Chapter 25
Regarder
CLAIRE
Ten applicants filed into the room, all wearing long, silky black robes with hoods that shadowed their eyes. They formed a straight line in front of me, and I tried my best not to fidget or appear nervous as Bastien closed the door.
His attention never strayed from me as he made his way to my side, brows furrowed and jaw set. He opened our connection, sliding inside my thoughts. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Absolutely.” My smile widened until my cheeks hurt, and Bastien finally relented, addressing our guests.
“You have the pleasure of meeting Miss Donadieu, my new sanguine partner.”
“Your Grace,” I said, setting a patronizing hand on his arm, “thank you for the kind introduction, but there’s no need for such formalities with me. I’d prefer for them to call me Claire.”
The muscles in his jaw ticked and irritation curled up one side of his mouth. My attempt at warmth clearly annoyed him. Bastien was incredibly handsome when annoyed.
“I’d like you to know a little about me before accepting an offer. I’m twenty-five years old, and I have very little experience when it comes to intimacy.” I paused, heat flaming everywhere. “However, despite my lack of experience,” I glanced at Bastien, “I am eager to learn.”
He looked like he’d been stabbed. Like he was ready to send them all away. But, instead, he continued with his duty. “I have found Miss Donadieu to be stubborn and hard-headed. However, she is incredibly smart and is a lovely conversationalist. She also has an interest in gardening and books.”
Coming from him, I took that as a compliment.
“Starting on the left,” he continued, “if you would be good enough to remove your hood and state your name, we’ll begin.”
My chest tightened as my gaze wandered to the line of hopefuls. I did my best not to let my nerves show, fisting my hands into the folds of my skirt to keep them from shaking.
Again, Bastien canted his head in my direction, as if to ask if I’d had my fill of this spectacle so he could send them away. And again, despite my anxieties, I smiled pleasantly back at him like I was completely fine.
The first applicant removed her hood, revealing hair as white as Seraphina’s that fell down her back in a long braid.
I had to swallow a gasp. Why was a Witch of the Light in Bastien’s castle? Was she a spy?
“My name is Tansy,” she told me in a cheeky voice.
She undid the sash on her robe, and the folds opened just enough to reveal her slight muscular frame, the swell of her small breasts, and the soft v between her thighs. Her skin was a beautiful shade of brown.
I wondered what coven she was from but held my tongue. There’d be time for questions later, away from Bastien. I knew without a doubt she needed to be one of my consorts, if just for companionship. Besides, it would be nice to have someone who reminded me of home.
“It’s nice to meet you,” I said.
“It’s nice to meet you too.”
“Next!” Bastien called. I got the sense he was trying to hurry this along.
The tall man beside Tansy slowly untied the sash of his robe, allowing the folds to open until his well-honed chest was visible, as well as…
My eyes widened, and my cheeks flamed with embarrassment.
By Diana. The hard length of flesh between his legs was pointing at me, which wasn’t half as concerning as what I saw when he lowered his hood.
His hair was as red as the flames crackling in the hearth.
He was a Witch of the Darkness. And he was standing in my room. Naked.
He didn’t have a wand on him, at least not one I could see, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t dangerous. I moved closer to Bastien.
“I’m Devlinn, Miss Claire. It’s good to meet you.”
“Yes, we can all see that. Thank you, Devlinn,” Bastien said through his teeth.
I was still trying to process how in Diana’s name a Dark Witch had come to be here, when I caught the slightest smirk twisted around the vampire’s lips. This was his doing. He knew I would never take a Dark Witch to bed. I didn’t find his little joke funny in the least.
Bastien could tell I was flustered, and his gaze returned to mine, a question in his pale blue eyes. “Have you had enough yet?”
I shook my head. He could have his joke. I wouldn’t select Devlinn, and that was that. But as each of the remaining applicants undid their robe, I found every male had a shade of auburn hair ranging from bright red to strawberry blond.
Once all of them were introduced, I glared at the vampire beside me, who was now openly grinning. What a slimy, manipulative toad.
“Is there a problem?” he asked, replying with the same overly sweet voice I’d used with him.
I had two choices. The first was to scream at him for being so controlling.
So manipulative. Or, I could swallow my fear of these witches in order to prove a point.
Besides, Bastien had unknowingly given me a gift.
Witches of the Darkness knew the location of relics. They would be useful to my mission.
Steeling my nerve, I rolled my shoulders back and raised my chin.“There’s no problem at all, Your Grace. These applicants are all wonderful.” I swallowed hard, watching as the smile on his face shrank. Keeping my tone as pleasant as possible, I raised a brow and added, “Don’t you agree?”
Bastien frowned, and he ripped open the connection between us while ten half-naked strangers watched on. The force of it left me disoriented as his voice sounded inside my head. “Has your opinion of Dark Witches changed since you threw a chair at one?”
My hands landed on my hips. “Did she tell you I threw a chair at her? Because I very well did not.”
I told myself to keep my cool, but I was boiling on the inside.
Bastien lifted his cane, waving it between us. “Are you willing to take one as a consort?”
