After marching Audrey into her room, I closed the door behind us. As she turned around to face me, she raised her chin in a cocky gesture and arched her eyebrows expectantly. I crossed my arms. Standing before the door, I just watched her in silence for a while.
I knew that she had only kissed me in that carriage because she needed an excuse to look for the key. Since I had already given it to Henry before we left the mansion, there was nothing for her to find. So after she had discovered that, I could have just ended it. Should have ended it. But instead, I had taken it even further. Like an addict, I had wanted to watch that intoxicating expression on Audrey’s face when I made her come, and hear her moan my name, just one more time.
“So, we got Grant to back off,” Audrey said into the crackling silence.
“Yeah, I did.”
She huffed in annoyance, but didn’t reply.
“I seem to remember telling you that I would do the talking.”
“You did.”
“And still you disobeyed.”
A sharp smile slid across her lips while she lifted one shoulder in a nonchalant shrug. “Disobeyed? As if I was ever going to follow your orders.”
“Yes, disobeyed. And I think you need to be reminded who’s in charge.”
In all honesty, I think I needed to remind myself that I was still the one in control.
She flashed me a come-try-it look.
I leveled a commanding stare on her. “Strip.”
A surprised laugh bubbled from her throat. Cocking her head, she shot me a sly smile. “Can’t get enough of me, huh?”
“Don’t flatter yourself. I need to make sure that you didn’t steal anything from the party.”
“Like what?”
“Like something you might stab in my chest.”
“What makes you think I would give you the courtesy of letting you see my face when I stab you? I can just as easily reach your heart through the back of your ribcage.”
“Come try it, sweetheart.” A hint of amusement flickered through me, but I shoved it down and jerked my chin. “Now strip.”
She raised her chin while mischief glinted in her eyes. “Or what?”
With my arms still crossed, I only kept staring her down in silence. Outside the window, a night wind whirled around the corners of the mansion, creating a soft howling sound. Light from the candles inside the room illuminated Audrey’s gorgeous face and made her eyes glitter.
“Fine,” she said at last, and let out an exasperated sigh.
After untying the leather strings on her bracers, she yanked them off and tossed them to the floor before my feet. They clanked faintly as they landed in a heap on the dark wooden floorboards. Five black rings were once again visible on Audrey’s right forearm as she raised her hands and started undoing the laces of her dress.
The green and golden fabric fluttered as she shimmied out of the bodice before letting the whole garment fall to the floor. Arrogance still flickered across her face as she bent down and gathered it up. Straightening again, she hurled the balled-up dress at my chest. I let it hit my crossed arms and fall to the floor to land on top of the bracers.
Spreading her arms, she turned in a circle. “Happy?”
“No.” I nodded towards her underwear. “Take it all off.”
“Seriously? You took my panties off in the carriage. You already know that I’m not hiding a knife in there.”
I just raised my eyebrows expectantly.
She narrowed her eyes at me, but in the end, she reached up and removed her brassiere before taking off her panties too. After balling them up, she threw them at me as well.
“Here.” She flashed me a taunting look, but her nipples were hard and there was dark desire burning in the depths of her eyes. “A souvenir to remember this night by.”
Not taking her bait, I instead shot a pointed glance at her pussy. “You made such a mess in the carriage.” I jerked my chin towards the bathroom. “Go wash yourself.”
A small shudder coursed through her body and that searing desire in her eyes flared up even more. So, it still turned her on when I bossed her around, huh?
While giving me a smile dripping with sweet poison, she moved towards the bathroom. Her hips swayed a bit more than they usually did, and I found my gaze drifting down to her perfect ass.
I followed her, but stopped in the doorway when she reached the shower. Leaning my shoulder against the doorjamb, I watched as Audrey turned on the water and stepped into it. Splashing noises filled the room.
Her hands moved slowly, and with precision, as she dragged them over her curves. My cock hardened unbidden in response to it.
“Use the soap,” I ordered.
Turning, she shot me an annoyed look over her shoulder. “I know how to take a shower.”
“Really? I seem to remember a time when I had to do it for you.”
She turned fully so that she was facing me. With her eyes locked on mine, she reached out and grabbed the soap from the small rack. Instead of rubbing it between her hands to work up a lather, she held the bottom of it with her fingers while she wrapped her other hand around it. Still keeping eye contact, she began slowly drawing her closed hand up and down the bar of soap. As if she was…
Oh hell damn that fucking infuriating poison mage.
Blood rushed to my cock again, making it strain against my pants as she continued moving her hand as if she was jerking off the soap.
A victorious smile tugged at her lips.
Putting the soap back on the rack, she drew her hands down her stomach and towards her thighs. After widening her stance, she slid her fingers over the inside of her thigh.
