7. Chapter 7

Chapter seven

Then

T he sun was so bright in the sky that I had to squint my eyes against it.

“Dreadful.”

“Your highness, the food is ready.”

I turned to find one of the servants bowing, the smell of fresh bread hit my nose from behind her. My mouth was watering as I rushed to the amazing picnic underneath the shade of the oak tree they had set up for us: mother, sister and me.

Our kingdom used to be quiet and simple. We thrived, our people were happy, and the days were boring but so very peaceful.

As a girl, I used to dread the routine of it all. My father only had two daughters, meaning every day, I was being trained in something new. Something I could use to help lead the people when he was gone. I complained often about it, but now, with my father’s war on magic, I longed for those simple days again.

He was often in the war room, his advisors preaching hysteria, traveling from village to village outside the castle grounds to hang the accused. My mother sat so beautifully on the ground, picking at the greenest of grapes on her plate, savoring the juices, while women, children, and men were swinging in town squares.

Sometimes at night, I could hear them screaming.

I gripped the handful of flowers that I had picked and handed one to each of them before sitting down. Mother smiled before bringing them up to her face, inhaling deeply.

“What a thoughtful daughter I have! Lovely of you to join us.” Mother’s voice was as lovely as a lullaby. So lovely that I could listen to her talk every second of every day.

“Let me smell, Mama!” Belle looked just like our mother, voice just as lovely, but with father’s strong will. A dangerous combination.

Mother lowered the flower down to Annabelle’s face and she inhaled just as deeply as mother had and sneezed.

They laughed, and I did try to smile with them.

“Your tutor tells me you’re daydreaming more often lately,” my mother observed. “What’s wrong, my darling? Is it the arranged marriage proposal? Your father would never make a decision without your approval. And it’s not for almost an entire decade. You have time to get used to the idea. Don’t fret.”

“It’s not that,” I said, but that wasn’t entirely true. I had no interest in my suitors because my interests lied in books, travel, and…magic. Three things my father would never tolerate. “It just seems like the hangings are getting worse.” I swallowed, carefully navigating the topic. “I’ve read some of the documents on the accused. The things they are executing people for are just,” my voice dropped to a whisper, “silly. They hanged a man for witchcraft because he used a tonic of his own invention to save his newborn babe from a sickness.”

My mother’s body straightened. “You shouldn’t be sneaking into your father’s office and reading that.”

“I shouldn’t?” I challenged her. “I’m going to be queen one day, aren’t I? Is Father expecting me to travel from village to village and hang people without proper evidence? I’ve read the books on magic, Mother. It is not tonics or strange looks, or even people who behave oddly.”

Her mouth went agape. “Stay out of the forbidden rooms.”

We both heard a noise, a cough. A strange woman that seemed to appear out of nowhere stood beside my mother. Mother looked over her shoulder and sighed with relief.

“This is Circe, and starting today she will be your governess. I am certain you are in good hands, and she will help with all this daydreaming.”

“Another one already?” The last one didn’t last but a month. And the one before that had disappeared into the night after looking after me for an even shorter amount of time. I knew my mother was desperate, but I couldn’t allow this one to stay, couldn’t let them find out my secret.

The woman smiled at me and bowed. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, your highness.”

Our eyes met, and the connection did something to me. Something odd. The feeling I had before, panic and anger over my father’s choices, eased a bit. Could I trust this one? I desperately wanted to. I was tired of suffering alone.

She was older than my mother or was she? I could not place her age, but she was beautiful. Her skin was pale, but she had a glow about her, with light brown hair braided behind her back that reached to her hips. Her dark eyes were bright and kind. I got the sense she was going to be a tougher egg to crack.

“I don’t think you will rid yourself of this one so easily.”

I turned to my mother who had a knowing look on her face. A look that I couldn’t quite place.

I looked away from them both.

The governess took a seat beside me in the grass, with little grace, crossing her legs over the other. “It is an honor, your majesty.”

“Perhaps you will not think so after a few short weeks,” I muttered.

My mother scowled in response.

“I think you’ll come to find I am not so easily scared off, your highness.”

Now

“Your grace?”

I surged forward out of the bed and landed upon someone, one hand wrapped around their throat and the other lifted, ready to strike a fatal blow.

“Your grace!” Someone squealed out.

I blinked rapidly and looked down at the face under me. Callum.

I squeezed my hand, extinguishing the shadows that had encompassed it.

