The Academy: Ensnared

6. Rank

After being released from the hospital early the next morning, recovering from her severe concussion was the least of Amelia's worries. She had more problems to deal with than just some fuzzy memories. She had so much more running through her injured head. And it all surrounded Erik. She had seen the hatred in his eyes when he attacked her. Yes. She used the word attack because that was exactly what it was. Sure, she provoked him. Sure, she accused him of being a drunk, but she was only stating the obvious facts. How he was still a dominant at the Academy, she had yet to discover, but she knew he was going to get off easy. She had that gut feeling, and it worried her. She knew he'd hold a grudge against her. She knew he'd look for some sort of revenge. The question was... when?

When she got back to her room during the wee hours of the night, she saw Moira fast asleep in her bed. She had forgotten that Christopher had sent her there. She was glad the little girl was safe at least. Amelia didn't want to imagine the sort of punishment the dominant would have put her through just for what Amelia had done. She was glad the girl was out of there. She stood in the doorframe and watched the girl sleep, careful not to make a single sound. She wasn't sure if Moira was a light sleeper or not. She didn't want to wake her if she was.

"C'mon, Millie," Christopher whispered in her ear. He took her hand gently and led her towards his room after shutting Amelia's own bedroom door. "Come sleep in my room... Let her get a peaceful night of sleep for once in her life."

Amelia nodded, recognizing his use of her nickname. For some reason, it made her smile. She liked the sound of it rolling off of his tongue. His voice was deep and elegant and beautiful. No. Why did her thoughts always divert back to the beauty that surrounded this man? Yes, he was a handsome devil, but she should have been more focussed on the devil portion of the phrase. He was her dominant, not her lover, not her friend. Hell, he probably didn't even care for her higher than the basis of a submissive.

A pout formed on her lips as they entered his room. He was probably going to have her sleep on the floor or something. She didn't really care. She was already in a sour mood from the direction her thoughts turned to. She immediately sat down beside his bed and began unlacing the corset that had been loosely tied back around her torso.

"What are you doing?" Chris asked, leaning against the wall. He had turned on the lights to a low setting with a dimmer switch that was next to him. He watched her in the dim light as she slowly undressed.

"I thought you preferred me to sleep in the nude, Sir," she said innocently, cocking her head to the side.

"I do, but my question is... Why are you on the floor?"

"I didn't think you'd want me in your bed, Sir," she replied.

Christopher advanced towards her and scooped her up in his arms. He lightly placed her down on his duvet and placed her hands at her sides to keep her from unlacing the corset. He sat down behind her and took the strings into his own hands. Slowly he undid the laces.

"You had me worried tonight, you know," he said softly. The morning was too quiet to break with loud speech.

"Why is that, Sir?" she asked just as softly.

"I didn't see your pewter head in that small cafe. I only saw Erik and Moira. I wasn't expecting you to be the one he was strangling. Hell, as I made my way over, I was hoping it wasn't you. I was hoping you were back here. Somewhere far away from him. Somewhere safe."

"Oh," she murmured. He was territorial over her. Of course, he wouldn't want Erik to hurt her like that. He had called her his yesterday morning. That didn't make her any more special. "Why is that, Sir?"

"I'm not just your dominant. I'm a person, too. I have emotions and feelings," he said. He paused for a moment to pull the corset from her frame. "I don't want you to get hurt. I care about your well being. Like I said, this isn't an abusive relationship... I want you to trust me, Millie."