Heartbreak

She paused for a moment and held a hand over her face, then rolled over again to me, buried her face in my chest.

"That night, the men came. Kill my... padre, and... my madre. I hide, but... they find me too. Put a bag on my head and put me into the trunk of a car. I was in there... for a very long time. When they finally stopped, the men took me out and started talking, what to do with me. I was very, very scared."

I held her close to me and kept silent, letting her continue.

"One of the men, set his... gun... on the ground, not far from me, he thought I would not know how.... it was... as big as me..." She showed with her hands the length of it, obviously a rifle of one kind or another. "When his back to me, I took it and... I pointed it and..." She indicated with her index finger pulling a trigger. "When the bullets stopped, I turned and ran, as fast as I can, into the forest. I hear one, or two, of the men screaming. Some were chasing me too. I ran and ran, until I could not anymore. I curled up in a hole in the ground and stayed, all night. I had nowhere to go. My family... they..."

Her body shuddered as she began to sob, clutching me tightly, her fingers digging into me as the pain flowed through her, as she let it out while I held her close. I squeezed her tightly and waited. "I'm right here. Take your time."

After a while her breathing slowed down and she sniffled, wiping her tears away. "I walked until I found a town, and tried to find help. But no one would listen, and when I said that I was hiding from the cartel... No one would help me... I had to sleep anywhere I could, steal food... It was this way for... I do not know how long. Many, many days. I kept walking from place to place, and one day, I saw the house, I looked, in the windows, and could not see anyone. So... I..."

She shrugged and shivered, knowing that I already knew what happened next. "After, when you bathed me, gave me food, I did not know what to do. I had nothing, nowhere to go, I wanted to run away, to be safe, but right there, I felt safer than I had in... I do not know. And I knew that you were a... dangerous man, and if one of the cartel's men found me... you could..." Her voice trailed off as her eyes looked up to mine, questioning.

"Hide you, protect you."

She nodded. "You pointed at the floor, next to your feet, and my body moved, on its own, sitting down there next to you, and my mind asked what it was doing. But, that night, when you... took me again, it... it was not so bad. And I thought, maybe I would see, how long you would let me stay, until I know what to do."

She pulled herself up closer to me, kissing me softly on the lips, then pushing her face into my neck, taking in my scent, trying to cover herself in it. "One day, I do not remember, it came into my mind that, I had not thought of what to do next, did not care anymore. I just wanted to be with you."

I held her tightly, staying quiet for a long time as I let her words sink in.

"I want you to be with me too."

---

It was a few days later when the call came. Maria was relaxing at my feet in the lounge when the shrill, obnoxious ring broke the peace and quiet. I sighed and gritted my teeth. Only one person had that number, and I already knew what the call meant. I walked to the fridge and reached up, pulling the cell phone off its charger on top of it and putting it to my ear.

"Enigma."

The computerized female voice chirped briskly back to me. "Enter voiceprint."

I rolled my eyes at the procedure. "The quick red fox jumped over the lazy brown dog."

"Voiceprint confirmed, stand by."

A deep male voice answered and identified himself, pretty pointless considering he was one of my oldest friends. "I know I promised to leave you be, and I'm sorry to bother you like this, but something's come up with one of your previous operations. We're going to need you here, just for consult, help us through some of the finer details. Are you stateside?"

"What do you think?"

"Yeah, I figured. Can you get here, pronto?"

I sighed, my eyes falling on Maria. She looked nervous. Frightened, even. As if even she knew what the call meant for me, wondering what it would mean for her. "Yes, I'll make it happen."

I walked back to the lounge and sat down, noting her demeanor and body language. She swallowed and her eyes darted about, avoiding mine. "It's time for me to go home."

Her eyes instantly looked at mine, wide, starting to get wet from the tears welling up. I reached down and stroked her face the way I often did, slowly and gently with the backside of my fingers, staring into her deep brown, questioning eyes. "Do you wish to stay with me?"

Both her hands grabbed my pantleg and gripped the denim tightly as she nodded in earnest. "Yes, yes mi Patrón, please... please keep me..."

I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees as I looked at her intently. "There will be rules. More than there are now. You'll be expected to work hard and do as I ask. You'll belong to me."

She nodded forcefully. "Yes, I understand, mi Patrón. Please... please keep me..."

My eyes lifted to the bedroom door, thinking of that object in my drawer. I stood up and walked over, opening it and lifting it out. I took it back to her and let it dangle from my fingers so she could examine it. A small silver tag hung from the ring, with a single word inscribed on it. "Maria".

"Do you wish to wear this for me, as a reminder that you are mine?"

She sat up straight on her knees, reaching up with both hands and lifting her hair up and away from her neck, nodding as she held back her tears. I knelt down and gently wrapped the collar around her neck, finding the right place for the buckle so that it fit snug, but comfortable against her soft skin.

