by Devyn Quinn
“I know that I hate you.”
“Then you don’t want my touch.” Only, even without needing to read her emotions, he knew that she did.
He’d been gone longer than intended, seeing to the fox’s end and surveying the area the fire had affected to ensure no others had been caught in its path. His influence over the Camaloe would have worn off while she slept, leaving her feeling empty and hollow inside. Aching to be filled.
She would be filled again, at his discretion. For now, Sebastian pulled his fingers from her body and went to the wall a handful of feet behind her.
A storage chest butted up against the wall. He opened it to find the razor and bowl he’d used earlier in the day had been cleaned and returned to their place in the chest by one of the skin-shifters, likely while Leia slept. Grabbing a lighter from a corner pocket of the chest, he lit the gas lantern that hung from the wall.
Dim light danced off the lush curves of her body, highlighting the flare of her hips and ass, and the dips of her sides. From her earlier comments, she’d allowed Ken’s taunts to convince her that she was overweight. She was bigger than the women Sebastian had been attracted to when alive, but then when he’d been alive he’d been blind to a lot of things. Now, thanks to Leia, he saw truth, and he saw her for what she was—a centerfold blond bombshell.
Returning to her side, he took hold of the wrist that had come free of its binding. A silent incantation had the remainder of the vines uncoiling from around her breasts and arms. Without the vines and the rod to help her stand, her knees buckled. He caught her before she went down, steadying her on her feet, then pushed her toward one of the opposite walls.
Leia moved a step forward, then stood fast, turning to look back at him. In her eyes, wariness mingled with resentment. “What are you going to do with me?”
“Let you go to the bathroom. You’ve been down here for a number of hours. Your bladder has to be full.”
She glanced toward the gateway door that was shrouded in darkness now more than ever. “There’s a bathroom down here?”
“Do I look like a savage who defecates where I lie?”
“You’ll hit me if I answer that.”
His question had been meant as teasing. Her answer tightened his gut into painful knots with the memory of seeing her again, nearly three months after vowing to keep his distance. He’d come upon her in the woods, sobbing silently, bruised and battered from her asshole of a husband’s filthy touch.
Christ, how he’d wanted to hold her…. Bodily, he’d kept his distance.
Not a second longer.
Grabbing her chin in his hand, Sebastian jerked her face toward his. Her eyes appeared huge, luminous pools of green, and fear filled every inch of them, tugging at his heart. “Many things I’ll do to you, but never will I raise my fist in violence.”
Slowly, the fear receded. “I meant you’d spank me again.”
At least Leia seemed to agree now that his swats weren’t in the name of hostility. Taking the perception as a step in the right direction, he pulled her to the opposite wall and nodded at the hole dug out there.
Mortification filled her face. “You expect me to pee in a hole in the ground?”
“There was a time you’d have done so gladly.”
The shame lifted, replaced with demanding curiosity. “How do you know me?”
“I told you, we’ve never met.” Inclining his head once more, he placed a palm on her bare shoulder and applied commanding pressure. “Go if you’re going to.”
She moved into a semisquat position before idling to press back against the weight of his hand. “I can’t do it with you watching.”
“Then don’t. Either way, you have thirty seconds.”
“What then?”
“Then the Camaloe returns.” He gave in to a wicked grin, one both for show and that revealed his true anticipation for revealing the highly sensual, naturally exquisite woman lying dormant within. “The gentle pace you enjoyed earlier, the one that soothed you to sleep, that’s gone, slave. From here on out, you work for the right to rest.”
4
He’s going to sleep with me.
The idea of Sebastian lying next to her, touching, possibly holding her while she slept should pale when compared with the degrading things she’d endured in this underground cell and those forthcoming, far more despairing ones he’d hinted at. But the words continued to rally through Leia’s mind, the idea making her skin feel crawly as she gracelessly squatted over the hole carved out of the dirt.
No matter her struggle to shut his presence from her mind, Sebastian’s gaze heated the back of her head. At least the lighting was dim. That small measure of comfort eased through her enough to fight off the weary strain in her thighs and relax her bladder. The arousing effect of the Camaloe obviously masked the urge to pee, because she hadn’t realized how badly she’d needed to go until a sigh of relief slipped between her lips.
“I’ll take that as a thanks.”
Leia almost laughed at the arrogance in his words and tone. Allowing her to piss in a hole in the ground, such a gentleman.
There was a time you’d have done so gladly.
She frowned with the reminder of his accurate words. There’d been a time when she’d have turned down her now-toasted Manolo’s and shredded designer clothes for the joy of bare feet and faded denim, and been damned glad for it.
How could he know her so well if they’d never met? He couldn’t.
Unless he’d known Ken…
It would explain so much. Particularly, how Sebastian could know to speak the same demanding words Ken had spoken to her that day near the stream, when he’d used his belt to alternately paddle and fuck her.
No, that day never happened. That was just a dream, conjured up as a side effect of the Camaloe. Ken had been a decent guy once, but she’d never been a woman who thrilled in pain. No matter what Sebastian believed, she never would be.
