“No, you cannot eat the men here.”
These men were dressed in flowing white shirts that did little to hide the scrawniness beneath them. They wore their hair back in bands, showing off sharp cheekbones, pulled back with pale skin that almost appeared transparent. They were nothing like Torrin or his warriors. In fact, I’d have been shocked if some weren’t actually women who preferred to dress like men. Either way, they were entirely too scrawny to be desired. Not that I would judge them for that, but being so sickly skinny was fair game. My girls would eat them for breakfast and spit out their bones. Well, minus Tabitha, who wanted to pick her teeth with them.
“Are there no real men here? I need to feed the beast,” Tabitha whined, her brows pushing together on her forehead.
“Moon-touched filth is not welcome here,” a woman stated, her high nasally voice grating on my nerves, causing my eye to twitch.
“Well, then we’ll just leave once you return our blades and our horses,” Amo hissed, her sharp canines glinting in the room’s light as she crossed her arms and popped her hip. I loved Amo and her fierce, sharp, and quick wit that had her willing to fight everything and everyone. She was my spirit animal, even though she wasn’t an animal per se. Scout squawked, and the women stepped back further yet.
“Such ill manners,” the woman whined.
“Fight me, bitch,” Amo challenged, watching them step back again as her face sharpened with her elfin features. “Go suck something off. We’re not here for you or your entertainment. Fuck off, pampered doll.”
I silently took in the woman who spoke, noting her pale hair and bright green eyes that slanted exotically. She was beautiful, and the dress she wore exposed ample cleavage and wide-spreading hips. The gown was mint green, accentuating her eyes while making her light complexion seem darker than it actually was. On her throat was a strand of moonstones fashioned into hearts.
“You would do well to hold your viper tongue before Torrin removes it for me,” she seethed, her friends swarming around her for support.
“I do believe that you accosted us, and not the other way around,” I stated, stepping forward, folding my hands before me, and daring her to argue.
Her eyes studied me, dismissing me as unimportant before narrowing to angry slits at Amo. The woman pushed her chest out, and I lifted a single brow at the move. If she thought her overflowing bosom was going to impress us, she seriously lacked brain cells.
“What’s that? You need out? I know, she trapped you in there, and it’s so unfair that you’re just bursting to get out and scream freedom. Right?” Amo snickered, reaching up to pat the woman’s tits, which made Tabitha bark in laughter as the woman sputtered with rage, turning bright red.
The sound of footsteps echoed in the hall while I kept the woman in my sight to ensure she didn’t make a move that would end with us in shackles. Torrin came into view, and her face softened as she was rushing toward him, jumping before she reached him to throw herself at him.
He caught her while I watched the scene unfolding. Her lips slammed against his while my stomach turned. Torrin didn’t kiss her back, but his eyes sparkled with heat while she slid down his body.
“I have missed you, My Love,” she announced loud and overdramatically.
“And I you, Karina,” he rumbled huskily, causing me to roll my eyes. “I need to see to the king’s guests.”
“They’re horrid creatures, baby,” she whined, her eyes flashing to mine before slowly moving back to his. “They’ve offended me. You should have them whipped before the court for such a brazen slight against your lover and noblewoman.”
I made a loud gagging noise, which was probably childish, but come on. What the hell was with the pathetic display?
“Is that so?” he asked, turning winter-colored eyes on me, which filled with a fire that crackled over my skin.
“Tor, they’re horrid. Do something!” she sobbed, fisting her hands into his shirt.
“Yeah, Tor, do something,” I laughed coldly with a shit-eating grin on my face, daring him to do something to me in front of the court. I crossed my arms over my chest, glaring pointedly at him while he unpeeled the woman from his chest.
Torrin grabbed my arm once he’d removed the court hussy from his shirt, pulling me with him toward the large archway that led out of the hall where we stood. He didn’t stop until we were halfway down the long hallway, and I hadn’t noticed that none of the others were brought with me. My heart slammed against my ribcage, fluttering wildly as he spun, shoving me against the wall, hard and punishing.
