Page 32 of Savage Kingdom

Her hands came to the red welts on her wrist, massaging them, relieving some of the tension that had gathered there. She then got up, stretching her hands, craning her neck and making it crack.

I stood there impassively as she stretched, and watched as her eyes fluttered with delight at the feelings.

“Come on, love, the water is going to get cold.” I pointed to the bathroom.

I watched her eye me suspiciously. She then got into the bathroom, and I grinned. I gave her a head start of five minutes while I removed my clothes outside of the bathroom.

Picking the lock was a piece of cake. I didn’t know why she bothered in locking the door in the first place.

As soon as I opened the door, I knew something was wrong because the lights were off. Immediately I barged in, closing the door right behind me when I felt Daphne come at me.

For the last three days,I was wondering if I had lost my mind. I was Daphne, I was Sekten, and I had no need to be subjected to this task. I had wanted to escape Yoro, willing to go with the first man who came, but I think I had bitten off more than I could chew.

Everything was fine until he said I was going to be the one fucking him. I know the words might not mean much to many, but they were also said deliberately to make a point.

My whole life, I had been taken against my will. Kneeling and bending backward for my allegiance, it was never for my pleasure but for theirs. No, Gideon wanted mine, and that fucked with my head. Which I’ll admit was something he was after too. We didn’t trust each other, but we needed one another for whatever fucked-up tasked we had to perform.

So, I knew I couldn’t give away all my cards. Gideon was bound to get suspicious of me. What did every person in captivity try to do? Escape. They all tried to be free, and I had yet to attempt to flee.

He was smart. As soon as he opened the door, he saw the lights off, and he barged in, closing the door behind him. My hand hit him in the rib. I was not aiming to maim but wanted to cause damage as payback for how he was making me feel. I wasn’t scared to take on a man twice my size.

Gideon was fast. In the dark, he grabbed my wrist as soon as I hit his ribs. He gripped the tender skin of my wrist. The one that had turned red from being cuffed. He squeezed it hard, then slammed me against the door, my forehead hitting the wood.

That shit hurt.

My arm was twisted behind my back, and then he pushed behind my knees, making me kneel for him.

Gideon grabbed a handful of my head and pulled it back. My scalp burned like a motherfucker.

“Petal, my sweet, sweet Petal,” he mocked as he turned on the light.

I looked up at him from my position and noticed three things right away. He was naked. Two, he was hard. And the third, perhaps the most important one, he was furious. His jaw was clenched, and those whiskey eyes were dark swirls of bourbon ready to unleash mayhem.

My face stayed impassive.

“I tried to be nice because, despite the shit I do, I’m no monster. One thing to know about me, love. I hate traitors,” he spat before he threw me by the hair to the side.

I caught myself before I landed face-first.

There was a feeling deep in my gut that felt a lot like disappointment.

“Strip.” Gideon’s voice was low, controlled, but I knew he was barely holding it together.

The last thing I wanted to do was be naked in front of him. My body was not perfect—Yoro had made sure of that. He made sure I was only appealing to him. A product of his creation. When I had a mark, I never let them see me naked. Most couldn’t stand the sight before them. How the perfect face and delectable body belonged to a monster.

“Either you get naked, or I do it for you.” He stood with his arms crossed by the door holding guard so I would think twice before trying to escape again.

When my clothes came off and the beast that hid within showed, most men ran scared, and a part of me didn’t want that to happen. I told myself it was because I needed him. I needed my Yoro problem rid of once and for all.

I crisscrossed my arms and then pulled my shirt off, looking anywhere but at Gideon. Then came the pants. I turned around when I removed my jeans, giving him a prime view of my back. I knew he had seen my wounds already when he had cleaned my back, but not like this, all of them exposed. I squared my shoulders and walked into the shower. The water wasn’t scalding; it was warm. Only when I was covered in the water spray did I take a deep breath.

My eyes were closed, my face tipped toward the water when I felt Gideon at my back. I hated the way my heart sped up. It was a beat I didn’t like the rhythm of. I didn’t want to feel.

It was all wrong, but the disturbing thing was that it felt right.

“If I can’t trust you, then you have no use to me.” His voice vibrated through the small room.

Removing the water from my eyes, I turned around to face him. There was always something about a distressed man that looked beautiful—alluring.