…Jaelle'n drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Suddenly she was painfully aware of her nakedness. The only bit of her skin that was covered lay beneath the golden bands on her wrists. As Aguilar's dark gaze slid over her from head to toe and back again, she felt it as keenly as a touch. She gulped, struggled to form the words with stiff lips and a dry tongue.
"Please, A—Master, may I have water and a bit to eat?"
"How about 'Please Master, may your humble slave have water and a bit to eat'? And it would be more effective if you were on your knees." His smile seemed canine, almost lethal.
"Damn you and damn your eyes." She said the words under her breath, but he obviously heard.
He smiled more broadly as he turned away with the tray.
She dropped to her knees, clasped her hands in supplication. "Please, Master, may your humble slave have water and a bit to eat?"
"I think she may."
He crossed the room and set the tray on the small table near the corner of the bed. Jaelle'n waited, still kneeling. He filled a cup with water from the new ewer and brought it to her. She reached, but he did not release the cup. Instead, he lifted it to her lips and tipped it, steadying her head with his other hand at the nape of her neck.
"You may have nothing that does not come from my hand, slave. Do not forget that fact. Nothing save what I choose to give you…not even life itself. One word from me and you die, either quickly or slowly, and with great pain."