Page 43 of Given to the Fae (The Dark Realms #3)

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I t’s been days since I’ve seen Jak and Morgan.

There’s just Locke out of the trio here now and the hours are marked only by meals, the sun, and the moon.

Bere’s men come and go. They bring in slaves who cry.

New ones. Young ones. I ignore them all.

What can I do for them when I can do nothing for myself?

I stay in the pen and I don’t look at them, awaiting my fate.

I feel Locke’s eyes on me all the time no matter how many others are near, but, for the first time in two days, Bere’s men are all gone and there are no other slaves in the pen with me. We’re the only two in the barn.

‘You sent them away,’ I say quietly, rubbing my cheek.

My face continues to hurt where Kings hit me hard for trying to speak to Jak when he was leaving. My eye’s still swollen from where I hit the wall from the force of it.

And Jak never even looked back at me even though he must have heard the strike and my wail of anguish.

At least a sword went through Kings’ boot right after.

‘Yes,’ Locke says quietly.

‘Because you’re taking me to the arena to be sold.’

‘Yes.’

I clench my eyes shut. ‘Was there ever really a deal?’

‘No,’ he replies, his tone dull and his face shuttered. ‘I just needed to tell Bere my version of what happened to Warrior before you could.’

‘I see. So, that’s why you’re telling me the truth now? Because it doesn’t matter anymore?’

‘Yes. Morgan and Jak are... Well, they’re gone. It’s just me.’

‘Why did you make them go?’

‘They weren’t needed here any longer.’

I move away from him without another word and hear him leave a moment later. I’m thankfully left alone because tears seep from my eyes however much I will them not to. They run down my cheeks and after a while I stop wiping them away.

At least I won’t last long once I’m sold this last time.

I rest my head on the cold stone wall. Day turns to night again. Bere’s men come and go. Someone throws some food into my pen, which I eat only because they’ll bother me if I don’t.

The next morning, two females are led into the paddock. I ignore them and their attempts to talk to me. They stop trying by midday.

Two more are brought not long after and their incessant low chatter when the guards are around annoys me, so I try not to listen.

I feel more and more uncomfortable as the day progresses and by the evening, my skin is hot and flushed, and I can’t sit still.

I realize with horror that this was how I felt in that cavern, and I huddle into myself, trying not to touch my own sensitive skin. I want to rip the course dress off, it feels so scratchy, and I long for the cool touch of Jak’s fingers when he helped me before.

But he’s not here.

I desperately search the barn, but there’s only one of the new guards I don’t know. I stand on wobbly legs and stagger to the trough in the other corner, splashing the cold water on me, trying to alleviate the heat.

‘What are you doing, slave?’

The guard is walking over and I’m terrified that I’m going to beg him to fuck me.

I don’t answer him.

I feel his ire and I know by his purposeful steps that he’s going to come into the paddock to make an example of me in front of the others so they all know not to trifle with Bere and his men.

The paddock opens, but before he’s done anything, a scythe on a hook falls and slices him across his back.

He screams out in pain and turns, yelling for one of the others to help.

The paddock open, I stagger out. I don’t have a plan, but I can’t just stay there and wait to descend into my baser instincts. I need to hide myself away until it's over.

I leave the barn and realize too late that I’ve gone the wrong way and am in the adjacent house from earlier...or was it yesterday?

Frantically, I turn to go back the way I came, but there’s a body blocking the door.

‘What do we have here?’ a quiet voice I don’t recognize says. ‘A slave girl not in the safety of the paddock. Shall I show you what happens to naughty little humans who stray from the pack?’

I shake my head as he advances, and all at once, I’m furious that he’s stopping me from going where I want.

The door slams on his hand where he’s holding the jamb and he curses. And then the candle beside him flares and a hot spark lands on his tunic. It catches immediately with a whoosh and the goblin I see now, yelps, batting at his arm to put out the fire.

How am I...

‘What the fuck is going on here?!’

The voice is familiar, and even though I hate him, I’m thankful it’s him.

‘Why is she not with the others?’

The goblin snarls. ‘I found her wandering.’

Locke lets out a sound of impatience. ‘Go. Clean yourself up and ensure the paddock is locked. I’ll deal with this one.’

The goblin leaves and Locke grabs me, his fingers cutting into my arms.

‘Do you know what could have happened to you? You can’t leave the barn!’

I don’t understand his concern, but I’m too far gone to care.

I open my mouth to beg him to help me, but all that comes out is a choked sob.

‘Fuck,’ he mutters. ‘Your skin is burning. It’s happening again.’