She reached up and touched it, smiling sweetly and she sniffled, before nearly tackling me with a firm embrace. She couldn't hold it back anymore and the tears came, a rush of intense emotion overcoming her, relief, belonging, safety, someone that would keep her, maybe even forever. I held her close, let her head rest against my chest and listen to my heart beat, until she breathed softly and quietly. I picked her up in my arms and carried her to my bed where we made love, gently and sweetly, the master and his servant girl.

---

"I could get in a lot of trouble for this, you know. I hope whatever it is, it's worth it."

I smiled at my old friend as I stepped off the boat and embraced him. Maria came up behind me, placing her feet onto American soil for the first time.

"Oh... I see." My friend shook his head at me. "I don't want to know."

Maria carried our things from the boat to the back of the large SUV as my friend and I caught up, and then we got in and drove away. Less than an hour later we pulled into the driveway of my home. Maria stepped out, her eyes wide as she looked around... she must have thought she was in heaven. My little slice of paradise is humble by most accounts, but it's set back from the road, wooded and private, the green landscaping well-kept. We walked up the stairs to the stone-built house, finally entering through the thick, oversized wooden door.

Maria looked at me, silently asking for permission, and I nodded for her to go ahead. She smiled and wandered into the great room, dwarfed by a large stone fireplace that extended up to the top of the tall ceiling. To her, from what she was used to, even the little cottage we lived in together for a while, this must have seemed like a castle. Her eyes darted about as she covered her mouth, trying to disguise her excitement. She turned and ran, literally, to me and knelt down at my feet, clutching my legs with both hands. "Thank you, mi Patrón... thank you..."

I chuckled and hushed her as I touched her soft, straight hair. "Alright, all right. That's quite enough. You have a lot to learn, little one. First of all, we're in America now. So, no more 'mi Patrón'. From now on you may use 'my lord', if you wish."

She nodded as she sat back on her knees, wiping tears away. "Yes, my lord."

---

After assigning her a list of chores and duties to handle each day, as well as making my rules clear to her, I left Maria the run of the house as I took care of the work I needed to handle. As it turned out, it became a bit of a habit, but didn't seem so drearysome anymore. For one, I didn't need to fight any longer, spending most of my time training the younger recruits or consulting. For another, I had Maria to come home to. She was always waiting, posed perfectly inside the foyer, sitting straight and proud on her knees with her eyes cast to the floor, hands on her thighs with her palms up. She always smiled slightly, as if she was trying to look serious but was too happy to see me to contain herself.

Something else changed after our move as well, something that had awoken inside her not long before leaving Mexico but really had flourished since we arrived here, like an caged animal that had been set free. I never asked her what sexual experiences she had had before me, I knew only that she was not a virgin when I found her. But it seemed, based on her reactions, the way that she responded to me, that truly experiencing sexual pleasure was something very new. And as she learned more about herself, more about being someone's lover, she became more and more addicted to it.

It was almost as if that ecstasy she felt during those times was the only thing that truly gave her release, let her forget the bad things in her past, let her completely let go and embrace that single moment in time in which she felt so incredibly alive.

Or maybe, I was just reading too far into it, and she just loved to fuck.

Either way, I wasn't complaining. She was insatiable, she couldn't get enough of it, she wanted me in every orifice of her body and she wanted it as often as I would give it. She'd get down on her knees and beg me for it, and I just loved to torment her by making her plead with me until she was near tears before letting her have it. She knew what I was doing, and a part of her loved it too. I actually banned her from pleasuring herself when I was off to work, just to torture her, and by the time I got home, her pussy would be so wet... sometimes I would have to pull out and wipe myself off just to get some friction.

I'll never forget this one time. I was at work, mid-morning, when I got a text message from her. I had given her a cell phone so she could reach me if there was an emergency. Naturally this turned into playfully teasing one another throughout the day. My phone vibrated and I pulled it out to have look. "My lord, I've been thinking about pleasuring your cock all morning, my pussy is so incredibly wet, may I please come while thinking about you?"

I smirked as I tapped on the screen. "No, little pet, you may not. You know the rules."

"Oooohhh... pleeease sir. Please let me my lord, my clit is aching to be touched, please sir..."

"And it will be touched, once I've returned and you've asked me properly."

"Please my lord, please, I need it so bad it hurts..."

"You've gotten my answer. Now be a good girl, and I will see you soon."

"Yes, my lord."

Several hours later I walked through the door, seeing her greet me in her usual fashion, but her body was trembling, her eyes wet. I ignored her for a moment, walking past her and hearing her swallow hard as she waited without a word.

"Were you a good girl today?"

Her body shivered. As I looked down I noticed a couple of drips on the floor between her thighs as she sat on her feet, her back straight. "Yes, my lord, I was very good, I waited all day for you. I need you so badly sir... please..." Her body sobbed for a moment as she wiped a tear away. "please sir, I need you... I've thought about nothing but having your cock inside me, please take me sir..."

