Mindgames Ch. 07

"What?" Gabriel jolted. "She what?"

Animal looked down at the floor and then back up at Gabriel. "I'm coming to you as your friend," Animal said. "Another man might have killed her for what she did."

Gabriel turned his back to Animal. "And did you . . .?" he asked, his voice unnaturally thick as he sprayed bleach on the counter he had just finished cleaning.

"Did I what?" Animal asked. "Kill her?"

Gabriel asked, his back still turned to Animal, "Did you have sex with her?"

"Of course not!" Animal said. "For a slave to approach a human . . ." He shuddered.

Gabriel continued to spray the counter, until the bleach solution pooled on it. "You do want her, don't you?" Animal asked him softly.

Gabriel slammed the spray bottle onto the counter with a bang. "It doesn't matter what I want! To have sex with a patient would be bad enough. But to rape a slave? I would never!"

Animal sighed in exasperation. "If you won't fuck her you need to have someone else do it," he said. "Or the next human she approaches might not be your friend, or a pansy."

"I'll talk to her," Gabriel said, scrubbing the counter with a towel in tiny, hard circles. "She can learn to control herself."

Animal walked over to Gabriel and put his hand on the towel, stopping him. "That's what I'm trying to tell you," he said. "She can't control herself. She's a slave. Cats chase mice, cows chew their cud, and slaves fuck. It's what they're bred for, and it's all they know."

Gabriel stared at him, breathing hard. Animal met his eye steadily. At last Gabriel said, "You can't believe that about Rose."

Animal snorted. "Rose?" he said. "I grant you she can cook better than most, and she keeps the apartments clean enough. But do you know why?" Gabriel shook his head. Animal said, "It's because I make her come every night. Without fail. She knows it, and that lets her focus enough during the day to be a decent housegirl. She's no different from any slave I've had."

Gabriel shook his head. "You're a fool," he said.

"No," Animal said with his sour grin, "I'm a pansy."

"You're a fool," Gabriel said more forcefully. "Rose takes good care of you because she cares for you." Animal started to speak, but Gabriel interrupted him. "You're supposed to be the artist who sees things. Haven't you noticed how she always serves you a little more food than me, how she always puts a few more flowers in the vase in your apartment than in mine, how she always has a smile that is for you alone?"

Animal frowned. "I'll put a stop to that," he said, and he unconsciously reached for the whip on his belt. "The Bearer said she should treat you better than me."

"No!" Gabriel said. "She does these things as a gift for you, because it's all that she can give." He turned back to his counter and started scrubbing it again. Then he slapped his cleaning rag against it, hard, and pivoted again to Animal. "And you? You're a brute who doesn't deserve her."

The two men glared at each other. Animal gave in first, taking a step back and putting his hands up in mock surrender before he turned and left Gabriel's office without another word.

∞ ∞ ∞

Note to my readers:

There is nothing a writer wants more than people who read their work, so thank you for that. I have loved writing Mindgames, and I appreciate you letting it (and me) into your lives.

Thanks for your patience between chapters. I'm hoping to post every week or so going forward.

Hearing from you makes my day, so please post comments on this site or email me through my profile and let me know what you think.

Jasmine Gold