Waking up, my body hurt, but that was because of last night’s accident. I was absolutely hesitant to leave the bedroom this morning. Sebastian warned me I had used my only warning and left the conversation at that. Based on the sound of shifting outside the door, someone had been there all night making sure that I didn’t leave again. Not that I would try to now. 

Roan probably wouldn’t want to talk to me for a bit. Hell, the fucking kid had punched me in the mouth over all this. All over, wanting to protect him again. But right now, I had bigger things to worry about. Sebastian.

Getting out of the bed, hesitating again to open the door, I turned the handle slowly and the guard at the door met eyes with me, and I could see the exhaustion on his face. 

“The boss has been waiting for you to wake up. He’s in the living room.” 

Nodding, I went to the living room. Sebastian laid out on the couch, a book resting on the floor, a bookmark hanging out messily. I would have found this situation amusing, if it wasn’t for the look on his face from last night that haunted me when I looked at him now. 

Creeping closer, I leaned over to look at him. His face was too perfect while he slept. Part of me wanted to just reach out and give him a slap to mark that face. The other part of me wasn’t trying to die. As it was, I was going to have to justify my actions for my behaviour last night, even after he warned me not to do exactly what I had. 

This whole situation was messed up, and I knew Roan was going to be mad at me for a really long time, and I was going to have to get cozy with that fact. I was going to have to let him go. It was just so fucking hard to do that. 

Sitting down on the floor in front of the couch, I closed my eyes and waited for Sebastian to wake up. The guard from before came in and woke up Sebastian to tell him the tow truck had taken his truck to a shop in town for repair, and he set the bill on the counter. 

“Rhory… fetch me the bill on the counter.” Sebastian said, and I stood up, walking to get the bill. My eyes came across the number on the bill and I nearly puked. How the hell did my actions from last night cost thirteen hundred dollars? 

Dragging my feet, I got back to the living room faster than I wanted to. 

“Give me the bill.” 

“Right.” I said, and stuck the bill out for him to take, but yanked it back just before his fingers gripped the paper. 

“Rhory. Don’t make me any more upset than I already am. Give me the bill.” 

He reached for the bill, and I backed up. 

“Wait! I.. I’ll pay for the tow truck fee. It’s my fault and—--”

Sebastian laughed. “You’re going to pay for it all, regardless. Turns out your sweet little brother had nothing to do with last night’s bullshit. That was all you. Roan has politely declined, helping you with this at all.”

Something about his words was like a bunch of uncomfortable stabs, and I knew Roan was going to be mad, but this mad? That was a bit of overkill. Stepping closer to Sebastian, I angrily shoved the bill into his hand, and he grabbed my wrist before I could stomp away. 

“Sit. We have a bill to settle, Rhory.” Going to sit on the couch, he put his hand up and pointed to the floor between his legs. “Pets who don’t listen aren’t allowed privileges.”

 I glared at him and crossed my arms. “I’m not a pet,” I said firmly. “I’m a person.”

“No, Rhory, not here, you’re not. You are my pet, and you would do well to listen while I am still in a fairly pleasant mood. Given last night’s bullshit, you may very well just want to sit your ass down where I fucking tell you to,” he said, and pointed at the floor again. 

Angrily, I sat on the floor between his legs, resting my back on the bottom of the couch. Sebastian set his hand on my head, my hair between his fingers, and he was tugging lightly as he read the bill.

“Do you get hurt anywhere from the rollover?” he asked. 

“No.” I said, lying. I was just sore, not actually injured unless you counted where I was punched in the face. 

“What to do about this bill?” he hummed, and leaned forward to set it on the coffee table, and I was forced to lean forward with him too, his chest and body weight pressing on my back. I could feel his breath rolling over neck as he spoke, and my heart sped up. I wanted to turn around and face him, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to. I just stayed still, trying to stay calm. “Rhory, what did you make an hour as a game warden?”

“About 28 dollars.” I said, and he chuckled, and I didn’t much like the sounds of that. He pulled out his phone and rested it on the top of my head as he typed. I didn’t like this. 

