Warriors of Wind and Ash - Page 73

“Look at me, Spider.”

After taking a second to compose myself, I lift my head. It’s easy to let tears spill over and roll down my cheeks.

Rahzien watches me with the cold gray eyes of a shark, but this time there’s a quiver of warmth in his gaze.

“I do love it when a pretty woman cries,” he murmurs. “There’s nothing quite so arousing in all the world.”

You’re sick, I snarl inwardly, but I keep my eyes sorrowful, and I let my lips tremble.

“I can be merciful,” Rahzien says quietly. “But only to a point. You’ll remain in this room for the rest of the day. You’ll repeat your lessons to me five times, right now. And you will never go anywhere in the palace again without my permission. Am I understood?”

“Yes, Master.”

He shifts his position, spreading his legs. He wants me to see the shape of his solid cock, thick and hard under his pants. He wants me to know what he could do to me, anytime he likes.

“Repeat your lessons,” he orders. “Five times each.”

I begin the recitation, nervously eyeing Rahzien’s hand, which is on his thigh, perilously close to that obvious hardness. “I am your pet…” He’s getting noticeably harder as I kneel there, as I voice each demeaning phrase about myself. And when I say, “no one wants me,” for the fifth time, his cock jerks beneath the material, and his fingers twitch as if he’s aching to touch it.

But he doesn’t say a word, not until I’ve finished speaking. Then he gets up stiffly, adjusts his pants, and walks to the door that leads out into the hallway. “I’m going to lunch, then for a ride. I’ll take care of the prince later this afternoon. This evening, you’ll join me for a private dinner, after which we can discuss when you might feel ready to come to my bed.”

Incredulous and furious, I get to my feet. “Wait.”

Fuck, I said that too sharply.

Rahzien turns around with predatory slowness, his face a stony mask.

I clench my hands, my voice unsteady. “It’s just that—you gave Lord Harlowe permission to rape me, and you ordered that guard to beat me… but you won’t rape or beat me yourself. It’s as if you think you’re a better man for not performing those despicable acts with your own hands. But you’re not. You might be worse.”

“A better man,” he says, with an easy calm that terrifies me. “There is no such thing. No morals, no right or wrong. Only the weak claim such principles, because they fear the strong.”

“And you believe I’m weak.”

He laughs softly. “You are… pliable. Instead of breaking when I crush you, you bend, like a reed, and you spring up straight again once I remove the pressure. I thought you might have the prideful stubbornness of your mother, but you have something more interesting—an unexpected resilience.”

“Don’t talk about my mother,” I seethe.

The corner of his mouth curves. “You were so meek and submissive a moment ago. And now, this defiance. You know you’ll have to pay for it. Must I put you back in that cell at the Harlowes’ mansion? I’m sure Zevin wouldn’t mind having you as a guest. He sent me a message today, begging for another chance with you. Says he can’t remember what happened last night. Perhaps I should let him try again, after all.”

Fear crawls up my throat, twisting together with the anger until I feel sick. “Please… not him.”

“Don’t worry, Spider. I’ve already sent someone to deal with him. He delivered his holdings and possessions to me, and that’s all I wanted from him. He was a dead man from the moment he signed that pledge. Do you really think I could let him live once he’d had you?”

I stare, disbelieving, trying to make sense of the fact that Zevin is dead, or soon will be. Hard as I try, I can’t bring myself to be sorry.

“I warned him,” Rahzien continues. “I told him that if he wasn’t careful with you, he’d regret it. Rest assured that when you join me in bed, I’ll make sure you come until you can’t manage another orgasm.”

I retreat farther from him, and he shakes his head with a short laugh. “You’ll agree eventually.”

“I won’t agree. Never.”

A spark of jealous irritation flickers in his eyes. “Is it the dragon? Kyreagan? How does he have such a hold on you? If he wasn’t already dead, I’d ask him.”

“You don’t know for sure the dragons are dead,” I counter recklessly. “That’s why you sent the bird. To see if the poison worked.”

“It worked.” His voice is harsher now, like he’s steeling himself against doubt. “Her poisons never fail.”

Her poisons.