Page 112 of Lifebound

“Of course,” said Rune. “And no. She stays with me—for now.” He slowly put a hand over my knee.

Even in the situation we were in, anger reared its head in my mind and demanded I say something—how dare you assume I’m a slave, you arrogant twat?!And to Rune, too. How dare he play along and speak for me?

But I breathed in deeply, reminded myself why this was important, reminded myself that the only reason why we were alive was because this guy didn’t know who I was. He thought I was a slave—good.I would not only accept it, but I would behave like a slave, too, until we were out of here because this was all my fault. I was the reason we were here—me.Always me.

“For now, for now!” Lorei sang, raising his glass to the sky while he unbuttoned his peach-colored shirt to the middle of his chest, revealing smooth skin with not a single hair in sight.

I swallowed hard as my arousal grew and grew—there was no way to stop it, especially when the woman with the dark eyes winked at me.

“Let me tell you the story of my friends Cer and Lilith, Orian. You will be delighted,” Lorei said, and he put a hand over Rune’s shoulder while the other incubus brought us food. A large tray that should have tipped over but didn’t, full of plates of fruits and cheese and meat and drinks.

My stomach growled again, and while I looked at the food, Rune leaned in to grab a piece of cheese. He whispered in my ear, “Eat. It’s safe.”

Shivers erupted all over me—God, his whisper was something else. It took a lot to focus on the food, to tell myself to eat because if it came to it, if we needed to run to get away, I wouldn’t have any strength to get far. I needed energy, and so I reached for the purple grape that looked like it was made for me, and I popped one in my mouth.

Better than anything I had ever tasted, and the best part was that nothing happened. I ate another, and another, and grabbed an apple slice, too, but all I felt was fuller and satisfied.

So, while Lorei kept telling whatever story to Rune in whispers, I ate until I couldn’t have another bite without throwing up.

Then I had no choice but to look about me.

More people—somehow there were always more. I looked at Rune, who seemed really focused on whatever Lorei was telling him, and outside where the sky was dark. If the sun would come up in just a couple of hours, it meant I’d slept in the basement for three or four.

It occurred to me that Betty would have a blast in this place, and she’d tell me to get in trouble, to pick a fight—toraise hell.God, how I missed her. How she would have made everything better if she were with me.

But I was glad she wasn’t because we really werenothingcompared to these creatures. The power they had, themagic,the way it melted in the air and controlled you without them having to even try…

I lost track of time looking around and trying not to get too aroused by all the pleasure I saw and heard. It was a little easier this time around because I’d already had my release, but fuck, I wanted more. And I was already at a point where thinking about the memory of touching myself in front of Rune washot,not terrifying.Sexy,not embarrassing.

I actually wanted to do it again.

He was close to me, so close I felt the heat of his body. I saw these people having sex and jerking each other off, and I wanted to do all of it with him. So many ideas and positions—I wanted to make a list and try everything with Rune.

Until…

“What about now? Shall we let the girls have fun with your slave now?”

My heart came to a halt. I turned to Lorei and found the incubus with those dark eyes on me hanging on his shoulder, possibly after having whispered in his ear. And Lorei looked at Rune again, but Rune wasn’t fazed. He played his part so well that to look at him, you would never in a million years guess he was Rune.

Right now he was Orian, and he’d merged himself into whatever character Orian was supposed to be. And he said, “No. What’s mine is mine. She stays with me.”

Yes, yours,that voice in my head said. That was something Iwantedto be so badly…

Lorei’s smile faltered.

Drinking the last of his wine, he leaned back and looked at Rune with bloodshot eyes for a beat, then said, “Well, I’m afraid I must go now. There’s business to attend to. And tomorrow, you and I will make our deal, won’t we?” he said, but he didn’t wait for an answer. “But before I go, if you’re not going to let us have a taste of her, I want to seeyoudo it.”

Every hair on my body stood at attention.

“Come on, let me see it. I do so love a master-slave dynamic. Show me how you use her.”

I burned. I froze. I melted.

“I don’t like others to see what’s mine,” Rune said, and now he wasn’t as composed as a moment ago.

“But we’re all friends here, are we not? And besides—I haven’t really looked into your name or even asked where you come from with that mark. The least you can do is prove to me you are who you say you are.”

His eyes. The devil’s fucking eyes, and they moved slowly from Rune to me and back again.

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