WARNING! There is mention of BDSM in this chapter, but this is not going to be one of those stories. I was asked the question the first time I posted this chapter and wanted to make the point clear to new readers.

Enjoy!

Chapter 9 ~ Consequences

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," Bella murmured under her breath as she paced in the small room. She had tried to sit down calmly, but that had lasted all of five minutes. How can I sit down and just wait for him to come in her to send me back to hell? She couldn't. Instead she was berating herself for trying to escape.

Why did I have to run? It is not so bad here. Why couldn't I just let things be? Bella knew the answer. She could not face being taken to Edward's bed. However, would she have run if she knew she wouldn't have to serve him in that way? He wasn't cruel, more like kind. He made sure she had enough to eat. Her new clothing was comfortable and fit well. Giving her her own room was generous of him. He almost treated her like a servant not a slave. It was clear he took his responsibility for her seriously.

He is almost admirable. The thought came out of nowhere. She didn't know why she kept having these random positive thoughts about him, but she wanted them to stop. Well they will be stopping soon since I won't be here any longer.

With that thought, she returned to thinking about what she had done. He said he would return me if I tried to run away. He's going to send me back. He is going to send me back. No more comfy, conservative clothes. No more private bathroom time. She would be back to sleeping in a dorm like room on a ratty, old mattress. She would be back in James's care.

What will he do to me? He will punish me for sure. At that moment she started to loose control. Tears flowed from her eyes, soon becoming twin waterfalls. If only he would let me stay. She wiped her tears as she sat on the daybed. Instead I'm going back to hell. I'm going to be James's toy. That was the last coherent thought she had before she lost all control.

~TS~

Like Bella's first night there, Edward could hear her crying while he sat in his office. Jasper had already left after they talked briefly. His advice was to take her back or gain her trust.

"You certainly aren't going to break her spirit, Edward. That is not like you," were his final words before going home to eat dinner with Jenny. He was through the door before Edward could say anything.

So, now Edward was trying to figure out what went wrong. If he could do that, may be he could make her trust him enough that he could keep her. Trying to escape was stupid after the warning he had given her. He had made it clear she would go back to the facility if she tried.

Then again, I am sitting here thinking about keeping her. He pulled his hand through his hair, frustrated with himself.

I do want to keep her. He decided. It was nice to have someone in the apartment with him. Having the place clean and his meals cooked was an extra bonus. The only down side was having to take her to his bed.

If only I could get around that stupid requirement. He didn't understand why it existed. Well, he didn't until he remembered how these men thought. They believed women were nothing but property and that they are only good for one thing, sex. If a woman wasn't performing that duty, they were not being used to their full earning potential. It was business. If Bella was not performing her 'duty' with someone, the business was loosing money. They most certainly were not being controlled in the most effect way either in these men's minds. Fear being the ultimate control, and rape being a women's ultimate fear.

Stupid, pompous, controlling," he stopped himself before he started to cuss. Why did Volturi have to give me this stupid promotion? It was seriously complicating his life.

I can't send her back, though. If I did Volturi would just give me another one. I will still have to force a woman in my bed. At least, he liked this one. She seemed smart enough. From her file, he knew she had been teacher before being kidnapped. He wondered if she had been an English teacher by the way he had caught her admiring his collection of classics in the living room the other day.

I will have to ask her. That is if he kept her. No, I'm keeping her. If I take her back, who knows what will happen to her. It had only been a few days, but he cared enough for the woman not to send her back to what had to be hell. I just need to figure out her punishment. I can't just let her trying to run away go. I can't have someone I can't trust in my house. I need to trust she won't run away when I leave her to go to the grocery or on a business trip.

He tried to remember punishments Jasper had given Jenny. Some of them involved corporal punishment. Edward could not and would not hit a woman in anyway. There has to be another way. He looked around his office as if something on his file cabinet or in one of the guest chairs would give him the answer he needed. His eyes stopped on one of the guest chairs. In it was a small box. It had come in the mail the day before. It was addressed from James. At the time, he was too busy to see what the jerk had sent him. He guessed it was probably perverted.