“I could have killed you. I was about to kill you!” I couldn’t keep the anger from my voice.

He still couldn’t talk as I was still squeezing his vocal cords too tightly. I released his throat slowly.

He sucked in a huge breath as he coughed. “It’s Emilia.”

“Where is she?” I finally took a look at him. He had deep scratches across his face, blood smeared. This episode had to be bad if this was the outcome.

“The chapel.”

I retreated, ran down the steps of the South Wing, and went through the halls so fast that they were a blur. Why was she there? Were her nightmares back? It didn’t matter, I needed to hurry before she harmed herself. If she died, then I would have failed again.

Better hurry then.

I hissed and ran faster until I burst through the chapel doors to find an ungodly scene. Emilia was standing behind the altar with a blade raised above her head. Her mouth was moving, but I couldn’t hear what she was saying.

“Emilia?” She continued as though she didn’t hear me. I hardened my voice. “Emilia.”

She paused and looked at me, cocked her head to the side, and she continued to say something that I still couldn’t hear. Her grip on the blade was so tight that I could see her hand shaking from the intensity of it.

Now that I had her attention I walked up to her tentatively, not wanting to make any sudden movements.

“Put it down.” She narrowed her eyes at me, but I said calmly, “I order you to put the blade down.”

I made it to the steps. I was almost there. I was close enough that I could hear what she was saying, but it didn’t make sense. It wasn’t a language that I understood. I didn’t think that was possible. It sounded old.

A noise behind me told me that Callum was there to help. “Oh my god. What is she—”

“Do not move, Callum! She hasn’t had one of these nightmares since she first came. I don’t want to startle her while in this state.”

I didn’t dare take my eyes off her as I walked up the stone steps until the only thing that was between us was the altar. The moment I touched the altar her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she brought the blade down, cutting deeply into her forearm while she said, “You will pay for what you did to me.”

A chill went down my spine.

The blood dropped onto the blade and then she was falling. I pushed the table aside and barely caught her as her body dropped to the floor. I cradled her head in my lap as I heard Callum running toward us.

I gently laid her down as I put my hands over her arm. Fuck. I could see to the bone. Blood ran over my hands and I ran a nail over the skin on my wrist and pressed it tightly against her lips. She drank my blood deeply, and it wasn’t long before the laceration began to repair itself until there was no evidence that there was a wound to begin with.

I bowed my head, not understanding what just happened.

“Why would she do this?” I looked up to find Callum kneeling on Emilia’s other side, his face horror-stricken. “Has she ever done something like this before?”

I nodded. “Yes. Though it was many years ago. I don’t know what could have possibly prompted this.”

Then my eyes closed as I remembered the prisoner in the tower and where he was from. I had told her earlier today who his father was.

All you ever do is cause others pain. What a sad, miserable life.

“Leave!”

I don’t know if Callum thought I was talking about him, but he didn’t move. “May I please help carry her back to her room?”

I took a deep breath, and before I could reply to him, Emilia’s eyes fluttered open. She tried to speak but then she swallowed. Her voice must have been strained from what just happened.

“Don’t speak. You’re fine.” Her eyes roved around and then widened in worry. “We are in the chapel where Callum found you, but you are safe. Everything is alright now.”

Her eyes landed on mine as she brought her hands up, What did I do?

“Nothing of significance. Just a nightmare.” She screamed out in horror at the sight of the blood on her hands. I waved my hands over them, manipulating her mind to think the blood was never there until I could get her to her bathing chamber to wipe away all evidence.

She blinked as her body started to shake.

“Callum, carry her.” He nodded and lifted her in his arms. She pressed into his body as she became so still that one might think she was a statue. I had to look away as she looked too fragile.

We reached her chambers and when I entered, it was just as organized as it was when I came in here the last time. It was the room that my cousins would stay in when they visited. It was grand. Her four-poster bed was against the wall to the left with sheer curtains draped around it. The window was open, the curtains billowing in the wind.

Despite it being the beginning of fall, the room was freezing.

Callum followed me as I flung open the bathing chamber doors and began to fill the tub with hot water. Her eyes were open as I looked back at Callum standing behind me, awaiting instructions, but she wasn’t saying anything. I wasn’t sure if she was conscious, but she was awake enough to stand on her own.

“Set her down.” He did as I instructed and left.

I felt the water to make sure it wouldn’t scald her and then lifted her nightgown over her head until she was completely nude in front of me. “Get in.”

She did as she was told and sat down, head bowed.

