by Winter Fox
“I will,” Adonis replied solemnly.
“Firstly, you will allow me twenty-four-hour access to those CCTV cameras that I know you have set up in every room of your house. You will not put a single foot wrong, Adonis.”
Adonis clenched his jaw, fighting back the urge to say no. Almost every single room in his house was fitted with CCTV—even his own bedroom. The only room which didn’t have cameras was eighty-eight’s. He had always believed that the girls he trained should have one sanctuary. It also felt kind of creepy to watch women while they slept. So, he had consciously decided to never put a camera in that room.
He managed a stiff nod.
Charles seemed to accept the concession. “Secondly. You mentioned a long holiday after this girl’s training. I want you to agree to leaving the country, for a period of no less than one year. And, I want you to leave the moment that you have witnessed my marriage to her.”
Adonis shook his head in disbelief. “Do you have any idea how fucking disgusting you are?”
“If I sense that you are wavering in your resolve, I will not hesitate to pull her out of your training. But I won’t hand her over to Erebus. Savior or not, I will have no woman tear my only son from my family. Especially not that woman. If you don’t do exactly as I say, I will kill the bitch, and be done with it. I will remove her pretty head from her fucking neck. Do you understand, Adonis?”
A thousand eventualities poured through his mind, like a waterfall of possibility—of hope. But every one ended in the same place, with Cara dead, and Adonis disgraced. Finally, he came to accept that he had no choice. If he wanted to keep her alive then he would do what his father asked of him. Even being married to Charles Olympus had to be better than being dead.
“I understand.”
Charles gave a satisfied nod. “I’m doing this for your own good, Adonis. I will pull you out from beneath the spell that siren has cast over you. And one day, you will thank me for it.”
“What about Erebus? He’s not going to like losing his grip on eighty-eight.” Adonis changed the topic before his resolve broke.
Charles stood up and started toward the door. It was the same gesture he used to let his business associates know when a meeting was over. Adonis took the hint, and followed his father to the door.
“Erebus will do what I tell him to do. Because, unlike you, Adonis, he has respect for his ruler. Now, go and prove to me that Cara Westenra means nothing to you.” Charles opened the door, and gestured into the hallway as he spoke.
Before Adonis left, he stared at his father for a full minute, his own ice-blue eyes a mirror image of those of the man who had made him. Then without another word, Adonis turned away. It was time to go home to his slave.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Cara
Soon after Adonis left, there was a quiet tap on the door. I knew it was Emma. Adonis didn’t knock?
“Come in.” I called out.
The blonde girl peered around the door, as though making sure I was alone. When she was satisfied, she stepped in to the room, and closed the door behind her. She was carrying a tray of coffee and croissants, which she placed on the bedside table.
“Daisy, what were you thinking?” She scolded, as she sat on the bed next to me.
I sighed deeply. “I think you’d better start calling me Cara now.”
“Why?” She frowned.
“Because that’s who I am.” I poured us both a coffee. Then we settled down on the bed, and I told Emma everything. I began with the night that Charles killed my father, and I finished with Adonis rescuing me from the man I had once known as Thomas.
Emma had cried twice while I was telling her my story. Once when I described my father’s death. And then again, when I reached the part about my last night with Erebus. She laid her hand over mine—squeezing tightly—as tears pooled in her eyes.
“I am so, so sorry, Cara.”
I shook my head dismissively. There were no tears on my face, I wasn’t sure I had any left inside me to cry. “It’s all right, Emma. I’m okay now. I think.”
Emma drained what was left of her coffee, in one gulp. “I knew you were a succubus. I knew it.”
I almost smiled at her infectious delight.
“You do know that your life is going to be a lot longer than you had expected it to be?” She asked me suddenly.
I swallowed my mouthful of coffee. “You mean the same as Adonis, and his family?”
She nodded. “Yes. Now that you’ve reached adulthood, your aging process will begin to slow down. It would be completely normal for you to expect to live another two hundred and fifty years. Maybe even longer.”
Without warning, my stomach tried to reject the warm coffee which sloshed around inside it. “I’m going to be a prisoner for two centuries?”
She bit her lip. “I’m sorry, Cara. I didn’t even think of it like that.”
I closed my eyes. All I wanted was to be back at the bar. I wanted to wake up in my tiny, rented room. I wanted to take a cool shower, listening to the sound of the creaky waterpipes as they supplied the pathetic trickle of liquid which sprouted from the mildew clogged showerhead above me.
I wanted to jog downstairs five minutes before my shift started, and say shout “good morning” to Erin, as she prepped the day’s food in the kitchen. I wanted to roll my eyes at some of the pick-up lines I got hit with from the older guys. Men who spent almost the entire day propping up the bar.
Finally—and perhaps most of all—I wanted to climb back up the stairs, exhausted from a long, hard day. I wanted to turn on the warm light of my bedside lamp, and curl up with a book. Sitting on the wide windowsill, and watching the world go by underneath the light of the streetlamps below.
“Cara?” Emma’s voice dragged me back to the present. “You do know that as a succubus, you have a lot more power over the incubi.”
