My eyes widen and I practically rip the bag open as I check the supplies in the streams of sunlight coming from the small, window. I gasp when I see her handy work: bandages, a needle and thread, antiseptic – everything I had begged for earlier."I couldn't just watch him die," she says, her voice w
"There," I say softly, brushing a stray lock of hair from Alston’s forehead. "All done."Alston’s eyes flutter open again, and he manages a weak smile. "Thank you," he whispers, his voice barely audible.Lucy watches from the other side of the bars, her eyes wide with a mixture of fear and fascinati
I stare at him in shock, my mind racing to comprehend his words. A public mistress. The humiliation, the degradation – it would be unbearable. "You can’t do this," I whisper, my voice trembling."I can and I will," Sirius replies, his tone final. "You’ve left me no choice, Elise."He signals to the
I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror. The golden fabric hugs my curves, the fitted bodice cinching my waist and emphasizing my figure. The color brings out the warmth in my eyes and the glow in my complexion. “When you look this good, is this a battle you want to fight?”I shake my head no, and
Claudia’s eyes sweep over the scene in front of her, and she sighs. Her emerald green eyes stare at me as if I am the scum on the bottom of her shoe. “Sirius dear, if I knew we were bringing our whores, Julius would have come.”I bristle at her tone, but before I can respond, Sirius stands, his expr
I want Sirius to stop saying marriage. I want him to stop saying we in relation to him and Claudia. I want time to stop and for him never to say the phrase “rekindle our marriage”. I want to stop feeling this ache in my chest that no matter how hard I rub, it will not go away.Claudia takes a deep b
Sirius’s laughter consumes the entire room. Heat pulses under my skin. Claudia white knuckles her silverware in frustration, but Sirius finds amusement in all of this. “You want Elise to be our shared mistress?”Claudia’s nostrils flare, and her lips purse to the side, “If she must be in everything
Eight years earlierSirius stood at the edge of the old park, the twilight sky casting long shadows across the cracked pavement.He kicked a pebble, watching it skip across the ground before glancing at his watch. Claudia had asked him to meet her here, and he couldn't shake the feeling of unease tha