The Slave Bride Ch. 08

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All characters are over 18.

TRIGGERS: mentions of past abuse

The ride home was silent. Gisselle stared at the floor, unsure if she wanted to see the cityscape even though she knew it could very well be the last time. Tears blurred her vision. Her heart beat quickly, weighed down with guilt she could not name. She felt it pricking against her skin like daggers.

Why did Cadence force her to look? The rough tone the Benjamin used was to be expected, but Cadence was not usually so cruel. Gisselle shook with anticipation. Would they punish her when they arrived back at the mansion?

The question that Cadence asked burned in her memory. He'd asked her where those poor girls had come from- the ones being beaten. Her heart ached for them. Were they girls like her once? Perhaps their masters were punishing them there? Maybe their masters had tired of them and has them sold to be used that way? The thought of being sold frightened Gisselle. It was what her father had done to her. He had sold her to the brothers who sat with her now. Yet, even in their anger with her, they had not subjected her to humiliation.

Still. The thought lingered. Would there come a time when they would sell her as well?

Icy, cold fear struck through her. She buckled under the weight of it, willing herself not to begin sobbing in the car. They had to be close to home. She would take whatever punishment they doled out in return for not being sold again.

Benjamin sat in the leather seat. He kept his eye on Gisselle. She was looking at the ground and appeared to be deep in concentration. He noted the way that she wrung her hands, fiddling with her nails. She was so still and yet her body was full of nervous energy, trying to find its way out.

He was furious at his brother for intentionally bringing her to where the slaves were hurt. That sort of thing would not be good for Gisselle. He knew. On their first night alone, he had hurt her and saw what a toll it took. He promised himself that her punishments were to be different and although he had not worked out what that meant just yet, he knew that violence would not play a part.

Aside from the fact that Cadence's actions caused Gisselle distress, Benjamin felt betrayed by his brother. Discipline was his forte, it was his realm. They had discussed that quite clearly. Benjamin was in charge of discipline. He wondered for a moment if he was losing his touch. This slave provided such a challenge by being untrained. But that was not at all her fault, he reminded himself. He would need to speak to Cadence as soon as they were back home. He needed to make sure that Gisselle would not overhear, a slave should never see their masters fighting.

The gravel crunched under the weight of the car as they slowed to a stop. Cadence was the first to leave the car. He stood as his brother stepped out.

"Now Gisselle," He demanded.

He felt Benjamin's hand grip his arm. The look his brother shot him was cold. He could have smacked him right there; this was all his fault. If Benjamin had done his job and disciplined Gisselle instead of rewarding her all the time, maybe she would know better than to ask to go out. The more she knew, the easier it would be for her to escape.

Gisselle snapped out of her daze at the sound of her master's voice. She scrambled to get out of the car, not wanting to cause any more trouble. She caught a glance of Cadence's glare before Benjamin placed his arm around her.

Together they walked up to the door and when they were a few steps ahead of Cadence, Benjamin leaned in towards her. He spoke gently.

"Gisselle, I want you to go to bed immediately. Do not come out of your room until I get you in the morning. You have not done anything wrong," he said kissing her forehead, "But, as your masters and husbands, please trust that we have your best interests in mind."

Gisselle said nothing. The warmth in his kiss and his gentle voice confused her. Only a few moments ago, the brothers had been angry. This was it. He was going to talk to his brother. They were going to sell her.

She entered her room and shut the door, immediately bursting into tears. Cursing herself for not being stronger, she crumpled onto the floor. Soon she would be in the hands of a man like her father again.

The front door shut loudly. Benjamin, who had been watching his wife walk to her room, whirled around to face his brother. The anger on his face was evident now. Both their faces burned with fury.

"We are going upstairs to talk about this. I don't want her overhearing any of it. She's distressed enough as it is, thanks to you."

Benjamin's voice was curt and sharp. Without another glance, Cadence walked upstairs.

"There's nothing to talk about," he said as his brother trailed behind the stairs, "Unless you want to talk about how incompetent you are for this?"

"Incompetent?"

"If you had disciplined her correctly the first time, she would not have even thought to ask to leave." Cadence said, letting the words sting his brother, "She's a slave. She doesn't get to make requests like that. Because of you she thinks she can do whatever she wants."

"She asked to see the city," Benjamin spoke shaking with anger at his brother's ignorance. "She didn't ask to leave you Cadence, don't take it personally. She wasn't even trained to be a slave."

"She's still not being trained," he retorted, "Thank you for that."

"She is being trained. I have to do it differently. You want me to break her? Turn her into a hopeless, lifeless husk?"

The silence between them lingered uncomfortably.

"Of course not. Don't turn my words around on me."

Benjamin poured himself a glass of whiskey from the nearby decanter. Taking a seat on the leather armchair, he looked up. His brother was staring off, looking past the bookshelf in front of him.

**TRIGGERING CONTENT**

"This isn't what either of us wanted," Benjamin admitted. He took a sip as Cadenced turned to face him. "It isn't fair to us. But try to think about it from her point of view. Cadence, her father r*ped her. Then he sold her to strangers and told her it was an arranged marriage. She's not ready to be full slave yet."

He sighed and continued, "I saw how she looked at the people there today. Didn't you? She wants to serve, to be loyal. She wants to please."

**END of TRIGGERING content**

Benjamin stood up now, "And she wants," he said looking Cadence fiercely in the eye, "To be protected."

Cadence's gaze faltered, he knew what his brother was getting at. He had pushed too far. It was not his job to discipline slaves.

"Benjamin," he said, "You're right. I overstepped. Discipline is your domain."

His brother didn't reply.

Cadence bowed his head, "Forgive me, please."