Leia started to rise only to feel his hand return to her shoulder, splayed fingers pressing her back down into the squatting position. His free hand came between her thighs, wiping her with a damp towelette, as if she were as helpless as a baby.
Humiliation like nothing she’d experienced with her ex scorched her cheeks. She jabbed her teeth into her lip to keep from railing into him. But, goddammit, that was it! By his accounts, this was her first day in this cell. Even if his vow not to raise his fist in violence was sincere, she wouldn’t spend another hour here, enduring his future plans and playing along with his wicked games.
Lifting his hand from her shoulder, he commanded like some high and mighty asshole, “You may rise.”
She obeyed, rising to a standing position while her pulse began a frantic beat, then darted for the black abyss that was the mysterious fourth wall. There had to be a door hidden in the darkness. An exit she would reach first.
Escape. Freedom. Dear God, no midgets please.
“You only serve to hurt yourself.”
As if he’d taken possession of her mind, Sebastian’s words echoed through her head seconds before they reached her ears. Mentally batting them away, along with the thunder of her heart, she kept running.
It seemed forever her feet plodded against the dirt, her bare breasts jostling until they ached from the movement and fatigue pulling at her limbs.
How could the cell suddenly have grown so big? Minutes had passed, at least five, and she hadn’t even reached the darkness yet.
Her breath wheezed out. A searing pain started in her side. Sweat dripped into her eyes, hazing her vision.
Hell, she wasn’t this out of shape.
Afraid to look back, even more afraid to keep going without knowing how closely he followed, Leia glanced over her shoulder. Shock toppled her. Sebastian stood unmoving less than two feet away, arms hanging at his sides while warning reflected in his dark eyes. The hole she’d relieved herself in was just as close.
Not possible. Not freaking possible!
Incre
dulity had her feet halting without warning. She crashed to her knees, her hands hitting the dirt next, fingers outstretched but not supportive enough to stop her descent. Her face connected almost as an afterthought, cheek kissing the cool ground, naked ass thrust in the air.
She lay prone on her belly, floundering like a fish, with her master directly behind her. Just like that day with Ken at the stream.
And like that day with Ken at the stream, wild thrill chased through her, moistening her pussy with anticipation while her nipples abraded the hard earth.
Damn it, no! That was just a dream. She didn’t want this. Wasn’t aroused.
Yet, her sex quivered as she waited for Sebastian’s knees to come down against the backs of hers, the feel of his workboot pressing against her lower spine. The push of his strong fingers deep into her sheath, driving her insensate with need.
She waited for reasons she couldn’t fathom, could only think to blame another for continuing to control her desires. Waited for nothing.
He never touched her. Never spoke.
Fury balling that was as senseless to Leia as her arousal, she pushed her palms against the dirt, intending to stand. Fingers shoved into her hair and yanked her sharply to her feet before she could make a move. Shards of ache rippled through her head as fury turned to alarm. The pain evaporated then, and the potency of his big, hard body so near had arousal threatening to outweigh panic.
It made no fucking sense. Only escape did.
Panting for air, she looked ahead, into the darkness, to the exit that had to be so close. Would she make it this time if she ran? Would he let her go if she tugged hard enough?
“Don’t do it, Leia.” The heat of his breath sizzled along her nape, eliciting shivers along her spine. “The risk isn’t worth the reward.”
It was if the reward was freedom.
She wrenched hard, jerking her hair from his grip as pain shot through her scalp and into her temple. Her feet huffed against the ground, bare soles attacking the hard soil. This time the blackness drew closer. Sweet relief jetted through her.
She was going to make it. Going to get out of this hell.
The blackness enveloped her. Tears of gratitude welled in her eyes.
Yes. Yes, please. Just let me get out of here.
Fingers wrapped around her ankle in the next instant. Dread swallowed relief whole, recklessly pummeling her heart against her ribs. She went down fast and hard, the breath sailing out of her as she slammed onto her belly and breasts.
“I told you no,” Sebastian reproved.
“I told you I hate you.” Adrenaline had the words growling out even as it kept her moving, crawling. One hand to the next. Inches. Bare inches until her fingers touched down on something hard. Not wood but…dirt?
The mad beat of Leia’s heart came to a standstill as disbelief rocked through her and, for a second or two, she forgot to breathe. A wall. It felt like a wall. No, it couldn’t be. It could not be another damned solid wall.
It is.
The silent confirmation repeated in her head, not her own thought but placed there by another. By him. And yet, somehow, she knew it to be the truth.
“There’s nothing here.” Her words came out feeble, frightened. Desolate. She couldn’t stop it, couldn’t stop more tremulous words from following. “But h-how do you come and go? How d-did I get down here?” She angled her neck in an attempt to view the night-blackened moss and root ceiling. It had to be the answer.
“It isn’t,” Sebastian supplied, as if he was once more in her mind.
The lantern light behind them grew brighter. Rays of light pierced through the darkness, until she could see the width of the wall her palm rested against. The fingers gripping her ankle released, and he came up on his knees to place his hand against the wall beside hers. Only, his fingers didn’t remain flat. His hand moved into the hard-packed earth as easily as if it were sliding into finely sifted sand.
