Chapter Ten
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Henri
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THE SUN TRIED TO BLIND through shut eyelids.
Its heat threatening to burn me, its ever-constant presence both condemning and soothing at the same time. The musical splashing of the waterfall cascading down river rocks and into man-made rockpools serenaded the blissful afternoon.
I’d found heaven.
And for the first time in my life...I’m happy.
My fingers tightened around the leather leash I’d held ever since I’d snapped it onto Ily’s collar and guided her from my room. The sun lounger I’d claimed smelled faintly of coconut lotion from previous pool goers, and the lazy lap of water on its pebble-lined shore matched the waterfall’s song.
I’d chosen this pond-inspired pool after perusing Victor’s estate.
A similar one existed closer to the castle, but this one...
with its natural contorting, real lilypads, and croaking, cheeky frogs hinted it wasn’t just a chlorinated pool masquerading as a pond, but a true filtered ecosystem complete with reeds, boulders, and a deep end where little minnows had swum between my toes as I’d dived down into the chilly depths.
That reminds me, it’s almost time for another dip.
Sweat glittered on my skin, and my stomach growled faintly for food.
If my appetite stayed this ferocious, I’d have to hit the gym I’d found earlier today as Ily trailed silently behind me.
When we’d left my room, I’d expected Victor to leap out of the shadows and cart me back to his office, but I hadn’t spotted him. Other Masters ignored us. Other jewels kept their heads down. I’d taken their uninterest to familiarise myself with everything.
I wanted to know the lay of the land: where the kitchens were, the slave quarters, the recreational spaces, and the many other nooks and crannies such a place like this could hold.
After all, this was my home now.
I could never leave.
For two hours, we’d followed stone corridors and stuck our heads into rooms dripping with obscene decadence.
Turned out, Victor’s dead zoo on the top floor wasn’t the only trophy room, and we’d come across the weaponry—all swords, daggers, pistols, and blades chained to the walls—then followed the animal skins into a gaming room, billiard room, another small library, conservatory, day spa, and endless other solars, parlours, and receiving rooms.
I expected Ily to gasp or comment on some nicknack or drapery, but she remained prickly and poised. She drifted after me like the nightmare I called her, moving like a queen draped in my black t-shirt, haunting me with every word she didn’t speak.
Her unspoken emotions crackled like a storm with every step; she showed no signs of being impressed as we dawdled through the indoor Grecian-style swimming pool and cut through the fully equipped gym where other guests worked out—some with jewels tethered to the treadmill, keeping them close in case the urge struck.
She’d stayed deathly silent as we made our way outside, found this idyllic pond-pool with no other guest or jewel partaking, and staked our territory for the afternoon.
I’d expected her to speak once I’d dropped a few towels onto the grass for her to sit on and pointed at her to settle in the shade of a large black umbrella. I tried to come up with something to say as I took the lounger and stripped off my t-shirt and shorts, leaving me in a pair of black boxers.
My throat itched with words, and my ears ached for her voice, but it seemed neither of us had anything to say.
Just like we hadn’t had much to say as she’d shattered around my cock, fisting me so damn tight I’d had no choice but to come with her.
Her orgasm literally bruised me, and I couldn’t figure out if I floated on a semi-high from making her come that hard or because she’d made me explode just as badly.
As we’d panted on the tiled floor, still joined and sticky, I’d had a flush of the old me. The human part of me who wanted to stroke her and kiss her and say thank you. But she’d ruined it by shoving me away, shooting to her feet, then stumbling from the shower.
In one move, she reminded me all over again that just because I could take her whenever I damn well wanted didn’t mean she would ever feel the same way I did.
At least she hadn’t gone far.
I’d found her sitting on the ugly throne in the corner of my room, t-shirt clad, hair brushed, her eyes on the carpet and hands clenching the armrests.
I supposed that would’ve been the perfect moment to say something.
To discuss what I expected from her. To somehow understand how three days had passed in a fugue.
How had we slept so long and deep? Had she ever crashed that hard before?
I certainly hadn’t.
Even after my mother’s funeral or the long trip to visit my brother—both events crammed with sleepless nights—I hadn’t fallen face first into oblivion and struggled to crawl my way out.
Whatever had happened or whyever our bodies had chosen that exact moment to shut down didn’t really matter.
It’d happened.
We’d been at our most vulnerable, and neither had harmed the other.
