The woman is wearing a too-tight red dress that pushes up her breasts provocatively, and curves around her hips and ass like a second-skin, leaving little to the imagination. Her blonde hair is pulled back away from her face, but then hangs down her back in loose ringlets.She’s tracing tiny circles
Caleb drops his hand down to my side and takes my wrist. He doesn’t ask, doesn’t command, simply turns away from me and starts walking to a side door. I immediately fall into step behind him.At his whispered promises, my pussy began to feel wet. Now, with the promise of more on the horizon, I’m dri
It feels so good, my mind is blank to all but yes and more, please more.With my last working brain cell, I stubbornly keep my mouth shut.Caleb growls, and the vibrations bring me even more pleasure.Then, without warning, he slips a finger inside of me. Then two, pumping in and out, mimicking the
The days continue on. Caleb constantly commands that I be on hand, ready to give him a massage whenever he demands one, so my routine starts to reflect Caleb’s own. I wake up early, wash and change, then meet him outside of his door as he leaves his rooms.He walks and I follow, to the Hall. There,
Before I can even think to hide the knife, or have any reaction other than, oh, shit, Caleb walks through the door of my bedroom. He doesn’t even knock, simply opens the door and saunters right in.When he sees the knife, he abruptly halts straight in his tracks. “What the hell is that?”“I’m not su
Another day, another banquet, this time for lunch. I’m starting to realize that the noble elites require Caleb’s time as much as his people’s problems do, likely to make themselves feel important. Half an hour into this banquet, and I’m still unsure what the purpose even is.When I ask Tristan, he g
Yes, he must be thinking of that, because as his cheeks turn red, he stammers something, and then scurries away.Glancing at Caleb, I risk teasing him again. “You owe me one.”“I owe you nothing, wench,” he grumbles, yet even as he says it, he threats an arm around my waist and yanks me closer to hi
Walking into the closet, I collect all the spare pieces of fabric and lace that the thieves left behind. Then I carry it back into the other room.By now, Bethany has pulled herself together enough to stand. She meets me beside the bed, where I drop all the fabrics down.She saved me once before, se
My heavy heart persists into the evening. I haven’t talked much since speaking with Kira, retreating to my room soon after. Not even Bethany could encourage me to speak. Kira’s words cut into me, straight down to the bone. I don’t want to believe that Caleb only wants me for sex, and that’s all he’
None of that matters now. Annabelle looks at me sharply. “What are you doing here?” I step into the room, Bethany following along, my silent support. Glancing away from her in my dream gown, I try to stoke my rage again. Remembering the letter, I retrieve it from my pocket. “I’m tired of being th
The next morning, as I lay in bed staring at the ceiling, dreading another day of doing nothing, I hear a swishing sound near my door. Sitting up, I look at the door and find a slip of paper laying near it on the ground. Did someone slide that underneath? Curious, I pull myself out of bed and walk
“I want to apologize to you for how I acted before,” Annabelle says. With her head down, she also droops her shoulders, seeming for all the world like she might drop to her knees at any moment. He really doesn’t need that kind of dramatics, so he’s relieved when she continues to stand. “I let my
She looks away. “While I cannot save those condemned to the coliseum, I can help prepare them to hone the best of their abilities. I give them the best possible fighting chance, so when they step into the ring, they might survive. Many do not, but some succeed.” Looking back at me, she continues, “
I awaken the next morning to a loud, confident knock on my door. Rising up from bed, I pull on my housecoat and walk to the door, opening it. I’m half-expecting Bethany, though she doesn’t usually knock quite that loudly. Instead, I find the Pitmaster there. Her expression is severe as always but d
Much, much later, after Caleb ravaged me on the stairs again and then twice more in my bedroom, once we are relatively cleaned up, though I still carry his scent all over me, Caleb sits on the edge of my bed, staring at me as I recline there, jelly-like and sated. We need to have a talk, and I know
Seeing Caleb rush towards me, fury in his gaze, I already know what’s happened here. Bethany. She might have seemed compliant when I told her to stay behind, but I should have known she wouldn’t just sit idly by while I placed myself in danger, even if I instructed her to do so. She is my friend b
“That is a terrible idea,” Bethany says, not holding back. “What could you even hope to gain by doing that? Best case scenario, Leah has no way of delivering the message. Worst case, Samuel lures you out somewhere and has you killed.” “He won’t kill me,” I say. Despite his threats, he cares for me,