I might as well see, though. He stood from his chair to retrieve the box. Once he sat down again, he began searching for his scissors. A few motions with the scissors later, he had the box open. The contents were hidden by a piece of paper, a note. James had sent it, but apparently the gift was from Mr. Volturi.

What? He looked at the note quizzically. The note continued stating that James and Mr. Volturi thought the gift might help with Bella.

What the hell did they send me? He looked in the box. There were seven items. He did not see how he would have any use for them. Then again. Maybe I might. Slowly a plan started to form. A two-stage punishment developed in his mind. If he did it right, he might even gain her trust and see if he could still trust her.

His stomach growled making him look at the clock. It was past eight. They would have normally eaten an hour ago. He didn't want to let her out of her room until it was time to talk. I'll form my plan as I make dinner. I'll eat then let her out. We will talk as she eats. He decided before looking back at the items in the box. I have a lot to think about.

~TS~

A knock on her door woke Bella from her nap. After spending an extended period of time in a panic, she had been exhausted. She thought about ignoring the knock but remembered that she was already in very deep trouble with Edward.

Before she could pull herself up off the bed, there was another knock. "Yes, sir." Her voice was husky with sleep. She cleared her throat hoping she would sound more normal next time she opened her mouth.

"May I come in?" That was one thing about Edward; he never just came in. She had never dared to say 'no' but had asked him to wait a minute for her to become decent.

"Yes, sir." She straightened her clothes and smoothed her hair. She was rubbing the sleep from her eyes when Edward opened the door. His shoulders were slumped and his eyes tired. The situation was putting a strain on him as well.

"We need to talk. Are you hungry?" He asked.

Quickly, she glanced at the clock in her room. It was past dinnertime. "Yes, sir. What should I cook, sir?"

"I already cooked. I already ate too. Yours is waiting for you. We will talk as you eat." Opening the door wider, he silently invited her to walk past him.

She stood from the bed and led the way to kitchen. A plate of food and a glass of water were waiting for her on the bar. She sat down but did not start eating. Instead, she watched Edward walk to the other side of the bar.

"Eat." He ordered standing across of her just like he did the first morning she was there.

"Yes, sir." She said automatically as she picked up the fork sitting beside the plate. The food was simple but tasted good. At least I will have one good meal before I go back to the facility. She has stopped referring to the place as hell since that only made her panic. I have panicked enough for today.

"I need you to be honest with me, Bella." She looked up from her food to see him looking at her intently. "I can't help you if you aren't honest." There was a pause. He was waiting for her to acknowledge him.

She nodded. "I will try my best, sir.' Her confusion was apparent in her voice, so was her fear. She feared she had heard him wrong. Does he really want to help me? Is he just saying that? Will he send me back?

"I thought that we were getting along rather well. I know this situation is not…ideal, but I have tried to make it as easy as possible for both of us."

Gathering another bite on her fork, she nodded in agreement. He had done a good job making her feel comfortable and helping her feel like a person and not property.

"I was under the impression that I was providing a safe environment for you to live and work in. I have also tried to show you that you can trust me. Since you tried to run away today, I must not have been doing a good job."

She tried to open her mouth to tell him that he had succeeded that she was just stubborn and scared, but he stopped her.

"One moment. I am almost done. I know I said that I would send you back if you ran, but after some thought, I have changed my mind." He let those words sink in. He knew the moment she understood what he had said when she sighed in relief. "But I need something from you to make this work."

She nodded. Anything. I'll tell you or do anything. Right there she even decided she would sleep with him. Anything to not go back to James. The words sounded crazy and desperate to her. She was not proud of her pleadings, but she knew there was no other way to stay safe. With Edward she was safe. She was cared for. I never should have run. She thought for the hundredth time. I can survive fine here. And it is about surviving

"I need to know why you ran, Bella. I need to know why you would risk going back to the facility if you don't want to be there. Of course, that may be an assumption." He gestured with his hand toward her to let know she could talk at anytime.

After swallowing, Bella insisted that his assumption was incorrect. "Please do not think I want to be there, sir. I don't want to be what James wants me to be."

Edward nodded and silently urged her to continue.

She thought she was able to express why she ran. "I was scared, sir. I am still scared of being…of being," she left the sentence hanging.