Without saying a word, I picked up a tonic, rubbed it in my hands, then lathered it thoroughly in her hair. I let that sit while I picked up a bar of sweet-smelling soap and rubbed it over her shoulders, down her back, and arms. I moved around the tub and lifted each leg, taking care to not scrub too high. When I had finished washing her body, I looked back into her face to find her crying. I reached out, took her face in my hands, and began slowly rubbing away the blood with my thumbs until there was not one trace of blood left.

I never knew what to do when she cried. I would rather take action and kill whoever had caused her harm, but I couldn’t do that now.

“I’m sorry.” Her voice was so soft.

I stood up to grab the towel that was on the side of the water basin and said with my back to her, “I know this happened because of what I told you earlier, but I looked through his memories, and there is nothing about what happened to you.”

I had searched through all of his memories; tore through every part of his mind because I thought there was a chance that the couple was there. I would have remembered seeing Emilia, but I didn’t.

Her eyes met mine and she nodded.

“Aren’t you going to ask about what I am going to do with him?”

She closed her eyes. I assumed it was to beg me to kill him, but I was surprised when she shook her head. “I would never ask you to explain yourself, nor do I have the right to make any requests.”

“Even for a male who is the son of the one who did this to you?”

“Even then. You would never allow anyone to survive if they were anything less than innocent.”

She was right. I would kill him if he was guilty of this crime or any other. Unfortunately for me, he was not a threat. He wished to kill me, but I saw a glimpse into the boy he was and I was certain that he wouldn’t hurt my humans.

She was also right that I didn’t owe her an explanation. I didn’t owe her anything, but I found myself telling her all the same, “I am keeping him. He is the first born son to that monster and though he is an egotistical brute of a male, I cannot in good conscience kill him as he has done nothing wrong. It wasn’t for lack of trying either. I couldn’t even find anything in his past to warrant punishment. You know my rules.” I couldn’t punish him for his father’s crimes. “His father will not come looking for him which is why I must keep him. If I sent him back, they would surely send more. This is the only way.” I sighed. “I will instruct him to not approach you.”

“You are too kind, your grace.”

I handed her the towel. “Dry off and head to bed.”

I didn’t wait for a response as I exited the bathing room to find that Callum had shut the window and started a fire for her so that she wouldn’t be cold. Good, now I didn’t have to. I kept walking out of the room and leisurely walked back to the South Wing.

What could she have meant when she said that I would pay for what I did to her? Or was she even talking to me? She was looking straight at me, but maybe she was seeing someone else. I could go into her mind and pry, but I had learned that Emilia’s memory was fragmented because of what happened to her and so I wasn’t sure what good it would do. Not when what I would witness might not even be a true memory.

I suppose it didn’t matter. She was awake, and if it were to happen again, I would handle it like I always did.

I absentmindedly ran a hand through my hair, and it was sticky. I lowered my hand in front of my face to find that there was dried blood in my hair. I stopped in front of a mirror in one of the halls and was taken aback by my appearance.

There was blood everywhere. My face was smeared with it. I didn’t even remember touching my face. My hair was matted, but the brown was so dark that you wouldn’t notice the blood in the dark.

The blood was a stark difference to my pale-brown skin. I had lost the glow I was so proud of when I was a child, something which my mother wouldn’t stop commending.

Despite the pale skin, I was striking.

I didn’t eat much which honed my features from any extra fat that I might have had and sharpened them. My brown eyes were at times so dark that they appeared black. They were hollow, dead, which was appropriate for how I felt on the inside. I finally had to look away, not caring to stare at the creature who ruined everything.

Reminiscing again, are we?

“There’s nothing to reminisce about.”

I would beg to differ. We had fun.

“ We didn’t have fun. You’re dead. Just like the rest of them.”

She clicked her tongue at me as if she were disappointed. Don’t you find it rude to speak to your governess like that?

“You are not her. You are nothing to me.”

It was silent for a moment and I thought that she was gone, but alas… You did this to yourself.

By the time Emilia had calmed down and I had taken yet another bath, I was too awake to think about attempting to go back to sleep so I went to the tower as the sky was starting to lighten.

He has a lot of fight in him, doesn’t he? Remind you of anyone?

I cocked my head to the side. “If you are insinuating that we are the same, then you couldn’t be more wrong.”

I narrowed my eyes at him as I stood over his sleeping form, still under the spell. He had his arms under his head as a makeshift pillow, his knees folded into a tight ball to stave off the chill of the air. I suppose I could have given him a blanket, but it never occurred to me as anyone who came into the tower never left.

