Chapter 3 - continued...

Merrick sighed and unhooked Eliza’s leash from its place on his belt. He gave a gentle tug and began to wind it slowly around his right hand. His eyes fixed on hers, the command was clear far before the slack in the cord was gone. She resisted only for a second, but he could tell the thought had been there. She had tumbled it over in her mind, deciding if this was a battle she would choose to fight. In the end, she relented allowing herself to be reeled over to him. He stopped when they were nearly face to face.

He stared into her green eyes. Her simple curiosity was gone, replaced instead by a hardness. A bitterness as deep as any well. It wasn’t hate or malice, but she made it very clear with a glance where her approval lay. She cradled her belly and seethed with a barely contained snarl on her lips.

Merrick caressed her cheek, running his hand down to her chin. He gave a slight smile. “I’ve got to take the dress off, but I’ll let you keep it if we get it off in one piece. Ok?”

She didn’t respond, only narrowed her eyes. A woman of few words now. He let the leash uncurl from his hand and reattached it to his belt before reaching down and grabbing the hem of her dress. He lifted slowly and with great care over her smooth legs and fertile hips, but his ascent stopped abruptly at her belly. It filled the dress to the absolute breaking point. He could see where some of the seams down her side had given way on the journey down to the auction house. There was no give in the fabric. None. The indent of her belly button shone through, and each breath made the indention clearer.

He fixed his gaze on her eyes again. “Suck your belly in. I’d like to get this off in one piece, so you can wear it again in the future.”

She began to breath in. Her lungs filled and drew her bloated gut slowly back to the point where he thought he may be able to work the dress over her plump girth. Her belly moved glacially inward, and then...suddenly stopped just as he was about to make his move.

“A little more, Eliza. I’ve almost got enough roo…” He happened to look upward. A simple glance to confirm with her his intentions. He was met with her hard eyes and a sly grin.

He heard her slowly let the air back out of her lungs and her belly began to expand outward like a slowly filling fleshy balloon. It quickly distended to its’ previous size and beyond. She was purposely pushing it out. She arched her back and smiled as seams began to practically explode. He’d really underestimated how much she would grow and how much he could force into her. The dress had already been well beyond capacity. Now, it was fighting for dear life. As she pushed her belly out, the seams began to pop in rapid succession along her left side. Slight rips giving way to tears as her adipose squeezed and forced its’ way through the openings. She looked absolutely pregnant by the time she ran out of her breath. Her belly so tight and firm he thought she might explode with the effort. The dress’s bottom hem had pulled up higher to try and compensate for her mountainous engorged belly. Her eyes never left his, even as she took in another breath and removed her hands that still cradled her belly. It dropped forward, stuffed and packed tight, causing the dress to once again squeal before ripping completely down the right side.

Her final act of defiance.