Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Ursa

Zurielle goes tense beneath me, and I smile against her pussy. Really, this was too easy. That doesn’t stop me from licking my lips as I lift my head. I expected to win the bidding. Expected Alaric to show up and interrupt us.

I didn’t expect to enjoy Zurielle’s responsiveness so much.

Even now, with her eyes wide from horror and guilt, she’s still silent and holding herself open for me. She’s still obeying.

I press my hand to her lower stomach, as much to keep her in place as to feel the delightful little shakes from the orgasm she just had. Only then do I look over my shoulder at Alaric.

He stands just inside the elevator, looking every inch the Prince Charming he plays for everyone else. Gray slacks, black button-down, black hair styled in a careless sort of way that’s just shy of being rakish. And those eyes. He’s able to lie with his eyes better than anyone I’ve ever known. Right now he’s a blank slate, waiting for me to take the lead.

I love a man who knows his place.

I crook the fingers of my free hand. “Come here, lover.”

There. The tone is set. He doesn’t have to lie anymore, though I’d be a fool to trust Alaric to pursue anything but his own interests. Everyone in this town is selfish; he’s just a little more upfront about it. At least to me. The other patrons of the Underworld think he’s something else altogether.

Alaric crosses slowly, his gaze sliding over me, lingering on my mouth, and then giving Zurielle a similar treatment. She opens her mouth, no doubt to blurt some kind of explanation, and I shoot her a look. She clamps her lips shut, expression miserable. I shouldn’t be warmed by that instant obedience. I truly shouldn’t. It doesn’t matter. She’s such a delicious little subbie.

Alaric reaches us and slides his hands into his pockets. “What do we have here?”

“Darling, you’re being mean. You can stop pretending. She’s mine for the week. There’s no going back now.” I won’t allow us to go back. Just like I won’t allow him to continue the façade that he’s not an active participant in this. I allow a slow smile.

His lips quirk. “Then I suppose the cat’s out of the bag.”

“It is.” I lift my chin. “Give me a kiss.”

If Alaric were truly the nice guy he pretends to be, he’d brush a quick kiss to my mouth and make a hasty retreat. He’s not. He never was.

He cups my chin and kisses me like it’s been years since we’ve seen each other, like I wasn’t riding his cock a little over twenty-four hours ago. He licks the inside of my mouth and I know without a shadow of a doubt that he’s soaking up every bit of Zurielle’s taste he can. Wicked boy. I allow it, just like I allowed him to stand over me. Alaric kisses me with all the expertise of someone with his history. But it’s more than sheer skill. For as calculated as he is, he gets lost in it. He tempts me to do the same.

When he finally lifts his head, I’m fighting not to lean into him. I raise my brows. “Go wash the Underworld off you. You’re free now.”

Another quick kiss to my lips and he’s gone, walking away without a single look at Zurielle. I narrow my eyes. That was too cold. He can be calculated and manipulative, but Alaric has a heart beneath all that scar tissue of his past. And no one with a heart would be able to remain unaffected by the slow tears tracking down Zurielle’s cheeks right now. Even I’m not completely unencumbered by her watching her rose-tinted future slide down the drain.

The only reason to be so cold is to avoid showing his hand. His guilt.

Interesting.

I tuck the knowledge away to test out later and turn back to Zurielle. She’s even pretty when she cries. Of course she is. She’s like a living fantasy created solely to entice me to play with her. Even if she wasn’t Triton’s daughter, I’d be sorely tempted simply because of how her lower lip quivers.

Still, she obeys.

I lightly stroke her lower stomach with my nails. “You may speak.”

Her breath shudders out. “You and Alaric…”

“Mmm?” Best to let her get it out now.

“You’re together.”

“Yes. We have been for some time.” Or as together as two people can be with our respective circumstances. I can’t help adding a qualifier every time my mind skirts too closely to what together might look like now that he’s free. It’s entirely possible that he’s been using me as much as I’m using Zurielle. Only time will tell, and I’m not foolish enough to let him closer than he already is in the meantime. Or that’s what I tell myself as I look down at this woman who fancied herself in love with Alaric. I’m not nearly so naïve. Truly, I’m not.

She blinks those big eyes at me. “You tricked me.”

She may be naive, but she’s intelligent enough to connect the dots quickly. Good. Still, I’m inclined to play this out a little longer. “Did we?”

“Did you send him to Olympus for me?” She shakes her head. “Of course you did. Gods, I am so stupid.”

“That’s about enough of that.” I tap her hands where they still hold her thighs. “You were outplayed, darling. Nothing more, nothing less. Sit up.”

She sits up, still obedient even as another tear slides down her cheeks. Have I ever cried so freely as this girl does? No. Never. There is a time and place for emotions to take the forefront, but they are never, ever in front of an audience. Even if I weren’t the leader of an entire territory, I am a Black woman. Extreme emotions in front of others will never result in the outcome I need. Better to craft a face to give the world. What weakness I have is restrained to those moments alone, and even then I don’t let them escape all that often. Not when doing so will undermine everything I’ve worked so hard to accomplish.

Zurielle obviously hasn’t learned a similar lesson or she’s been protected enough not to feel the negative results. Either way, I enjoy her tears far more than I should.