I smiled as she begged me, down on her knees, her tearful eyes pleading with me. I could only imagine how hard it must have been, watching the hours pass as her body ached for release. I reached down and stroked her cheek with the backside of my fingertips, and then took her by the hand, pulling her to her feet. I pushed her against the wall, pulled out my cock, picked her up and let her legs wrap around my body. She was moaning in delight before I even entered her, and the moment I did, her drenched pussy easily accepting the entire length of my shaft, she screamed, with the loudest, most terrifying sound I'd ever heard from another person. She came instantly, hours upon hours of arousal and frustration venting in one long, beautiful moment as all that pressure was released, her entire body spasming and shaking as the orgasm went on and on until, at long last, she relaxed, her legs falling away from me and her neck going limp, she would have fallen on the floor if I hadn't been there to hold her.

As the years passed, I gradually allowed Maria more freedom. I hired a tutor to help her with her English, "acquired" some "paperwork" so that she could get her driver's license and help me drive on long trips, or run errands around town. And I trained her... to fight, with her hands, with a knife, with guns. I didn't want her to ever feel helpless again. I taught her, or found someone to teach her, anything she asked to learn, and how she wanted to learn, her eager young mind soaking up everything it could. She was the perfect little pet, grateful, hard-working, and loyal.

---

Maria laid on the couch with her head on my lap, naked, satiated, her body wrapped in a thin blanket as she watched the roaring fire. "My lord?"

"Yes, little one?"

"I... need to ask you something... it's hard for me to ask."

"Go on."

She sighed slowly, her chest heavy with nervousness. "I would like to have a job... I mean, a real job. I still want to do all of my chores, and be yours, for whatever you need me for, but..."

I looked away while I pondered her request. I had sensed something like this was coming for a while, had been waiting for this conversation. I thought for a few moments, even though, deep inside, I already knew the answer I would give.

"Alright."

As we laid in bed together that night, and she drifted off to sleep in my arms, I thought for a long time about what she has asked me for. I knew, had known, all along, that Maria was a strong woman. She had survived a terrible ordeal... well... perhaps two terrible ordeals, and she had been getting stronger for a long time. Did she want to leave, have a life of her own?

I had to force myself to stop thinking about it, as the feelings that came over me when I imagined not having her anymore were too much to bear. It was never supposed to be like this. She was just a pet, and I was simply her protector.

---

We sat on the waterfront park bench together, each holding a cup of hot coffee, enjoying the springtime sun. The light breeze made Maria's soft hair blow against her tan face, I liked to watch her brush it away, trying to get it to stay behind one ear. She was stunning, not the frightened young girl I had taken in years before, but a woman, smart, and beautiful, and charming. The sound of children laughing caught her attention, and we began watching a young family playing together in the park for a few moments.

"Have you thought about it?"

I looked at her, surprised at the question. "Thought about... having children?"

"Yes."

"Well... I can't."

"You... can't?"

I smirked. "Didn't you wonder? Why, you know... you never..."

She pursed her lips and looked down. "I... didn't know that. I guess I just thought... that... the timing was never right... or..." She shrugged.

I watched her face for a long time, seeing her disappointment despite her best efforts to hide it. She turned to me and gave me that smile, one that only I knew what it meant. She was trying to disguise how she really felt.

"This is important to you."

She swallowed hard, stared out into the ocean, and said nothing.

---

I was standing in the kitchen, preparing a meal, still in the clothes that I was wearing from my morning run. I had just made it to the small table and sat down when I heard Maria's soft steps coming down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Good morning, little one, do you..."

Something isn't right.

I turned to her and looked, noting that she was dressed in street clothes that she had bought, as if ready to go out. She didn't greet me in her usual way... her eyes, they softly stared into mine, holding contact. She swallowed, then smiled sweetly, taking two steps to close the distance between us as she held up her hand, giving me something. In it was the leather collar I had placed on her neck years before.

One hand gripped the side of the table as my head spun, a massive crushing weight pushing on me. She said nothing... she didn't have to. My heart... rolled out of my chest and shattered into pieces as it fell to the floor. "No baby..." I shook my head, my legs week, as I slid off the chair and fell to my knees at her feet. Emotion bubbled out, uncorked, as the feelings overwhelmed me, the years of training and all my strength worthless and unable to hold it in. I began to sob as I begged her... "Please baby... no... please don't go... I... I need you. I NEED YOU. Please..."

She reached down and touched my shoulder, placing the collar into my hands. "You don't need me. I needed you. You saved me. You made me strong. You gave me everything, and for that I'm grateful forever. But it's time. Time for me to go, to have my own life."

A single tear slid down her cheek, and she wiped it away as she turned. She picked up her bag, already packed, at the bottom of the stairs, and looked back at me. I couldn't move, paralyzed, trembling, my lips curled back as I tried to cover my mouth and continued crying uncontrollably, called out to her, begged her to not to go.

Then she opened the door, and she walked away.

THE END