He choked. “What—”
I released him, and said, “I amnota slave.” And before he could recognize the danger, I snapped the crimson vial shut and locked the master cuff about my left bicep.
The sudden, blinding agony bowed his spine and mine. Sent him rocketing into my pussy even as his awareness shuttered, blinking on the edge of bliss andfundamentalchange. Helpless as the molten gold seared his flesh, and his cock began to spurt, kicking me into climax with him. Bathing the entrance of my womb even as he tried to claw at the pain pumping through his very blood.
When it was done, he wilted beneath me—utterly spent. Succumbing as I had, to the gift of senseless darkness after a trauma so profound, it existed outside mortal comprehension. Altering us both in a manner that had never been done before.
And so it was that I was the first to experience the wild power surging in a bond unlike anything I’d ever felt. Unlike anythinganyonehad ever felt.
A perfect circle,finallycomplete.
Laughter began to bubble from deep within me. Soul-deep mirth that couldn’t be tarnished by the unknown power of a bond that now ranbothways, or the knowing that I’d all but guaranteed the sort of wrath another more cautious person might spend a lifetime trying to avoid.
I laughed without care or restraint, for there, between my soiled thighs, the master wore the glittering mark of the slave.
I stood, spattering his belly with pearly drops of our third joining, absent any remorse or weakness for the sheer power pounding through my veins.
And what power I had!
Anything lost had returned with a vengeance easily thrice the brilliance I could have ever hoped to attain. Left me connected me to any tiny spark of living ki within a hundred meters or more. Every breath sending awareness through the breeze and beyond.
But all of it—every infinitesimal, mundane detail now humming for attention beneath my skin—was overshadowed by the man lying supine on the bed beneath me. A man who matched me in terms of power, yet still outweighed me in both physical strength and sheer military cunning.
And I couldn’t give up my newfound advantage so easily, now could I?
Humming a jaunty little tune, I hopped off the bed and strolled into his closet. Found sparse shelves lined with military uniforms, pressed shirts ranging in color from white to black, shoes, boots, a small backpack, a few simple items of jewelry, and of course, several spare slave dresses—butnothingsuitable for hard travel.
With a sneer, I yanked open drawers at random, and found socks, underpants, leather belts, and a dozen pairs of stretchy winter leggings—lacking in utility purposes, perhaps, but they were far preferable to that bloody infernal rag my dear captain had made me wear.
Stepping into a pair of leggings, I yanked a black t-shirt over my head, seized two leather belts, and returned to the senseless man waiting on my mercy.
Or lack thereof.
Grinning, I allowed myself the luxury of his naked form. Eyed all that bronzed skin stained with my scent andmymark, then gathered his wrists. Bound them together above his head, and hid his new gold beneath leather.
Then, with the first belt cinched tight enough to restrain without endangering circulation, I secured him to the headboard with the second. Putting the buckle as far from his dexterous fingers as I could.
It wouldn’t keep him—nothing short of a tomb made entirely of Eidolon could keep either of us now—but it was a start.
Flush and growing bored of waiting, I sat on his chest, knees braced beneath his outstretched armpits. And when I pressed my scarred palm to his cheek, it was with intention. My ki rushed through him, leaping and giddy, unrestrained for the first time since the fall of Tritan, filling that perfect, unwanted mate with vigor. With the wild rush of victory and claimed vengeance, tempered by profound, eternal loss. Loss of coveted solitude, for we were bound ineveryconceivable manner. Forever.
He sighed, coming back.
I felt the instant he became aware. Felt fury ignite behind flickering eyelids, as if it had been born inmygut. As if the injustice of having another buried deep and glued to every secret intimate hidden piece wasmineto suffer all over again. But I didn’t lash out. Didn’t strike him or take payment from his flesh.
I waited.
Obsidian eyes snapped open, blinking around the most hateful glare I’d ever seen.
“Hi,” I said, and grinned from my lofty perch.
He bucked, muscles heaving and bunching as he tried to use his hands. As he tried to reach for me and subdue the uncivilized darkling sitting astride his chest. “Mila, what thefuck?”he snarled, attempting to wrench himself free with nothing more than strength.
I waited him out, riding his temper as he strained, bowing back to inspect his new jewelry. One circle on each wrist, and a third looped around his bicep—to make no mention of those that had already existed.
I found patience in the tingly shock that replaced the wrath, then said, “Pretty, right?”
Inky, seething fury snapped at my edges. As his eyes returned to me and began to roam.
