Chapter 2 #2
“Oh, but I will be.” Shrugging off the stranger's hand, he turned. The top of his head landed just above the raven-haired male’s Adam’s apple, and he had to crane his neck to address him.
“I paid the brothel owner over the asking price for her, eight hundred bits, so I will ensure that my money is earned with her time, prick.”
“How humiliating would it be to run out of here with your tail tucked between your legs, sobbing to mommy and daddy about how wastefully you spent their coin?” The newly arrived man chuckled, one of his canines sinking into his bottom lip as his sneer grew.
“In case you needed a reminder, you are balls deep in criminal territory, which means your actions could very well land you in the dungeons of the Capital if your questionable habits were to be disclosed by some… Oh, I don’t know, curious stranger. ”
“Are you threatening me?”
“If you wish to deem it as such, then sure. Though I don’t fancy the concept of a verbal threat when I could easily gut you alive with my bare hands.
Let me make myself crystal clear since your stupidity seems to limit your understanding.
” He stepped forward, looking down at the man as he jutted a thumb toward the bar.
“My co-captain is sitting over there enjoying an expensive glass of whiskey, and if you keep running your pathetic mouth, we will cause a scene. I’d prefer not to piss him off for my own sanity when we disembark in the next hour, so let me repeat myself only once—you. will. not. be. taking. her. anywhere.”
“Listen, it’s not anyone’s place to deem who or where—”
Before I could finish my sentence, the blonde retaliated.
“If you don’t get the fuck out of my sight, I will buy your godsforsaken ship and sell it off to some piss-poor scumbag in Thornebay who would willingly strip it piece by piece to repurpose and sell.
If you wish to keep your home and filthy crew, I’d suggest you back the hell off.
You have no clue who you’re dealing with.
” Using the pointed tip of his middle knuckle, he knocked against the pirate’s sternum, intending to bruise bone.
“You are nothing more than a salt-crusted degenerate. Every inch of you reeks of lowborn desperation, giving way to the fact that you’d never be able to afford, let alone deserve, someone like her. ”
The pirate’s crimson gaze flashed with amusement before diminishing into an unfiltered rage.
Dark brows lunged forward to darken his enchanting stare, something unseen and horrific curling around his essence.
I watched as his tongue jutted out between his teeth, his mouth parting to form an undeniably murderous grin.
The words he offered came out between a manic chuckle and an annoyed exhale, weaving together to create a hauntingly hushed whisper.
“You want to compare cock sizes? Fine.” His hand shot forward, closing around the customer’s shirt with unimaginable speed.
“But what you will not do is sniff my ass like you have a lick of an idea of who you’re speaking to.
You spent eight hundred bits on her for a minuscule amount of her time, hoping to stiffen your limp prick that you fumble to please your wife with?
Well, I purchased her from the owner of Seirdra’s Veil for twenty-five thousand. ”
My stomach sank, acid burning the back of my throat with the sudden realization: he’d purchased me for himself, just like Malrik had.
Except, unlike when I was for sale, I wasn’t now.
Logically, I knew I couldn’t argue. I’d elected to play the role of a prostitute, not anticipating the potential of being purchased entirely.
Stupidly, I’d believed the men dropping coins on the half-dressed women of Seirdra’s Veil only acted on a last-minute desire for pleasure, not a life of it.
And that’s what the raven-haired male, whose energy was a chasm, hadn’t realized.
I’d only ever belonged to one: the Overseer of Assassins, the only man I thought I’d fear in this life.
That was until this pirate stepped out from the shadows, corruption bathing him as if he were the very source of it.
“Nonetheless,” he snarled. “Wrong answer.”
His grip tightened as he ripped the blonde from where he stood, tossing him across the room like he was nothing more than an empty crate being thrown onto a ship.
Jumping to the side, the bartender narrowly avoided him, pressing herself against the wall as her gaping gaze landed on the man responsible for the sudden violence.
Crossing over the lip of the bar in a millisecond, my customer’s back collided with the alcohol display, the shelf rocking with the teetering force.
Unable to remain sturdy, the frame swayed, bottles slipping from it to greet the ground.
Glass shattered as the atrociously priced liquor exploded, littering the tiles with glinting shards.
The various liquids quickly coated the opulent bronze fabric, which clung to his frame, its material absorbing them as easily as a towel would.
