Xander looked warily at Cece, but she looked resigned.
Somehow, that was no comfort. Xander knew she could take the pain, but he wasn’t sure he could.
“No takers? Good! I was getting bored with this. I have something else in mind for the lovely Lady Reznik.”
Vincent put a hand around her throat, caressing her bodice with the other.
Xander’s stomach dropped. He went rigid. The guards tightened their grip on his arms. Rainer rolled in and out of consciousness beside him, in too much pain to connect the dots. If Cato was the brilliant psychological strategist, Vincent was the ruthless, brutal tyrant. He had Cato’s flair for manipulation and, thanks to his time undercover in their court, a deep understanding of the dynamics that played out between the three of them.
Cece was doing a good job of hiding her fear, but her heartbeat raced, and if Xander could hear it from ten feet away, Vincent could most certainly feel it at the pulse point in her neck.
He didn’t seem satisfied with their reaction. His hand tightened on her throat.
“In fact, I think I’ll do it right here. Let you both watch. How many men can say they’ve fucked a goddess?” Vincent taunted. “And I’ll have proof. Maybe I’ll let my men each take a turn after me.”
Vincent’s guards grinned at each other and chuckled as if he’d told a hilarious joke. Every story Xander had been told about the trail of violence Vincent left in villages along Argaria’s borders rushed into his head at once.
“Maybe if she’s as good as you all seem to think, I’ll keep her,” Vincent chuckled. “Would you enjoy that, goddess—having my men and your men watch me take the spoils of this war?”
She refused to cower. “The only thing I will enjoy is watching you bleed out from my blade.”
Vincent stepped back and backhanded her.
Xander tried to stand, but two guards forced him into a chair.
Cece quickly stood up straight and lifted her chin in defiance as Vincent admired the blotchy red mark rising on her cheek. He brushed his fingers tenderly over it.
Xander was desperate for a way out. He looked at the dagger on the hip of the guard to his left. He could probably get it and take the man down, but Cece would be on her own and there were six other guards in the room. Two beside Rainer, two beside Vincent. There were probably men outside the sitting room doors as well.
No matter how badly Xander wanted to help her, if he acted rashly now, they’d all suffer for it. He’d get one chance, and he’d have to make it count. “Stop this. You should keep her for yourself—as a queen,” Xander said. “She’s a goddess. No one would cross you. If you shame her in front of your guards, she can never be that.”
Vincent laughed. “She was never going to be my queen, cousin. I saw the game you three played in your library. She doesn’t fuck like a queen. She fucks like a whore, and that’s what she’ll be to me. She will be treated to every deviant, twisted thing I can’t do to a wife. What a lucky girl you are,Lady Reznik. I have so many creative ideas for you. So many dark, destructive things for you to try.”
Cece paled, her panicked gaze shifting from Rainer to Xander.
“You smell so sweet.” Vincent’s nose grazed up the column of her neck, and she shuddered as his tongue darted out to lick up the same line.
Rainer mumbled something between breathless grunts of pain.
“Trying to give me pointers, McKay?” Vincent chuckled. “I think I know what she likes after that day in the library.”
Her knees buckled, but Vincent held her firm. He sank his teeth into the place where her neck and shoulder met, and she flinched. The guards holding Xander in his seat tightened their grip on him. All he could do was watch as Cece tried to squirm from the pain.
“The only way out is through,” Vincent whispered. “My patience is wearing thin. If you tell me now, I won’t hurt you, Cecilia.”
A hysterical giggle bubbled from her lips.
Vincent went rigid. “Why the fuck is she laughing?”
“Because you already hurt her. She feels what Rainer feels,” Xander said.
Vincent was quiet, considering this. Then, with deadly precision, he cut through the strap of her gown and the front folded down to her waist, revealing her lacy mauve bustier.
Vincent clicked his tongue. “Would you look at that? It’s like she was expecting me.”
Several guards laughed.
Cece tried to squirm away, but Vincent pressed his blade to her throat again. “Move again, and I’ll have my men break the bones in your fiancé’s fingers one by one. Hold still.”