I made a face as I took him in and heat pooled in my core. I wasn’t blind. He was one of the most handsome men that I had ever seen in my existence. And that mouth… All of the vulgar things he said about me only fueled the desire. I would need to find Callum soon.

Already wanting to fuck him?

“So would you if you could.” She laughed at that.

I looked over his injuries and found that he had a rather nasty cut along his arm—no, multiple cuts around his body. Indents in his skin where my nails dug into him. Dried blood on the back of his head where he hit it on the ground. All of these injuries were just from the fight? He was in worse condition than I thought.

I scoffed, the fool. I tried to warn him to wait until he got his strength back before he tried to fight me head-on.

I nudged him with my foot, ready to play, but it didn’t work. I allowed him to sleep for an entire day which was more than enough time. At this point, I was being generous. I knew he wasn’t dead because I could see the faint movement of his chest rising and falling.

I took a step back and continued to ogle him.

I couldn’t help but rove my eyes further down until they stopped on the appendage beneath his trousers. I could see its outline through them and had to bite my bottom lip to keep from moaning. My thoughts grew darker by the second.

I was a mess, a filthy mess. I’d just tortured him, and now wanted to undress him to get a better look. Could I handle another plaything? He was stronger–willed than Callum. He’d be a problem.

I’d have to break him.

“What to do with you first?” I pondered.

I hadn’t thought further than making the choice that he had to stay. I couldn’t give him the same allowances as the others. He wasn’t necessarily my prisoner, but he wasn’t exactly free to choose to leave.

Such a conundrum.

I kneeled on the ground and slapped his cheek hard enough to sting.

I chuckled as he was startled awake. “So, have you given up then?”

He narrowed his eyes. “I gave my word that if you won then you could do whatever you want with me. I am nothing without my word.”

He shuffled around, and reached for something near him when he thought that his words had distracted me enough.

“So, that isn’t a weapon clenched in your left hand just waiting for me to let my guard down?” I asked while pointing to the hand closest to the window.

He tightened his hold. “I can’t be too careful around you. I don’t trust you.”

“Neither do I. Lucky for you, you don’t have to trust me as you are my new pet, and I quote, ‘you can do whatever you want with me.’ And believe me, the possibilities are running rampant through my mind.” I lowered my voice as I took a step toward him. “Let’s test it.”

“Test what?”

“If you can do what you’re told, like a good boy. Take off your clothes.” I licked my lips and found him following the movement.

He did as he was told and lifted up his shirt until it was no longer tucked in. He grabbed the hem and pulled it up and over his head, dropping it to the floor. I looked down at his trousers, and I could see him begin to snarl, but he did as he was told.

I rubbed my legs together and could feel my breath shortening. I wondered if he felt the same way. I turned around and exaggerated my hips as I walked to my chair. I looked over my shoulder enough to see that he was breathing rather heavily, looking me up and down. With a smile, I sat down.

“On your hands and knees.” We stared at each other, but he still didn’t move. “If you won’t listen to simple instructions then—”

Without another word, he got on his hands and knees without taking his eyes away from mine.

“Crawl to me.” He gritted his teeth together so dramatically that it was a wonder that he didn’t chip a tooth.

He crawled. One hand and foot in front of the other. His hips swayed as he moved, muscles shifting under his weight. He crawled until he was directly in front of me. I reached down next to the chair where I had set a collar down and fastened it around his neck, which was connected to a leather rope. His eyes widened, and he tried to back away from me when I grabbed the leash and pulled him back to me until our mouths were almost touching.

“Bark.”

He growled. “Fuck you.” I leaned forward and bit his lip hard. He hissed. “Do your worst, girl,” wincing from the pain as blood appeared.

I licked my lips and swallowed his metallic blood.

“Girl? You clearly don’t know who you’re talking to.”

“Enlighten me, because I think that I am looking at someone completely out of their mind.”

I smiled at him. “I lost it years ago.” He snapped his mouth shut, not knowing how to respond. “Well, since you are going to be here for the foreseeable future, I think introductions are in order.”

“You first.”

“That mouth of yours is going to get you into trouble, more than you already are. I could find other things for you to do with that mouth,” I said seductively, “but I will humor you just this once. I am the stuff of nightmares. The story parents tell their children to make them behave. You may call me ‘Your grace’.”

“Your grace?”