"Of being…raped by me." Edward suggested. . He seemed of have as much trouble with the word as she did. "Is that why you ran, because you couldn't face my taking you to my bed?

Hanging her head, she nodded.

"How do you feel about it now?"

"Still scared." She looked up at him. "But I will do what you want if it means staying here. You have been kind to me. I was too focused on needed to get away to think about anything else. I should not have broken your trust. "

"No, you shouldn't have." He agreed. "Finish eating."

Looking down at her plate, she saw she was more than halfway through her meal. She started eating like he told her to wondering if their conversation was over or not. It wasn't.

"This is partially my fault." Her head shot up. "Keep eating." He motioned towards her plate. Once she obeyed, he continued. "As I was saying, I should have talked to you more about how you were feeling. What you have been through for who knows how long has not been easy. I should have expected you to be having a hard time dealing with your new life."

Bella listened carefully as Edward took some of the blame for her escape attempt. She could not believe her ears.

"As your owner, I will take the responsibility of taking care of you more seriously."

He's keeping me. He's really going to keep me.

"But I expect you to take our duties as my slave seriously as well. I cannot read minds. I need you to talk to me when you are scared or concerned so we can solve the problem. If not, you will end up running again. I cannot overlook you trying to escape for a second time. We are lucky Jasper convinced security you were not trying to escape or we would not be having this conversation. You would have been shipped to James instead."

He looked at her plate and noticed that she was done eating. He took the plate and put it in the dishwasher leaving her to think about what he just said.

Unsure what to say, Bella stayed quiet until he was done with the dishwasher. What this man was saying went against what had been hammered into her at the facility. He was not only taking blame but stating what he thought went wrong and explaining what he needed her to do. She felt compelled out of respect the do the same. "I'm the one that messed up, sir. You have been kind to me and trusted me, but I broke that trust. I assumed you were unapproachable and would completely disregard my feelings. I will try not to do that again."

Edward understood why she said 'try'. It would take a little work for both of them to trust each other. As long as they were both on the same page, trust did have hope of developing. "You understand I am going to have to punish you for running away?" He continued at her nod. "You understand that I am still going to take you to my bed, but that we will talk about how that is going to work and the reason for it later. I say later, because we have both had enough stress tonight." He saw a bit of hope leave her when he confirmed the bedroom activities would not be cancelled. He wondered if she would protest, but she did not.

"Yes, sir. I understand. Thank you, sir." She meant what she said. She was not looking forward to the talk about their having sex, but she did appreciate that he was going to take the time to talk about it. It is just more proof that he is not that bad guy.

"Then we will start your punishment once you use the bathroom. I want you to change for bed and meet me in my office." He shooed her with his hand. She quickly obeyed not wanting to ruin her second chance.

A second chance I will not get again. I can't mess this up.

~TS~

While Bella was preparing for bed, Edward prepared himself for the 1st stage of her punishment. Part of him was not comfortable with his plan, but he didn't see any other option. It was better than the alternative.

He sat down at his desk with the box from James in his lap. It was opened revealing the contents of a matching leash, wrist cuffs, and ankle cuffs done in dark raspberry leather and a black ball gag and soft blindfold. Edward was not into the BDSM scene and was not about to start and was very thankful James hadn't send him something more suggestive and more in line with the man's own personal tastes. However, he was going to use some of the items in Bella's punishment.

One by one, he placed the wrist cuffs and blindfold on the desk. The rest of the items he put in a drawer to keep them out of Bella's sight. He did not even want to think about what her response would be if she saw the leash and gag. He knew what his response was, 'not a chance'.

He was ready now. At least he thought he was ready. This is not cruel, Edward. This is an exercise in trust that you are using as a punishment. It is not like you are taking away her bathroom privileges or beating her. You are just restraining her for a while. You are not even going to leave her alone. He assured himself.

While he had a logical argument, his heart still did not agree with his head. He was about to try a different tactic of convincing himself he was doing the right thing when there was a knock on the door. He was out of time.

REPLACED 08/05/2014

I was informed that Jasper's and Alice's names weren't right in this chapter. It was fixes 8/15/2014