I nod. ‘Please,’ I mouth, but hardly any sound comes out.

‘Come. Bere’s not here. No one will miss you until the morn.’

He pulls me along with him, and when my knees give out, he hoists me easily into his arms and carries me out of the dingy house to another two streets over.

I watch where we’re going, taking in as much as I can through the haze just in case I can escape. Though, if I do, it won’t be to leave the first city. It’ll be to jump in the river and sink to the bottom or throw myself in front of a fast-moving cart.

I see a figure dressed in black in an alleyway across the street, and I do a double-take with a hiss when, even in my feverish state, I’m sure I recognize the man in the shadows. But when I look again, there’s no one there.

Impossible. This heat winding through my body is making me imagine things.

Locke doesn’t seem to notice anything amiss. He climbs the outer steps and puts me down for just a moment to open the door before he picks me back up and takes me inside. I forget about the vision outside.

The room is nondescript with the usual amenities, but I barely see it, too busy staring at Locke beseechingly.

I don’t say anything as he turns to me, taking in my panting breaths and my anguished expression. My stomach cramps and I double over with a groan. He scoops me up and puts me in his bed, pulling the hated slave dress over my head in one quick motion.

‘Let me help you,’ he says.

All I can do is nod, and he parts me gently, probing me with one lone finger.

But I need more. Now.

‘I need...’

I whimper as he seems to understand, unlacing his breeches. He pushes into me in one hard thrust, not gently, not kindly. It’s exactly what my body craves.

My hips rise to meet the hard, rough snap of his. I squeal with every thrust, my back bowing when he twists my nipples and takes me even harder.

I drive my fist into my mouth to stop my loud noises, as pleasure sweeps over me like the storm did in Dead City, and I cry out loudly behind my hand.

He pulls my fingers away and uncovers my mouth. ‘No, you’ll give me every single whimper and cry, every moan and squeal. All of them are mine!’ he growls low.

His hand takes both my wrists and pins them above my head as he fucks me, his cock leaving me completely only to drive all the way back in each time. Over and over and over.

I don’t know how long he keeps up his relentless movements. I lose track of the number of times he brings me to pleasure, wrapped as I am in my haze of need. But his hand leaves my now numb arms and wraps around my throat, squeezing me just enough to bring my attention to him.

‘One more,’ he growls. ‘Come for me again.’

I whimper, shaking my head and he snarls, gripping my neck tighter, his other hand widening my legs and slapping the bud between them.

I squeal at the pain and suddenly I’m falling over the cliff once more, my channel fluttering around him.

As soon as he feels it, he roars, thrusting into me a final time and releasing his seed deep.

I feel him pulsing within me, and then he collapses on top of me, his fingers still around my throat.

I pant hard, my body boneless and exhausted, and my mind clearing.

And I burst into tears. Great sobs wrack my body, and I hope he’s asleep so that he doesn’t hear me.

I begged him. Him . The fae who’s been so cruel, who lied to me, and sent my only allies away, the evil cunt who’s going to sell me to the pits to die when he promised to grant me passage to the Light Realm.

I’ve let him mount me, rut me, seed me. I begged him to. And I loved every moment of it.

I cry harder and I realize his hands have moved under me. He holds me to him and I don’t fight him even though his comfort is as false as his promises.

‘I’m sorry,’ he whispers.

A light bursts behind my eyes and I sigh contentedly.

‘Why is my face wet?’ I ask.

‘You spilled water. It’s all right. Sleep, Bryn.’

I close my eyes, nuzzling into the warm body I can’t quite remember, but instinctively know won’t hurt me.

When I open my eyes. I’m in a bed and I blink up at a pair of dark eyes watching me. They’re familiar, but I can’t quite place them.

‘You’re a slave. Remember?’

‘Yes, my lord.’

‘Good. Get dressed. Have some water and eat everything on the plate on the table.’

‘Yes, my lord.’

Something niggles at me, deep in my mind, as I leave the bed and don the dress that’s on the chair. It’s something I need to remember, but it doesn’t come when I try to recall it, so I decide to ignore it in favor of the commands I’ve been given.

I frown as I take the plate and kneel on the floor, not sure why I’m feeling so adrift. I feel the master’s eyes on me, so I do as he’s told me, hoping he’s not going to get angry and try to hurt me because I don’t really want fate to punish him.

Why? I don’t know.

When I’m finished, he takes the plate from me.

‘We’re finished in Merediea. We leave for the pits soon.’

‘Yes, my lord.’