Benjamin nodded his approval. "I think it's time we begin some training as well. But first, we need to make sure that she feels comfortable and safe. Otherwise, any sort of discipline will just feel like more abuse to her. She has to know that we care for her. First and foremost."

Cadence nodded, "You're right."

Benjamin looked at him sternly, "Make it right."

There was a knock at the door. Gisselle jolted away. Her head was stuffy from crying. Before she could do anything the door opened and Benjamin was there.

Curiously, he walked towards her. Taking a seat on the bed he drew her face up to his own. There was a gentle concern on his face.

"Why have you been crying, Gisselle?" He spoke softly, "I told you, you were not in trouble."

Without thinking, Gisselle threw her arms around the man. To her utter shame, she burst into tears again pleading with him to not send her away.

Benjamin gripped her wrists, prying them off of himself. "Send you away?"

"That's what master meant when he asked if I knew where those girls came from. Right, Sir? He means to sell me because I am not what you were expecting?"

His heart lurched at the sound of her trembling voice. It was strange. Usually, a trembling voice would have made him hard, made his cock throb with anticipation. Now, it made him sick. Benjamin's hand reached out to firmly grab Gisselle's chin.

"No." He spoke sternly, more sternly than he had meant to, "You are not being sold Gisselle. I would never allow that."

She sniffled and he pulled her close. Eventually, she crawled into his lap. She was surprised at how long he held her, how good it felt to be in his arms. He stroked her hair gently.

"I'm not going to let anything like that happen to you, princess."

Gisselle was comforted by the gentle way he stroked her hair. His hands were warm and large. In a flash, her mind wandered. She wanted to feel them on her, to be touched the way the men touched the girls at the club. She blinked at the intrusive thought. It came so suddenly, she wasn't sure how to feel about it. She looked up at Benjamin.

"Thank you, Sir."

"Come, let's get something to eat. I think we need to all talk together," Benjamin said standing, "You don't need to get dressed just brush your hair and wear what you have on already. Meet me on the patio."

With that, the door closed. Gisselle was alone again. What could he possibly have to talk about? What could be this urgent?

When she had done as he'd asked, she walked cautiously outside of her room and through the hallways and foyer until she came upon the large glass doors that lead to the patio.

Pushing open a door she stepped slowly out onto the patio. Waiting for her were the two brothers. They were dressed as usual. Button-up shirts and nice pants, no suits or ties. The table at which they sat was decorated with crystal glasses and fine linen. The white tablecloth swayed in the gentle morning breeze.

Gisselle always enjoyed feeling the warmth of the sun on her skin. Seeing the elaborate arrangement of food on the table she approached the men slowly. She looked only at Benjamin. He smiled. It was a small but welcoming gesture. For a moment, they were the only two in the room.

Cadence's voice broke the illusion. "Gisselle. Please sit. There's something I need to speak with you about."

Benjamin broke in, "We want to know more about your past. I think it could help us understand how to treat you better. We've been making assumptions up until now and that has only lead to trouble."

Cadence nodded in agreement passing Gisselle a basket of steaming rolls. She acknowledged the gesture he made and took a roll but her eyes would still not meet his.

"Gisselle, I was wrong to have been harsh with you last night," Cadence said, his voice sounded strange like he was being strangled. "You were only being curious. I took offense and punished you for it. Please forgive me."

His slave's eyes darted up at his. Confused by the grand gesture and apology.

"Am I allowed to speak freely?"

"Yes," Benjamin conceded.

"Why are you doing this?"

"A man owns up to his mistakes Gisselle," Cadence said, "There's no sense in an unhappy slave. And it was quite clear that I made you unhappy. I didn't even try to understand why you asked to see the city, I only punished you for it. I should not have done that, especially allowing you to see violence."

Gisselle fidgetted at the sound. Her eyes flitted down at the ground as thoughts of her father and the women bubbled up into her memory. She felt a hand reach for her own.

"Please forgive me, dear one," Cadence's voice broke, "I've made a terrible mistake doing that to you. Especially after you had already told us about your father."

"I owe you an apology as well." Benjamin said afterward, "I should have spoken up much sooner. I could tell you were distressed, but I could also see that you were curious. Still. That's no excuse."

Gisselle sat still, looking from brother to brother. It was so strange to be sitting there in a silk nightgown, on a beautiful patio with as much food as she could imagine. But to be apologized to? It was odd, but she couldn't remember ever having someone apologize to her. It made her feel very strange as if it were some sort of trick. Cautiousness made her stay silent.

Why were they apologizing anyway? They had not so much as touched her. There had been no violence on their part? What was there to be sorry for? Besides, wasn't she just an object to Cadence? And what was she to Benjamin anyway?

"Darling," Cadence spoke as he brushed a piece of her hair away from her face, "Darling, please we know that we have upset you. We did not protect you as we promised, as you deserved."

His thumb brushed her cheek softly before he pulled back again. "That's why we need to talk today."

"We need to redefine your role, and ours. Since you have not been trained the way that we thought you would be, we want to make sure that you are still able to serve and be happy here. And we need to make sure that you understand our side as well."

"What you can expect from us," Benjamin clarified, "First and foremost is our protection. We will always keep you safe from the men outside as well as making sure to care for you in the ways that you need."

There was a silence in the room that lasted a moment too long. Gisselle noticed how the men looked at each other. She began to feel her own heart race. Cadence nodded.

"Gisselle," Benjamin spoke forcefully, "Because you were taken here under false pretenses, we want to ensure that you are happy. We want to give you a period of time to decide what you want. And we will do our best to make you happy. But, if you still want to leave after that,"

Benjamin paused now. Gisselle was surprised to hear such sadness in his voice, "We will make sure to help you find the safest way to do it."