Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 118042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 590(@200wpm)___ 472(@250wpm)___ 393(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 590(@200wpm)___ 472(@250wpm)___ 393(@300wpm)
Sighing heavily, she dropped her gaze to her food and picked reluctantly at a perfectly cooked chicken breast.
I almost keeled over with starvation. My mouth flooded with saliva. Every cell in my body demanded to be fed.
The discomfort was so crippling, I almost moaned.
Tearing my eyes away, I focused on everything but the Masters tucking into their dinners and the lucky jewels accepting tidbits off their owners’ fingers.
Classical music kept playing.
The night remained sedate and serene.
No one came to torment us. No one tortured Henri.
I glanced at Peter. What’s going on?
I didn’t know if he’d get my silent message, but he shrugged.
I sensed his confusion. I shivered as we both stood there in chains, forming a triangle with Henri at the top, bound on the stage.
For over two hours, we stood there like unseen pets.
No one fed us. No one talked to us.
Victor laughed often, Rachel kept giving us horrified glances, and the only ones who paid any attention to us were the other kneeling jewels. Their matching worry built and built until the sense of anticipation scratched down my spine with poisonous claws.
By the time dessert was served and my stomach had twisted itself into a hundred empty agonising knots, my system threatened to faint from exhaustion.
Victor finished his raspberry crumble and wiped his mouth daintily with his napkin.
Standing and resting his hand on Rachel’s thick dark hair, he said, “Gentlemen. Friends. I’m sure you’re aware there hasn’t been a show tonight.”
“Is Henri starring in a new porno, Vic? Who gets to bugger him first?”
Victor grinned. “Why? Would you pay to pop his cherry, Mark?”
“I’ll pay.” Roland stood up. “I’ll pay to have an hour alone with him. With the proviso I don’t have to give him back breathing.”
“You know, I might take you up on that offer one day, Roland.” Victor smirked.
“Is he fair game, Vic?” a Master I didn’t know piped up. “He’s a jewel, after all.”
“Thank you for giving me an opportunity to explain Henri’s new position, Jon.” Victor bent and kissed Rachel’s forehead before striding from the table and leaping onto the stage.
Henri stiffened.
The chains holding him jingled a little as he stood taller. His hollow belly flexed as his ribs expanded with heavy breaths.
Victor smiled and cupped Henri’s cheek. “No need to be afraid, my sweetling.”
“You’re the one who will be afraid, Vic.” Henri bared his teeth. “One day, it will be you in motherfucking chains.”
Victor laughed and patted him gently. “Such a comedian.”
“So?” a Master called from the back. “Do we get a try or not? How about we all break him in for you? All of us. Right here. Right now.”
“I’ve got lube!” Another Master snickered, tossing a bottle of KY onto his empty dessert plate. “I’m happy to break him for you, Victor!”
Victor slung an arm around Henri’s trim waist, looking out at the crowd. “I had no idea so many of you would suddenly want a belligerent man in your bed instead of a pretty obedient jewel.”
“It’s not about the sex,” Ian muttered with a sly grin. “It’s the fact that he used to be one of us. We all have someone in our lives who fucked us off and we couldn’t do a damn thing about it. An old boss. An idiotic father-in-law. Even an old friend who betrayed us at some point.”
Pointing at Henri, Ian added, “He represents all those cocksuckers we couldn’t touch. I don’t want to fuck him for pleasure. I want to fuck him to make him pay.”
My heart stopped as every Master turned into an animal.
Henri had stabbed quite a few. I’d seen a couple on the floor of the cave and hoped he’d killed them. But he hadn’t stopped the rest of these sadistic psychopaths from wanting to tear him into pieces.
Victor snickered. “I’m excited to see how you make him pay, my friends. But…seeing as he tried to kill me first and shoved my hospitality rather rudely in my face, I think I deserve first retribution, no?”
“Fine.” A splattering of grumbles. “What’s your first task for him, then?”
“Well…” Victor let Henri go with a conniving smile. “We all know the levels of ownership. Henri wasn’t interested in extracting them from Ilyana. But I’m looking forward to extracting them from him. Tell me, where should I start with Henri’s training?”
“Just skip straight to owning his soul, Vic. Fuck the rest.”
“Unfortunately, that will not work for him.” Victor smiled. “He’s stubborn, you see. I’ve had the enjoyment of getting to know him quite well, and I’m afraid there’ll be no cutting corners if we wish to break him into a well-behaved jewel.”
“I will never be what you want me to be, Vic. I will never give you what you want. You’ll have to kill me—”
“See? Now that just pisses me off,” Victor snapped. “Do you truly wish to die, mon ami?” Victor spun on him. “Are you that weak? Tell me truthfully. If I shot you right here, right now. If I put you out of all the misery in your future, would you take it? Knowing full well that the moment I tossed your body into the sea, I’d do everything I’m going to do to you to Ilyana?”