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“As…you…wish, Mercy,” she choked out.

“Good,” I said, before turning my back to her and leaving my office, Narcissa still sitting in the aftermath of her own undoing.

22

CECELIA

I didn’t have muchof an appetite by the time Warren left. My sandwich lay discarded in the garden as food for the birds and I listened for their happy, well-fed chirps while I walked back to the house.

The atmosphere was tense from the moment I stepped inside. While there were occasionally some of Mercy’s coven hanging around, pressed against the walls and watching from the shadows, there was absolutely nobody around when I made my way through the house.

Silence so intense felt suffocating to me. I could hardly bear knowing that something was about to happen, or had happened already whilst I was outside. Had Mercy gone out on business and Narcissa was lying in wait for me?

I steeled myself and continued onwards to my bedroom, determined not to let Cissa see the fear that would clearly be seeping through my pores. There was no hiding the chemicals released alongside emotions, but I sure as hell was not going tolookas terrified as I felt.

Approaching my bedroom door, I noticed that the handle had been turned slightly and was sitting at a wrong angle. I was on high alert as I took a tentative step forward and pushed it open, gasping when I saw who greeted me on the other side.

“Hello, little flower.”

Sitting on the edge of my bed, poised and the image of perfection as usual, was Mercy. She tilted her head and looked at me curiously, waiting for me to reply.

“Hi,” I mumbled. “What are you doing here?”

Just the sight of her perched there, long legs outstretched in front of her with her heels discarded to the side, was almost too much for me to handle. I hated, truly and deeply detested, myself for the conflicted emotions I felt when it came to Mercy.

I was her prisoner, a witness to her crimes. My only options were to follow her commands or be killed. I knew the danger I was in, felt the terror in my very soul, and yet intrigue still marred my thoughts.

When men fuck behind their wives’ backs, they’re quick to minimize it by saying that it wasjust sexor that theyneeded the release. The truth was, people have an innate need to feel something. Whether it’s romantic or sexual or even platonic, people want some sort of pleasure in their life. And that need, the desire, doesn’t just go away.

My brain was fighting with every other part of my body. Logically, the last thing in the world I should have wanted was to feel Mercy’s lips on me. But the other part of me – that seedy, greedy little part – wanted nothing more than whatever Mercy had to offer. Just like those cheating bastards, I craved the exhilaration that came with doing something you weren’t supposed to.

Mercy was bad, a literal creature born of the shadows. But I was a human, hiding in the light when I craved what I could find in the darkness.

I stepped into the room and kicked the door shut behind me, earning a half-smirk from Mercy.

“It is my home, is it not? I do believe I can go where I like.”

I rolled my eyes but felt the excitement begin to build in me as I pictured why she might be there. Mercy closed her eyes and slowly inhaled, a pleased smile passing over her lips as she scented me.

“Why. Are. You. Here?”

Shooting to her feet, Mercy grabbed me by the throat and pushed me against the door. Her grip, while tight and pressing, wasn’t so rough that I felt danger in her actions. Instead, I felt my core tug in wanting.

She leaned forward, pressing her lips against the soft skin between my ear and neck. I felt her incisors playfully drag against the skin, sending a shiver down my entire body, which made her sigh happily against my skin.

“I told you that you weremine,didn’t I?” I nodded against her hand, hating myself for the spark of pleasure I found when she tightened her fingers, her nails almost piercing my skin. “You were a good little pet last night, doing what you were told. I could almost taste your release on my lips when you cried out my name.”

I closed my eyes and thought back to how insane it felt knowing she could hear me, that she would be able to smell the mess just her image created.

Mercy stepped back, tilting her head down to meet my eyes. Her raven hair framed her face, a few strands sweeping across my cheeks as she moved in, pressing her lips softly against mine. I groaned and pressed harder against her, which was the correct thing to do because her hands flew to my waist, her fingertips digging into my hips.

She pulled back, moving one hand to my chin, and tilting my head up to her. “Take your clothes off.”

I was startled, hearing the order in her voice. “What?”

Mercy sneered coldly which, disturbingly, made me breathless. “Don’t make me repeat myself, Cecelia. Be a good pet and take your clothes off, or I will shred them from your body.”

There was something hidden behind Mercy’s tone. I wasn’t vain enough to think it was lust, but perhaps the need for escape? Either way, disobeying her wasn’t wise.