“You’re not in your world anymore, little girl. You’re in mine. I’d be very careful who you piss off here. You’re not here under protection from either the king or me. You’re a necessary evil to the goal he seeks to achieve. Don’t make me have to fucking hurt you to get you to understand the severity of pissing off the wrong person.”
I didn’t speak or react. Torrin’s hand slid up to my throat, applying pressure while he studied my reaction. His heady stare dipped to my mouth, smiling cruelly when he took in the way my lips trembled. He sensed how pissed off I was, yet he ignored it. Releasing me, he watched as I stepped away from the wall to continue glaring at him.
“I’d tread carefully here if I were you, Little Bird. Not only has it been a very long time since anyone here has seen your kind, but they don’t like your kind either. You’re nothing to us, Alexandria. Less than nothing to me,” he stated, starting away from me. “Follow,” he snapped angrily.
“I thought we would see the king before you locked us away in cells,” I asked thickly, running to keep up with him. His words had knifed through my heart, and the coldness within his eyes sent chills racing down my spine.
“You thought wrong,” he growled without turning toward me.
Torrin turned down another hallway that had several doors with guards in front of them. I took in their weapons. Mentally, I noted each one had armor embedded with onyx, the opposite of what they needed to ward against nightwalkers. They were weapons used to kill the moon-touched, which we just happened to be.
“Open the door, Hensley,” Torrin grouched, and a guard opened the door before stepping out of the way.
I followed Torrin into the room, pausing to give the guard a withering stare before entering behind him. The inside was decked out in finery, featuring a four-poster bed, with silk curtains hung in wispy waves down from the silver frame that adorned the top. A table sat with whiskey already in goblets on the smooth marble top. In the room’s corner was a bath, fed water by a fountain that poured from the wall.
My bag hung on the partition that divided the bedroom from the bathing room. I crossed my arms, glaring at Torrin while he lifted one goblet, drinking it down, staring at me over the rim. He was cold. Whether it was because I’d openly dismissed him or because he’d finished his task of getting me here, I didn’t know. I also didn’t care.
“The king decided to throw a party in your honor. You’re to attend it tomorrow night. If I were you, I’d be on your best behavior until then. You may not roam the castle without someone at your side. If you feel the urge to explore, you can summon me, and I’ll show you around. Maybe we can even stop at the dungeon to test out some equipment.”
I exhaled softly, moving toward the bed while giving him my back. “You’re wearing Karina’s lipstick. It’s not your color,” I frowned, pinching the bedding to feel the softness between my fingers.
A hand snaked into my hair, twisting me around until his mouth hovered over my lip. His eyes searched mine, ignoring the deadened look I gave him. I wasn’t about to touch his mouth with Karina’s rogue red lipstick on it.
“My room is close to yours. If you feel the need to scratch that itch you are ignoring, have Hensley find me. Until then, you should probably work on your fucking attitude.”
“Screw you,” I snarled, shoving him away. He didn’t budge, and before I could guess his move, he ripped the dress from my
body, causing me to cry out. Torrin picked me up and slammed me down on the bed. I huffed, spreading my legs to clamp them around his torso, but he smiled coldly, giving me pause. His gaze slid over my erect nipples, dipping further down before he growled.
My hands pushed against him, but he captured them, watching me struggle beneath him as he had in the street where he’d captured me. I lifted my head without warning, slamming it into his. He snarled, turning my body over before his elbow pressed against my spine threateningly, sending pain against it, forcing me to still.
“You want to play rough?” Torrin ground down harder before the sound of something ripping echoed through the room. He yanked my hands behind me and wrapped a piece of the curtain, tying them there. I bucked against him, but he ignored it.
Yanking my hair back, he put another length of material in my mouth and tied it around the back of my head, preventing my screams from being heard. Slipping from the bed, he ripped down more of the curtain to tie around my ankles. He yanked one toward the bedpost at the foot of the bed, his fingers quickly securing it as I tried to use my other foot to kick him. His laughter echoed through the room as he caught the flailing limb, attaching it to the post at the head of the bed. He pushed me over, forcing my head to slam into the silk bedding as my core became fully stretched and exposed to his greedy stare where I lay sideways, face-down on the mattress.