“Oh, Rhory, it seems even if I pay you fifty-six dollars, double your pay per hour, you still owe me twenty-four hours of extra time, and that’s just the first bill.” He said with a taunting undertone to his voice. 

I was trapped. There was no way out of this.  

“Go into the bathroom, and brush your teeth, and use the mouthwash in there.” Mildly confused, I stood up when he removed his phone from my head and went to the bathroom. On the bathroom counter, there were all brand new oral hygiene products. A new toothbrush, new toothpaste, floss and mouthwash. 

I prepared myself, or rather psyched myself up for whatever was coming next. I figured he was going to ask me for something sexual, considering the way he had made me wash out my mouth. 

After flossing, I gargled with the mouthwash for thirty seconds, and spit it out into the sink, the alcohol from the mouthwash burning my mouth terribly. Taking a few deep breaths, I wanted to wash my mouth out, but that would just nullify the work I had just done.  

“Come to the kitchen, Rhory.” Sebastian called out. Going to the kitchen, Sebastian had black gloves on his hands and a kitchen chair pulled out. “Sit in this chair.”

I looked around the kitchen and spotted the guard close by. Gingerly, I sat down in the chair and watched what Sebastian was doing. He opened a small package and pulled out a needle. 

“Um… what are you doing?” I asked, my heart pounding in my chest. 

“Sit there, and be quiet,” he said.

Uncomfortable didn’t even brush the surface of what was going on here. With a set of forceps in his hands, he walked over to me; the guard coming around the back of the chair and holding me. 

“Wait! What are you doing? Stop—--”

“Rhory, stop your fucking screaming, and stick out your tongue.” Sebastian said, and his annoyed face morphed into a sadistic smirk. 

He grabbed my tongue and held it roughly, as he put the forceps on my tongue and held them there. With the needle in his hands, he smiled as he jammed it through my tongue, and I winced. Tears ran down my face, and I felt him remove the needle and side something into the hole. Every single movement he made, I felt it. 

He stopped touching me with his hands, and I felt something soft on my cheeks, and I opened my eyes. He was wiping my face with a soft handkerchief, and he stopped to look at me. My tongue was throbbing furiously. 

“You’re beautiful when you cry, Rhory.” 

I wanted so desperately to snap back at him with many words, but it hurt so badly to speak, and move my tongue. He let me out of the chair, and I went to look in the bathroom mirror. Sticking out my tongue, I cringed at the pain. A black tongue ring decorated my swelling tongue.

Back in the kitchen, Sebastian gave me a water bottle with cool water in it, and instructed me to take small sips out of it, and he would give me a pain pill shortly. He just wanted me to eat something before then. 

Angry, I threw the bottle at him and it narrowly missed him when the guard nudged him out of the way. 

“Rhory,” Sebastian said in a warning tone. 

“Take it out now!” I yelled, and the pain was more than I could handle. Anyone who dared to say it wasn’t painful was a liar. This was worse than a broken finger. 

“Eat and I can get you a pain pill. But the ring stays in, and that is final. Keep it up, and I’ll give you more than that singular piercing, Rhory.”

“Take me home.” I mumbled, tears streaking my cheeks from the pain of talking. He ignored me and turned to make something on the stove. The guard followed me as I went back to the bedroom and collected my phone. 

“Rhory, come here.” Sebastian demanded from the kitchen again. 

Stomping to the kitchen, he grabbed me by the cheeks, slipped an ice cube through my slightly parted lips. He covered my mouth with his hand, holding the ice cube in my mouth.

“Just wait a few more minutes and I’ll have something you can eat, and then I’ll get you a pain pill and you can go back and lay down. Today will be the worst of the pain. In a week, you should be almost fine again.”

He took his hand off my mouth, and most of the ice cube had melted, but it helped mildly with the pain. As long as I didn’t touch the area with the hard ice. 

“Fuck about again, and I’ll hurt you worse next time,” he said, before he set down a cup with a few more ice cubes in it on the counter. Slipping another ice cube in my mouth, I glared at his back. What the hell kind of person took pleasure in punishing another like this?