I blinked. “What kind of power?”
“You can seduce them. But you already know that, you seduced Adonis the day he lost control with you,” she said.
“When he showed me his wings,” I murmured. Then, a thought suddenly occurred to me. “Do I have wings too?”
Emma nodded. “You do.”
“Why haven’t I ever seen them.” I blushed. “I’ve definitely lost control once, or twice.”
Emma smiled at me. “You’re only really a baby in this world. Most demons won’t see their wings for the first time until they’re at least twenty-five. You’re, what? Twenty-three?”
I nodded. “It’s funny, I don’t feel like a baby.”
“You’ve got a way to go yet before you’re going to get to see your wings, Cara.”
“How old is he?” I asked her.
“Adonis?”
“Yes.”
She seemed to be studying me, as though she was trying to decide if I could deal with this information.
She made her decision. “He’s a little over a hundred.”
“Shit,” I exclaimed.
“There’s something else that you should know. I honestly don’t know if this information will help you, or not. But both of you need to want to make a baby. If you don’t, then it won’t happen,” Emma explained.
“They can’t force me to become pregnant?” I asked. Relief pouring over me.
She shook her head. “If you were just a woman, then they could. But they can’t do that to a succubus. However, if Charles or Erebus get involved then I suspect they might use different tactics, to persuade you.”
“I think they’re already involved,” I admitted.
“You’re probably right. You’re too important for them not to be.”
“What should I do, Emma?” I asked the blonde-haired witch.
“Adonis came for you, Cara. He brought you back here, and he stayed by your side until you woke up. He killed two men for you. Isn’t it obvious?” She spoke with confidence.
I bit my lower lip anxiously. “I don’t think talking to him will do me much good. Charles
is his father; he won’t betray him. And anyway, Adonis told me that he wasn’t going to let me go.”
Emma smiled wickedly. “I didn’t say that you should talk to him.”
“I don’t know the first thing about seducing an incubus, Emma. He’ll eat me alive if I try it.”
“You’ve already done the hard part; he feels something for you. I’ve never seen Adonis lose it like he did when you went missing.” She spoke in a confidential tone.
“He lost it?” I asked, curiously.
Emma nodded vigorously, and filled her coffee cup from the pot; before leaning over and filling mine too. Then she tucked her legs underneath her body, and told me a little of what happened while I was away.
“When he first realized that you were gone, he was furious with you. He searched the grounds of the property, and sent all of the staff out looking as well. We covered the entire fourteen acres inside the perimeter, and god knows how much of the ground outside. He was cussing, and yelling about how he was going to punish you when he got hold of you.”
I shuddered as I remembered the cross, and the whip.
Emma continued. “But then, when he realized that you were gone, he became very quiet. I could sense his worry. I could even see it in the color of his aura.”
I was surprised by this revelation. “How did he find me?”
The blonde-haired girl’s eyes took on a sad look. “The worst thing is, that he knew where you were. On day one, when we couldn’t find you, he said Erebus’s name; then he took his car, and he left.”
I was bewildered. “But he didn’t come for me for a week. He couldn’t have gone to Erebus’s home on the first day I was taken.”
She shrugged. “I have no clue what happened that day. Nobody was with him. He even drove himself there. But when he came back later on in the day, it was obvious that he was furious. I suspect that Erebus had you hidden away by then.”
I tapped my fingers against my coffee cup, thoughtfully. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Charles had gotten involved too.”
Emma nodded. “He probably did. Anyway, Adonis went to his father’s offices a couple of times, but he always came back angrier than when he left. His drinking went through the roof.”
“I didn’t know he drank.” I didn’t remember ever seeing Adonis drunk.
She laughed softly. “If you ever get a chance to go into his office, look for the whiskey in the top, left-hand drawer. It’s always there.”
I felt a sudden craving for a drink. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had one, and I was quite used to knocking a few back during my evening shifts at the bar.
“I’d kill for a drink, right now.”
She held her hands up defeatedly. “I’m afraid that Adonis would kill me if he found out. All trainees are under a strict, no alcohol regime. Sorry.”
I shrugged. “It’s okay. So, how did he know to come back for me?”
“I have absolutely no idea. If I had to guess, I’d say that someone loyal to Adonis told him about the little gathering Erebus had arranged.”
I thought back to that night, trying to remember if any of the men looked as though they didn’t really want to be there. But even just thinking about what happened made my heart begin to race. I quickly banished the memory from my mind.
“That night, Adonis grabbed his gun, and left without a word to any of us. He waited just long enough for Eric to get ready, and drive the car for him. I think he knew that he’d want to be with you on the way back here,” Emma finished.
“What’s going to happen to him? He killed those two men,” I wondered aloud.
Emma put her coffee cup down, and placed her hand over mine again. “Don’t worry. Incubi don’t abide by human laws, they will allow their leader to decide Adonis’ punishment.”
Charles.
“That’s probably why Adonis has gone to see his father today,” Emma suggested, as she stood up.
Memories of the night that my father was killed came flooding back to me, and I fought to push them aside. I was finding it increasingly difficult to focus on my desire to kill Charles, and I was pretty sure that my feelings for Adonis were the reason why.
