“Sorry, love, we already played that game, remember?”
Red knew he was lying. She would have felt it if she had been violated.
The guards stepped back and a petite dark-haired woman entered the cell. She was wearing a plain cotton dress and her hair was up in a bun. She carried a bowl of water and a cloth. She was obviously a servant.
She set the bowl on the floor, averting her eyes from Red. “Could you please set her down so I can have a look at her?”
The guards grabbed her and slid her off the rod.
They carried her over to the mattress and dumped her.
“Be careful with her. She bites.”
The petite woman looked up at the guard, venom in her eyes. “I do not blame her.”
“I’d watch what you say, girl.”
“No, it’s you who had better mind his tongue. The Master favors me. You are expendable.”
The guard sneered at her. He grabbed her dress and pulled it down off her shoulder. A black winged dragon was burned into her flesh like a cattle brand.
“Just because you are branded his whore does not mean he will favor you.”
She swatted his hand away and pulled up her dress. “Do you want to wager?”
The guard sniffed and backed off.
“Unchain her, and bring me her clothes.”
The guard unlocked Red’s shackles. “She is to remain na**d as per The Taker.”
“Fine, then fetch me a blanket.”
The guards retreated from the cell. Red watched them go. She rubbed at her wrists as she stared at the little woman soaking a cloth in the bowl of water.
“Who are you, to command the guard?”
The woman looked up at Red. She smiled demurely. “No one, really. Just a servant girl.”
“What is your name?”
“Rose.” She wrung out the cloth and brought it to Red’s face. She dabbed at the encrusted blood around her nose.
Red leaned back against the mattress and let the girl do her work. “If you are to clean me up so he may have another go at me, you might as well leave it. I will not stop fighting.”
Rose peered deep into Red’s face. She continued to wipe away the blood. “Fighting will only leave you in shackles and eventually on the chopping block.”
“Off with my head, then, for I will never surrender.”
Rose stilled her hand and smiled. “Sometimes surrender can be quite…pleasant.”
Red grabbed Rose’s hand. She sat up and pulled the girl to her. “Is his hold on you so strong that you are blind to reason? To sanity?”
Rose averted her eyes from Red’s bold stare. She looked down at the floor.
“Help me. Help me, Rose. I will die in this captivity. I am not a woman that can be chained.”
“Please do not ask me that. I am bound to The Taker. He is my master,” she whimpered.
“Break free of him, Rose. You do not deserve his punishments.”
Tears fell from her eyes. “But I like them. His punishments are my rewards.”
Red grabbed Rose’s face in her hands. She turned her so they were eye to eye. “I can be your Mistress.
You can come with me. Live with me. Serve me. I promise you that my punishments would be sweeter.”
Red didn’t want to deceive the girl, but she would do anything to escape this prison. If Rose helped her escape, she would indeed take Rose with her. That was not a lie. She could follow Red to the ends of the earth, if that was her wish.
Red watched as hope flashed across Rose’s face.
Her brown eyes searched Red’s. Red leaned forward and pressed her mouth to Rose’s. She kissed her hard, invading her mouth with her tongue.
Rose moaned into her, probing with her own tongue. She grasped Red on the shoulders and dug her nails in.
Red pulled back from the kiss. She stared beseechingly at Rose.
“You are very pretty,” Rose said shyly.
Red noticed Rose’s eyes left her face and traveled over her body. Rose blushed when she realized she was caught looking.
“You may touch me if you’d like.”
“Would it please you?” Rose asked.
“Yes, very much. It has been far too long since I’ve been properly touched.”
Rose moved her hands over Red. She gently caressed her br**sts. She circled her thumbs over Red’s ni**les. They hardened into rosy peaks. Rose pinched and twisted them between her fingers.
“Do you like that?”
“Yes,” Red sighed. The girl had strong hands. They reminded her of another pair of hands. Wolf’s. Red closed her eyes and imagined Wolf was touching her.
Wolf who was pleasuring her.
Rose trailed her hands lower. She rubbed them over Red’s skin. Caressing her.
Red opened her eyes and looked at the girl. She had to convince her to help. She had to show her that she would be better off with Red, away from this godforsaken prison. Free to do what she wished.
Red raised her hands to Rose’s face. She cradled the girl’s cheek. “Help me,” she pleaded.
Rose didn’t look up. She kept her eyes on Red’s flesh as she continued to stroke her. “I can not.”
