No, it shouldn't matter what they did to her? Or no, it didn't help to know the Ciracos were no longer a concern? Maybe no to both, Connor considered, rinsing the shampoo suds out of her hair to slide down her slim shoulders. Shoulders that seemed to straighten the longer she had to wash away the recent past.
Piper.
Piper, who didn't seem afraid...of him.
Piper, who had strength yet, if only flickering glimpses peered through those sage-rimmed pupils.
Ah, but it seemed that questions were sated, none further arising after his rundown of the staff. Connor carried her slowly back to the bed, sitting her up so her legs hung over the side. Was she thinking? Fretting? Considering her new circumstance? Or had his attempt to fill the silence result in her name, but crush her curiosity?
Connor's lips parted to ask, but as he inhaled a breath of apple a strong, clear request came from the girl draped in over-indulgently fluffy lilac. "Good," he said instead, gripping the ends of the towel together over her chest with one hand, smoothing damp tendrils of flame around her head with the other. "That's very good." Because though her curiosity hadn't led to more questions, she was nonetheless not afraid to make such requests. Not refusing food, not curling away from him, not huddling in a ball and wordlessly waiting for things to happen around her. Maybe she hadn't been down there too long, seen anything close to the worst of his father's men.
Maybe it was just a facet of his mysterious Piper, a woman strong as well as curious.
A certainty struck him then, and he felt something akin to pride well in his chest. Because her lack of reticence meant one thing: There was hope.
"I'll order something up." Connor leaned down, pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, then murmured, "Won't take long. Rest, sweetling--ah...my...Piper."
He strode to the wall by the door and slid off a loafer with one hand even as he pressed a code into the intercom.
"Yes, Master Connor~" a male voice answered with a trill.
"Ransom." Connor started in surprise, shoe in hand. Hadn't Josie been on call? "Can you have Lilly--"
"Oh, of course! She's already prepared a tray," came the pre-emptive reply. Ransom's coquettish tone changed to something more serious. "Thought you might be piqued after meeting with your father so late."
"Not for me--"
"Of course for you, Master! The lovely you brought home isn't the only one who needs to eat to keep her strength up, non? We'll be up soooon~"
The intercom light flicked off and Connor stared at it for a moment. In his own round-about way, Ransom had meant a meal for two was on its way. But...
We'll?
Alarm flickered across his face and Connor dropped the shoe, scrubbing his hands over his cheeks. Oh, hell. Not tonight. Do they not realize this is a delicate situation? That Piper is unlike their usual Master's suite tenant? That tonight is not the night I'll be making introductions? Tomorrow, he'd take them to task for behaving so unprofessionally in front of a new guest. Not that he'd ever expected them to be anything but themselves before with his one-night stands, his other long-term pets. But though Piper would be their mistress, she wasn't yet in a condition to deal with that kind of energy. Damn it, just mentioning the men and women who made up this strange adopted family of his had made her go quiet.
Meeting the zoo will only serve to make her draw into herself. Won't it?
He glanced back toward the woman he'd rescued and felt a middling sensation of frustrated angst. Turning to the wall, he inhaled, resisted the urge to punch the elegant molding. He didn't know. He didn't know a fucking thing. Just this once, Connor felt the urge to appear as though he were in utter control of the men and women under his roof. Some control, somewhere, instead of feeling adrift and blindly mapping something uncharted, thanks to the loss of this round to his father. A round with his security team certainly wouldn't be remiss, but letting off steam could not be his first priority.
He slid off his other shoe, then his socks as he strived for order amid the disorder of his thoughts. Curling, uncurling, and curling his toes once more into the thick, tan carpet. It was enough that he trusted those in his employ with his life. With hers. No matter how nosy they took it upon themselves to be. A sigh fought for release. He swallowed it.
Just something to cover up with...
Her request was so soft, in that disused voice of hers that gained clarity with each tinkling word, that he almost missed it, buried in moody introspection by the intercom. Another good sign, and a wish he desperately wanted to fill, because he definitely didn't need the staff to see her like this. One pass, one stairwell, a blanket as a shroud--that was enough for today.
"I would love to provide those things tonight. But," and he turned to her, a wealth of regret in his tone, "your closet is empty." A stark reminder that she hadn't moved in on her own. Another failure on his part, for not sending anyone to at least stock up on a variety of sizes in even basic things. "We can send for the tailor in the morning. Or. And." Connor curled his toes into the carpet again, feeling selfish in even considering the pleasing alternative that would press his scent close to her skin. "For tonight, perhaps something of mine will do?"
