you sure?" Gabriel asked in surprise. "That's not . . ."
But Mariah interrupted him. "I'm sure, Master" she said firmly.
The horses protested a little at leaving the road, but became bored with the argument and went where Gabriel steered them.
They went over an uprise. Animal whistled. "Halleluyah," he said. The downslope was dotted with clumps of yellow flowers.
Mariah pointed to a boulder with a sharp edge that leaned at an angle so that it would cast a shadow even at noon. "That's where they found me," she said quietly. "I was so tired I thought maybe they wouldn't see me in the shade." She laughed a little. "At least they pulled the dogs off me."
Gabriel reached for her hand again. "Those others," he said. "You know it's not your fault, don't you?"
Mariah shrugged. "They took their chances," she said. She pulled her hand away from his. "You want these flowers, or not?"
They set about their tasks assiduously. Rose and Animal went for the blooming plants, placing the flowers in brown bags that would keep their colors from fading until he could lay them out and dry them down to the pigment. Rose also filled a few baskets with leaves, to share with the slaves in the other apartments in their hallway. Gabriel showed Mariah how to take the seeds from the dead blooms and place them in glass bottles. Like Animal, he would spread them to dry later, and mix them into potions as they were needed. In the meantime, he carefully scattered almost as many seeds as he kept. He was taking a great supply, but if he ran out he would return to this meadow.
At last the area was so-well plucked that even Animal had to admit that there was no point in looking further. Gabriel sat down gratefully in the shade of the one poplar tree in the middle of the meadow while Rose took a picnic basket from the buggy. Animal fussily covered his bags with a tarp. Mariah climbed on top of the boulder and stared in one direction and then another. She came down reluctantly as the others began to eat.
Gabriel was suddenly so tired he could barely chew. After a few bites he gave it up, and simply lay down on the blanket Rose had laid out and went to sleep. He soon began to snore softly and placidly.
Animal noticed the curve of Rose's bicep and thought he could capture it on canvass more accurately if he nibbled on it first. Rose agreed gravely that he was probably right and suggested, smiling, bold again, that the light was better on the other side of the hill. She gathered up the detritus from the picnic and put it back in the buggy, glancing backwards at Animal as she took out another blanket and started over the hill.
Mariah sat beside Gabriel. When spittle dripped from the corner of his mouth she smiled softly. The leaves of the poplar rattled in the slight breeze, and as she looked up at them the sunlight glowed through them from above. Mariah felt that at this moment in her life she was exactly where she should be.
Smiling again at the sleeping Gabriel, and glancing in the direction where Animal and Rose had disappeared, she stood and walked in the opposite direction, away from Riviera.
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