That meant some trust must exist.
And now...we were awake.
Rested.
Conscious.
We had the rest of our lives to talk, and I had no intention of letting her ignore me.
Perhaps that’s why she hasn’t spoken a word to you?
Because everything you’ve ever said to her was a lie.
I shifted on the lounger.
Not everything.
I’d been honest. Too honest.
I couldn’t help that she’d chosen to hear good in all the bad.
That was a her problem, not a me problem.
And besides, I still kept my end of the bargain.
Just because I’d chosen to stay and keep her didn’t mean I’d ever let another man fuck her.
She’s mine.
Through and through.
I doubted the attraction I had toward her would fade and...that was fine with me.
I didn’t see the problem feeling something for her because that was the part I’d been denied my whole life. I’d turned into this twisted fucking thing because I’d been prohibited love in all forms.
Could I help it that I wanted to feel love as much as I wanted domination?
That I needed to be affectionate, all while making her bleed?
Opening my eyes, I squinted behind the dark aviators I’d found in the wardrobe.
Clenching my belly, I sat up and swung my feet into the soft, spongy grass.
Ily didn’t react.
Sitting in a circular shadow-puddle made by the umbrella, she sat cross-legged like an enlightened saint. Her forefingers pressed together to form infinite circles, her palms up on her knees, her back as straight as the wand inked into her spine.
One of the towels I’d given her draped between her legs, hiding the fact she wore no underwear, and my borrowed t-shirt bunched enticingly around her hips.
I waved my hand in front of her closed eyes; she didn’t so much as twitch.
Was she asleep again? In a trance?
Snapping my fingers by her nose, I said, “Wake up, you’ve done enough sleeping.”
Her golden gaze shot wide.
I swear they shimmered with pure light before she scowled, and they filled with hate. “It’s rude to interrupt someone who’s meditating.”
“Oh, that’s what you were doing.” I eyed her stiff posture. “Funny enough, one of the girls I used to work with at a local pub said I should try that. Said it would help with whatever sadness she saw in me.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t see sadness in you anymore.
I only see a devil.” Dropping her hands from their strange position on her knees, she balled her fingers.
“I see horns and bat wings, bone claws, and...” She drifted off before asking, “Do you know how you looked to me the other night? How my delusions painted you?” She shook her head.
“Of course, you wouldn’t. Why would you?
You were so drunk on your own fantasy that you were completely unaware of mine. ”
“That wasn’t my fault. Peter confessed he drugged you against your will.”
“He did it to try to protect me.”
“Sounds as if he only made it worse.”
“Perhaps.” She shrugged angrily. “Or it just revealed your true colours, and now I’m aware of exactly who I belong to.”
The rush of her admitting she belonged to me almost made me tumble off the lounger.
My heart fisted.
My stomach clenched.
It took all my discipline not to yank the leash and order her onto my lap.
“I’m glad you’ve finally accepted your place.” My voice sounded hoarse and thick.
“My place?” She laughed icily. “My place is back home. My place is with my brother. My place is with the guy who made me believe in him, believe his lies, believe he was good and kind and courageous.”
I stilled. “I’m still that guy.”
She laughed. Far too shrill and manic to be considered sane.
“Tell me, Henri,” she spat as if my name contaminated her tongue.
“Was any of it real?” She held up her hand before I could speak.
“And I don’t mean the things you said to me.
The remarks that ‘I’m different’ and you’re ‘aware’ of me.
Spare the seduction spiel, okay? I might’ve bought it back at the club and clung on to that stupid hope, but you proved—very ardently—that you’re incapable of feeling anything but lust and selfishness. ”
Gritting my teeth, I focused on controlling myself.
Ily took my silence as the perfect opportunity to add more fuel to my already burning fires.
“Can you believe I actually thought you were with someone else on the outside? That you were a good little undercover cop, doing his job—which included doing me—but you kept yourself bound and almost bashful because you belonged to another.” She huffed.
“I actually felt sorry for you. Sorry you had to touch me in ways you didn’t really want to.
Sorry you had to stray so close to the line you said you always struggled with. ”
My heart skipped a beat, picturing myself with anyone else but her. The picture looked all wrong. Distorted. It was her or no one. I’d chosen her. Fate had chosen her. We were a done deal for life as far as I was concerned.
I might be a monster, but I had the unswerving loyalty of a monogamist.