Free To Disappear by Natasha Rostova Page A

moist salmon to his lips, closing his eyes with pleasure. ‘Delicious. We must provide our cook with a raise, don’t you agree?’
    ‘It would be well deserved,’ Kruin agreed.
    ‘And we always provide that which is well deserved,’ Preston said, amusement lighting his blue eyes as his gaze swept to Lydia. ‘As you are beginning to learn, my dear Lydia.’
    ‘I believe she had not yet learned proper docility,’ Kruin said. ‘She is still far too resisting.’
    ‘She’s like a wild horse,’ Preston replied. ‘As I told you, it will require more effort to bring her under control. And yet you may rest assured that the result will be well worth it.’
    Lydia did not like being compared to a horse, but she bit her tongue and kept her gaze fixed on her plate. She broke open one of the little potatoes, which issued a plume of steam scented with butter and rosemary.
    ‘She is learning well,’ Gabriel said. ‘And remember that her life has altered irrevocably. She needs to get used to that.’
    Lydia shot him a quick smile of thanks. She regretted the impulsive gesture the instant she saw Preston’s eyes harden into chips of ice. His mouth turned downward as he lifted his wineglass and took a sip. His lips left a greasy imprint on the crystal.
    ‘And so she will,’ he said smoothly. ‘As a matter of fact, she and I were discussing earlier just how different her life has become. She used to be quite in control of her sexuality. Didn’t you, Lydia?’
    God, not again, she thought. She didn’t want to have to relive all her youthful indiscretions, the dim movie theaters where she and her boyfriends had awkwardly kissed and felt each other, the vinyl smell of their old cars where she had stripped out of her bra and panties so they could fumble in their excitement to touch her.
    Her cheeks burned at the notion that she had told Preston some of her secrets. In some dark recess of her mind, she knew that he would force her to evoke even more intimate details of her past.
    ‘You wouldn’t know it by looking at her, but Lydia used to jerk off young men in the back row of movie theaters,’ Preston informed Kruin and Gabriel with evident enjoyment. ‘Moreover, she let them diddle her pussy. Can you imagine such vulgar behavior from our noble Lydia?’
    Lydia felt both Gabriel and Kruin look at her. She didn’t know what they wanted her to say. She bit into a slice of potato, the mealy, herbed flavor melting over her tongue.
    ‘I suppose their fingers met with a good bit of cream,’ Preston continued. ‘Don’t you think?’
    ‘If she was as easily aroused then as she is now,’ Kruin said. ‘Then yes.’
    ‘What I wouldn’t have given at that age to have done what those boys did,’ Gabriel muttered.
    Preston smiled. ‘She does have a sensual nature, doesn’t she? I’m quite eager to discover just how lewd and debauched she can be. I suspect our recent liaisons have only been the beginning of Lydia’s depravity.’
    Lydia’s fork dropped onto her plate with a clatter. Unable to help herself, she gave Preston a glare.
    ‘I’m right here,’ she said coolly. ‘There’s no need to talk as if I’m not in the room.’
    Kruin’s mouth hardened with anger at Lydia’s remark. Gabriel gave her a censorious look, but Preston only continued to smile.
    ‘Is that so, Lydia?’ Kruin said, his voice icy. ‘I would remind you that we can speak as we choose. You have no say in the matter. None. Is that clear?’
    Lydia faltered underneath the simmering anger in his eyes. She looked down at her plate, spearing her fork into the salmon as a hard sense of insubordination rose inside her.
    She used to be a woman who gave orders, not followed them, one who demanded that people treat her with the utmost courtesy and respect. She used to be in charge of a staff of fifty people, all of whom answered to her harsh criticism if they failed in their work. She was not the kind of woman who allowed men to speak crudely of