My heart slammed so hard against my ribs that I was sure they’d shatter any second. Fuck. I had decided to do this to teach her how to follow orders, but it wasn’t turning out at all the way I had planned. If she had told me to join her at that moment, I would have done it without question. I would have been the one following her orders.
With great effort, I tore my gaze from her and instead moved over to the towel rack.
“Finish up and get over here,” I snapped at her. “Now.”
A soft chuckle rolled from her tongue, informing me that she knew exactly what she was doing to me. But a few moments later, the sounds of splashing water stopped. I dragged my gaze back to her as she sauntered up to me.
“Dry yourself off,” I ordered, and threw the large fluffy towel at her.
She caught it in both hands and then wrapped it around her body before starting towards the door. I held out my arm, blocking her way.
“I said, dry yourself off. Not put it on.”
She rolled her eyes at me, but then took the towel off and instead ran it over her limbs until they were completely dry. Once she was done, I snatched it out of her hands and hung it back on the rack.
“Follow,” I commanded before striding back into the bedroom.
If she’d had her magic, I was pretty sure she would have used it to torture me to death at that moment. But she didn’t, so she just stalked after me. I stopped next to the foot of her bed, waiting for her to come to me.
When she was standing in front of me, I crouched down and grabbed the metal chain that was still attached to the leg of the bed. Lifting it up, I snapped the padded manacle shut around her ankle. Then I straightened again.
Audrey was standing there before me, completely naked, powerless, and chained to the bed, but she still somehow managed to look as if she was the one in charge. The one who had given me the order to kneel down and lock her ankle to the bed. It infuriated me how much power she still commanded.
Touching my palms together, I summoned a force blade. Audrey arched an eyebrow in silent question. I didn’t reply. Instead, I just drew the tip of the vibrating blade up the center of her chest and towards her throat. After positioning it under her chin, I raised it even more, forcing Audrey up on her toes.
I kept her like that while locking hard eyes on her. “Never forget that I own you now. The only reason that you are still alive is because of my mercy, which means that your life is mine to do with as I please. So when I give you orders, you obey. Is that clear?”
Revenge burned in her eyes.
Raising the blade farther, I forced her higher up on her toes until she was having trouble keeping her balance. “I said, is that clear?”
“Yes,” she finally growled.
“Good.” I let the force blade disappear and strode over to the drawers instead. After pulling out one of the shirts inside, I threw it at her. “Put it on. And then get some sleep.”
She clenched her jaw, but shook out the clean white shirt and pulled it over her head. It was so large that it hung all the way down to her mid-thighs. After brushing her hands down over it, she looked up and met my gaze again.
My heart skipped a beat.
The shirt. It was one of mine. And seeing her standing there, wearing my shirt and nothing else, made something in my soul tear open. Fuck. I needed to get out of there.
Whirling around, I stalked towards the door without another word. A strange numbness was spreading through my body when I at last crossed the threshold and then slammed the door shut behind me.
Yuito, who had been sitting on the chair outside the door, leaped to his feet. “Boss, should—”
“Take the first watch,” I said, my voice coming out harsher than I had intended. “I’ll send someone to take over in a few hours.”
He dipped his chin in acknowledgement of the order.
While still trying to fight off those strange feelings in my chest, I walked down the stairs and towards my dining room. By all hell, I really needed a drink.
A mountain of a man crashed right into me as I rounded the doorway into the dining room.
“Shit,” Henry swore as his large hand shot out to steady me. “Sorry, boss.”
“It’s fine.” The collision seemed to have snapped me out of my odd mood at least, so I shook my head to clear the rest of it from my mind before looking up at Henry. “Any progress with Lance?”
Regret blew across his face. “No.”
I nodded. My eyes drifted past Henry’s muscular form and towards the whiskey cabinet in the dining room. “Then let’s call it a night. Join me for a drink.”
Henry nodded before turning around and moving back into the room. While he grabbed a pair of whiskey glasses from a low table, I chose one of the better bottles from the cabinet and then walked over to the set of armchairs and couches by the other wall.
Glass clinked as Henry set them down on the table before lowering himself into one of the leather armchairs. I dropped into the other one. A small pop sounded as I pulled out the cork and then poured some whiskey into the two glasses. Then I set the bottle down on the table with a thump.
Seated across from me, Henry just waited in silence.
I slid one of the glasses towards him before picking up the other and drinking deeply. Henry gave me a nod in thanks before raising his own and taking a long sip as well. He had rolled up the sleeves on his dark blue shirt, and his powerful muscles shifted as he dragged his other hand through his brown hair before leaning back in his armchair.
“So, you still haven’t managed to break Lance?” I asked.
He winced slightly. “I’m sorry, boss. I’m really—”
“It’s fine,” I interrupted because I hadn’t meant the question to sound like that. We’d only had Lance in custody for two days, and I didn’t blame Henry for not being able to break him in that short amount of time. But I was still feeling a bit off from my evening with Audrey, so none of my words seemed to come out the way I wanted them to. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
His perceptive gray eyes searched my face. “You okay?”