“As long as they’re good at their job, I don’t care.”
He slammed his cane against the floor so hard that the sound reverberated off the vaulted ceilings, but I didn’t move. I stood toe to toe, hating every inch of him.
His love for the dark craft knew no ends. He kept at least nine Dark Witches at his castle, and he pledged to retrieve demonic relics from the Lawless Lands for the likes of Shreesa.
Yet I was an abomination to him. I was something to regret.
“Fine,” he said, fixing his cravat. “Make your selection.”
I closed the connection between us like I was slamming a door. Bastien glared back at me but didn’t move.
I realized ten sets of eyes were staring at us with a mixture of humor and confusion. I supposed it would be strange to watch two grown adults have a silent debate. Sheepishly, I smoothed a hand down my bodice, attempting to regain my composure as I reengaged with the group of people before me.
Bastien, however, did not. His hair was a mess from running his fingers through it and he was gripping his cane like it was a sword. I shrugged off his reaction and turned my attention back to the task at hand.
Who to choose? I had no way of knowing which one would skin me alive or curse me in my sleep.
My gaze rolled over to the woman standing on the left, and an idea struck.
I trusted no one’s opinion more than one of Diana’s chosen.
She would know who to pick.“Tansy,” I said, taking a step closer.
Mindful of the horde of Dark Witches staring at me.
“Miss Claire,” she said, dipping into another curtsy.
Trying to maintain composure, I asked, “Which of these men would you say is the best?” Her brown eyes met mine, and I wished she could speak inside my head like Bastien could. “If you were me, which one of these men do you choose?” I clarified when she didn’t respond.
Without flinching, Tansy replied, “Devlinn, Miss Claire.” My gaze shifted to the man beside her. “He’s funny, clever, and he has a tongue like you wouldn’t believe.”
The two exchanged a heated glance, and the red-haired witch beside her grinned like the demon he was.
Tansy spoke as if she had firsthand experience with him, and I couldn’t believe a Witch of the Light would ever…
kiss a Dark Witch. But apparently, I had much to learn about the world outside Prideaux Hill.
“That’s good to hear,” I forced myself to say, throat dry. “I choose Tansy and Devlinn as my consorts, so long as they’re willing.”
They both looked at each other and nodded. “Yes, Miss Claire. We’d be honored.”
“I’ll reserve selection of my third for another day.”
Robes were tied and hoods were raised, then eight of the original ten filed out of the room as quietly as they came in. Once the four of us were alone, Devlinn and Tansy removed their robes fully, shamelessly puddling the black silk at their feet.
“Oh, I…” I started, not knowing how to tell them I wasn’t ready for this. My fear rose, twisting in my stomach, and I tried not to look to Bastien for help. But I didn’t need to. The vampire’s voice was tender against my ear, and his cool breath tickled over my skin.
“You don’t have to do anything you’re not prepared to do. You can simply watch.”
I regarded him with new curiosity. “What do you mean?”
“I mean,” he said, pausing, “they can touch each other. If that’s something you’d like to watch and they’d like to do. You don’t have to participate.”
I swallowed hard. That was an idea I hadn’t thought of.
Tansy had seemed amenable to this Devlinn, and she’d named him as her favorite of the group. And while I was unsure about this whole thing, I couldn’t deny I was curious to know how people moved together. To learn more than what Bastien had shown me.
“Is that… pleasurable?” I asked him. My words slow and barely audible. “To watch?”
His nearness had my pulse pounding in my ears and my heart fluttering in my chest. Something about him did that to me. No matter how much I despised him for marching nine Dark Witches into my room.
“Some find it very pleasurable.”
“We don’t mind at all, Miss Claire,” Devlinn said. He took Tansy’s bare waist and dragged her against his hard, muscled frame, pressing her close in a way Bastien had done to me before.
She looked eagerly up at him as she wound her fingers through his red hair, twisting the strands until her fingers were threaded in it.
Then, slowly, he lowered his lips to hers.
Kissing her like he wanted nothing else in the world.
I lifted a hand to my lips as the ghost of a kiss I didn’t remember tingled.
A song of gasps and sighs began as his hands explored her body, cupping her backside and squeezing. Molding his hands to her flesh.
Bastien and I had become very still. His lips were hovering beside my ear, like he had more to whisper, but the only thing I could hear was the sound of his breath.
I turned toward him, the slightest movement of my head, and found he wasn’t watching them, but me.
And the look in his eyes was anything but gentlemanly.
I quickly turned back. My breath coming in jagged little sips.
Desire ignited between my thighs as I continued to watch them.
Their kisses became rougher. Their cries sharper.
Until he had her bent over, and… and… slid inside her.
Tansy’s cry of pleasure made my legs too wobbly to stand.
Bastien’s hand found the small of my back, and he let me lean against him.
He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear so his lips could press flush against my skin. Everything inside me clenched.
“Should I tell them to stop?”
I bit my lip hard. Watching. Feeling the way Bastien’s cool hand drew circles on my back. It was too much and not enough at the same time. But did I want them to stop? “No, they can keep going.”