“Yes, I am the queen, after all. It only makes sense,” I said coyly.

“Queen? There has not been a queen here in centuries. What’s your name?”

“You don’t need to know that, as you won’t be using it. Your grace… Your majesty… Mistress… Lover… ” I smirked. “Any of those will do. Now, what is your name?”

“If you won’t give yours then there is no reason to give mine.”

I scoffed and looked away; the nerve of this human was insurmountable. “You are just begging to be punished, aren’t you?”

Before he could move, I spun us around and pushed him back into my chair as I used my shadows to secure ropes around his wrists, legs, and stomach.

He pulled at his restraints, testing them, but every time he pulled, they tightened.

“I wouldn’t do that. You’ll cut off your circulation and I am not done playing with you yet.”

I sauntered around him slowly and stopped at the side of the chair, calling forth my power, and reached into the shadows and extracted a knife from the kitchen. He eyed me warily. I grazed the tip of the blade across his bare stomach, down the material of his undergarments, and over his thigh, causing it to get dangerously close to his most sensitive area. He hissed and stared at me with pure disgust in those moss-green eyes, but maybe with a hint of something else. His cock hardened even more under the pressure of the blade which only confirmed my suspicions.

Did I have a masochist in my grasp?

“If I didn’t know any better, I would assume that you enjoyed the feel of the steel against your skin.”

He jerked his leg from what I can only assume was the bite of the cold blade, but didn’t say another word, just continued staring at me as if he were challenging me to truly do my worst.

“I will give you one last chance. Tell me your name.”

His eyes dropped to his lap, and said in a tone full of disdain, “Never.”

I walked around until I stood in front of him.

“I may look young to you, but I promise that I have more experience than anyone you have ever met. So, I know a couple of ways to get the answer out of you.” Something came over me and all I wanted to do was feel the strength of his thighs under me again, his cock growing for me. I situated myself on him again. “Do you like the feel of my pussy on you, hunter?”

I wiggled my hips in slow, precise movements. Leaned my head back, moaning out loud.

I leaned forward and whispered in his ear, “Do you have any complaints?” And bit his earlobe causing him to buck into me. I gasped when I felt his massive erection hitting my entrance, the material causing a delicious friction.

I laughed and leaned back. I ran my hands through the hair on his chest; he did not disappoint. His father may have wanted him to become head of the household, but this man wasn’t made for such a sedentary life.

He tensed when I licked up his neck and whispered, my hot breath against his ear, “What is your name?”

He leaned forward, as far as the restraints would allow, and said, “You can call me anything you want, harlot.”

His anger was so palpable that I could taste it.

Two could play this game.

He was getting on my last nerve. I reached down and stuffed my hand in his undergarments, grabbed his balls, and lightly squeezed.

Speaking against his neck, my nose brushing under his ear, I said, “I don’t think you are grasping the position you’re in. You are mine to do with as I please. I decide your future… You can live here peacefully like the others, or you can be stubborn, and I will leave you locked up here permanently and play with you whenever I want. So, let’s try. One. Last. Time.” Squeezing even harder, emphasizing the words. “What. Is. Your. Name?”

His breathing had shortened, and he kept swallowing hard. He still had not uttered a single word. After a few seconds, I pulled, causing him to groan, arching his back, his bare chest pressed against mine. I would be lying if I said his reactions weren’t making me feel a certain way.

I needed more, needed to see if I could feel anything else. I withdrew my hand a moment and saw surprise enter his features until I licked my hand and grabbed onto his cock, firmly stroking his cock agonizingly slowly. He shut his eyes and angled his head back, exposing his neck to me.

He was enjoying this and surprisingly, so was I. He was determined to not say anything, but I would get it out of him one way or another. I leaned forward and ran my nose along his neck, causing him to stiffen even more and hold his breath. And then I licked the ball at his throat.

“What is your name?” I nibbled along his jaw.

He tried to suppress another moan, but he couldn’t. He had grown even bigger. I could feel it pressing even harder against me. I surprised myself when I started to move back and forth with the motion of my hands on him as if he were fucking me.

“Bastian Corleone,” he breathed out the words.

The moment his answer left his lips, I stood up, leaving him wanting more. He would never admit it, but his body didn’t lie. He wanted me even if I did have him tied up in my tower.

He licked his dry lips and looked at me with hooded eyes. The mere possibility of sex could drive sane men to insanity, and I wanted to know exactly how far I could push him until he broke.

