Page 60 of Coal Hearts

Perhaps he should’ve.

Maybe if I was dead, I wouldn’t have to keep fighting this unwinnable war to stay nice and normal and sane.

“Ward?” Victor’s fingers shot into my eyesight again, snapping loudly. “Jesus, if your thoughts are that distracting, I suppose it’s a good thing I’ve allowed you to be my guest. Whatever you’ve trapped inside yourself desperately needs to get out to play.”

I balled my hands.

I cleared my throat and focused. “Sorry. Long day.” I made a show of being sufficiently impressed. “Your home is stunning, Victor.”

Home?

More like a medieval prison with its drawbridge, walls, and oppressive stone.

Focusing on the foyer, my eyes widened as I took in the details. Colossal archways led into cavernous rooms beyond. Two staircases curled around each other before branching off east and west. Travertine tiles and woven tapestries complemented the giant glittering chandelier that was the size of my old house. Flowers bloomed in humongous vases, and golden thread highlighted the images in the tapestries, proving that an initial glance didn’t reveal the eroticism hidden within.

Women lay spreadeagled while men ate them out. Virgin girls were chained to crosses while demons with horns fucked them hard. I swallowed as I drank in the other artwork. Each one held something sinful, something far, far too explicit for a normal home. Spanking, whipping, riding, coming...

My hard dick twinged in its imprisonment. I’d strapped it to my belly with my belt, doing my best to ignore the spasms of sharp desperation. Twice I’d been so close to fucking Ily. And twice I’d been cock-blocked. I’d never really understood the meaning of blue balls, but now I did. They’d never been so tight, so hard, so eager to do whatever it took to be inside someone wet and hot and...unwilling.

I flashed another look at Ily.

My heart spasmed.

That kiss.

That goddamn kiss on the grass.

What the hell was that?

“And what do you think?” Victor looked at Ily, his hand encasing hers, the golden collar and cuffs trapping her in this monstrously beautiful place. “What do you think of my home. Or should I say, your home?”

I expected her to shudder and say something derogatory. To hate on this place purely out of principle but she shocked me stupid as she blinked cold, intelligent eyes and sniffed. “Judging by the keystone as we came in and the year 2000 carved neatly into it, this place isn’t nearly as old as I suspected. You did a passable job of making it seem ancient, but two decades is barely a scratch on history.”

“Passable?” Victor barked. “Merely passable? My sweetling, this estate is a work of fucking art.”

“I didn’t say it wasn’t. I merely said it’s nothing compared to the real thing.”

“The real—?” Victor spluttered; his tightly controlled face had an aneurysm. “I’ll have you know this cost millions—”

“And money can buy many things, but it can’t buy the blood, sweat, and tears of peasants toiling hundreds of years ago. It can’t capture the misery of slaves who poured their heart and souls into the mortar and stone, or house the ghosts of unfortunate dead.”

“Oh, it houses the misery of unfortunate slaves alright,” Victor seethed. My blood burned with possession as he narrowed his eyes and looked Ily up and down. “What are you, after all?”

“I’m the girl who sees through your bullshit.” Ily yanked her hand from his and crossed her arms. “Just because you think you’re some sort of lord doesn’t make you impressive. It just makes you a fraud.”

Oh shit.

I went cold. My feet shifted toward her against my command. “Ily, fermez-la.” (Shut up.)

She didn’t.

Holding Victor’s gaze, she tipped up her chin. “It’s not even that original.”

Victor’s mouth hung open as if he couldn’t believe he stood there, debating the downfalls of his castle with a girl he’d kidnapped and collared. “Not original?”

Ily just kept digging her grave. “You’ve plagiarized a few ruins and strongholds, but if I’m reading all the mismatched features correctly, I’d say this is the ugly cousin of Sudeley Castle in Cheltenham.”

Victor glared as if he could glower her into dust. “How could you possibly know that?”