FrankenDom by Robin L. Rotham Read Free Book Online Page A

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     moment, and the only thing I was likely to find on an unauthorized foray into the
     castle was more trouble. My inner good girl, whom I tended to heed religiously, told
     me to stay in my room—I’d been grounded in no uncertain terms and she didn’t want
     to discover the consequences of violating that order any more than I did.
    But my inner bad girl, who’d been ruthlessly locked down for way too long, was wildly
     curious and anxious to push the envelope.
    The envelope is fine where it is!
    Maybe Lili left the door open for a reason. Go for it!
    If she did, it’s probably a test that I don’t want to fail.
    Come on, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
    Nothing ventured, nothing punished!
    Nothing punished, nothing learned. Do you want to live in the dark forever, Rachel?
    Well that settled it. Something had clicked in my head when I read that slave contract
     Julian called a personal conduct agreement, something like a light switch being thrown,
     only the thing that lit up was me. Suddenly I felt like I had years ago whenever Julian’s
     stern gaze focused on me, a feeling I’d feared I might never experience again—breathless,
     panicky and poised to flee, but vibrantly, achingly alive.
    Was this a test Julian had set up for me? I didn’t know and I was terrified of getting
     caught, but I couldn’t not test the limits. I needed to know how this kind of relationship really worked and
     if I was strong enough to deal with it.
    My gurgling stomach reminded me of the meal awaiting me on the cart, and I gazed at
     it longingly for a moment before steeling myself to go hungry a little longer. Lili
     might be back to lock the door any minute—I had to seize this chance while it was
     available.
    Taking a deep breath, I slipped into the dim corridor, leaving my door slightly ajar
     in case I needed to beat a hasty retreat. Adrenaline made my hands shake and my heart
     pound in my throat. Where in the hell was I going? To my right, seemingly an eternity
     away, was the tower with the elevator I’d come up in. Across from my room was a closed
     door. To my left, two more closed doors on the same side as mine before the corridor
     made an abrupt right turn I couldn’t see around. What was down there?
    Decision made, I alternately crept and made panicked leaps down the corridor, flattening
     myself inside door frames when I heard any sort of noise—as if my protruding boobs
     wouldn’t give me away.
    Or my noisy stomach. I gave it a reproving pat and whispered, “Hush, you.”
    From my vantage point in the final door frame on the left, I craned my neck to peer
     down the adjoining corridor but saw nothing. I heard something, though—several somethings
     that sent ice water trickling down my spine.
    I listened as if my life depended on it.
    Which it very well might, if what I heard was any indication—guttural male cries,
     low-pitched chuckles, and the murmur of male voices. They were all muted by an electronic
     hum that made the door under my right hand vibrate slightly. And there was a persistent
     crackling and snapping that sounded like radio static.
    Or something more sinister.
    Every muscle in my body tensed for flight. It took a several deep breaths and a searing
     lecture on the evils of cowardice from my inner bad girl before I was calm enough
     to forge ahead.
    Another glance back the way I’d come and then I darted onto uncharted carpet. It was
     a relatively short corridor with only two doors, one on my left, which I flattened
     myself into right away, and one in the terminal wall.
    Terminal. I swallowed hard at the irony. Unlike all the other doors, which were traditional
     six-panel models painted pristine white, this one was round on top, made of lightly
     stained wood planks and held together by heavy black hardware—two flat metal pieces
     that formed a reinforcing X were riveted to the door just below the curve, and two
     more pieces anchored it across the top and bottom. The handle was