Chapter Thirteen #2
Gritting her teeth, she raised her head and embraced the fight that would be my fucking downfall.
Her tear-twinkling stare locked on Victor’s. “I know how I’m going to kill you now. I’m going to electrify you until you choke on your own tongue.”
“Charming,” Victor drawled. “I appreciate your strength, my pet, but I’m unimpressed by your intelligence. I’ve gone over the rules with you. The time to test them is never.”
“Rules?” I asked as Ily slowly removed herself from my hold and crawled away. She didn’t stop until the leash stretched to its limit, tugging on my fingers, stopping her from going any farther.
She shot me a glower, unable to hide what truly lurked within her.
Fear.
Christ, I could smell it from here.
It tickled the back of my nose.
It soaked into the marrow of my bones.
It fucked me off that she gave such terror away to everyone watching. I wanted to hoard it. To draw out her horror just for me.
Merde, stop.
You’ve been fighting this your entire life.
Do. Not. Give. In.
I fisted the leash, sending vibrations to her collar.
Her golden eyes met mine. They narrowed. They burned.
I might not have done anything to earn her fear yet, but I had earned her loathing.
And it turned me on and scrambled me up because despite her hatred of me, I’d made her wet. She’d been wet as I strapped her down on that table, spread her legs, and—
God’s sake, stop!
I choked on a groan as I drank her in.
Desperation soaked into obsession; I turned into something unhinged.
My eyes kept wandering, taking liberties, stealing all her secrets.
I jolted as she shifted, unintentionally flashing me.
Just a strip of hair.
A single strip showing me exactly where to lick.
Motherfucking Christ—
“The rules of my home,” Victor said, dragging me back to a conversation I’d utterly forgotten about.
“The rules all my jewels follow. They soon learn that I can be magnanimous if they treat me with respect.” He sighed as if their behaviour truly wasn’t because of him and it pained him to chastise them.
“All I ask is that they willingly entertain my treasured guests, stay healthy and clean, refrain from self-pleasure so my friends can attend to them, and present themselves as quietly and as demurely as possible. That’s all.
” His calculating eyes met mine. “That’s not too much to ask, is it? ”
“Not if you’re the one on top of the food chain, it’s not.” I stood on slightly shaky legs and returned to my chair. “But I can imagine it takes time for those at the bottom to accept their new place.”
“Perhaps.” Victor toasted me with his coffee. “But regardless of how long it takes to accept, their obedience should be immediate.” He sipped his espresso before placing the cup back down. “And that’s where you come in.”
I schooled my face.
I iced over every emotion.
“Oh?” I sniffed without a care.
“You wanted into my inner sanctum? Well, you’re in.
You’re about to have all your wicked dreams come true, but...
” He grinned. “I do have one tiny request.” He waved his hand with a chuckle.
“It’s not even a request. More of a gift, really.
A gift from one man to another. You need to be pushed a little, I see that.
And this new jewel needs to be disciplined.
I promised her to you for the weekend, but I will not tolerate her unruly behaviour infecting the rest of my gems. Like Roland said...
she’s special. She’ll have many Masters lining up to taste—ready to teach her our favourite games. ”
“Games?” I hid my wince. “What sort of games?”
“Lots and lots.” Victor waved his hand. “All named after gems, of course. My personal favourite is something called Ruby Tears. But...I happen to know a Diamond Kiss is the highlight of most of my guest’s perversions...mainly because I permit it to happen so rarely.”
“What’s a Diamond Kiss?”
He leaned closer. “That is none of your concern...yet. If you become a member, you’ll find out.
Someday. For now...” He smiled, brutal and sharp.
“I have decided to be your mentor. I will oversee your methods. I will intervene if you get too savage. I will be your instructor on how to break her and set yourself free. How about that?”
“I don’t need a teacher.” I turned into a glacier at the thought of him shadowing me, watching me. “I’m sure I can break her all on my own.”
All while breaking myself.
“Well... call me a father figure, then.” Victor smirked. “I have a feeling you’re lacking one of those.”
I couldn’t hide how my fists curled. The leash around my fingers jerked Ily a little closer as I tamped down my fury.
She didn’t make a peep.
Her eyes shifted from me to Victor and back again as we talked about her as if she didn’t exist. “I wasn’t aware I had to share my family tree with you.”
“Oh, you’re not obligated. But I have a knack for knowing where people come from.