Once he’d finished, Torrin walked across the room, opening a door. I bristled in anger and fear, thrusting my hips to loosen the cloth, holding my legs apart. The sound of feet padding back across the room met my ears, and then something hard slapped down on my ass.
I howled through the cloth, the sound muffled. Again something hard and firm slammed into my ass, and I fought angry tears at being humiliated. His fingers slid through the arousal coating my sex, taunting me. He leaned over, kissing the sore flesh of my ass cheek while pushing his fingers into my body. I groaned, rolling my eyes back into my head at the pleasure he induced. I felt something cold against my opening and froze, and then it pushed into my core as he withdrew his fingers.
I shuddered at the feeling of being full, stretched further than I’d been in four years. Torrin worked the rigid object in as his mouth lowered to blow heated breath against the cold tool he used on me. His tongue licked around it, and I gasped through the cloth. He withdrew the item, replacing it with his tongue as I struggled not to come undone at the sensation he created.
Moments before I would have exploded, Torrin moved his mouth away. The firm, flat item slapped against my ass again, and I groaned loudly through the cloth, muffling my noises. His hand rubbed the offended skin, and then the cold object was back against my core, pushing into it as he growled, watching me rocking against it, willingly spreading my legs further apart. Torrin laughed wickedly, withdrawing the rounded tool to replace it with his fingers.
“You’re so fucking wet for me, woman,” he groaned, nipping the flesh he’d kissed. “If you weren’t so fucking hell-bent on holding on to that vow until the last moment, I’d be fucking you until you felt me against your womb. You want that too, don’t you, Alexandria?” he murmured, scissoring his fingers while my body clenched and tightened. “Your body needs release, and so do you,” he whispered thickly, withdrawing his fingers to move from the bed. “I bet you wouldn’t be such a bitch if you were coming for me. I bet you could fit that proverbial stick and my cock up your tight ass at the same time, couldn’t you?” he asked, pushing his thumb against the place in which he was speaking. I tensed, and he chuckled darkly. “Virgin here, huh? You won’t be for long.”
Torrin walked around the bed, smirking at me while I glared at him. Defiance burned in my stare while he bent down, running his fingers over my cheek.
“You’re gorgeous,” he murmured, sitting in front of me. Torrin took me in with dark desire, igniting in his heady stare. “You feel the freedom you have right now?” he asked, and I shook my head. “You’ve never had to let go, have you? You’ve always had control. Right now, you have none. I took it away from you. All you can do is lie there and take what happens and accept it. It frees you from being in control. You look so hot spread out for me. Your sex is soaked from this,” he stated, holding up the hilt of his blade, coated in my arousal all the way down to the guard of the sword, which he gripped in one hand. “Should I leave this here for you? Or should I take it and imagine you fucking it while pretending to be unaffected?”
I swallowed, observing him while I played his words out in my mind. This wasn’t freedom. He tied me to the bed and fucked me with the handle of his sword! He was insane if he thought this offered any freedom at all. In fact, it was the exact opposite of freedom. I wiggled, and Torrin’s eyes grew hooded, his smile tipping up the corners of his generous mouth. He liked it when I struggled, figuring out how helpless I was, realizing that I was truly trapped and at his mercy.
Torrin tilted my chest to the side and slid his hand beneath me to grab my breast, rolling the erect nipple between his fingers as I held his stare. He reclined on the bed in front of me, playing with it as a shit-eating grin spread across his mouth. His eyes studied me while I stared at him with wide, horrified eyes.
“Bloody hell, woman. Let go for a fucking moment and just feel what I’ve offered you,” he urged, noting my eyes only grew wider. Grunting at my response, Torrin stood to pull a knife from his pocket, which sent all my blood rushing to my brain. “Now, tomorrow, there’s a ball. You’ll be provided with an outfit and will be expected to attend while being on your best behavior. Your girls are in the rooms next to you, separated, of course. You are assassins, after all, and we are not new to dealing with your kind. The moon-touched clan has sent many assassins into our lands. You’re not the first female assassin I’ve played with, but you may yet be the first to leave alive.”
