The Virgin Master (34 page)

Boredom was his worst enemy. Boredom and thinking about Evan. He had never wanted anything so much in his life as he wanted just to hear Evan’s voice or see his face. He wondered if they would let him have a picture at least. As far as he knew it was perfectly fine for slaves to love their
m
asters. He would have to ask Jeff somehow to check on that for him. He certainly didn’t want Evan in any worse trouble or make it any harder to get home.

So far the detention staff had treated him very professionally although there was one guard who looked at him with such naked lust that Jeremy found it a concern.

He was relieved to learn that it was detention center policy to always have each slave
a
ccompanied by two guards. Apparently there had been some rapes in the past.

He had no idea what time or even what day it was. His cell had no window and there was no clock within his sight line. He was only allowed the clothes he stood up in and his tools for work.

The Detention Warden had insisted that the clock and date function on his laptop be disabled. Jeremy thought he could just get the
i
nformation off the ‘net, but somehow he was blocked from getting any information about date or time. He had no idea why Detention felt it was vital he not know the time.

He had worked until there was absolutely nothing left to do until he saw Jeff again in the morning.

He mused on how to give
Jeff some message for Evan. He knew that Evan had to have his psychological evaluation sometime soon and prayed that this whole mess wouldn’t ruin his chances of improving.

He wanted to get on the internet and do some research on the Board members
, but
he was certain that all of his computer activity was closely monitored and if he did anything construed to be personal or for entertainment they could withdraw his work privilege. If he had to just sit in this cell all day and night without any distraction at all he didn’t know how long it would be before he would lose his mind. He wished he knew how closely he was being watched. He was afraid to even masturbate.
Of course that would probably violate the rules, anyway.

He
plunked down
on his bed, putting his head in his hands. He didn’t know when the hearing would be. If he just knew how much longer he had to be in here it would be easier to bear. He wondered if Sean Murrow would ever come to talk with him.

Despite every effort he made, his mind turned to Evan. He formed an image in his mind of Evan naked, asleep in their bed, all the little worry lines relaxed and invisible. The texture and smell of his skin, the taste of soap and lotion on his freshly showered body, the salty-bitter tang of pre-come along with the musky odor that always heightened whenever Jeremy touched him….
I have to stop. I can’t think about him; I’ll go fucking crazy.

But he couldn’t stop. Evan’s deep soft voice telling him how much he loved him…Jeremy yearned for that voice, remembering how he could feel it all over his body like a soft caress. He desperately wanted to look in Evan’s bright violet eyes and see himself reflected there. Balling the sheets up in his hands, Jeremy battled tears. He had no idea how he would be judged or what behavior of his might make it more difficult for Evan to get him back. He shifted his weight because, as always, thinking about Evan made him achingly hard. He really needed some kind of distraction.

As if in answer to his unspoken prayer, he heard footsteps coming down the corridor; more than one person by the sound of them.  His cell happened to be last in the line of cells on the right hand side. Once the footsteps passed the doorway of the cell adjoining his, he knew he had company. Fear throttled him. What if Frank had bribed the guard? What if the guards had decided to make some money on the side charging for access to him? He scrambled to his feet and backed up into one corner, knowing he couldn’t fight whatever might happen and trying to make his peace with that thought. Relief caused his knees to buckle when the guard announced that his
m
aster’s lawyer is here to talk to him.

The guard wouldn’t let Sean into the cage, but he did pull over a chair and the table that Jeff always used. Jeremy came to the front of the cell and
kneelt
on the floor, eyes down.

“Jeremy, I’m Sean Murrow, Evan’s lawyer. I have a note for you from him. You can’t keep it, but here…” Sean folded the paper and fed it through the mesh. Jeremy’s hands trembled when he pulled the paper out.

Jer
,

You can trust Sean with the complete truth. He knows I’m crazy in love with you---he has an “inappropriate emotional relationship” with his personal slave, too. Answer him
openly and completely. Let him see who you are. I’m counting the days until I can at least see you again. Sean got a court order to let me come and “inspect” you every thirty days until the hearing (the date hasn’t been set yet).

I can’t even tell you how much I miss you. I think you know how much I love you, but in case you don’t, when I get you back, I plan to take the rest of my life to show you.

Stay strong and healthy. This can’t last forever. Sean thinks
             
we have a good case, but he’s a little worried because we knew each other at
             
Stanford. Tell him everything you can
             
remember.

I wish I could hear your voice and see your gorgeous smile.

Love,

Ev

Jeremy saw Sean turn his head as Jeremy’s tears fell on
             
the paper. He didn’t think he could make himself give it back, but he knew the consequences of this particular note being found would rob him of any future he might still have with Evan. He swallowed hard and then looked up and met Sean’s eyes.

“Do you think they might let me have a picture?” Jeremy tried to keep his voice from wavering, but to his shame he sounded like an adolescent teen. He rolled the note up and passed it through the mesh back to Sean.

