Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
M ira drew me up the stairs into a huge, dingy area which was clearly used for sleeping quarters, the space full of bunks with some clothing and personal possessions strewn about. She made her way to a large chest at one side of the open space and started sifting through clothes within it.
Someone had left a pail of water there for me with a rag and I started to wash, even though there was only the faintest scent of soap in it.
I longed for the guards’ bathhouse as I cleaned my bare chest as best I could, washing the burn on my side as I gritted my jaw through the pain of disturbing the scabbed flesh.
When I was done, Mira moved to me with some clothes in her grip, holding a pair of britches up to my waist to see if they'd fit. “Hmmm,” she hummed. “Too small.”
She dropped the britches then gripped my arm, her fingers circling as she bit into her lip and tried to caress a reaction out of me.
Her body may have been appealing, her breasts nearly falling out of the cropped top she wore and her dark eyes full of the kind of lust I hadn’t indulged in for a long time.
But I wasn’t going to be distracted by some thief in a den of sin.
She could slide a knife in my back the moment I let my guard down.
“I might have something that'll fit you...” She draped her arms around my neck and I grunted as she ground her curves against me.
I gripped her hands, unlinking them and pushing her back, staring down at this tiny creature who really thought she could break the will of a royal guard.
She wasn't deterred, plucking at the straps of her top so that it almost unveiled her breasts, her nipples pressing through the material as her eyes drank me in.
“Stop,” I growled, elbowing past her to search through the piles of worn clothes. Did she really think I was going to fuck her? I was up to my neck in shit as it was. Screwing The Den leader's girl was a moronic idea, and I wasn't about to be baited into it.
“Poor blacksmith, did those royal arseholes beat you?” she purred, her breath on my back telling me she was studying the faded scars from the countless whippings I’d received in the past from Captain Marik.
I recalled kneeling on the hard ground before him in the barracks, my tunic stripped from me while the other guards stood around to watch him teach me a lesson.
Sometimes he’d bind my hands at the base of my spine too, make me feel small and defenceless, tearing away my control as well as my dignity.
I despised that more than the whipping itself.
Pain was tolerable, lack of control was not.
But that, of course, was their goal. Marik wanted us to crave control, so that when we stood on our feet in one spot for twelve hours, we took pride in our ability to remain in position without flinching.
He had forged us into men without hearts, or bladders, or cocks.
When we were on duty, we stood guard without distraction, even when the simple needs of being Fae were physically painful to endure.
Though my scars reminded me of him, they reminded me of my strength too.
They were a mark of all I’d endured, and in a way, they were what defined me now.
Without them, I didn’t know who I’d be. I wore them like armour and didn’t flinch whenever someone’s gaze fell on them.
So it was easy to ignore the girl as I continued my search for clothes, and when I found a decent pair of trousers at last, I stood upright and changed into them.
Mira's hands slipped around my waist and her fingers skimmed my waistband when I had them in place.
I caught her wrists with a grunt before she could push beneath the fabric and pushed her hands away.
She gasped, reaching up to brush her hand over the spot behind my ear and I stilled, horrified by what lay under the pads of her fingers.
My number. Two hundred and eighty-seven.
The mark I'd had branded onto my skin the day I'd earned my position as a royal guard. I remembered the scent of burning flesh, the rigidity of my spine when I’d forced myself not to flinch from the pain. I remembered Marik’s hand on my shoulder, squeezing as he claimed me as a new number among his ranks and his words in my ear, “Only death will release you from your vows. Your life is pledged to the empire.”
“Holy shit!” she cried and I wheeled around, clapping a hand over her mouth and bearing down on her as my heart jolted in panic. Fuck .
She reached for a knife at her hip, but I snatched it from her, lifting it and holding it to her belly.
“You didn't see that,” I hissed and she nodded weakly, her eyes glistening with fear.
She was so small in my grip, I could have snapped her neck as easily as a blade of straw.
I should do just that to keep this secret hidden.
But she was just a girl, and the darkness of her eyes suddenly reminded me of my sisters.
“ Shit ,” I cursed, knowing I couldn't trust her not to tell, but before I could decide what to do, the door flew open and Drake strode in.