Reaching over, Torrin pulled a lock of my hair up between his fingers, holding my panic-filled glare. Smirking, he cut it from my head, watching it return to dull platinum before graying. He dropped it to the floor, tilting his head, edging out of my sight. I jerked my head to the side before moving it the other direction.
Something touched against my opening, and my eyes bugged out of my head before I closed them. Gasping, I tensed against the cold metal touching my clit, and I sucked in air, whimpering. It slowly slid against my core, and I shuddered as pleasure rushed through me. Wicked laughter filled the room before he dropped the knife, licking his tongue through the arousal with a deep growl.
“You are wicked, Little Bird,” he grunted, still lapping against my opening. “You’re soaked, so don’t even try to pretend you’re not into it.”
Torrin moved around the bed, staring at me as he slid his tongue over the blade. My eyes locked on it as he tilted his head. Kneeling on the floor in front of me, he leaned closer, kissing the cloth placed over my mouth. Torrin reached behind my head, removing the fabric. I wanted to throttle him, but his words registered, and my eyes narrowed. How many assassins had entered this land before us? Why weren’t we warned?
He reached up, pushing his thumb over my lips, then lowered his mouth before his fingers curled through my hair. He yanked my head back until his eyes were holding mine.
“Tomorrow night, you better behave. If you don’t, you’ll regret it, woman. I promise you that.”
Standing, Torrin moved around the bed until the swish of a knife cutting through fabric sounded. I sat up, waited for him to remove the binding on my arms. He smirked down at me with heat scorching my flesh where his gaze slid over me. Moving behind me, he untied my hands and leaned over, kissing my thundering pulse.
“Tell me you didn’t feel that freedom,” he growled.
“You’re insane!” I snapped, rounding on him as he backed away. His eyes smiled, sparkling with amusement at the way my chest rose and fell.
“And you’re turned the fuck on, Little Bird. I should have left your mouth available and used it,” Torrin laughed wickedly, gripping his cock while watc
hing the anger burning in my eyes. “Keep lying to yourself that you’re craving some basic cock. You’re not turned on by it, which is why you can’t get off. You need someone like me to take away your control. You’ve been so fucking close for me, and yet I’ve respected your vow. That ends tomorrow night. Sleep well, Alexandria. I suggest you get some rest. You’re going to need it.”
Chapter Seventeen
Screaming woke me from a dead sleep. I lifted my head, searching the room as the obnoxious noises seemed to come from inside it. Sitting up, I moved to the table, lighting the candle before turning toward the wall. Pushing the hair away from my face, I glared at it. Walking to the door, I opened it and then darted back as the guard outside lunged.
“Cool your shit,” I snapped, glaring at Hensley. “Someone is being murdered in the room beside this one, in case you didn’t hear it unfolding.”
“The only thing being murdered in that room is pussy,” he chuckled, dragging his heated gaze down my scantily covered body.
“Tell them to shut the hell up then,” I groaned, rubbing my eyes.
“No can do. You want to tell them, you go right ahead, little lady.”
I bristled, turning toward the noise as yet another round of high-pitched screaming began. Sucking my lip, I worried it between my teeth while scrunching up my face. Drawing in a breath to steady my nerves, I moved toward their door, pounding on it.
The screaming lowered, and male voices laughed from inside. Scuffling sounded before the doorknob twisted and the door was thrown open. Torrin stood before me, shirtless and wearing lounge pants that hung low on his hips, exposing his abdomen’s entirely too sexy V-line. I swallowed hard, moving my gaze to several naked women and a nude male within the room.
My stomach flipped and dropped to my feet at the scene. Karina had her ass in the air while she kissed her way down the other male’s chest. They were all preoccupied and uncaring that I watched as another woman slid down the male’s enlarged cock. Torrin looked back, taking in the scene before turning his eyes back to me and narrowing them.
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