Page 66 of The Labyrinth

Rissa looked around the room, at her brothers’ dusty faces, and her mother’s tired one. She reached out of my embrace and grabbed Ettie’s hand, squeezing it tightly. “You’re my home. But I can’t leave them either.”

My mind had already been made up the moment I stepped through the gates, realizing where she had gone. I smiled at her, brushing the wild strands away from her face. “Bring them.”

After all, it was time for a change.

Chapter29

Rissa

And so my family came back to the Labyrinth with us. We packed up as much of their meager belongings as were needed, and we walked through the desert together, one last time.

I wasn’t stupid. It wasn’t going to be easy, making a change like this. But Ten was set in his decision, and determined that if the Labyrinth was going to get better, then it needed to start with him. People stared as we walked through the village, all together, the family they had known for decades with the monster. And they stared when we passed through the gates, entering into the Labyrinth. People here weren’t yet used to me, and now there were more of us, walking through the streets as if we belonged.

But at the end of the day, what really was a word? A few letters strung together to differentiate between one thing and another. Could they really know what a person was, though? Could they understand what happened beneath a person’s skin, what lived within their hearts? Or could it only tell you what they looked like, what things appeared to be?

I clung to Ten’s hand, watching my family take it all in, the way I had when I first entered. Ettie’s face lit up when she saw the grass, dropping to her knees to run her hands over it. “Is this grass? Is it real?”

I nodded, letting go of Ten’s hand to fall to my knees with her. “It is. It’s real. And wait until you see their market. And Ten’s library.”

“Ten has a library?” Ettie whispered.

I pulled her up with me. “Come on. I'll show you.”

It felt right, having them here, to know they weren’t suffering while I thrived. There were other people who were stuck still, people out in the villages that surrounded the Labyrinth, and the people inside the camps. My heart ached for them. But I would be a fool to think change would happen all at once. It was going to take time. It was going to be difficult. But we’d get there. We’d get there together.

The days since our arrival had been filled with excitement and anxiety. Some people reacted well, accepting my family without much complaint once Ten explained who they were. Others treated us like we were little better than the dust that covered the world, something to be tolerated but otherwise ignored. Ten’s council was on board with the changes he was enacting, no matter how slow and tedious they might be. None of us expected to fix a city overnight.

We’d get there. Step by step.

Sunlight filtered through the curtains as I blinked awake. It was a new day. A fresh start. Ten and I were going to walk down to the camps today, so I could visit with Clara, and we could bring new clothes to some of the other women who were in desperate need. Small steps. We couldn’t take the camps apart yet, but we could make sure the women were treated better than they had been.

I really needed to get out of bed. Instead, I rolled over, stroking Ten’s horn thoughtfully as my eyes drifted shut again. “What are you doing, wife?”

My eyes flew open. “What did you just call me?”

Ten opened his eyes, watching me with a smirk. “I called you my wife. Isn’t that what you told the guard at the gates? Called yourself my wife, told him your name was Rissa Furie.”

“That traitor.” I shook my head, my cheeks flushed. “I can’t believe he told you.”

Ten ran his finger down the side of my face. “You can’t believe he told me the truth? Or you can’t believe you called yourself my wife?”

I didn’t think it was possible for my cheeks to grow even redder, but they did. “Either,” I muttered. I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me whole.

Ten’s finger stilled on my chin, and he grabbed it, pulling my face to look at him again. He leaned forward enough that we were sharing the same air. “I like it.”

“You do?” I breathed. My embarrassment was blooming into something more.

“Mhmm…” His fingers tightened on my chin, pinching, the pain ricocheting through my body straight to my clit. “Tell me something, deliciae. If you’re my wife, does that mean you’re mine to do with as I please? Mine to hurt? To use?”

My breath caught in my throat, blood rushing to every part of my body. “I thought I already was.”

Ten’s hand slipped off my chin, coming to rest on my throat, applying the lightest amount of pressure there, a reminder of who was in charge. “Don’t be sassy.”

“Wife or not, I’m yours, Master,” I whispered. His eyes were bright, much brighter than normal as he watched me, asserting a quiet power in the dimly lit room.

Another ounce of pressure on my throat, and he rolled on top of me, propping up his weight on his elbows. His hard cock pressed against my pussy, and the thought alone drove me wild. I could feel myself growing wet just from his proximity, dripping on the inside of my thighs. Ten felt it, too, and began to push himself inside me ever so slightly. “You like my hands on you, don’t you?” he murmured. “You like when I take away your power. Your ability to breathe. You like when I fuck you to the point of pain.”

I nodded, whimpering around his hand. He stroked my lip with his thumb, pushing the broad head of his cock inside me. His barbs scraped my pussy, combining with the gentle push of his hand on my throat.

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