She wipes angrily at her face. “I didn’t know we were playing a game.”

“Now you do.” I don’t sit back, don’t give her space. “Life is a game, darling. The faster you learn that, the better time you’ll have of things.”

She narrows her eyes. “I don’t understand you. You’re so cruel and so kind at the same time.”

“One does not negate the other.” The best cruelty lashes unexpectedly, the sweetest kindness can hurt so acutely. I’ve learned to wield them interchangeably. I like it. I lick my lips, tasting the combination of Zurielle and Alaric. With the end result all but guaranteed, I can allow myself to fully enjoy the next seven days. “I’m in a good mood, so I’ll give you a choice, little Zurielle.”

Her lip is still quivering, but she’s managed to get her tears under control. “What choice? I don’t have a choice. I’m here. It’s too late.”

I give her thigh a light smack. “Don’t be dramatic. You have your safe word, and it will be honored. Do you want to use it?”

“I should.” Her gaze skates to the doorway Alaric disappeared through, expression bleak.

I’m silent, letting her work through it. If she calls this whole thing off, it would be a bit of a wrench in my plans, but she would lose the money. More, Alaric would lose the money to pay off the remainder of his debt. She’s too soft to make that decision, not nearly angry enough. It’s only a matter of waiting for her to come to the same conclusion.

Finally, she shakes her head. “What choice?” she repeats.

“Tonight, I can fuck you.” I intentionally keep my tone light, my language crass. “Or Alaric can fuck you.”

She presses her lips together for a long moment. “And after tonight?”

“Darling, I’m going to get at that pussy until we’re sick of each other. And Alaric wants you, so I’m inclined to give you to him until he works out all that frustrated lust on your pretty little body. That’s not up for negotiation. Tonight is.”

Zurielle frowns, her brows drawing together. “Are you two…” She seems to sift through possible options to finish that sentence. “Dating?”

“We enjoy each other. We haven’t put anything resembling a label on it.” It’s as simple and complicated as that. I’m the territory leader. The person who shares my bed with regularity is granted a level of power as a result. I have to be careful because of that. And before Zurielle paid Alaric’s debt, he was effectively owned by Hades. Dating one of Hades’s people is as good as saying that I’m allowing a spy into my inner circle, and that would be unforgivably weak and foolish.

A weak and foolish territory leader is one living on borrowed time.

Zurielle doesn’t seem content with that. “But he’s here. You orchestrated this so he’d be freed.”

“Not only that.”

She shakes her head. “Not only that, but you could have found a different way to get revenge on my father. You chose this way because of Alaric.”

She’s not wrong, but I’m also not inclined to dig into my complicated relationship with that man for her benefit. “All you need to know is that we’re happy to share you between us, and we plan on doing exactly that.” Something we’ve never done before. Oh, we’ve participated in group play in a number of ways, but this is different. We aren’t in the Underworld right now. I am topping both of them. The next seven days are for fucking and enjoying ourselves. After, we’ll cut this little fish loose and figure out what comes next for us.

“I thought I loved him.” She says it so quietly, I don’t think she intends for me to hear.

Too bad. “A lot of people fall in love with Alaric. It’s a special skill of his. Don’t beat yourself up over it.”

Zurielle shakes her head. “Kind and cruel.”

“It’s a gift.” I smile, but give my next word some bite. “Choose.”

“I want him.” She closes her eyes as if the truth pains her. “I shouldn’t. I should hate him, but I can’t help wanting him still.”

I suspected as much. “Very well.” I push to my feet and offer her my hand. No matter how smart this girl is, she’s still harboring romantic notions about Alaric. Given half a chance, she’ll convince herself that he’s really a noble prince who was somehow forced into this situation, instead of a man with a habit of getting what he wants, when he wants it. Even laboring under Hades’s deal hasn’t been a hardship for Alaric, not with the power players in Carver City lining up to fuck him and play with him and spoil him. He wasn’t free, but one would have to look far and wide to find a more enjoyable cage.

Zurielle takes my hand, and I’m struck again by how delicate she is. Not just physically. A rough touch, a harsh word and she might crumple.

She’s no use to me broken.

Maybe that’s why I stroke my thumb over her wrist and tug her closer. I dislike being required to baby submissives, but she’s got a shell-shocked look on her face that bothers me. “Zurielle.”

She blinks up at me. “Yes, Mistress.”

Gods, she’s sweet. Even swaying on her feet from going round after round tonight, she’s still obeying my initial commands. I don’t think she realizes she’s doing it, either, which makes it all the more enjoyable.

I catch her throat lightly with my free hand, letting my nails prick at her sensitive skin. She instantly closes her eyes and parts her lips in a little gasp. My pussy clenches at that sound. She’s not scared. No, she likes me holding her like this as much as I like doing it. My voice comes out tighter than I intend. “For the next seven days, you belong to me. I do what pleases me, and tonight it pleases me to watch him fuck your virgin pussy. But make no mistake, it’s at my command. Do you understand?”

She swallows hard, a movement I can feel against my palm. “Yes, Mistress.”

“Good. We may begin.”