Screams erupted, and escorts ran away from the chaos and into the back, where they assumed they were safe. None of us were, not in a world where greedy men roamed freely with a willingness to take and take until there was nothing left.
“CASPIAN!” A distinct, hardened voice erupted from the end of the bartop, undoubtedly belonging to the man the newly-named male had not wanted to disturb.
Brushing his worn and calloused hand down his shirt, Caspian ignored the roar from his co-captain and progressed toward the counter.
His hips graced it first before he leaned over, reaching across its granite width to yank the senseless and stubborn man from behind it.
Without hesitation, Caspian heaved him onto the open floor, winking at the trembling woman as his smile lines returned.
“Don’t worry, love. I’m not here for you.”
The blonde slid across the wooden planks of the lounge area, and his co-captain jumped from the barstool. “Enough!”
His close-set, dark, triangular eyes danced between Caspian and me.
Heightened annoyance wove through every inch of his flawless, moonlight-kissed skin as his glower deepened.
A handful of braids wove their way through his silken, shoulder-length hair.
Its shade was a near-match to Caspian’s, but far straighter.
When he stepped into the light, its color continued along his jaw and upper lip, which curled into a sneer when the snap of bone overrode the sounds of panic.
Fisting a now-wrinkled suit, Caspian drove his fist into the center of the male’s face for a second time.
Blood splattered, tainting the timber planks with its ruby hue.
Reeling back again, his knuckles collided with bruising skin, the squelch of flesh and bone sending me back to a repressed memory.
The feeling of Malrik’s palms squeezing my throat as he buried himself in me at the age of sixteen, robbing me of my purity without my consent.
Each punch he hammered into me washed away the searing agony that shot through my core, each inch of my still-maturing body abused and used to satisfy him.
The pathetic cries I’d unleashed, pleading for him to stop and let me prove myself again.
And each time I’d done wrong by him, the punishments had always been the same.
Brutal. Swift. Unforgiving.
Caspian was no different, and he’d bought me.
Purchased me.
Claimed me.
I was his.
His.
They owned me, and there was never a day in my life when I would be able to reclaim myself.
My essence was meant to be bought and molded by the unrighteousness of man.
It was an endless cycle I’d accepted, one I’d never escape.
No matter how badly my lungs burned and my legs ached, I was incapable of running from my pre-determined fate.
I would never be free.
The co-captain’s voice unshackled me from my subconscious, tugging me back to the present. “Caspian, by the ever-loving gods, I said that is enough!”
My heart pounded, and the ringing that violated my ears settled into an eerie stillness.
It felt as if the world had stopped to hold its breath, waiting for my move.
Scanning the space, I watched the remnants of those wearing a price tag vanish into the shadows, two memorable women catching my attention—the two who’d been seated with the male I’d come to kill.
The advisor.
My target.
Malrik.
Fuck!
I couldn’t fail. It wasn’t an option, not when I knew what awaited me if I did—hours of torture, fingers inside of me that I didn’t desire, violation of the fractured remnants of my soul, bruises that would remain for weeks on end.
Reacting with pure womanly instinct, composed of a millennium full of ancestral wrath, I kicked off my heels.
Caspian’s glower raised to meet mine as their clatter echoed through the room. Bloodlust pulsated within its mahogany hue, a clear warning of what would follow if I trusted my intuition—the chilling, feminine voice that always seemed to hum to me, even in my sleep.
It hadn’t failed me yet, and I knew it wouldn’t fail me now as adrenaline swam through my veins.
Without a second more of consideration, I rolled forward onto the balls of my feet.
The frigid, splinter-ridden floor nipped at the exposed skin beneath my stockings.
As if controlled by the gods, we acted at the same time.
Caspian carelessly tossed the beaten male to the ground as he came to stand, his head dipping to the side with predatorial glee.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he growled, each step toward me cutting through the tension in the air. “In case I haven’t made myself clear, you’re mine, little siren.”
As the gap between us shrank, I drew in a shaky breath.
A whispered prayer tumbled from my lips, words meant for the gods.
It was a plea for a chance in this life, just one opportunity to free myself from the confines of being a woman.
With my muttered, fleeting word of worship, I sank into the trust I held with my inner voice.
Pivoting and ignoring the splinters burrowing into my feet, I ran.