Chapter 1

…She started down the stairs slowly then froze, the metallic grinding of the adjoined garage door indicating Christian’s return to their condo. She briefly panicked, unsure of whether she should head down as she planned or scamper back upstairs and hide in their bedroom. She shook her head, wincing at her own timid indecision.

This is ridiculous, she decided, marching down the stairs with every intention of proving to herself that she wasn't nervous around him.

She entered the kitchen just a split second before Christian walked in, arms laden with grocery bags. Stella, suddenly shy again, looked down then forced herself to look back up, unwilling to succumb to her own nerves. Christian smiled at her.

“Nice outfit,” he said with a lift of his eyebrow.

He placed the multitude of plastic grocery bags on the counter and turned back towards the garage door, hanging his keys on the designated hook next to it before placing his hand on the handle again.

“Where are you going?” Stella blurted, the same sudden build of confusion snowballing towards her once more. Everything was happening so quickly that she didn't have time to analyze one thing before the next began, leaving her perpetually in the dark.

“To get the rest of the groceries,” he called over his shoulder.

Stella stood still for a moment, once more frozen by an indecision that was beginning to humiliate her, and followed him on impulse.

“I’ll help,” she offered from the doorway, blinking as her eyes adjusted.

Christian turned back to her, a pleasant grin on his face that made him look so innocent, almost as sweet and gentle as he had always been before yesterday. She could see from there that the backseat was absolutely loaded with grocery bags, and the five bags he’d already brought in combined with the six currently lining his arms barely accounted for half of the haul.

Stella gulped, the realization setting in more fully that all of this food was for her. Her eyes scanned the calorie-dense loot quickly, noting the bags of chips, the boxes of cookies, the candy, and the chocolate. Some of the bag’s items were indiscernible to her, junk food being the last thing she’d thought about in years.

“You can help me,” Christian replied, scooting her aside lightly with one hand as he reentered the kitchen and set the next load of bags on the table. “You can help me by eating this,” he said, grabbing a brightly colored bag at random and handing it to her.

Stella felt her heart quicken. Although she knew just how serious Christian was about this whole thing, she wasn't expecting for this all to happen again so soon. She wasn't expecting that she’d already be forced to repeat yesterday's events less than 24 hours later.

“I’m still full,” she mumbled, eyes downcast.

Christian shook the bag in front of her.

“Take it,” he repeated firmly. ‘

Stella took the bag in both hands and scrutinized it carefully, frowning as she read the front.

“What are these?” she asked, as if the bag didn’t specify.

Christian laughed.

“Jesus, Stella, you just eat healthy, you’re not from another planet. They’re potato chips. Open the bag and try one.”

She flipped the bag to the back, her frown deepening as she read through the nutritional facts and ingredients.

“Christian, I can't eat these,” she reported, still reading. “The sodium alone is insane, and a serving is 210 calories for nine chips. Nine,” she emphasized. “There's 14 servings in here, do you know how many calories that is?”

“Do you know how many calories were in that entire pizza you ate last night?” Christian retorted with a lopsided grin.

Stella balked, her face immediately flushing as she realized that she had yet to consider that. She squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to do the mental math that she knew would leave her feeling dumbfounded and guilty.

“Eat the chips or I'll tell you,” Christian finished, turning to unload the rest of the groceries from the car.

Stella opened her eyes. Despite what she’d told Christian when he’d provided her with the junky snack, she was horrified to discover that she wasn't actually full. She’d crammed down more food than she normally ate in a week in just a few hours, and the next day she was as hungry as if she’d never eaten. She played with the edges of the bag in lieu of opening it, wondering just how far Christian was going to take this. She couldn’t eat like yesterday all the time, it just wasn't possible. He’d pushed her to her absolute limit and beyond it, he couldn't be expecting her to do it again the next day.

Christian walked back in with another load of groceries and her gaze shot up, taking in his darkening expression.

“Stella, he warned slowly in a steady voice, and Stella quickly ripped open the bag, grabbing a chip and popping it into her mouth before he could say anything else.

His smile returned.

“Good girl,” he praised, and Stella ate another chip without thinking, spurred on by a desire to hear him repeat the alluring affirmation in that voice of his.

The chips were overly salted as Stella had expected, but entirely delicious as she had not, and she ate another and another as Christian brought in the rest of the groceries, finally closing the garage door and leaning against the kitchen island to watch her.

Stella was still standing, eating the chips steadily as she realized the full extent of her hunger. She was absolutely starving. She was the kind of hungry that normally only came about when she’d been fasting for a beach trip, and the chips (like the slices of pizza) were even better than she remembered from her youth.

She ate another chip and then paused, feeling Christian's gaze boring into her. She wiped at her mouth, ashamed, and rolled up the top of the bag, setting it down.

Christian shook his head, pointing to it.

“You’re not done,” he reminded her.

Stella, already learning that argumentation was futile, picked the bag back up and unrolled it, eating another chip before responding.

“Do I have to eat it all?” she asked meekly.

Christian shook his head.

“Eat till I'm done putting all this away,” he said, indicating to the hundreds of dollars in groceries spread across the kitchen island and counters. “Then you can have your breakfast.”

Breakfast, she thought, sliding another chip into her mouth. He’s gonna make me eat again.

