From Slave To Queen (Athena and Michael) novel Chapter 84

Chapter 84

1 dig my nails into his hands–not that it hurts him–but he releases me anyway. My eyes sting, and I don’t want him to see how his words affect me. I weave through dancing bodies and disdainful glances, searching for solitude to collect myself. In the books I used to sneak, they said a woman’s first man marked her. I always thought it was nonsense. I still want to believe it is. I don’t want to think Cassian is carving marks where I can’t erase them.

My hand finds a doorknobs, and push inside without checking if it’s occupied. Luckily, it’s empty–though that would’ve been less shocking than this. The room is lined with mirrors, reflecting me from every angle. I step hesitantly to the center where I can see myself fully.

“Guard the door. Let no one in. Do it well, and you’ll get another bag like this when I leave?

Cassian’s unmistakable voice slips under the door, and I tense as he enters. He followed me. I’ll never escape him.

I lift a hand

“Stop. Don’t come closer

He ignores me, stepping into the center of the room. Our eyes mees in the mirror. I try to look away, but another reflection traps me. There’s no escaping the drowning depel of his gaze.

You’re not a competition to me,” he says. “You are to him.”

“He’s not the one who had me in his bed last night, using me for power games” 1 snap. “Respect me, dann H.

A flash darkens his eyes

“I think we both know you don’t want respect. I think you want me to do very disrespectful things to you.”

“You won’t touch me again.”

1 hear the hiss of air between his clenched teeth before his face is inches from mine, wrists locked in his grip. My chest heaves against his suit jacket

“I respect you. I don’t want to, but I do, damn you” Fire burns in his gaze. “You’re the only one who challenges me enough to drive me mad. It doesn’t matter if I throw you to the wolves–you’d tame them and turn them on me. I hate you for it. But above all, I respect you more than you can imagine

“If you respect me, tell me why is Ciro competing with you over me! Don’t lie. I want the truth.”

“I owe him a feeder,” he mutters.

“Why?”

“Because I killed his.”

“Why?”

He exhales sharply

“She was a liar. A lying buman.”

“Why does Cairo care!”

The silence thickens like honey. I almost ask again, fearing he didn’t hear.

“He loved her”

Igip Ciro loved a human.

“You couldn’t stand one of your own loving a fragile, mortal woman,” Laccuse.

“You don’t understand” He shakes his head. “She conspired against him, tried to pry our secrets using his love. When she realized he wouldn’t fall somaly, the tried seducing me. The idios didn’t know I could slip into her mind—and I did. She would’ve killed him once she learned how I uved

“Then why doesn’t he believe you!”

“Because it’s easier to think I killed her out of hatred for what her kind did to my parents than to accept his beloved was a deceitfull whore.”

“And that’s why he wants the as his feeder?” I let out a hollow laugh. “You don’t even care about me. Let him have me if it soothes him. He can’t be that bad a jailer”

1/3

12:22 PM dd

Chapter si

adammed vase. If

“No.” His grip on my wrists tightens “You always say you’re not an object, a possession. Prove it now I won’t hand you over like a you insist on being one. 111 shatter you before he gets you, Elara”

“So romantic and charming.” I say, tugging free

With an animalistic growl, he crushes me against him, closing the distance between our lips. He swallows my gasp. My knees buckle, but he holds me up. kissing me recklessly. I kiss back, tangling my tongue with his like I’ll die without in

A rough groan vibrates in his throat as he fights to pull away. He turns me, my back to his chest, breath hot on my neck. A glance in the mirror seis my skin on fire. His fingers trace the embellishments of my dress, teasing the edge of my bodice before cupping my breast

“They fit perfectly in my hands” he rumbles against my skin,

My toes curl in my heels, my body aching for his touch, for relief from the heat pooling between my legs.

“Cassian, please

He tugs my nipple between thumb and forefinger, drawing a moan from me.

“Touching you like this isn’t very respectful or gentlemanly of me

“Don’t stop.” I beg.

He sucks the skin behind my car–definitely leaving a mark then licks down to my collarbone. One hand teases my nipple, the other loosens my dress until it pools at my lips. In the mirror, his gaze makes me feel like I’m made of colors, not just gray,

Iarch as he palms my breasts, my arms reaching back to fist in his hair, dragging his mouth to my neck

“Up”

Only when his hand wraps around my throat, lifting me, do I understand. The dress talls completely, leaving me in heels, lingerie, and elbow gloves. He strips his own gloves slowly, eyes locked on me. The sound of them hating the floor feels like a filthy promise

“Turn around”

I hate how phant 1 become when my body’s needs take over. His commanding finger spins me, and Lobey, facing the mirror–naked except for scraps of lace, while he remains fully clothed. He grips my chin, tting my neck, his other hand trailing down my stomach.

The chill of his skin isn’t like the leather he wears. This is the burn of ice against too–long exposure

suppose

it’d be even more disrespectful to leave you unsatisfied, wouldn’t it. Elara?”

I might’ve answered, but I’m not sure not when his fingers steal all coherence: They circle my navel before dipping lower, agonizingly slow. His knee presses behind mune, forcing me down, seated between his legs, my sex or display in the mirror

“Does it hun!”

He parts my folds, the sight making me flush. His fingers glide through my slickness, collecting it. My pink, glistening center stares back at me. Cassian sucks at my pulse point, leaving a red mark when he releases me with a lewd sound.

I’ve never watched myself like this–and there’s something thrilling about doing it with him. He pinches my swollen dit, the pressure just shy of painful, making me hiss and slump against him.

“Don’t close your eyes. Look Look how wet you are for the person you hate most.

Two fingers slide inside me with a sound I’ll never forget. I want to shut my eyes, but morbid curiosity keeps them open, watching his fingers move in and out. My body resists at first, remembering he took my virginity only hours ago, his cock stained with my blood. It stings briefly before

adjusting

“Has anyone ever touched you like this, Flara?”

Has tone warns against ignoring the question. His fingers slow, torturing me. I rock against his hand, chasing release.

“I was a virgin.”

“That don’t mean a man couldn’t have fingered you. You’re not that naive.”

A hint of pralousy in his voice sends power rushing through mir Power over a being who’s had centuries of pleasure, with men and women, with creatures beyond my world. And yet. I feel a pang too–knowing I’m just a drop in the ocean of his experiences.

2/3

Chapter 84

His fingers scissor inside me, sinking a spot that makes me arch. He stops just before I tip over.

“Tell me how many?”

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