Page 59 of Deviant

“If she’s such a great catch, why don’t you marry her?” Conrad snaps back before he looks once more at Liliana. “Or are you too distracted by your little whore?”

“I’m not distracted.” I reply. “And it’s not me who needs this marriage. It’s you. You know the rules. You want to be one of us, to continue enjoying all the power and privilege, then you have to follow them.”

He scowls, picking up the pepper pot, rolling it in his hand. “I’d happily marry anyone else but that woman.”

“That’s not the deal.” I retort. I worked damned hard to get him a suitable bride. He should be thanking me, not making things harder. Besides, we know there’s bigger things at play. I need the power and prestige of her family, I need their strength behind me if I’m going to go for the Chapter. We both need it, if this fight turns as ugly as I think it will.

“She has a niece…” He begins.

Once more. I slam my fist down and, once more, my little pet reacts. “Enough.” I order. “I have made the decision. You will do as you’re told and marry the Monclere girl I picked for you.”

He glares back, taking a swig of his wine and knocking it back like it’s a cheap shot of whisky.

“You’re becoming ungrateful.” I add. “Spoilt, reckless. We have a name to maintain. You are jeopardising everything.”

“I’m doing nothing of the sort,” he says dismissively. “I just want…”

“I don’t care what your wants are. Do you think I got to choose my bride? Do you think I had such a luxury? No. That’s the way of our world. That’s the price we pay to not end up like this woman, here.” I say gripping my pet’s neck, pulling her head to an almost impossible angle as I make my point clear. “You want to end up in Oblivion? You want to end up as nothing but a fuck-hole?”

“No.”

“No.” I repeat. “So play your part. Fuck your wife when you have to, and the rest of the time you can ignore her.”

He grunts back before ordering another bottle to be brought up, and I eat in silence as he practically drinks the entire thing.

With my hands I pick up some meat, offering it to Liliana. She doesn’t meet my gaze, but she takes it from me, using her mouth the way a dog would, and she chews quietly before swallowing.

“Good girl.” I murmur.

See, it wasn’t that hard, was it? A little bending on her part and she’s getting the niceties I offered her in the beginning.

If she considers a reply, it doesn’t show on her face, which is good. I’d hate to have to hurt her after all the progress we’ve made today.

When my meal is done, I pull her up into my lap, and I lazily start playing with her breasts through the little coverup I dressed her in. They may have lost some of their fullness from her weight loss but their still plump. I force her back, force her to lean flat against my front and I can see all the tiny marks, the lines, the proof that this woman here is exactly that, a woman.

My fingertips trace the silvery stretchmarks at her hips, laying claim to them the way I have the rest of her body.

Oh, I know most men lust after twenty somethings, that they see them as easy to control, to manipulate, to mould. But me, I enjoy the challenge, I enjoy the maturity of a woman’s body as she ages, I enjoy the proof that she’s lived, that she’s experienced life before I take it all away and lock her into a nice little cage.

Conrad glances at me, then at where my hands are, with a raised eyebrow.

“She’s beginning to break.” I state.

“Is she?” he asks, as if he doesn’t believe it.

I run my nose against her neck, savouring the sweet smell of her clean skin. “It’s a slow process. One that takes patience.”

“And you think you’re winning?” Conrad grins, leaning over his plate, staring at her more openly and I can tell where his head is at.

Perhaps it’s the wine. Perhaps it’s just that I’m an arsehole and my pride is at stake, but I want to prove that I am.

I wrap my hand more firmly around her throat, snaking the other between her thighs to spread her legs wider.

She whimpers, her head shakes, but she doesn’t show any other attempt at defiance.

I grab her hand, placing it where her exposed pussy is. “My brother wants some entertainment.” I murmur into her ear. “Play with yourself and prove what a good little pet you’re becoming for me.”

She gasps, shaking her head more violently, and her legs start to jerk out. Only, she’s pinned between me and the long dining table. There’s no escape.