” Steepling his hands, he narrowed his piranha gaze.
“Let’s see...” Looking me up and down, he sniffed.
“Only child or at least raised as one. Small family. Most likely all gone. Lonely upbringing. Lonely present. Am I right?”
I wanted to smash his coffee cup and shove the broken ceramic into his eyes.
“I came here to fuck, not be psychoanalysed.”
Victor laughed with a nod. “Fine. I see your impatience still rules you. Perhaps, after you’ve come a few times today and managed to expel some of that tightly bound rage, you’ll be more amenable to conversation.”
I did my best to nod politely. “Perhaps.”
My mind returned to my birdcage cufflinks upstairs. Regardless, if my brother received a GPS location and was on his way, I still had a day or so in this nightmare.
I had to do everything in my power to either stall or sabotage, so I didn’t surrender to the monster inside me.
Looking at Ily out of the corner of my eye, I clung to my tattered self-control.
“So...” I shrugged. “You mentioned rules for your jewels. Are there rules for your guests? Or can I take Ily and do whatever I want?”
Victor shrugged. “Rules are needed for every aspect of life. For ruler and ruled.” Counting on his fingers, he said, “You can hurt her but not kill her. You can fuck her however you want, but if you tear her and put her out of action, you will be fined for every day she can’t service another.
You can command her to do whatever you wish, but you must grant her a fifteen-minute break afterward, so she can prepare for the next round. ”
“Sounds reasonable.” The words tasted sour. “And can I fuck her bare? I’m assuming she’s clean and won’t carry my spawn?”
Words became droplets of poison, eroding their way through my tongue.
I rubbed at the small hole in my arm where a cool-eyed female doctor had drawn my blood. The stone walls of the castle pressed on me as if I deserved to be in a cage made of rock. A cage that only grew worse the longer I sat in pristine gardens with a perfect slave at my feet.
My eyes strayed to Ily.
I froze as she looked up and glowered.
She no longer looked tortured by electrocution but baptised by it. Flickers of electricity ran in her veins, arcing out and punishing me.
The crackle of awareness between us chose that moment to ignite.
The steady heat and hexing connection.
The sickness drawing me to her.
I felt things.
I felt far too fucking much.
I’d never felt the things she conjured before.
Not for anyone or anything.
I’d spent my lifetime void of emotion.
I supposed loneliness did that to a person.
It nullified hopes, eroded dreams, and smothered life until your heart was dead and empty. However, the way it hurled itself against my ribs the longer I looked at her said it was no longer dead and definitely not empty. The damn thing fucking overflowed.
Victor shifted in his chair. Sunshine bounced off his sunglasses. “She’s clean. And she’s been dosed with contraceptive, like all my jewels. You’re free to partake in any of them that you wish.”
“Great.” I went to stand. “In that case, I’m taking this jewel to my room. I’ll bring her back once I’ve had my fill—”
Victor burst out laughing.
Slapping the table with his palm, he shook his head with another loud snicker. “Oh no, no, no, my na?ve friend. New jewels are for everyone to enjoy.”
“But I thought you said—”
“You can have first fuck. You can do whatever you want to her, but you’re not hiding her away behind closed doors.
You want to fuck her? You will do it publicly.
You will take her until she is sufficiently broken in.
Only once she’s surrendered can you enjoy a more private playtime.
It’s for your safety as well as hers, you understand.
” He grinned. “Besides, part of the fun of breaking them is to watch the breaking. She’s to be displayed so everyone can watch while you do it.
Why else do you think I spend such meticulous attention on finding the rarest, prettiest jewels possible?
Men and women with degrees and accolades?
Girls and boys with blinding bright futures?
They glitter the brightest. They glimmer with a certain kind of fire.
The moment that fire snuffs out and survival twists into utmost obedience is one of the best moments imaginable. ”
His words sank into my gut, corroding with the knowledge that no matter how hard I held on to my humanity.
No matter how quickly Q found us.
No matter what I did to try to protect Ily from myself and these men...
...I would fail.
Spectacularly.
There’d be no way to fake this.
No privacy blankets to spread over us while I pretended to fuck her.
No corners where cameras couldn’t reach where I could pantomime her serving me.
I would have to touch her.
I would have to use her.
Because if I didn’t...another would.
And as fucked up as it was, I was responsible for her.
I’d noticed her.
Targeted her.
Claimed her.
Mine.
She’s mine.
I felt motherfucking sick.