Page 5 of The Fae Menagerie
I finished with his shoes, put my gear away, and sat beside Parker on the couch while Aidan tore my rooms apart. My enclosure had no doors besides the ones in my bedroom, another punishment, and the noise of him ransacking every drawer and bookshelf echoed off the walls.
After close to an hour, he returned to give me a withering look before he dumped my shoeshine kit on the floor. Like I would have hidden it in such an obvious spot. Then, he stripped me of my burlap. He stopped short of a cavity search.
"Satisfied?" I asked. "Or do you want to search the human, too?" Yes, I wanted to see Parker naked.
Aidan sniffed at Parker and rolled his eyes at me. "He has no luck."
"If you could tell by scent, why did you strip-search me?"
"I wanted to embarrass you before your little plaything." He laughed and turned to Parker with a smirk on his beautiful face. "Don't get too attached, human. This one will leave you to the wasps before too long. If you beg nicely, I might take you to another enclosure, one where you will die faster and with less heartbreak."
Unlike Bret, Aidan was flawless from his perfect suit to his polished dragon-skin boots. His skin had a healthy opalescentsheen to it, enhanced by the lack of shadows surrounding him. Beside him, I looked dull and dingy from years in captivity. I was every bit as pathetic as Bret.
Parker crossed his arms over his chest. "I'll take my chances with the naked blue guy, thank you very much."
"I am not blue." My hair was blue. My skin might have been a tinge gray, but with a good exfoliating scrub, it would shine golden again.
"Suit yourself," Aidan said, ignoring me. He strolled to the glass wall and walked through it. His appearance rippled as he walked through the glass, hiding his wings and making him look even more beautiful once he was outside.
I didn't try to follow. I'd learned my lesson. I would only bruise my knees and elbows, not to mention my pride.
"Who was that guy?" Parker asked.
"Caretaker. Warden." He had a title in fae common, but it would hurt Parker's ears, so I didn't speak it. "Whatever you want to call him, he's an asshole. His name's Aidan, and he's been a pain in my ass for millennia."
My grin must have been a little too suggestive.
"Literally?" Parker asked. "Like … he fucks you?"
"Is that a problem?" Because, yeah, sometimes he did. At my request, of course. I had been trying to make him fall in love with me. However, if it hadn't happened by now, it never would.
Parker held up his hands. "No, no. That's …." His eyes traveled up and down my body, and his pretty blush returned. "Is that legal here? Jailers can rape prisoners?"
"It's part of my sentence."
Parker's face twisted with concern.
"Willingly," I added. "After a few decades alone, I would have tried anything."
"That sounds awful."
I pulled my garment back over my head to hide my nakedness and make Parker more comfortable. "I've been trying to get out of this place far longer than you've been alive. The distraction was pleasant enough."
"What did you do?" Parker flopped onto the couch like he owned the place. I wasn't even offended. I wanted him to make himself at home. The more relaxed he was, the more comfortable he would be when I tried to seduce him.
Hey, that was the main reason I brought him back with me. That, and I'd been lonely for the past century. It had been at least that long since I'd realized Aidan and I were only going through the motions. He would never love me, and there was no way I would fall for a common jailer.
I picked up Parker's legs and slid beneath them, letting his warmth sink into me as I wiggled my butt into the cushion until it didn't feel like I was sitting on a brick.
"I seduced an Unseelie Prince."
"A prince?" I liked the way his eyebrows popped upward at the mention of royalty. I would save that card for later, after I'd tried everything else.
"The prince." Prince Drummond was the high queen's only heir. He had been midnight itself, all muscle and bone, beauty and violence. I'd wanted him, sure, but when he threatened to forfeit the throne to marry me, I wasn't exactly gentle with my refusal.
"His parents blame me for breaking his marriage contract with a perfect suitor. My mother blames me for breaking the prince's heart and refusing to marry him. She tossed me in here to think about my actions. I won't be released until I know the meaning of love, whatever that means."
Parker laughed. "You tried to seduce your way out with the warden. You remind me of Bret."
