He cocks his head, a smirk pulling at the corner of his lips. If I weren’t behind bars, I’d have called it sexy, but in this situation it’s quite menacing.
Corvus looks down at the screen and reads, “I’m gonna call you Jack, because that D is like a jackhammer.” My neck heats up when I realize he’s been through my Grindr messages. This is… embarrassing, but he keeps reading. “I know we’re incompatible, D, but could we keep meeting up for some fun?” and another, “I think I’m pregnant. You need to come over tonight, to talk custody. Or maybe make it a twin.”
I groan and crack my neck, looking away in discomfort. There area lotof messages on there. I’m not exactly ashamed of fucking around, but for someone to read any of that out loud? Or read them at all for that matter?
“It’s not…” I drift off because I don’t know what I’m trying to defend here. Wasn’t it him who said he wanted to fuck?
“It’s not what? There is a lot of begging in those DMs. Curious. Are you really that special?”
I dare to take another step toward the bars. My thoughts are a jumble I’m unable to tidy up, but one pulses with red light.CorvusVan der Horn is gay. Or at least curious.“That’s what you want to find out?”
He swallows, hooded eyes looking dreamy for a moment instead of razor-sharp. “Were you told why you’re here? Why you’re still alive?”
Quite the change of topic, I admit, but I’ll go with it for now.
“Not really…”
Corvus scoffs and steps back until he’s leaning against the wall across from my cell, arms crossed. “You, and a few others who made the mistake of crossing my family, will be let out of here tomorrow, and hunted for sport.”
I’d laugh if I didn’t believe it. Sounds like just the kind of outrageous fucked-up shit the Van der Horns would do. I swallow and grip the bars. “But you… like me? So you’ll save me? I’ll work my fucking ass off to pay back the money I owe. I promise. And we can do… whatever you want to,” I add, still shellshocked by his interest in me. I’m a good fuck, but notthatspecial, I don’t think.
Corvus snorts. “No, I’m not going tosaveyou. But I can ensure that you have a chance of survival by neutralizing the capsule of poison inside you.”
A flash of cold passes down my body. “Thewhat?”
“Then all you have to do is hide or run really fast,” Corvus continues. “If you manage to evade the hunters pursuing you, you might just get to start a new life somewhere. I suggest abroad,” he adds, pulling away from the wall with the grace of a stallion in his prime. “The other poor souls will die from poison even if they evade the hunt, so I’d consider this quite a generous offer.”
“It’s fucked-up,” I choke out, staring at him. “Are you saying you poisoned me?” I don’t even know where to start on how twisted this is.
Corvus polishes his nails on the hem of his fine black suit jacket. “That’s a matter of semantics, isn’t it? Was it me? Was it the person who asked me to do it? In any case, I am the only one who knows how to administer the antidote.”
So casually cruel.
I have to take a deep breath before I once more look up into those cold, calculating eyes. “And what do you want?”
“As I said before. Fuck me like your life depends on it, and I’ll give you the antidote. You kill me, you’ll die anyway, even if you manage to escape, which you wouldn’t.”
This is the strangest thing that’s ever happened to me, but I hold his gaze as I swallow. I hate that he wants to use me, but I’ve got no alternative. He’s got me by the balls.
So I nod, adjusting to this new reality. “Why me? You’re handsome, you could easily find someone,” I tell him, weaving in a compliment, because I can also play this game to my advantage.
Was it a trick of the light, or did his lips quirk?
I don’t get to find out, because the lizard is back to his self-satisfied smile as he shows me my phone again. “You’ve got excellent reviews. So… do we have an agreement?” he asks, his hand halfway to the lock.
He might be lying to my face. After the fuck, he could mock me and claim that I didn’t meet his standard, or deny me the antidote, but I’ve got nothing left to lose but my dignity. As far as I know, the Van der Horns do keep their promises.
“Yes,” I say as I scan him from head to toe and lean closer to the bars. I can smell him. The sweet mixture of tobacco and clove, likely from those black cigarettes he smokes, still lingers in the air, but there’s also the strong aroma of spicy cologne. He must have applied it very recently. Did he want to smell good for me? Or is he just always this immaculate? Can I make his facade break? I fucking hope so, but if I am to attempt that, I’ll need to first find out what makes him tick.
A hot flush passes through me when I realize how unkempt I must look after two sleeps in this fucking place. I can sense the grime on my body and the oiliness of my scalp. Then again, if he’s approaching me regardless, maybe he’s after a bit of slumming it? I did once fuck a guy who wanted me to gag him with my dirty sock before I nailed him to my bed.
I don’t judge.
Corvus stuffs my phone into his pocket and touches the lock, as if he expects it to open at his touch. But, nope, this door doesn’t come with one of those fancy fingerprint readers, and he ends up swallowing a curse before walking off.
I curl both my hands around the bars, suddenly afraid that it was all a joke, and that the other Van der Horns are somewhere close by, listening on to this conversation, but before I can shout Corvus’s name, he’s back with a bundle of keys.
As embarrassing as it is that he’s dug through the messages and photos on my phone, I’m also kinda… flattered? What can I say? It’s not every day that a man as refined and powerful as Corvus Van der Horn gives me a second glance
