“You deny me your body, again and again—yet you get wet at my friend’s touch like a whore.” Cyrus growled, leaning in so he crowded me, and I was forced to lean backwards, putting me offbalance.Old Gods. I knew that night with Vissy was going to come back to bite me, even if Cyrus was the one who insisted on it.
Cyrus took advantage of my lack of balance, using it to direct me backwards toward the bed. Alarm bells began blaring in my head at the direction he led me. “Cyrus—”
“You think you have control here. But you only have what I allow you.” Cyrus hissed, and I realized what this was about. Control. His father took away his control, and now he wanted to prove to himself he still had it. He grasped for it in all aspects of his life. From his slaves to his family, he sought a type of control over everything—but that type of control was impossible to gain. As a slave, I had learned to seek control where I could, and not let the lack of control in other areas drive me crazy. But Cyrus never had to learn that lesson.
“Zerlina now understands her place.” Cyrus declared, and my heart sank for her as I contemplated how exactly Cyrus had managed that. She may be a bitch, but she was a woman who still deserved to make her own choices and control her own body.
“It’s time you do as well.”
Cyrus’s mouth crashed down on mine, but I refused to kiss him back. I raised my hands to push him off, but he caught them and held them in an iron grip. I dared to bite his lip, but when he pulled back, he only laughed. Chills went down my spine at the sound of it.
Dread choked me, but rage joined it—sparkling in my blood. I knew how powerless I truly was here. Cyrus had been fine playing my game and waiting until I gave permission, but now…now his lack of control was being redirected to me, and he would take mine away to assuage his own. He had once promised he would be my ruin, and the time had come.
“Cyrus! No!” I gasped as I was thrown backward on the bed. “Please—Old Gods, I—” His hand clamped down on my mouth, cutting me off.
“Shut up.” Cyrus seethed, as my eyes grew wider. The loss of power, of control—it drove his actionsandmy fear, equally.
“You think you can continue to deny me?Me?!” Cyrus raged. I gasped as he let go of my mouth to fasten his hands on my arms, tightening them to the point of pain.
“Please, Cyrus, you’re hurting me!” I begged, trying to shake him off, but it was no use. My arms felt as if they might crack in two from the pressure he was exerting. I struggled to breathe through the fierce pain, but it was nearly blinding.
Old Gods. Was this how strong the Fae truly were? I always knew they were strong, but—he wasn’t even really trying, barely applying pressure, and I felt as if I might crumble under his hands—my bones an inch from flaking away to dust.
“Good.” Cyrus sneered, and my eyes went wider. I knew his cruelty. I’d seen it during my time here, and when Kian showed me the humans in the dungeons, when Cyrus came down to play with Raziel, I’d realized then that I truly knew nothing of what he was capable of. But now—now he was letting that cruelty loose with me.
With the grip he had on me and the cruelty I knew he was capable of; I wasn’t sure I was going to even survive this. I knew Cyrus couldn’t be trusted, but I had still let my guard down. Let myself trust, even the slightest bit, that he wouldn’t hurt me. Notme—not when he wanted something from me. For Tartarus’s sake, I was a fool.
“I have endured enough. I’ve offered you everything you could ever want!” Cyrus seethed above me, his sneer becoming a low growl that sent chills through my body. “And what do I get? An uppity little human who thinks she can deny a Fae prince! I’ve acted the perfect prince, trying to win you to my bed.”
His words scorched through me as I realized he truly had reached his limit of patience. While I’d known it was inevitable, I had hoped to be out and long gone by then. I renewed my fight against him, despite beginning to shake with horror. I kicked my legs out, my arms burning as I fought his hold. I tried to swing my head forward to headbutt him, but he moved before I could, yanking his head out of my reach.
No.No. This wasnotgoing to happen.
Old Gods. Please,please.
“Cyrus, please, please don’t do this!” I grit out as I continued struggling in his arms, but it was futile. He was stronger, more powerful—there was no fighting him off. I froze as he roughly shoved me down to the bed. His fingers were like claws, digging into my arms even more painfully. I whimpered in response and watched a cruel smile take over his face.
“Yes. Beg, my pretty little Asteria.” Cyrus gloated, a smirk on his face that was edged with cruelty and want. “Plead for me to end this. To not take what I want. What I’mowed.” What he wanted wasn’t just my body, I realized, not anymore. Now, he wanted to watch me be humiliated, wanted to take from me what he wanted despite my protests. He was a fucking monster of the worst kind.
“But I think I’ve waited long enough. Don’t you?” Cyrus crooned, sickly sweet. “After all, you belong to me. So now, it’s time to take what’s mine.”
I let loose a scream as he ripped my dress down the middle, trying to flail and kick—anything to somehow stop him. I was so close to being free, to being far from here where Cyrus couldn’t hurt me. I couldn’t—wouldn’t—let this happen. Notnow, so close to freedom…
Cyrus just laughed as tears of fear and frustration began to leak from my eyes.
“You could have had a much easier time of this, but instead, you refused me. You tried to deny me what is mine. Remember that. It’s all your fault, Asteria. And now…,” He gave me the worst smile I had ever seen, frothing with rage and sadistic pleasure. “Well, now, I’m going toruinyou.”
I screamed, doing everything I could to fight him off, but his hands kept ripping my clothes away until I was left in my undergarments, exposed to his eyes. Starlight flashed behind my eyes and fire scorched through my soul as I screamed and fought, refusing to submit to him. Cyrus’s cruel laughter echoed in my ears as I sobbed through my hoarse screams.
I tried to get my knee up to hit him in the balls, but he caught my knee with lightning quick reflexes. He sneered, a growl coming from deep in this throat.
“You think you can hurt me? You? A pathetic little human?” He took my knee and roughly pushed it down to the bed, then did the same to the other one—until I was spread open in front of him.
“Get! Off! Me!” I roared in his face, panic beginning to overtake me. I had no way out. No one to help me. In this moment, I was reduced to nothing but another human slave, being used by their Fae master.
Cyrus just looked amused, “Don’t worry, my dear, you’ll enjoy this. In the end, at least. I’ll show you.”
“Don’t you fucking touch me!” I yelled as he went to cut open the bustier holding my breasts up. I watched it open in disbelief that this was happening, not noticing his hand going straight to my throat. He wrapped his hand around my neck, holding me down with so much force I felt like my windpipe might just snap. I tried to gasp a breath, reaching up to claw at him, trying to scratch or cut, to do anything—absolutelyanything—to get Cyrus off me.