Piper.
Piper, who didn't seem afraid...of him.
Piper, who had strength yet, if only flickering glimpses peered through those sage-rimmed pupils.
Ah, but it seemed that questions were sated, none further arising after his rundown of the staff. Connor carried her slowly back to the bed, sitting her up so her legs hung over the side. Was she thinking? Fretting? Considering her new circumstance? Or had his attempt to fill the silence result in her name, but crush her curiosity?
Connor's lips parted to ask, but as he inhaled a breath of apple a strong, clear request came from the girl draped in over-indulgently fluffy lilac. "Good," he said instead, gripping the ends of the towel together over her chest with one hand, smoothing damp tendrils of flame around her head with the other. "That's very good." Because though her curiosity hadn't led to more questions, she was nonetheless not afraid to make such requests. Not refusing food, not curling away from him, not huddling in a ball and wordlessly waiting for things to happen around her. Maybe she hadn't been down there too long, seen anything close to the worst of his father's men.
Maybe it was just a facet of his mysterious Piper, a woman strong as well as curious.
A certainty struck him then, and he felt something akin to pride well in his chest. Because her lack of reticence meant one thing: There was hope.
"I'll order something up." Connor leaned down, pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, then murmured, "Won't take long. Rest, sweetling--ah...my...Piper."
He strode to the wall by the door and slid off a loafer with one hand even as he pressed a code into the intercom.
"Yes, Master Connor~" a male voice answered with a trill.
"Ransom." Connor started in surprise, shoe in hand. Hadn't Josie been on call? "Can you have Lilly--"
"Oh, of course! She's already prepared a tray," came the pre-emptive reply. Ransom's coquettish tone changed to something more serious. "Thought you might be piqued after meeting with your father so late."
"Not for me--"
"Of course for you, Master! The lovely you brought home isn't the only one who needs to eat to keep her strength up, non? We'll be up soooon~"
The intercom light flicked off and Connor stared at it for a moment. In his own round-about way, Ransom had meant a meal for two was on its way. But...
We'll?
Alarm flickered across his face and Connor dropped the shoe, scrubbing his hands over his cheeks. Oh, hell. Not tonight. Do they not realize this is a delicate situation? That Piper is unlike their usual Master's suite tenant? That tonight is not the night I'll be making introductions? Tomorrow, he'd take them to task for behaving so unprofessionally in front of a new guest. Not that he'd ever expected them to be anything but themselves before with his one-night stands, his other long-term pets. But though Piper would be their mistress, she wasn't yet in a condition to deal with that kind of energy. Damn it, just mentioning the men and women who made up this strange adopted family of his had made her go quiet.
Meeting the zoo will only serve to make her draw into herself. Won't it?
He glanced back toward the woman he'd rescued and felt a middling sensation of frustrated angst. Turning to the wall, he inhaled, resisted the urge to punch the elegant molding. He didn't know. He didn't know a fucking thing. Just this once, Connor felt the urge to appear as though he were in utter control of the men and women under his roof. Some control, somewhere, instead of feeling adrift and blindly mapping something uncharted, thanks to the loss of this round to his father. A round with his security team certainly wouldn't be remiss, but letting off steam could not be his first priority.
He slid off his other shoe, then his socks as he strived for order amid the disorder of his thoughts. Curling, uncurling, and curling his toes once more into the thick, tan carpet. It was enough that he trusted those in his employ with his life. With hers. No matter how nosy they took it upon themselves to be. A sigh fought for release. He swallowed it.
Just something to cover up with...
Her request was so soft, in that disused voice of hers that gained clarity with each tinkling word, that he almost missed it, buried in moody introspection by the intercom. Another good sign, and a wish he desperately wanted to fill, because he definitely didn't need the staff to see her like this. One pass, one stairwell, a blanket as a shroud--that was enough for today.
"I would love to provide those things tonight. But," and he turned to her, a wealth of regret in his tone, "your closet is empty." A stark reminder that she hadn't moved in on her own. Another failure on his part, for not sending anyone to at least stock up on a variety of sizes in even basic things. "We can send for the tailor in the morning. Or. And." Connor curled his toes into the carpet again, feeling selfish in even considering the pleasing alternative that would press his scent close to her skin. "For tonight, perhaps something of mine will do?"
Dreams come in a size too big so we can grow into them.
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