His eyes roamed my body. I had chosen to wear a floor-length satin gown with a plunging neckline that hugged my curves—revealing and easily discardable. Something I was sure the women of his time did not do.

I shrugged it off until I was completely naked in front of him. I wasn’t shy and would often walk around the grounds in the nude, loving the way it allowed me a little piece of freedom. I also wasn’t naive enough not to see the way my body made men react and would use it to my advantage when necessary.

I despised the way women were always made to feel bad about having a body that made men weak in the knees or women sick with envy.

In my opinion, women should use the assets that the gods gave them.

Mmmm… Bastian…

His eyes were heavy with lust. I knew what he was thinking, but I wouldn’t give him the release his body so desperately needed. He needed to learn his place and know when to shut that big mouth of his.

“Watch and learn.”

I called Callum.

“Yes, your grace?”

He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw me naked in front of the prisoner. He kept his eyes on the stranger, and Bastian’s eyes were on him. I knew he was confused, but not for long.

I walked over to another chair, brought it closer to Bastian, and sat down on the edge. The look on his face as I spread my legs open, allowing him to see all of me, was exhilarating, a mix of arousal, disbelief, and shock. I lifted one knee up, licked my fingers tasting him on me, and rubbed them up and down my pussy.

I looked at Callum and said, “Show our prisoner how to properly treat a queen.”

He looked over to Bastian and then back at me, smiling, and knelt in front of me. With one more look at my face, waiting for approval, I nodded.

He wrapped his arms under my legs, pulled me closer to him, and started playing with my clit with his tongue. He pulled away and sucked on two fingers before inserting them inside. He resumed his position of playing with my clit with his tongue.

My eyes never left Bastian as I started moaning, one hand gripping Callum’s hair, pushing him further into me, and the other holding onto the top of the chair, back arched. Callum and I had never had an audience and it was revolutionary. I wondered how long it would take for Bastian to give in to his desires and take me as well. To have Callum watch us. I closed my eyes and imagined Bastian’s head between my thighs. I pinched my nipples and imagined Callum sucking them, biting them.

How hard would I need to work to convince Bastian to join us?

I opened my eyes and met his heated ones. Maybe I wouldn’t have to try so hard, I smiled to myself. Callum curled his fingers and hit that spot in my inner walls that always had my legs shaking, squeezing his head with my thighs. I was panting as I called out Callum’s name and reached my climax. I was so sensitive while Callum cleaned me with his tongue, causing me to groan a little more.

Once he was finished, I stood up and walked over to Bastian, leaning forward and running my hands from his knees to his hips. His cock twitched, begging to be touched. I knew that he was in pain from being worked up with no release and he would not be getting one tonight.

“Let this serve as a lesson to do as you are told. I don’t enjoy asking twice.” I turned away and left, not even bothering to put my clothes back on, with Callum in tow.

I left him strapped to the chair, not wanting him to touch himself, and smiled as I heard him yelling a string of harsh words directed toward me.

I returned to my room to bathe when Callum rushed in front of me to start my bath. I knew he was dying to know what that was all about, and I didn’t really know myself. I hadn’t meant for it to go that far, but it was as if I wasn’t in control of my body. I could attribute it to being in the heat of the moment, but when we looked into each others’ eyes, it was as if my body simply reacted.

I didn’t care what to call it, all I knew was that for the first time in years, I felt…excited.

And what the queen wants, the queen gets.

I could feel Callum staring at me.

“Go on, little bird. Ask me.”

Looking me up and down with hunger in his eyes, this man would never be satiated, and neither could I; we were a perfect fit.

“I do not have any right to ask you to explain yourself. I am yours to do with as you please. And that includes fucking you where ever and in front of whomever you wish.” He moved to stand right in front of me. “I belong to you.”

I reached out to touch his face, and he leaned his head into my hand. “You would do anything for me, wouldn’t you?”

He reached out to me, wrapping his arms around my body, hands roaming over my heated skin. He pressed his hips into me to show me just how ready he still was for me.

“I would lay down my life for you. You are my salvation. There is nothing I would not do for you.”

He dragged his hands back up my body and caressed my face. There was that look in his eyes. A look that proved that his words were true.

He swallowed as his eyes looked down at my mouth. He then slightly leaned in but stopped at remembering the rules. He was never to kiss me. It was too intimate, and made me too vulnerable. I would never again be weak.

I gave him a short nod, staring at him for another moment before walking past him and into the bath.