My teeth clenched so hard I almost cracked them. Sweat poured down my back from misery.
I tried to decide what would be better: keep fighting and hope the pain would fade? Or let my heart trip over that warning line and get knocked out?
Butshewas in my home.
She was in my living room, far, far too close to my bedroom, where I choked on guttural screams.
If I passed out with her here...she could do anything to me.
Perhaps they weretryingto knock me out so I would be at her mercy.
They’d use some new trick to harvest, not only my blood, but my sperm too, stealing my DNA in a different form to create the life I refused to condemn. Not that they’d gone that far yet. Or at least...I hadn’t been conscious if they had.
A blast of pain.
A punch of agony.
The world went grey—
Chapter Twenty-One
“OW.” I HELD UP MY HANDS and counted the blisters forming.
I’d never had the courage to tell anyone this, but...I’d never had a blister before. Never done menial labour—apart from that short time in Vietnam—that would ever result in such afflictions.
But today?
Today was my very first taste of domestication and...I didn’t hate it.
In fact, I was still standing, even as the sun set. I was still coherent as I went around Lucien Ashfall’s private quarters and turned on the lamps and lanterns. Even when I was younger and my parents were still alive, I hadn’t done well in the corporate environment.
I would function enough to work in my assigned office. I’d help compile research and perform whatever tasks my parents asked me to do, but I’d almost always end the day in a stupor from dealing with people, computer screens, and weighty responsibilities.
But this?
Cleaning had almost allowed my mind to turn off. Dusting his shelves, tidying up his books, mopping the floor. I didn’tenjoy it exactly, and my lazy tendencies urged me to sit down and have a nap, but I was actually a little proud of myself.
I’d actuallyachievedsomething.
I hadn’t passed out.
And now, I’m very hungry.
My stomach growled for the hundredth time. Lucien hadn’t returned after telling me to get to work this morning and I hadn’t had the courage to steal anything from his cupboards, but...I also didn’t have the courage to leave without his permission.
I might not be afraid of him, but I also didn’t want to see what sort of punishment he’d come up with if I disobeyed him.
So that left only one option.
Flicking back my hair that’d fallen over my shoulder while polishing the chessboard set—all the pieces neatly back in the wooden box beside it—I collected the rag and bottle and made my way back into the kitchen.
I hadn’t had time to tackle that room yet and my entire body ached at the thought.
Wine.
I perked up.
Wine would make everything better.
