The Virgin Master (30 page)

Chapter
Nineteen

Jeremy finally got a wheelchair and his clothes. He had a great deal of trou
ble trying to put his shirt
on.
Every
time he moved his upper body, his back responded with a savage bolt of pain, despite the morphine. By the time he finished dressing, he felt exhausted and thoroughly useless. Tom showed up to wheel him out to the waiting area. Jeremy slumped forward in the chair to avoid contact with his back. The aftermath of his dream left Jeremy empty inside.

He remembered the nurses chatting when they all thought he was still unconscious. They all agreed that Evan would wait until Jeremy recovered, collect his damages from Lillian and then sell him. They agreed that no
m
aster could want a personal slave as scarred as Jeremy would most likely end up. Jeremy didn’t want to believe that about Evan
…
but then Evan really didn’t want to have feelings for him, had never said that he loved him
. W
ould he use this as an excuse to get rid of temptation? Tears welled up in Jeremy’s eyes just from the thought of Evan casting him aside. He knew that Evan would make sure not to sell him to Cavenaugh. He was certain of
t
hat much, at least.

*****

Evan looked up as Tom wheeled Jeremy through the swinging doors. His relief at seeing him, finally, ebbed away when he saw that Jeremy seemed terribly upset. He expected him to be groggy and in pain, but not actually weeping. Knowing he couldn’t make a fuss right here in front of witnesses he warmly thanked Tom and promised to call him. Tom had him make an appointment to bring Jeremy back in a week for more grafts. He would stop by the apartment every evening to check Jeremy’s progress.

Jeremy continued silently weeping. Evan desperately needed to get Jeremy in private so he could find out how to help. The receptionist seemed to be moving in slow motion as she accepted Evan’s payment and made the appointment. The little printer ran out of ink as she printed out the appointment card and it seemed she was gone for hours trying to find a replacement ink cartridge. He knew it couldn’t have been over a minute, but his heart pounded with the need to address Jeremy’s pain.

Grabbing the card abruptly, Evan turned and wheeled Jeremy to the waiting limo. He figured Jeremy would have trouble sitting normally in a car. He raised the privacy shield as the driver came around to help him get Jeremy stretched out on his stomach in one of the back seats. As soon as Jeremy was physically situated, Evan fairly leaped into the car, shutting the door behind him. Surrounded by tinted glass, with the privacy shield in place and the microphone set on mute, Evan finally felt safe enough to find out what the hell Jeremy might be thinking.

“
Jer
, Evan said, car
ding his fingers gently through
Jeremy’s long silky hair, “
Jer
, sweetheart, what’s the matter? I mean, besides the obvious.”

***
**

Jeremy closed his eyes and felt amazement at how much his pain eased just from Evan’s touch. Evan’s touch that he wouldn’t have that much longer.

“Evan? I need the truth. Please don’t lie to me to make me feel better.”

*****

Evan started to feel insu
lted, but then he realized that
Evan might have heard some of his exchange with Tom the night before when Tom opined that injured slaves shouldn’t be told that their
m
asters would probably sell them because that would hinder their recovery. He swallowed hard.

“What do you need to know,
Jer
?’ He bent down and kissed the end of Jeremy’s nose. Something that usually made him smile. Right now, it caused tears to gush afresh down Jeremy’s face. “Please talk to me.”

“
I know you don’t feel about me the way I feel about you. It would probably be easier
for you if you could sell me so
you wouldn’t be tempted to feel something you don’t want to feel. Are you going to use all these scars as reason to get rid of me?”

Evan realized then that Jeremy didn’t remember their exchange of the night before. He sighed. “Jeremy, look at me,
okay?” He waited until Jeremy’s red-rimmed exhausted eyes met his. The misery spilling from those beautiful
blue
eyes wounded him to his soul.

“
Jer
…I guess you didn’t hear me last night. Hear me now. I love you. I love you so much it would kill me to lose you. There is nothing in the world that could ever make me
sell
you
,
and if the state ever takes you away from me, I’m quite sure I would be utterly useless for any purpose after that. You’re right
. I
didn’t want to feel this way. I didn’t
want to ever feel joy or happiness again because I don’t deserve it.”

Jeremy didn’t seem to be responding. Evan pressed his face flush to Jeremy’s. ‘You have to believe me, Jer.”

Jeremy sobbed with relief and Evan tried to figure out how to hold him without touching his back. Jeremy finally hauled Evan underneath him on the huge leather seat of the limo, with one huge arm and cuddled him like a stuffed animal. Evan buried his head in Jeremy’s neck; Jeremy whispered in his ear, “You love me?”

“I love you. I’ve loved you for a long time but I was afraid to admit it.”

Jeremy wrapped his arms around Evan and kissed his neck and jaw.

“Feel better?’

“Yeah. I can take the pain in my back. It was the pain in my heart that was killing me.”

*****

We’ll see. Oh, God, Evan; please don’t be lying to me.

