Worthless (Camren)

"I loved it.."

"I have to talk to you. Alone," Lauren whispered urgently the second Camila and Taylor moved to the kitchen to get the cheesecake out of the fridge.

They'd been at Selena's house for two hours now, but the two slave girls had been within earshot the whole time, and Lauren thought she would burst if she didn't find a way to tell Selena about the recent developments. The last few days had been awful, with Camila so subdued and distant at all times, and Lauren couldn't stand another day like this. She had no idea what to do.

Selena arched her eyebrow at her and got up without a word. Lauren watched her walk over to the open plan kitchen and wind her arms around Taylor's middle. Here, in private, they didn't act like an owner and a slave in the slightest.

"Hey, let's hold the dessert for the moment," Selena said, brushing a quick kiss to Taylor's cheek. Lauren ached at the display of intimacy. She dared to glance at Camila, who stood to the side with her eyes set down.

Taylor nuzzled her face against Selena's with a smile. "Sure. What did you have in mind?"

"Why don't you take Camila to your room? You wanted to show her that video on your computer, remember?"

If Taylor saw through the pretext, she didn't show it. "Oh, right. Thanks for reminding me," she said. She stepped out of Selena's embrace and tugged at Camila's sleeve. "Come on, you're gonna love it! And I can lend you the album I told you about."

She started towards the stairs, but Camila lagged behind, turning to Lauren with a perfectly schooled expression.

"May I—" Camila started, and Lauren nodded before she even finished.

"Of course, go on. You're here to spend time with Taylor after all."

"Thank you, Lauren."

There it was again, her name used as the synonym of Mistress. Lauren ground her teeth.

She turned to Selena as soon as she heard the door close upstairs. "I messed up."

Selena pulled her knees up on the cream-colored leather couch and turned to face her. "Yeah, I wondered what's wrong. What happened?"

The story spilled out of Lauren, from the shock of finding Camila almost naked in her bedroom to the way Camila acted around her now, not so much afraid like she was at the beginning, but wary and unsure.

Selena patted her on the shoulder. "What exactly did you tell her?"

"That I don't want her to do this? Or that she doesn't need to do this? I'm not even sure, I was in shock." She heard Selena hiss and looked up to see her wincing. "What?"

"Oh you messed up, indeed."

"I know that much! I just don't know how to fix it. I mean, what was I supposed to do? Just... use her, like her previous owners had? Because that's not even an option."

"Of course it isn't. But I bet she believes that you don't want her at all, now."

"What? Of course I do. I told her I do, time and again, I thought she believed me by now. But I don't want her for sex."

"Yeah, but remember who she was before. I don't know much about Camila's history, but Taylor had spent over three years being told that sex was the only thing she was good for. She knows better now, but it took a lot of time and it still comes up sometimes. I bet it's just like that for Camila, too: If you don't want her sexually, that means she's useless to you. SHe's probably just waiting for you to tell her you're selling her or giving her away."

"Oh god."

"And can you imagine how much courage it took for her to offer something like that? She's a slave. They're not supposed to ask for anything, or initiate anything they haven't been ordered to do. Most owners would punish a slave for stepping out of line. She put a lot of trust in you."