Skin, bone, and muscle eased into the wall until his arm disappeared nearly to his shoulder. Leia’s throat constricted with harsh reality, acquiescence dodging her mind’s disbelief while sickness ate at her stomach.
There truly was no exit from this hell. She was trapped for as long as he willed it. And he really was what he claimed, neither alive nor dead. “You’re a ghost.”
“No ghost. Just a master. Your master.” He spoke words, something short, soft, foreign. Something that had her arms jerking behind her back without her consent and more of the damnable vines binding her wrists together. “Playtime’s over, slave.”
“You don’t need Aubrie.” Leia’s voice shook with the observation as Sebastian took hold of her joined wrists and hauled her to her feet.
He spun her around and slid his gaze the length of her delectable curves. Feeling the effect of ogling her naked body as a needful throbbing in his groin, he deliberately misunderstood her. “You’re offering me sex?”
Anxiety flooded her eyes, and she darted her gaze away. Within seconds, she looked back, coolness in place of her alarm. “To bind me. You don’t need Aubrie or anyone else to physically tie me up. You can do it with your mind.”
“I’ve learned, Leia, to not take anything for granted. You never know when someone might take an arrow to your heart.”
“You were murdered?” She gasped as incredulity and compassion took over her thoughts.
The fragile connection between them was growing stronger, his ability to read her coming more frequently. Without knowing her emotions firsthand, he’d never have believed she could feel pity for him, not after just discovering how truly trapped she was, not so soon at all. Much as he savored that connection, he didn’t want her damned pity. It called upon his own, made him weigh her inner fears, and that she might not yet be ready to move on with the remembering.
Sebastian spun her back around and pushed her toward the wooden support rod. “I had it coming.”
Leia stumbled with the force of his shove, the emotions storming through him making it harder than intended. She righted herself before she went down, feet moving double-time to keep her body stabilized as she continued to the rod. Reaching it, she turned back to eye him with wild wonder. “Jesus, what were you like to believe you deserved to die?”
“Heartless. Controlling. Manipulative.”
“Even being murdered wasn’t enough to change your attitude?”
He chuckled with the implication. “I can be all of those things still, but I’m not the man I was. Now, my pet, it’s time that we see to your needs.”
Wonder was forgotten with the narrowing of her gaze. He could see the venom lurking in her eyes, feel it surging through her body for his intimating she was no more than an animal for his keeping. Still, she remained quiet, subdued as she back-stepped the last foot to the support rod and waited for the vines to reclaim her body.
The vines came around her. Not above and below her breasts, securing her to the rod as before, but a neat, thin, soft strip of it around her neck.
Leia’s eyes flew wide. “You can’t!”
“I can. You’re mine. All mine. I’ll treat you however I want to treat you.” Purposely, Sebastian spoke the words he’d heard Ken use that day at the stream, over four years ago. That day he’d seen Leia for the first time.
She’d been such a life force. Naturally wild and beautiful. Unencumbered by the trappings of greed and materialism.
In her, he’d seen what he’d never been: free.
By way of her thoughts and actions, he’d come to understand all that he’d taken for granted. He’d learned to value the nature he’d been left to protect, to see the wonder in the landscape, and not just the profit to be had in paving it down to make way for another development. Because of her, he’d come to know true, unaffected happiness.
Because of him, she would once again know the same.
Leia blinked and then shifted, rubbing her naked thighs together, telling him how quickly his words thrust her, mind and body, back to that day with Ken, that er
otic memory, or for now what she believed a devastatingly wet dream. Questions filled her eyes, but she didn’t ask them, didn’t speak a word, just turned her attention on the ground.
He couldn’t read her emotions now, could barely see her face between the length of her blond hair falling across it and the shadows cast by the lantern light. Her subdued behavior was so far off from both the chilly front and turbulent inner fears she’d exhibited so far that he could guess she was sorting through her thoughts, trying to separate the truths. Time would be her best ally in that regard.
Time left alone.
Leaving her free of the support rod, Sebastian moved to the chest behind her. Aware of how often his body suffered while aiding those beings harmed in nature, Aubrie kept a fresh supply of Camaloe stocked for his use. Squatting, he pried the lid off an earthen container and coated two fingers in the gel.
After replacing the lid, he stood and turned to find Leia watching him. Her attention went to his fingers, the translucent green gel shimming there. Caginess flashed in her eyes. Shaking her head, she shuffled backward. “Please don’t.”
Damn, but he knew how much the pleading cost her. How frightened she had to be to allow it. With her wrists bound behind her and no viable means of escape, she could barely even put up a fight.
He couldn’t let that get to him.
Sebastian repeated the thought, sating the compassion once again churning through him as he heightened the stakes in his favor by summoning a length of vine that extended from his hand to her collar. A brisk tug on the vine had her body propelling toward his.
She whirled into him full force. Her breasts crushed up against his chest, her pelvis pressing intimately into his thighs.
Terror sparked in her eyes. “I can’t breathe!”
Having served its purpose, he dismissed the vine, though not for fear of her life. This close he could feel the tepid air leaving her mouth, feel the hasty but strong beat of her heart. This close he could sense the juices welling in her core with the charge of electric excitement pushing through her body.