He kicked the door shut again instantly, his eyes sweeping across my current situation.
This didn't look good. And the second I released Mira, she was going to call out for my death.
“What's going on?” Drake asked casually, folding his arms and leaning against the closest bunk as he awaited an explanation. Mira’s body was pressed to mine with the way I held her, and I didn’t like the taint of suspicion in his eyes, like he was catching us in the act.
“She saw my guard number,” I revealed and Drake released a huff of irritation.
“He's under my watch, Mira,” he said, striding forward and placing a hand on her shoulder, drawing her gaze up to his.
He gave me a nod of encouragement, but I didn't release her. I wasn't going to get out of this place alive if they discovered I was a royal guard; they’d gut me worse than the prison guards would have.
I had two options: kill both of them and make a run for it, or see if Drake could get me out of this predicament. The first was riskier, but the second required me trusting the thief.
“Mira, if you tell Egos who he is I'll tell him what you and me did a few nights ago in my bed chamber. And last week. And the week before that,” Drake said lightly, like admitting to fucking this woman was no big deal, even though he’d told me straight that she was owned by that monstrous looking man downstairs.
Drake took my wrist, but I refused to remove my hand from her mouth, seeing a scream in her eyes which I couldn’t risk her releasing.
“Let her go, mate,” he insisted but the tension in my muscles only grew. I eyed Drake, trying to place my faith in this man. Was I really going to put my life in the hands of a damn thief? Then again, hadn’t I already done that by coming this far with him?
“You're valuable, Cassius. Guard or not. Only you know where that treasure is,” Drake pressed.
Slowly, I retracted my hand from Mira's mouth and surprisingly, she didn't scream.
She looked between us, her lips pursing as her gaze halted on Drake. “You brought him here even though you know what he is?” she accused.
Drake shrugged. “He was in prison. Do you really think he's going to go running back to the palace to tell them where we are even if he did get out of here? They were torturing him in there. He had a death sentence. He's not a damn fool, are you?” He glanced at me and I shook my head firmly.
But I was a damn fool because I had come here with them. I should have run. Fuck my morality. What was my word worth if it landed me in here with these ruffians who could decide to kill me at a moment’s notice?
Mira's eyes skated over my bare chest and the wounds marring my skin. “The royal guards are notoriously rough. It’s all that pent up frustration, see?” She inched closer, a smile creeping onto her face again as she reached out to circle her fingers around my wounds.
“Maybe I'll keep quiet... if he gives me a kiss.” She turned to Drake for approval, though I was pretty sure it was my approval she needed. And she wasn't going to get it.
“Do it,” Drake said bluntly and I scowled at him.
“No,” I snarled.
“Do it or she’ll tell.” He shrugged. “Mira has a sex Affinity and she has needs. This is what will keep her quiet.”
“There is no such thing as a sex Affinity,” I refuted.
“Sure there is. I have one too. Fucking is like breathing to me, I just need to do it. And I’m damn good at it too, it’s a gift I tell you. I can make a woman come within moments of sinking my cock into her-”
“I don’t require the exaggerated details of your sex life, thief,” I ground out, my gaze flicking between the two of them as Mira licked her lips, the look in her eyes saying Drake wasn’t lying, but I still didn’t believe in sex Affinities.
I looked to Mira with acceptance washing over me.
It was that or die in this miserable cesspit.
So one heartless kiss wasn't going to do any harm.
Besides, despite my reluctance, she was pretty damn tempting.
She was all supple curves and sultry looks, the kind of woman I would have chosen for a night when my appetites demanded I let loose and drove me to the local brothel.
Though I rarely shared kisses with those women, the act too intimate for my liking.
I preferred them face down and bending to the pleasure I delivered them while I unleashed weeks of unmet needs on their flesh.
It had to be that way, a primal hunger sated, nothing more. Never more.
I leaned forward, meaning to get it over with fast as I thought of the motherfucker downstairs who would skin me for this, but she pressed a hand to my chest to stop me.
“Like you mean it,” she urged and my scowl grew.
I was too aware of Drake standing there like an intrigued puppy dog as I snatched Mira's waist and dragged her flush against me.