chapter 5

Merrick didn’t wake her at the usual hour the next morning. He preferred early starts. More time awake meant more time to feed, and more feeding time was better for his bottom line. Eliza was different, though. There was something there that hadn’t been with the others. The look in her eye, the turn of her body as they had made the journey home. No, this was different.

He had dealt with other such situations in the past. Naturally, when one bought from the block you were getting choice pick from the leftover dregs of market traders and slave caravans and, as such, there were certain complications that could arise. You learn quick as a new trainer to be wary of love. Merrick knew endless stories, some by heart, of fellow professionals who had fallen for their supplicants. It seemed there was scarcely a tavern visit that didn’t contain such a tale. They all began and ended the same. Only the details changed. Something best not to think about and yet, his mind returned time and again to the glance she had given him at the scale. That soft, slight look and the willingness to step forward and present her neck to be collared. Something in their relationship had changed in that moment, but Merrick was lost as to exactly what or why the shift had occurred to begin with. Fey were complicated creatures even on the simplest days and when one brought emotions into play, well, that only made the water murkier.

He woke her at seven. The sun had begun to peek through the window in her room and she lay curled in its warm light. Early in their relationship, she had moved her mattress from the corner and placed it where she knew the light would hit. He’d taken this as an act of defiance at the start, punishing her with extra portions or longer meal times. However, she refused to relent and each morning he would find the mattress had returned to its new position on the floor. Her stomach stretched quickly and his punishments had less and less effect until he eventually conceded the battle to her and allowed it to stay. He still remembered that night, her tied to the feasting chair as he forced enough to feed a family into her. The look of contempt and hatred, bright eyes shaded with dark thoughts. She’d nearly bit him when he’d removed the funnel, but he knew her now and her body language gave away her actions. She’d returned to her room, belly and breasts entering the room before her, to find the mattress where she had left it. She’d nearly collapsed on it, before lifting herself up on all fours. Her spindly arms shaking with the effort of supporting her MUCH larger lower half. She turned and looked at him, a slight curl of her upper lip. He’d remembered that same look from the block. That grin she wore as easily as her marked ear ring. She’d won and knew it.

Eliza watched him now, unmoving. The sun coating her body and making her almost appear to shine. He pulled a chair from the corner and dropped it soundly in the middle of the room so that the noise echoed briefly. He approached her and bent at the knees before opening her collar and presenting it. He held it at a measurably distance and simply stared at her. Eliza didn’t hesitate. She lifted herself from the pillow and slid her neck gracefully into the band, only pulling away when she saw Merrick’s hands move to fasten it. She jerked away with lithe grace to put space between them, her eyes fixed on his as she slowly brought her hands around to the back of her neck and flicked the collar’s catch to lock it.

She gave a sweet smile and brought her hands down with tender precision. They briefly caught the bottom hem of her shirt and attempted to pull it down over her belly.

Merrick let out a deep breath. “Gods, what is going on….? If this is a trick, it won’t work. You know what I have planned for you. You can’t intend to stay here.”

As if in answer, Eliza’s swollen belly grumbled. She rubbed it and yanked the shirt down again. Her hands found purchase on the mattress and she crawled towards Merrick on her knees. Her breasts bulged forward, forming a beautiful cleft in her loose top, even as her belly dropped to hang heavily beneath her. It shimmied slightly with her movement.

She stopped just short of him and sat back on her knees. One finger pointing to her paunch as her lips tripped and stumbled over unfamiliar consonants and vowels.

“Hun-gara-eey”
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