The same lonely-looking hairbrush stared up at me with renewed hope when I opened the drawer for the third time. I rammed it closed again with a bang. Why did Callan bloody Blackwell have to be so damn meticulous? I had gone through the entire room three times, and there was not a single thing in it that could even remotely be classified as a weapon. Well, unless I hit him with the hairbrush.
After stalking back out of the bathroom, I sat down on the floor next to the bed and leaned back against the dark wooden bedframe. My chain rattled as I moved. I wasn’t sure why, but sitting on the floor somehow made me feel a bit better. A bit more grounded.
Tilting my head back, I glared up at the well-stocked bookshelf. There was a little bit of everything on it. Some books about history and some about science while others looked to be romance and adventure novels. As if Callan wanted to make sure that I wasn’t bored while I was locked in this room. I wasn’t sure if I was grateful or pissed off about that.
It had been almost a full day since I had moved into my new accommodations, and I was forced to admit that the humiliating moment of groveling had actually been worth it. I had been able to sleep in a real bed last night, and there was an actual bathroom just through the open doorway. And in my current position, that counted for quite a lot.
However, I still hadn’t been able to find a way out of here. When I had opened the door to my room, I had found a guard sitting right outside. And the damn bed was bolted to the floor, so even if there hadn’t been a guard there, I wouldn’t have been able to make it more than two steps into the hallway before the chain around my ankle reached its limit. There were also no weapons or any useful tools inside the room. But I wasn’t too dismayed. I would figure this out. Somehow.
The door was shoved open.
I shot to my feet and whirled around while instinctively bringing my palms together. Bitterness flooded my chest when I remembered that I couldn’t summon any magic, but the feeling was quickly replaced by anger when I saw who it was that had crossed the threshold.
“Get ready,” Callan ordered as he came to a halt in the middle of the room.
Narrowing my eyes at him, I stalked forward until I was standing only two strides away. “I thought I made it clear back in Eldar that I expect you to knock when the door to my room is closed.”
Amusement drifted across his face as he looked back at me and raised his eyebrows. “Interesting demand for someone who’s a prisoner.”
“Well, it’s common courtesy for most people. But seeing as you lack basic manners, I figured I had to spell it out for you again.”
He advanced on me. Crossing my arms, I raised my chin and stood my ground. When he was standing so close that I could almost feel the heat radiating from his body, he reached up and grabbed my chin while a grin spread across his mouth. His thumb skimmed my bottom lip.
“I see that talented tongue of yours has lost none of its sharpness.”
I flashed him a lethal smile. “I might be your prisoner, but I will still make your life hell in any way I can.”
“I would expect nothing less.” Holding my gaze, he let out a dark chuckle. “That’s what makes it fun. Especially when I finally break you.”
“Come try it, pretty boy.”
He released another dangerous laugh, but didn’t respond. With his hand still on my chin, he glanced down to my lips, and for a second it looked like he was going to do something… else. But then he abruptly stepped back and let his hand drop.
Striding back to the door, he grabbed a green and golden dress from someone’s arm outside and draped the garment over the set of drawers along the wall. It took me a moment to realize that it was my dress. The one I had worn to the ball when we kidnapped Lance.
Callan jerked his chin towards the bathroom. “Get ready. Grant wants to negotiate with us.”
I had just been about to ask about the dress, but the thought evaporated when I registered what he had just said. Tearing my gaze from the dress, I shifted my full attention to Callan. He just crossed his arms and stared back at me expectantly.
“Us?” I asked when no other explanation was forthcoming.
“Yes. The others think that we double-crossed them together, and we’re gonna keep it that way.”
“What? Why would…”
I trailed off as understanding flooded my mind. It was followed by smug victory. Throwing my head back, I laughed up into the pale ceiling before turning to Callan again and making a show of wiping away tears of amusement.
“You need me,” I said.
Still standing there with his arms crossed, he just scowled back at me in silence.
While a wicked grin blew across my lips, I sauntered up to him before repeating, “You need me. Because only the threat of having to fight both of us will keep Malcolm and the others from attacking.”
He lifted one shoulder in a nonchalant shrug.
“If it was just you, Malcolm would team up with Sienna and Grant to attack you three on one,” I pressed. “And if they ever did that, they would definitely be able to take Lance from you. Ha! Maybe I should—”
His hand shot out and grabbed my jaw, forcing my mouth closed. Lightning flashed in his eyes as he leaned down to growl in my face. “Before you go getting any ideas about telling them the truth, think about what they would do if they knew that you were powerless. The great Audrey Sable. Completely defenseless and there for the taking.”
