Chapter 3 Summoned

Ivy

The knock came after dark.

"Mr. Thorne requires you downstairs."

I followed the woman through the quiet hallways. Every step felt heavier than the last. I already knew this summons would not be simple. Nothing in this house was.

The study door stood open. Elias waited by the windows with a glass of amber liquid in his hand. He turned as I entered, eyes moving over me in a slow, measuring pass.

"Close the door."

I did.

"Remove the dress."

There was no room for hesitation. I reached back, drew the zipper down, and let the black fabric slide from my shoulders to the floor. The cool air of the study touched my bare skin. Elias looked at me for a long moment, not with heat, but with the same clinical attention he had shown since the night he bought me.

"Kneel."

I dropped to my knees on the hard floor. The surface bit into my skin. He walked closer until he stood directly above me, one hand resting loosely at his side.

"New rules," he said. His voice was calm, almost bored. "When you enter a room and I am present, you wait for instruction before speaking or moving closer. If I am seated, you kneel until told otherwise. If I am standing, you remain still until I decide what to do with you. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

He reached down and took my chin between his fingers, tilting my face upward. The hold was firm, not painful, but absolute. A clear reminder of how easily he could direct even the smallest movement of my body.

"You signed away more than your time, Ivy. You signed away the right to decide how you are used. I will take what I want when I want it. Tonight I want your mouth."

He released my chin and stepped back just far enough to unfasten his belt. The movements were calm and unhurried. There was no urgency in him, no loss of control. Only the same detached certainty he had carried since the moment he walked into the bar. He freed himself and looked down at me.

"Open."

I obeyed.

He guided himself into my mouth with one hand resting lightly at the back of my head, not forcing, simply positioning. The control was complete. He set the pace - shallow at first, then deeper - watching my face the entire time. I kept my eyes lowered until his voice cut through the quiet.

"Look at me while I use you."

I raised my gaze. His expression remained unreadable, almost thoughtful, as if he were testing the fit of a new possession rather than taking pleasure. The minutes stretched. My jaw began to ache. Tears gathered at the corners of my eyes from the pressure, but I did not pull away. There was nowhere to go, and both of us knew it.

When he finished, it was with the same controlled stillness he brought to everything else. He held me in place a second longer, then withdrew and restored his clothing as if the last several minutes had been nothing more than a minor interruption in his evening.

"Swallow."

I did. The taste lingered.

He turned away, picked up his glass again, and took a slow sip before speaking.

"You may stand. Put the dress back on."

I rose on slightly unsteady legs and stepped into the dress, pulling the zipper up myself. My hands only stayed steady through force of will. Elias watched the process without comment, then gestured toward the chair near the window.

"Sit. We are not finished."

I sat. He remained leaning against the desk, glass in hand, studying me over the rim.

"You will spend tomorrow in this room again. Same rules. Same stillness. In the evening I will decide whether you have earned the right to eat at the table or whether you will take your meal on your knees. Obedience is the only currency you have left. Spend it carefully."

He finished the drink and set the empty glass aside.

"Return to your room. You will stay there until morning. Do not leave for any reason. If you need something, you will wait until you are summoned."

I stood and walked toward the door. His voice stopped me just as my hand touched the handle.

"Ivy."

I looked back.

"You are already changing. I can see it. The defiance is still there, but it is quieter than it was last night. Keep going in that direction. It will make the year easier for both of us."

He turned toward the windows again, dismissing me with the angle of his shoulders.

I left the study and climbed the stairs in silence. The bedroom felt smaller when I closed the door behind me. I sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the dark glass of the window.

My body still carried the memory of his control. My mouth still held the taste of him. Nothing about the encounter had been soft or shared. It had been a claim, executed with the same precision he brought to contracts and numbers. I was no longer simply living in his house. I was being shaped by it , hour by hour, order by order.

I lay down fully clothed and turned my face toward the wall. Sleep would come eventually, but it would not be restful. Somewhere in the house Elias continued his evening as if nothing of importance had occurred. To him, perhaps it had not. To me, another piece of the person I had been was already gone, left on the floor of the study alongside the dress he had told me to remove.

Three hundred and sixty-three days remained.

I closed my eyes and tried not to count them.