Sean saw the misery in Jeremy’s eyes and sighed. “I
don't think that's a good idea, Jeremy."

“Is it considered wrong for a slave to love his
m
aster?"

“Not usually, but I don’t think we need to raise any more questions about emotional attachment right now. I’m trying to get a hearing date set as soon as possible. Evan will be able to see you to give you a physical inspection in two weeks, if he thinks he can hold it together. He won’t be allowed to touch you or talk to you. But he can at least reassure himself that you aren’t being abused here. At least I hope that’s true?”

“There’s one guard that looks like he would do something if he could. The rest of the staff treats me like I’m an inanimate object that needs occasional dusting. Could Frank bribe some of the staff to allow him to have access? I mean, has that ever happened?”

Sean shook his head. “I have a tap on the security footage here with permission of the court. It is for my use only, so I can’t let Evan watch. I haven’t even let him know I have it, because he would drive me crazy begging to see you.” Sean smiled as he saw Jeremy’s expression lighten a little bit. “I’ve never seen him like this. Not even with Justin. But, I’m not here to play personal relationship go-between. I just found out that you knew Evan at Stanford. I need you to tell me everything you remember about that and give me the name of every single
person you can recall who knew that you ran in Evan’s social circle. Can you do that?

Jeremy nodded and launched into a carefully accurate reconstruction of how his social relationship with Evan and Justin evolved. Sean let him talk as long as he needed to, recording everything on his
datapad
. After a brief discussion about which of his old friends Jeremy still knew how to contact, Sean began asking follow-up questions.

“So
…
who knew you were in love with Evan,
back
then?"

“Nobody knew. I mean, I guess people might guess I had a thing for him, but, I mean everybody who knew him wanted
             
him.”

Sean snorted. “That has to be a little bit of an exaggeration
there, Jeremy.”

Jeremy smiled and Sean noted that he went from handsome to ungodly beautiful. “I heard about how hot Evan James was nearly from my first day at Stanford. He was a legend; an excellent teacher who had a great relationship with his equally gorgeous partner. I never saw him and even though I saw the gob smacked expressions on my friend’s faces who had him in class, I just didn’t believe it.
"

"
Then, when I had to pick a senior seminar, they filled up so fast that there was only one left with an open seat
.
Evan’s seminar section. I was curious about him. At the time, I was engaged to a beautiful, intelligent, ambitious woman I had dated for almost three years. I certainly didn’t expect to be attracted to
             
another man
;
I never had even felt the slightest stirring in that direction. When Evan walked into the seminar room, my heart stopped and I couldn’t breathe.”

Sean shook his head slowly. “I just don’t get it,
p
ersonally. I can tell the man’s attractive, but he’s not
that
hot.”

Jeremy laughed. “You’re lucky; really, really lucky, not to feel it. I never told a soul how I felt.
I’m pretty sure Evan could see it in my eyes, but he probably saw that same look everywhere. I couldn’t stay with my fiancée anymore
, but
it turned out she was cheating on me anyway. I insinuated myself into Evan and Justin’s social circle so I always got invited to the same parties and dinners. We were never alone together and he never even particularly noticed me. Sometimes, if there were just a few people
around
, I could get into a conversation with him and his inner circle. I could make him laugh. So he knew me. But we didn’t have any kind of relationship past cordial friendship. I could see how it was for him with Justin. He just
didn’t see
anybody else. I cared too much for him to even think about trying to come between them. They were way too fucking happy.”

Sean smiled. “So…there’s no one who could testify that
they ever saw you making love to Evan or kissing him?”

“No. Nothing like that ever happened between us. I’m
             
not sure we even ever shook hands.”

“I have to say that’s a relief. Of course, if Frank finds out about this early connection he might be able to suborn one of your old friends.”

“Why is he doing this to us?”

“Near as we can tell, if he forces Evan out, the stock will fall and he can buy a majority share. He’s connected to the Russian drug cartel.
I presume they’re after the government issued customs exemption. Nothing else makes much sense.”

Shocked, Jeremy gaped at Sean. “The Russian drug cartel? God, Mr. Murrow
…
they stop at nothing. Is Evan safe?”

Sean sighed. “No, he’s not. Mark and I have beefed up
             
security as much as we can. Evan hardly ever leaves the building when he’s upset, and he’s plenty upset right now. We’re doing the best that
we can. Anyway, the most important thing right now is that you understand what you need to do and what’s happening. All I need now is a date for the hearing. They are really likely to ask you to describe what you and Evan do sexually. In enormous detail.”

“Why?”

“Primarily to watch your face. To see what it makes you feel. They will ask Evan the same questions.”

“What’s the best way to play it?”
             

“Like it’s nothing to you; just another job. I think you told me once that he was easy to please?”

“Well, he is.”

“You need to make it sound like he’s kind of vanilla
;
not that you get him so hot he can’t control himself.”

Jeremy laughed. Sean shook his head slightly and Jeremy’s laugh died in his throat. He hung his head. He whispered
, “how bad did I just screw up?"