“Of course.”
Raising my glass, I drank deeply again. Then I leaned back in my armchair and raked a hand through my hair. From across the low table, I could feel Henry’s gaze searing into the side of my head.
After once more taking a long sip, I heaved a deep sigh. “Spit it out.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Henry.” I dragged my gaze back to him while exasperation blew across my face. “You’ve been by my side for over a decade now. I can tell when you’ve got something to say.”
He cleared his throat a bit self-consciously. “May I speak freely?”
“Always.”
“Why do you keep Audrey around?”
Indecision stabbed into my chest.
When I didn’t immediately reply, Henry pressed on. “I just mean, she’s been trying to kill you for the past five years. Almost succeeded a couple of times too. You’ve been wanting her dead for so long, and now you finally have her completely at your mercy. So why do you keep her around? What’s your long-term plan for her?”
“My long-term plan?” Tilting my head back, I released another long exhale.
What was my long-term plan for Audrey? I no longer wanted to kill her, but I couldn’t just set her free either. She was far too dangerous for that. As soon as she was free, she would try to get her magic back and then she would come for my head again. Except with even more ferocity. So if I couldn’t kill her and I couldn’t free her… what was I supposed to do with her?
“I mean, I get that she’s gorgeous and all. And I know you told me that the two of you slept together during the mission in Eldar and that you have some kind of agreement when it comes to sex. But if it’s just stress release you’re after, you could have practically anyone you want.”
“I know.”
Silence fell for a few seconds. I continued staring up into the ceiling while my mind was still trying to answer the question of what I was supposed to do with Audrey long-term.
“Oh, hell,” Henry suddenly said. “It’s not just sex, is it? You care about her.”
I snapped my gaze back to him. He quickly raised a hand in surrender, as if saying that he meant no offense. Wiping a hand over my face, I heaved another endless sigh before draining the rest of the whiskey. Another small pop sounded as I uncorked the bottle and poured more of the amber liquid into my glass.
“Yeah,” I admitted at last.
Henry let out a low whistle. “Shit.”
“Yeah,” I repeated, and then knocked back some more whiskey.
“So… You’re just gonna keep her prisoner forever and hope that she starts liking you at some point?”
I huffed out an amused breath. “Oh trust me, that’ll never happen. She wants me dead. And preferably in an excruciatingly painful way.”
“That’s how you used to think about her too.”
“Yeah, but this is different. I stripped her of her magic, made her my prisoner, and told her that I was going to take her lands and her mansion from her. She’s never going to forgive something like that.”
“So what’s the plan?”
“I don’t know.”
The armchair creaked as Henry shifted his weight. I swirled the liquid in my glass and watched the way the candlelight reflected against the rippling surface. Metal clanked from outside as one of my other guards walked past the window. Glancing out, I watched as he moved across the darkened landscape outside.
“Do you remember that time in Malgrave?” Henry asked, breaking the silence that had fallen.
A smile tugged at my lips as I turned to meet his gaze. “We did a lot of shit in Malgrave. You’re gonna have to be more specific.”
“Alright.” He shot me a pointed look, but a smile lurked on his lips as well. “Do you remember that time with that girl at the carnival in Malgrave?”
I lifted my one shoulder in a nonchalant shrug. “Vaguely.”
“When you left with that girl and ended up having to sneak through the streets stark naked because she stole everything you had?”
“Alright, alright.” Picking up the cork from the table, I hurled it at him before letting out a huff. “Yeah, I remember.”
Catching the cork in one hand, he shot me another one of those half-amused, half-pointed looks. “Me too. Vividly.”
I snorted. “So? Where are you going with this?”
“This feels like that.”
A somber mood descended on the room again. I raked my fingers through my hair and blew out another long breath. Henry just continued watching me with serious eyes.
“Audrey is dangerous,” he said. “You can’t keep her prisoner forever.”
“I know.”
Neither of us said anything more after that. Henry was right. I knew that. And so did he, which was why he didn’t push me further.
The problem was that I still needed Audrey to keep Malcolm, Sienna, and Grant at bay until we could break Lance. My and Audrey’s fake alliance was probably the only thing keeping that damn shadow mage from attacking with the full might of his whole mansion. But his impatience would grow every single day.
And then there was Sienna. She was unpredictable, and she could just as easily knock on my door to strike a deal as she could show up and try to burn my mansion down.
Not to mention that the clock was ticking on our other problem too. The people of Eldar were bound to figure out sooner or later that Lance was no longer in the city. I had to break Lance and secure my place at the top of the dark mage hierarchy before then.
After that, I could worry about what to do with Audrey Sable.
