Page 77 of What Fury Brings
She looked away so he wouldn’t see her grin.
“Andrastus, I don’t know how many times I need to say this, but I find you extremely attractive. The more I learn about you, the more that attraction grows. We’re to be wedded, and I am eager to bed you. If anything, I’m the one trying to trick you into a sexual encounter by disguising it as a reward.
“Now, may I please pleasure you tonight?” She tried to keep the exasperation out of her voice, but it still crept in.
He was silent so long that Olerra was certain he meant to ignore her.
But then she caught it.
His nod.
17
Sanos’s mind was running wild with possibilities.
Would she use her hands or her mouth? Would she do it on the bed or on her knees? Would she be clothed or naked?
The moment they reached the palace, she separated from him, likely to fill in the queen on the events of the day or perhaps to confront her cousin. He didn’t know, and he had a hard time thinking too much about it with Olerra’s plans for the evening.
He didn’t even protest as the eunuchs led him to the bathing chamber this time around. He daydreamed as they washed him, even as they cleaned his foreskin and his ass. Although, he flinched when someone came up behind him and spread his cheeks wide, holding some small contraption in his hands. A moment later, he felt warm water shoot up his ass.
“What the fuck?”
“The princess requested a more thorough cleaning for tonight,” the man behind him said. “Just a few times more.” The water came again. It wasn’t unpleasant. He just didn’t like that these men were seeing every intimate part of him laid bare.
He needed to bargain with Olerra for private baths. She’d probably insist that he couldn’t be as thorough as the eunuchs, and she’d be right. No man washed himself this completely. Why the hell would he need to?
They took extra care with his feet, which were scraped and raw fromthe day’s activities. They washed them gently before covering them in ointment and soft cloths.
The same man from his first evening in the palace showed up. The one who’d stripped the hair from his chest. Sanos winced at the sight of him.
“Well met, Prince.”
He started to forget what the night promised, his mood turning sour as the eunuchs tied him down so he couldn’t fight. The waxing burned, as usual. Though he wasn’t quite as sore afterward, as if his body remembered this pain and accepted it.
They shaved the hair from his face that had already grown back since the morning, before rubbing some sort of soothing cream into his skin. It felt nice and smelled nicer. Was it a scent Olerra liked? Or something they used on everyone?
Why do I care?
Gods, but this place was getting to him.
What would another month do?
What about after the marriage?
He couldn’t think like that. Sanos would get Olerra her throne or find a different opportunity to escape.
After Olerra pleasured him.
He would take what he could from her. He wasowedfor all the inconveniences of being here. And then he would get out.
They put him in another short skirt that tied at the side before leading him back to Olerra’s wing of the palace. When they entered her bedroom, she wasn’t there. They bypassed her bed and went into his room. He thought perhaps they’d tie him to the bed once more. Instead, he found something new inside. There was a chain hanging from the ceiling. One of the eunuchs brought forth a hook and attached it to the chain. Another lowered the pulley so the hook rested between Sanos’s manacled hands.
He should have guessed what came next. They hoisted him until his wrists were high in the air and he stood on his toes.
Then the men left without a word, and he was staring at the bare wall in front of him.
Every minute of waiting seemed like a lifetime. There was nothing to do, nothing to see. He could only feel the strain in his muscles and feet, which were already sore from the barefoot excursions of the day, though the ointment was doing wonders for him.
