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Including Tobias.
He smiled thinly at me, and then he leaned down to listen to Mellie, who’d just started whispering something in his ear.
“I can feel how hard you are,” I murmured, turning my head over my shoulder to the disgusting man behind me. “Do you want to be the first one in my pussy tonight? Or would you prefer my ass? Master loves how tight I am there.”
His hand moved around to my ass. Just as he was about to slide his finger to my puckered entrance, Elias strode up and wrenched his hand away. Then he glared at me, eyes alive with fire.
“Kneel,” he commanded, his voice rich and furious.
I immediately did as he said. It wouldn’t look good for me in front of all these men if I refused my current Master’s orders.
“My apologies. My stupid, irresponsible little slave has her dates wrong,” Elias said, eyes glittering with rage as he stared down at me. “I’m waiting for the festival to begin before I allow her to be used by anyone else. That way everyone will be here. Everyone will get to use her, one after the other, until she screams and cries and bleeds. I feel like the wait will be worth it to witness such a punishment.”
The men murmured and nodded, some of them exchanging knowing glances and grins. The one behind me let out an angry breath, but he told Elias he understood and stepped away.
Elias wrapped his fingers around my right arm, squeezing me so tightly I almost cried out. “Come with me,” he growled, dragging me to my feet. “Now.”
He hauled me out of the party and over to the stairwell. When we were back on the second floor, I called out breathlessly as he trailed ahead, dragging me by the arm. “Are you going to take me to that red room and punish me, Elias?” I said. “Finally going to admit this latest act of yours was a game?”
He stopped in his tracks and turned back to me, eyes narrowed. “I know what you’re doing. You’re trying to distract me with this shit. It’s not going to work.”
He roughly pulled me into my room and slammed the door shut before continuing.
“I know exactly what you were doing back there, too,” he said. “You’re trying to get picked as the hostess for the Artemis Festival, aren’t you?”
“So what if I am?”
“I’ve heard rumors of the deal.” His eyes blazed. “One girl gets picked for every festival, and she gets sent home with a new master, right? His and his alone until her contract ends?”
“Yes, that’s right. Are you jealous?” I was taunting him now, just as angry as he was.
He pushed me up against the wall. “Whether I’m jealous or not isn’t even fucking relevant. What’s relevant is that you’re obviously doing this because you think it’ll make it easier for you to escape this place.”
I shrugged. “If you say so.”
The truth was sitting right in my mouth, threatening to spill out. I had to force myself to swallow the words like bile.
“But you’ve been claiming to be here willingly. If that’s true, why are you so desperate to leave? So desperate that you’d tell a hundred men they can all fuck you if they want?”
“Maybe I’m just horny because you haven’t been touching me.”
“Christ, Tatum.” He stepped back and pressed the bridge of his nose. “Have you even thought this through at all? How do you know it will be easier for you to escape the new guy’s place? Sure, it might be, but what if it’s not? What if he’s totally sadistic and throws you in a windowless dungeon?”
“Well, I’ll just have to take that chance, won’t I?” I shot back. I immediately clamped my hand over my mouth.
“So you admit it. You want to escape.”
I hesitated. Shit. “I… I didn’t say that. You misinterpreted me.”
“For fuck’s sake!” he said. “Just say it! You’re a fucking prisoner here!”
I shrank back, pressing my back right up against the wall. “I can’t.”
“You can.” He grabbed both my shoulders again, but his face softened. “Look, I understand that you think it’ll make it easier for you to escape if you go home with another master, but it won’t. If you just wait—”
“Wait for what?”
“For me to figure out a way to get you safely home. It’s not going to be easy, Tatum. I’ve told you that. It won’t work if you don’t trust me. We need to be on the same side.”