My stomach sank, acid burning the back of my throat with the sudden realization: he’d purchased me for himself, just like Malrik had.
Except, unlike when I was for sale, I wasn’t now.
Logically, I knew I couldn’t argue. I’d elected to play the role of a prostitute, not anticipating the potential of being purchased entirely. Stupidly, I’d believed the men dropping coins on the half-dressed women of Seirdra’s Veilonly acted on a last-minute desire for pleasure, not a life of it. And that’s what the raven-haired male, whose energy was a chasm, hadn’t realized. I’d only ever belonged to one: the Overseer of Assassins, the only man I thought I’d fear in this life.
That was until this pirate stepped out from the shadows, corruption bathing him as if he were the very source of it.
“Nonetheless,” he snarled. “Wrong answer.”
His grip tightened as he ripped the blonde from where he stood, tossing him across the room like he was nothing more than an empty crate being thrown onto a ship. Jumping to the side, the bartendernarrowly avoided him, pressing herself against the wall as her gaping gaze landed on the man responsible for the sudden violence.
Crossing over the lip of the bar in a millisecond, my customer’s back collided with the alcohol display, the shelf rocking with the teetering force. Unable to remain sturdy, the frame swayed, bottles slipping from it to greet the ground. Glass shattered as the atrociously priced liquor exploded, littering the tiles with glinting shards. The various liquids quickly coated the opulent bronze fabric, which clung to his frame, its material absorbing them as easily as a towel would.
Screams erupted, and escorts ran away from the chaos and into the back, where they assumed they were safe. None of us were, not in a world where greedy men roamed freely with a willingness to take and take until there was nothing left.
“CASPIAN!”A distinct, hardened voice erupted from the end of the bartop, undoubtedly belonging to the man the newly-named male had not wanted to disturb.
Brushing his worn and calloused hand down his shirt, Caspian ignored the roar from his co-captain and progressed toward the counter. His hips graced it first before he leaned over, reaching across its granite width to yank the senseless and stubborn man from behind it. Without hesitation, Caspian heaved him onto the open floor, winking at the trembling woman as his smile lines returned.
“Don’t worry, love. I’m not here for you.”
The blonde slid across the wooden planks of the lounge area, and his co-captain jumped from the barstool. “Enough!”
His close-set, dark, triangular eyes danced between Caspian and me. Heightened annoyance wove through every inch of his flawless, moonlight-kissed skin as his glower deepened. A handful of braids wove their way through his silken, shoulder-length hair. Its shade was a near-match to Caspian’s, but far straighter. When he stepped into the light, its color continued along his jaw and upper lip, which curled into a sneer when the snap of bone overrode the sounds of panic.
Fisting a now-wrinkled suit, Caspian drove his fist into the center of the male’s face for a second time. Blood splattered, tainting the timberplanks with its ruby hue. Reeling back again, his knuckles collided with bruising skin, the squelch of flesh and bone sending me back to a repressed memory.
The feeling of Malrik’s palms squeezing my throat as he buried himself in me at the age of sixteen, robbing me of my purity without my consent. Each punch he hammered into me washed away the searing agony that shot through my core, each inch of my still-maturing body abused and used to satisfy him. The pathetic cries I’d unleashed, pleading for him to stop and let me prove myself again. And each time I’d done wrong by him, the punishments had always been the same.
Brutal. Swift. Unforgiving.
Caspian was no different, and he’d bought me.
Purchased me.
Claimed me.
I was his.
His.
Theyowned me, and there was never a day in my life when I would be able to reclaimmyself. My essence was meant to be bought and molded by the unrighteousness of man. It was an endless cycle I’d accepted, one I’d never escape. No matter how badly my lungs burned and my legs ached, I was incapable of running from my pre-determined fate.
I would never befree.
The co-captain’s voice unshackled me from my subconscious, tugging me back to the present. “Caspian, by the ever-loving gods, I said that isenough!”
My heart pounded, and the ringing that violated my ears settled into an eerie stillness. It felt as if the world had stopped to hold its breath, waiting for my move. Scanning the space, I watched the remnants of those wearing a price tag vanish into the shadows, two memorable women catching my attention—the two who’d been seated with the male I’d come to kill.
The advisor.
My target.
Malrik.
Fuck!
I couldn’t fail. It wasn’t an option, not when I knew what awaited me if I did—hours of torture, fingers inside of me that I didn’t desire, violation of the fractured remnants of my soul, bruises that would remain for weeks on end.