For a few seconds, I just glared up at him in silence. I hated to admit it, but the bastard did have a point. If Malcolm or Sienna were to find out that I didn’t have my magic, I had no idea what they would do to me. At least with Callan I knew what I was getting. Perhaps sticking with the devil you know would indeed be the best course of action this time.
As if Callan could read my reasoning on my face, he released my jaw and let out a smug huff. “That’s what I thought. So, play along. We need to win this war and make Malcolm and the others submit before the heroes figure out that Lance isn’t in the city anymore. Because if we’re still in the middle of an internal power struggle when they come out here to take him back, none of us are going to survive.”
I clicked my tongue. “Fine.”
“Good. Now, get in the shower and then put on the dress. We’re expected at Grant’s mansion soon.”
“How?” I snapped, my irritation resurfacing again at his commanding tone.
“What?”
“How am I supposed to take a shower?”
He frowned down at me. “What do you mean? I made sure that the chain was long enough that you’d be able to comfortably reach everything in your room.”
“I’m still wearing my riding pants.” I kicked out my leg, making the chain clink against the manacle around my ankle. “How am I supposed to get them off with this on?”
“I…” A hint of surprise flickered in his eyes as he glanced down at my ankle, but he quickly smothered it under another heavy scowl. “I don’t see how that’s my problem.”
“It is if you want me to not smell like your damn dungeon when we get to Grant’s place.”
“Fine,” he bit out.
Shaking his head, he pulled out a key from inside his dark leather armor. I marked its location carefully. And just like that, I had a target. It took all I had to suppress the smirk that threatened to spill across my lips.
After dropping into a crouch, Callan unlocked the padded manacle around my ankle. I rolled my foot a couple of times while he straightened again.
“Knock on the door when you’re done,” he ordered. “Yuito will take you to see me.”
I let a sly smile slide home on my mouth as I quirked an eyebrow at him. “You’re not joining me in the shower?”
Something flickered in his eyes. “Do you want me to?”
Instead of answering, I grabbed the hem of my shirt and pulled it over my head. Callan’s eyes stayed locked on mine while I let the dark fabric flutter to the floor and then reached for the buttons on my pants. Undoing them slowly, I tried to get him to glance downwards. But he never did.
Once I had stepped out of my pants, I cocked my head. Callan just watched me, his face a blank mask. I reached up and undid the fastenings on my brassiere. It fell to the floor as well, but that damn force mage still refused to look where I wanted him to.
I needed him to get in the shower with me so that I could steal the key from his clothes afterwards when he was distracted. And besides, it wasn’t as if he had never seen me naked before. Only three days ago, we had been fucking each other in a room at The First and Last Stop.
Also, I knew without a doubt that even if I got naked with him, he would never force himself on me. Back in Eldar, he hadn’t given into his desires until I had specifically told him to fuck me. Not to mention that look of panic that had flashed in his eyes yesterday when he thought that I had misinterpreted his joke about chaining me to the bed. So there really was no harm in teasing him.
Drawing my hands over my hips, I started pushing my panties down my legs. Callan clenched his jaw. A small spark of satisfaction swirled inside me. Finally.
While slowly bending over, I pushed my underwear all the way down before stepping out of them. Then I drew my hands up my legs on the way back as I straightened. Callan’s gaze hadn’t moved so he had been staring at the wall behind me while I was bent over. Once I had straightened, his eyes were once more locked on mine.
I bit my lip.
His gaze flicked down to it.
Then, as if that had ruined all of his stoic commitment, his eyes quickly shot down the rest of my body too. Dark desire flared up on his face, and his cock hardened against the leather fabric of his pants.
There was a fire burning behind his eyes as he raked them over my body, and the intensity of it made my heart stutter slightly.
Recovering, I painted another sly smile on my lips instead. “So, are you joining me in the shower or what?”
His gaze snapped back up to mine. For a moment, he just blinked as if trying to clear his vision. Then he abruptly whirled around and strode towards the door.
“Knock on the door when you’re ready,” he said, his voice rough.
Then, without a single look back, he yanked the door open and disappeared into the hallway before slamming it closed behind him again.
Tilting my head back, I heaved an annoyed sigh.
That had been such a perfect opportunity. Why couldn’t he have just taken the bait?
While shaking my head, I stalked into the bathroom and towards the shower.
Well, there was always next time.
