“Is he ok?” she asks.
I slam on the brakes, making us bounce and skid to a stop. “Cut the act, little rabbit. I know you don’t give a fuck.”
Her pale face turns bright red with anger. “Yes, I care. Unlike you, I don’t want to hurt people.” She spits at me defiantly, almost righteously. Her tiny fist pounds against her thigh to punctuate her words. Fuck me, she’s cute when she’s angry. She has me tied in knots wanting to fuck her until that little bratty mouth of hers is crying out my name. Goddamn I want to bring her into my lap and show her he who the fuck the boss is. I don’t. I know better.
“I guess you will find out how he is when he’s punishing you for what you did.” I continue down the dirt path, trying to keep us from getting into an accident by avoiding the large holes in the ground.
“I'd rather apologize.”
I laugh at her as we pull up to an old log cabin. Even to me, it looks dilapidated and worn out. Nothing like our multi-million-dollar home that is now ruined.
“Get out.”
“I…” Without thought, I grab her, yanking the seatbelt off and dragging her across the seat. She hits her knees against the middle console, but I don’t stop.
“You’ve been so good. Now that we are home you want to start this? Don’t. Just be good, dammit.”
I watch as she goes still. She’s frightened, and I don’t blame her, but she has only herself to blame for doing what she did.
“I’m sorry,” she says with her head bowed. I take her by the arm and ignore her statement. I’ve had my time with her. To make her see her error. She’s got it, but that fight in her…fuck me.So, fucking bold.
We walk into the cabin, and the smell of chili hits me. Yeah, Hypnos must have minor issues. He’s famous for his chili, and if he's cooking he mustn’t be too bad off. I hear Charlotte’s stomach growl, and I smirk. Had she not been a bad girl, she wouldn’t be hungry.
“Hypnos?” I call out. “Ayres?”
I hold Charlotte to me by her left arm as they come from the back room. Hypnos looks healthy. He’s going to have a big gash on his head for a while. Thank goodness that’s all it will be. A battle scar.
Charlotte tries to take a step forward, and Ayres reacts in shock. “What the fuck is this?”
She stops moving and cowers into me. My heart soars that she is seeking out comfort with me.
Hypnos looks between us with his mouth slightly open. He doesn’t move as Ayres circles around us.
He asks, “Why isn’t she tied up?” Ayres nods his head in agreement. It’s a good question.Fuck. I don’t know why I didn’t tie her ass up.That’s a lie. You know exactly why you didn’t tie her up. I argue with myself. They don’t need to know why.
Charlotte quivers as Ayres stops right in front of her, and Hypnos comes forward.
“No bloody face? Nothing marking her body except… What the fuck?” he asks in anger. Tears run down her face. Ayres smiles at that.“Why are there holes in her stomach?”
“On your knees, little rabbit,” I demand. She sinks to the ground, and I smile.
Hypnos is about three steps from her, and rather than tell them why she’snottied up, I opt for showing them.
“Crawl over to Hypnos.”She crawls to him without any smart mouth or fight. I smirk at them as Ayres stands there, perplexed with his mouth gaping wide open. Hypnos is looking down at Charlotte with a calculating twinkle in his eyes.
“Charlotte is going to obey us. She knows there are seventy-one men at the docks waiting for my word to fuck her. If she disobeys, she will have to let them have her before she ends up in the whorehouse over on Tenth Street.”
“Fuck me,” Hypnos says as Ayres circles around. I think Ayres is unsure of what’s going on. Honestly, I’m not sure either. The idea of sending her to the men or the whorehouse makes me want to bellow in agony.I know my threat is empty.
Kronos is getting soft?My mind cannot wrap around the fact Charlotte isn’t bound and gagged. That’s not the only thing I can’t believe. My beautiful little warrior is on the ground at my feet looking at me. There’s regret in her eyes.
I shake my head. There’s no way she is sorry. I bet this is an act to get my guard down.
“I’m sorry, Hypnos. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“Sorry, my ass,” Ayres spits out what I am thinking. “More like you are sorry you got caught.”
I watch as Kronos and Ayres sit down on the couch. Kronos is staring at me hard, and I begin to feel uncomfortable. Kronos isn’t one to stare at anyone for too long. Now it’s like his gaze is glued to me.