A sudden flashback of the previous night made her catch her breath, and as Christian began to put away the piles of groceries, she sat in the same island chair as before, steadily pushing chips into her mouth one after the other as thoughts of Christian taking over the task made her a bit dizzy.

She examined the goodies as best as she could while she ate, recognizing all the staples like Oreos, chips, and pasta while using context clues to discern the rest. Christian had gone crazy, and the excessive grocery trip seemed like a product of throwing everything from the snack and candy aisle into the cart.

There were no vegetables, no salad kits, nothing that Stella was used to. Instead, the counter was littered with fried frozen appetizers like jalapeno poppers and mozzarella sticks, party-sized bags of chocolate, liters of soda, boxes and boxes of cookies, gallons of ice cream, and enough salty snacks to run a concession stand.

Christian had no issue finding the space for all he’d bought, and their always bare cupboards were now crammed to bursting with caloric junk foods. The fridge and freezer were the same story, and if Stella had seen it just a few days before, she would’ve assumed she walked into the wrong house.

“So,” Christian began, startling her out of her thoughts.

Stella set the bag down and sat up straighter, looking at him anticipatorily. He shook his head.

“I didn't say stop eating,” he warned, and Stella picked up the bag dutifully and resumed her crunching.

“So,” he began again. “I wanna lay out some ground rules for you. You follow my rules, always. No exceptions. You understand?”

Stella nodded, her mouth full.

“Good. First, you eat whatever I tell you to eat. I don't care if you’re too full, I don't care if you don't want to or you don't like it, you’re going to eat it. As for the rest of the time, you can eat whatever you want…as long as you’re eating something.”

He fixed her with a steely look.

“And I do mean the entire rest of the time,” he went on. “Anytime I see you you need to be eating. I don't ever wanna see you without a snack or a fork in your hand, ever. You need to be taking packets of cookies into the shower and falling asleep with a burger. If I see you without food, it’s gonna be a problem. Got it?”

Stella nodded again, attention fixed on both Christian and her chips as he gave her instructions.

“I’m gonna weigh you every other day. Starting today,” he clarified. “Just as soon as you’ve finished your breakfast. And last but not least,” he said, a hint of a teasing smile creeping into his voice. “You don't do anything without asking me first.”

Stella shoved two chips in her mouth at once, trying to disguise her expression. She felt like leaping across the island and begging for him but instead she ate another chip, deferring her lust into gluttony.

“You don't get to burn calories without getting my permission. That means anywhere you go, anything you do, hell, even walking up the stairs, you have to ask me first. You’re only allowed to do what I want you to do.”

He studied her carefully.

“How do you feel about that?” he asked, his gaze still boring into her. “Huh?” he asked after a beat of silence. “Are you gonna argue with me like yesterday, tell me that you can't?”

Stella shook her head silently.

“Good,” he replied. “Cause it wouldn't matter if you did.”

He turned to the nearest cabinet and opened it, grabbing a white and red bag with a clear cellophane window that allowed Stella to see the powdered donuts within.

“For breakfast, you’re gonna have these,” he started, setting the bag down and opening the freezer. “And…,”

He hummed, considering.

“This,” he said finally, snagging a second item.

He placed the pint of vanilla ice cream next to the donuts, and Stella balked, her trepidation overtaking her lust once more.

She shook her head.

“I can’t eat all tha-”, she started, and before she could finish the last word Christian had crossed the kitchen towards her in two steps, grabbing her by the wrist and pulling her to face him.

“What did you just say,” he murmured, his volume counteracted by his aggression as he leaned close to her ear. “What did you say?” he repeated when she didn't answer. “Cause I just told you,” he hissed, yanking her closer by her wrist. “I just fucking told you that you don't talk back. Isn't that what I told you?”

Genuine fear coursed through Stella's body and the rush of emotion made her gasp, her senses heightened and her body coming to life as Christian manhandled her.

“Isn't it?” he asked her again with a shake, and Stella nodded quickly, trying to control her breathing.

“See, I was gonna be nice Stella,” he whispered in her ear. “I was gonna be nice like I was yesterday, I wasn't gonna make you finish both. But now, since you argued…” he grabbed the bag, tearing it open and picking up a powder sugar-covered confection. “Now, you’re gonna eat every last bite. I’m gonna make sure of it.”

He lifted the donut hole to Stella's mouth and she opened it soundlessly, her mind too far gone in fantasy to assert any of her own will. He shoved the treat into her mouth and picked up another, pressing it against her lips while she still chewed the first. She obliged immediately, allowing him to force in another bite until her cheeks were swollen as she chewed steadily.

Christian continued to feed her that way, gripping her wrist tightly and shoving donut after donut into her mouth while she moaned her protests around the mouthfuls of sweet dough.

Half of the bag had disappeared down her throat and Stella was beginning to get hot, her overeating and burning desire a less-than-cooling combination. She held up a hand to stop him and burped loudly, her mouth still full, before groaning at the growing pain in her middle.

“I can't-,” she began, then cut herself off at his stern look. “Can I finish the rest later?” she asked, eyeing the mound of donut holes still inside the bag.

Christian shook his head.

“Open,” he said simply, and Stella did as she was told, allowing him to feed her more and more as the bag began to deplete....



I hope you enjoyed! I've really loved writing this story and am obsessed with the dynamic between Stella and Christian. The story is currently 10,000+ words, but I wanna make it longer. I really appreciate you checking out this story! Thanks so much for reading!!