Page 86 of Monsters Carve Thrones

“Tired?” I asked softly.

He gave me a sideways glance. “You could say that.”

I nodded. “Then take my clothes off.”

That stopped him in his tracks. He turned toward me fully, eyes gleaming. “Do you want me, sweetheart?”

“No.” My voice was flat. “I just can’t stand the smell of her perfume anymore.”

The way his smile twisted made my skin crawl. He stepped closer and crouched beside me, his hand curling around my cuffed wrist, thumb brushing lightly over a healing bruise. “You are such a strange thing,” he whispered. “Beautiful even in your hatred.”

Then, to my surprise, he uncuffed me.

I didn’t move. Didn’t flinch. Just sat up and let him undress me, piece by piece. He worked slowly, dragging the fabric from my body like he was unwrapping a gift. His fingers brushed the bruises along my ribs, the red marks across my hips from too-tight restraints. His gaze burned as he drank me in.

“You don’t even realize it,” he murmured. “How exquisite you are.”

I said nothing.

“So much so that I might consider allowing you to live. After Rafe is dead, I won’t have any concerns.” He leaned forward, planting a kiss on my lips. “You’ll learn to love this. Loveme.” He kissed me again.

I kissed him back tentatively.

“You’ll moanmyname when I make you come. Even though I know you probably feel conflicted about your orgasms, you won’t for long.”

I swallowed down the urge to vomit.

He left me in only my underwear for a long beat, his gaze sweeping down my form like he was debating whether he’d take more. Then, almost anticlimactically, he turned away and pulled a black tee from the drawer.

One of his. It was soft and worn, with a faint scent of clean cotton and tobacco. He slipped it over my head, and I pulled it down over my thighs with trembling hands. It hung baggy over me, swallowing my frame in comfort that felt out of place in this nightmare.

He secured the cuffs again with a tired smirk. Then he slid into the bed beside me, stretching his long limbs and exhaling deeply.

“Sleep,” he said, voice low, eyes already fluttering closed.

I turned my face toward the wall, my mind reeling with the knowledge that I could kill him right then. I could reach under the mattress, retrieve that pen and stab him in the throat.But I needed to be smarter. I needed Olesya on my side to accomplish my plan. So, I’d endure however much more abuse I needed to from this man until I sorted everything out.

Chapter 16

RAFE

(TW: Reference to sexual violence)

I was shaking again. The kind of tremble that starts in your spine and radiates outward like aftershocks from a fucking earthquake. Sweat rolled down my neck, and every bone in my body felt hollow and brittle. I clenched my fists just to feelsomething, but all I got was the sharp pull of chains against my wrists.

It came in waves now. I’d been cut off days ago. Time meant nothing here. The walls never changed, the air never moved, and my body felt like it had been buried alive inside my own skin.

The cell door creaked open, and I didn’t even lift my head at first. I knew it was her. I could smell the perfume–sweet, floral, poisonous. I was too tired to play her games today.

“I brought you a present.”

I opened my eyes. She was standing in front of me with a tablet in her hand, screen black, her finger poised above it like she was about to deliver salvation instead of hell. Her eyes sparkled with sick amusement.

“Thought you’d want a little… update.”

Nausea churned in my gut immediately. Someone shifted to my right, also disturbed by what this bitch could possibly have.

She crouched down to eye level, slowly and dramatically, and tapped the screen. And then...I saw her.