*****

Evan told Jeremy about Frank’s attempt to destroy the security video and about the lawsuit against Lillian and the criminal charges against Frank.

“Evan….are you sure you want to go this far? Frank has a lot of money and influence. I know you don’t want to think about this, but a lot of people feel the same way Lillian does about slaves. What if you lose? Please don’t risk your position with the company and your whole life for me.”

“I would risk my life or anything else I have for you, Jeremy
. T
his isn’t just about you. If you hadn’t been as big or as healthy as you are, you could have died from that beating. What if some little female slave touches Lillian and she does this again? How many

times has she done this kind of thing in the past? This
is about bringing part of this m
aster/slave system into the light for open discussion. The fact that I’m so angry and sick that you were treated like this because you saved that bitch’s life is of course the biggest part of it; but
…
this whole thing,” Evan flailed to find words, “this whole system is just fucked up. I should be able to free you, to marry you, to let you be in public
what you are to me in private.”

*****

Jeremy’s heart swelled with Evan’s words. “You would want to marry me?”

“I would marry you right now if I could. That is, if you wanted to…would you want to?” Evan thoroughly lost steam and glanced worriedly at Jeremy.

Jeremy grinned down at him. “Absolutely. But you do know that this won’t change anything for us, except put us in the media spotlight until this thing is over. Have you figured out what kind
of effect this will have on stock prices? On the Board continuing to allow you to be CEO? On your Dad letting me continue to be your personal assistant?”

E
van tensed. “I’m not l
etting this go because it might
inconvenience me.” Jeremy had seen that look of mulish
 
stubbornness on Evan’s face before. It would be a good time to stop talking, so he kissed Evan softly and rubbed his forehead gently against his
m
aster’s.

*****

Jeremy was right about the media. In the two weeks following, the press picked up Evan’s complaint against Lillian and printed it in full, with a sidebar picture of Frank and a note about the criminal c
harges Evan levied against him.
Additionally, a picture obviously taken by a bystander showed Lillian’s face twisted in hatred as she hauled back to hit an already grievously wounded Jeremy.

The angle showed the extreme damage to Jeremy’s back. Evan’s face, also clear in the picture, displayed nothing but irritation. All in all it was the best possible picture. As the two men flipped through the magazines and newspapers covering the story, Evan froze.
Someone had combed through the security camera footage and found the image Mark had alluded to. Evan had turned his back to Lillian and his face showed nothing but anguish and devastation. The headline read, “Compensation for Property? Or Revenge for an Injured Love?”

E
van
saw that clearly this image would give Frank and his legal team a lot to work with.
He
turned and buried his head in Jeremy’s shoulder, just as his communicator chimed in his ear. Sighing he answered. It was Sean.

“I just wanted to let you know that Frank and Lillian have both filed reports of inappropriate emotional attachment
. They used
the picture that you have to have seen by now.”

“Just saw it. What happens now?”

“You’ll be hearing from Slave Regulation. Someone will be coming to take Jeremy into custody. You have no right of appeal once a
determination is made by the agency. You also, normally, wouldn’t have any right to a hearing
,
but there is a loophole. If we can make a case that these reports were filed maliciously and without any evidence to support them
…
we can get a hearing. Do you have an alternate explanation for the look on your face?”

Evan choked back vomit. “How long do we have before they come to take him? What about treatment for his back? Will they let him get the skin grafts he still needs? Sean…..can I just take him and run?”

“Calm down. You absolutely do not want to take him and run
because
that would
look like
an admission of guilt. You have, at best, another two to three hours, but probably a lot less time than that. I’m getting a brief ready to file right now to stop proceedings to permanently remove your rights to him. Once that brief is filed, they will move Jeremy into their detention center. If you look out your south window you can even see where he’s going to be
. The building’s
less than a block away. I don’t think any more medical treatment will be provided, but, if you like I can include your offer to pay for and continue the treatment pending a decision. Whoever comes to pick him up will have a lot of paperwork they will insist you sign. Don’t sign it. It gives them all rights to Jeremy, including the right to sell him.”

“Sean. I don’t think I
can
calm down. Will this never end? How bad is the place they’re going to keep him? Can I pay for him to be put somewhere better?”

“Evan…think. I can excuse the offer to pay for medical treatment as an attempt to preserve a valuable asset
. B
ut better quarters? That would just be for his comfort. You can’t afford to care about that. Does Jeremy understand what he needs to say when they question him?”

“I, uh, I don’t know. I’m putting you on speaker.”

“Jeremy? Can you hear me?”

“Yes sir.”

“What are you going to say when asked about Evan’s feelings for you?”

“That I’m not aware that he has any feelings for me, other than, maybe pride of ownership. He treats me well enough. I’m not hungry or kept from exercising. I enjoy the work that he asks me to do. He is easy to please sexually.”

“Hmmm. Close to perfect. How do you respond if asked how you feel about him?”

“My feelings are of no consequence, but if I had to say, it would be gratitude.”