Roses & Thorns

Chapter Fifteen: Six Months

Phil brought me upstairs and set me down on my feet while I continued to shiver. Hannah rushed behind us in confusion.

"Why did you bring her in here Phil?" I was in Donovan's room.

"I was told to bring-"

"Don't start with me. Bring her to her room, she's freezing!"

"Hannah, I can't do-"

"She's freezing!"

"Hannah." A new voice entered the room and both Hannah and Phil clamped their mouths shut. I wrapped my arms around my body, feeling a wave of cold brush past as Donovan entered.

"Can you both leave." It wasn't a question, but his tone was polite. Hannah gave me a final glance before walking out with Phil. She said something to Donovan which caused him to nod.

When they were both gone Donovan shut the door. I would do anything for a blanket or even a towel right now. My entire body was quivering and I could barely feel my lower half.

"You tried again." He cocked an eyebrow. I shook my head and attempted to respond but Donovan was already on the next statement. "Do you even care about your life?"

His words stung in that moment and despite my shivers, I could feel warm tears begin to swell up in my eyes. I gulped hard.

"You-you don't care!" I summoned the courage to say. It hurt more to hear my self saying those words rather than thinking them. It was another person in my life that didn't care but it still hurt. If he didn't care, why did he assume I would. He'd kept me for so long and expected me to stay idly by.

Donovan's stare burned through my core. I didn't know what he was thinking but I knew he was upset.

"Why do you keep running away?" His tone didn't change but something in his question caused the tears to immediately escape from my eyes. I couldn't control my emotions or the feeling of my body giving up. Even the cold couldn't distract me.

Donovan sighed in frustration then grabbed my arm tightly and pulled me to him.

"Why do you always run Rosemary?" His voice was firm and I knew he wasn't only concerned about me running. He didn't understand why I was crying and he didn't understand why I couldn't listen. I knew this because it was what I wondered every single day.

So I broke down and collapsed to my knees, covering my face with my hands. I hadn't wanted anyone here to see me in this pitiful state but Donovan triggered the worse part of my life. The part that had happened not too long ago.
• • • • • •
I laid my head down on my arms before the vanity mirror and sighed heavily. I'd wasted two hours of service each night for the past two weeks just sitting here and pondering.

Sometimes I was interrupted by some of the girls changing into leather and lace clad attire while listening to an erotic soundtrack that apparently got them in the mood. Other times I was interrupted by a Lush class girl occupying one of the rooms next door and playing on fetishes and kinks that involved loud and exaggerated vocal performances.

The loudest was Charlotte and Anthony which was probably the result of actual affectionate sex that involved the occasional vibrator.

But anything was better than confronting the Devil's spawn. The notorious gremlin that seemed to make my job more difficult. I was still in pain from my session with Greene and the whip and belt so there was no way that I wanted to be near someone who could hurt me that much.

Roth didn't care and Charlotte didn't understand because she was essentially bound to a man that adored and confided in her. We couldn't all be that lucky. She probably knew more about Lush through him than all of us put together.