Red twisted Rose’s face toward her. “Yes, you can.
It is your choice to make. You have power. I can see it in your eyes.”
Rose’s eyes welled with tears. Red was slowly chiseling away at her, she could tell. But she was unsure how much it would take to break her and the hold The Taker had on her. Rose had obviously been here a long time, and the guards would be back any moment.
Red leaned forward and kissed her again. This time with force and passion. She wrapped a hand in Rose’s hair. She trailed her other hand down to Rose’s br**sts. She cupped one and squeezed it hard, rubbing her thumb over the peak.
Rose moaned. Red pressed kisses over her chin and down her neck. She murmured into her ear. “Release me. Escape with me. Come with me.”
Red moved her hand down lower. She moved it around and squeezed Rose’s buttocks. She moved it forward, searching for an entrance under her skirt.
Rose reached down and hiked up her dress. She bunched the fabric at her waist. Red moved her hand over her leg and to her sex. She gently slid her fingers into her cleft. She rubbed them back and forth over her wet slit. Rose groaned with each stroke. She moved her h*ps with the rhythm of Red’s hand.
Red found her clit. She rubbed it hard and fast.
“You are so hot and wet for me, Rose. I will make you come if you will help me.”
Rose closed her eyes and ground her teeth as Red continued to manipulate her clit. “Yes. Yes, anything.”
Red pushed her fingers back and found her opening. She slid two fingers in easily. She pumped them in and out. She brought them out and diddled her clit, then back to her opening. She did this repeatedly. Red could hear Rose’s pants as she neared orgasm. Her breath labored and she grabbed onto Red’s shoulders hard, pinching with her nails.
“You will help me escape? You will do as I ask?”
“Yes. Yes,” Rose groaned loudly.
Red rubbed her cl*t quickly and hard. She felt Rose tense. She was going to come. Red rammed three fingers into her hard. She was so slick she nearly swallowed her whole hand. Red could feel Rose contract around her, slurping at her digits.
Rose flung her head forward, grasping Red tightly.
She bit down on Red’s shoulder to stop from screaming.
Red didn’t even flinch. She continued to pump her fingers into Rose. She wanted to prolong her cl**ax.
She wanted Rose to know that she would be a great lover. Someone Rose could depend on. Even love. She didn’t want to deceive the girl, but she would do anything to escape.
“Bravo. Nicely done.”
Red and Rose looked up quickly toward the cell bars.
Drake stood smiling; his eyes alight with glee. The guards flanked him on either side.
Rose pushed away from Red. She pushed down her dress and dropped to her knees. She bent her head down demurely.
“I’m sorry, Master. She seduced me.”
Red looked down at Rose. She shook her head. She misjudged the hold he had on her.
Drake opened the cell door and entered. “It’s all right, Rose. I know you are weak.”
“You were right, my Master. She would say and do anything to escape.”
Red gasped. She considered the possibility that the girl would not help her, but she never imagined that she would confess all.
“She asked me to help her. She—she thought she could take your place.”
Drake smiled at Red’s shock. “Foolish, isn’t she, Rose?”
“Yes, my master. Very foolish.”
“You may go.” He waved his hand at Rose. “You did your job.”
Rose got to her feet. She didn’t look at Red, just kept her head down and left the cell.
The guards snickered as she passed.
Drake smiled down at Red. “She’s very well behaved, is she not?”
Red seethed with anger. She snatched up the chains left by the mattress and swung them at Drake.
She was quick. Quick enough to get by his sixth sense.
A shackle struck him fiercely across the face.
She pulled her arm back. She swung them again.
But she would not make a second impact. Drake grabbed her around the throat and lifted her off the ground. He squeezed tightly until she dropped the chains.
Red stared him in the eyes. They were aflame with anger. His skin was split open above his eyebrow and across his bony cheek. Blood dribbled from the cuts.
A droplet ran to his mouth. Drake licked it away. Red grinned triumphantly.
“I have had enough of you. The Brothers be damned. I will not waste any more of my time on you.”
Red tried to shake her head. Her ears were ringing and her sight was fading. The Brothers? Could it be?
Maybe Wolf was telling her the truth. Or maybe the lack of air to her brain was making her confused.
Drake pulled her toward his face so they were only a breath apart. “You have just confirmed your death sentence, my dear. To be carried out immediately.”
He threw her back onto the mattress. She landed awkwardly. Her leg twisted under her. She cried out as the pain seared her.