What were my feelings for Adonis?
If I was honest with myself, I had no idea at all.
“And you think Charles will let him off with a slap on the wrist?” I asked her.
Emma was clearing away the coffee cups. “We’re talking about Charles Olympus. Adonis is going to get more than a slap on the wrist. But he will be okay, Cara. His father wouldn’t hurt him.”
I wasn’t even sure that I should care, either way. I tentatively stood up, testing legs which had been like spaghetti the last time I’d tried to use them. I had a constant searing pain between my legs—a reminder of everything I’d endured.
The soft fabric of my clothing brushed against my nipples as I moved, and I almost cried out at the pain. I lifted a hand to one tender bud, and even the smallest amount of pressure created enough fire within my breast to make me want to pass out.
Emma dropped the tray onto the vanity, and crossed the room to me. She gently took my arm and guided me toward the door of the en-suite. “I think you need a warm bath. Come on.”
I could still smell the dark musk of Erebus, and his two friends, all over my body, and I couldn’t wait to get rid of it. I was also certain that the warm water would help to ease the aches and pains which flared with every step that I took.
A bath sounded like a wonderful idea, and I wasn’t going to argue.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The warm bathwater was soothing. But it had quickly become discolored with dirt, and the tinge of old blood. I hadn’t realized just how much damage Erebus had done to me during the seven days I had been in his possession.
My nipples were tipped with a purplish color. The clamps had been brutally tight, and left on for far too long. My ass was striped with long red welts from a cane that Erebus had taken pleasure in using on me when I didn’t respond to him in the ways that he wanted.
I wasn’t sure where the blood between my legs came from, and although I tried to check inside myself with a probing index finger; the pain was so great that I gave up after one attempt. I just had to hope that there had been no long-term damage done.
When I had toweled myself dry, I made my way back into the bedroom. Adonis was waiting for me. He stood at the window, looking out over the gardens. But he turned to face me when he heard me walk into the room.
I hadn’t taken any clean clothes with me into the bathroom, and I didn’t want the scratchy material of any of the underwear from in the closet against my skin, so I had kept the fluffy towel I’d used to dry myself wrapped around me. I subconsciously gripped the join of the towel with my hands—pulling the material tighter around my body.
If he noticed my hands, he didn’t react; instead he gestured to the bed. “Lie down.”
His voice was cold and dispassionate. I stayed where I was. I was trembling. I wasn’t sure I would survive a night with him tonight. My body was far too broken.
He frowned darkly. “Lie down. I won’t say it again.”
I crossed to the bed, and started to lay on my back. I didn’t realize that he had followed me, until he grabbed my waist—gently turning me over so that I was lying on my stomach. I turned my head to the left, and watched him lift a small pot of ointment from the bedside table.
He reached under my body, freeing the towel, and revealing my bare back, and ass to him. I shivered, and I wasn’t sure if it was because of the sudden cold air against my warm, wet skin; or if it was because I was naked beneath his gaze.
I heard him hiss in an angry breath between his teeth, and I guessed he’d found the marks left on my flesh by his cousin.
“Stay still,” he growled.
Then, I felt the mattress depress as he knelt behind me. I heard the click of the ointment opening, and in the next instant I whimpered at the cold sting of the cream being applied to one of the welts on
my ass.
He ignored my distress, and continued applying the cream. The pain only lasted for a second, then it was overtaken by a surprisingly cooling numbness. Once I realized that he was trying to help me, I stayed still, permitting him to tend to every wound, until he had covered each and every piece of damage with an even coat.
Once he had finished with my ass, he placed a hand on each of my inner thighs, and pushed my legs apart. Once I was lying with my legs completely spread-eagled, he maneuvered himself until he was kneeling between them.
I wanted to protest, I wasn’t ready for whatever he had planned. I hadn’t even been able to touch myself there. But, this new and silent version of Adonis was a little intimidating, and I held my tongue.
When he slowly pushed a finger—coated in the cool ointment—into my vagina, I desperately tried to close my legs. I needed him to stop, because the pain was excruciating. But his own legs prevented me from doing anything to halt his invasion of my body.
He didn’t pause, instead he started to move his finger around in small circles inside me. It was clear that he was trying to coat my damaged insides with the healing cream, but the pain was unbearable. I buried my face into the blankets, and I screamed, and screamed, and cried.
After what felt like a lifetime, he slid his finger out of me, and I weakly lifted my head from the bed; desperately trying to get some air into my lungs.
“Nearly done,” he murmured.
Before I even had time to wonder what was “nearly” about it. I felt him press a firm hand into my lower back, ensuring I was going nowhere. Then his finger—newly coated in cool ointment—found the bruised pucker of my ass.
“No,” I wailed.
He didn’t say a word. Pressing down hard with the hand on my back, he started to gently ease his finger into my ass. Every single millimeter felt as though he was pressing a red-hot poker into me, and I buried my fists and face into the blankets once more.
This time, even the mattress couldn’t mask the howls and sobs which tore their way from my throat as he repeated the circular motions inside my ass.
