Page 71 of Cruel Master
He rubs his thumb over the back of my hand, then starts toward the door. Again, his handprint opens it. A primal rush runs through me as sunlight streams in through the opening.
Sunlight. Oh my God.
I want to run toward it, but Hadrian’s warning and his firm grip on my hand hold me in place. Don’t mess this up. We walk out together and the warm summer sun wraps me up. I close my eyes against the glare. Hadrian pauses, giving me time to adjust.
A breeze blows the scent of flowers my way, and I take a deep, beautiful breath. Sound pours in, and I struggle to sort out the jumbled flood. I hadn’t realized how deathly silent my cell was until this exact moment.
Wind blowing.
A man’s laugh in the distance.
A dog barking, followed by a woman’s voice. “Get down, Edgar. Sorry. He’s a puppy. He’s just big.”
Birds. Lots of them. Didn’t Hadrian say we were in a forest?
I open my eyes, and the outside world greets me. I clutch Hadrian’s hand a little tighter as I try to process what I’m seeing. I’m on a street, with tall, office-type buildings on one side of me and parkland on the other. Leafy trees sway in the breeze, and movement has me snapping my head to the right.
A small woman in her fifties struggles with a very large, very excited dog. “Edgar. For God’s sake, settle down.”
A tall, skinny man appears, holds his hand out, and she passes over the leash. He says, “Don’t complain. I wanted a Jack Russell.”
She rolls her eyes, and the two of them leave, tugged along by Edgar. Normal. It’s so normal that I think about running afterthem. Surely they don’t know I’m a captive? This has to be a fantasy of Hadrian’s, the delusion of a fractured mind. We’re in the middle of a city. We have to be. But as I watch them head down the street, something else catches my eye.
What the actual fuck?
A man and woman sit together on a bench. He has a large book open on his knee, and his head bent down, speaking into her ear. He’s strikingly handsome, blond hair and a stylish suit. A scar crosses his eye, giving him a dangerous look. She’s just as stunning, with amazing deep blue hair falling in waves around her shoulders.
She’s also naked to the waist.
I close my eyes, sure I must be imagining things, but when I open them again, her tits are very much still on display. Right there. In the middle of the street. On second glance, she also has a collar around her neck, attached to a leash gripped in the man’s hand.
I look to Hadrian, then back at the couple, and he lets out a low, amused noise. “That’s Sebastian and Ophelia. He likes showing her off. Let’s go and say hello.”
Hadrian is okay with this? Hadrian, who almost had a heart attack when I suggested a trip to a nudist beach on our one European holiday? He’s cool with this? Am I the prude in this relationship now?
Not that it’s a relationship.
I let him lead me toward the couple, feeling more like I’m dreaming than I have since I first woke up in Saldar’s dungeon. The couple look up when Hadrian clears his throat, and their eyes widen when they look at me. The woman lets out a shocked gasp.
It could just be that we startled them, but it feels like more than that. The man recovers quickly, giving me a dazzling smile. “You must be Juliet. Hadrian has told me so much about you. I’m Sebastian, and this badly behaved little pet is Ophelia. I apologize for her current state of undress, but it’s her own fault.”
Then he holds out his hand as if we’re meeting in a boardroom. Ophelia groans, “Jesus,” and turns a deep beetroot red, but she’s shifting about in a way I recognize all too well. Whatever the hell this is, she’s enjoying it.
I just stare at Sebastian’s hand until Hadrian prompts, “Shake his hand, doll. And remember to be polite. Sebastian is a Brother.”
Shit. This just hit a million on the fucked-up-ometer, and I’m like a baby gazelle blinking in the sunlight. I give his hand a weak shake and manage, “Pleased to meet you, sir. And Ophelia.”
Sebastian addresses Hadrian directly. “She’s very well behaved. Ophelia could do with a little of that. She was supposed to be studying for her big anatomy test but decided to get drunk with her friends instead. So, I brought her out here for a little extra motivation.” He waves the book. “Every question she gets wrong, she loses an item of clothing.”
Anatomy test? This just shot right past weird and came out the other side.
Ophelia gives me a small, embarrassed smile. “I’ll introduce you to the girls once you’re allowed.”
“It’s her first day in the Compound, out of her cell,” Hadrian cuts in, and he sounds…stressed? Maybe? He’s so hard to read. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I’m taking her to see the gate.”
Ophelia’s face tightens, and Sebastian rolls his eyes. “You really know how to show a girl a good time, don’t you?”
It’s said lightly, but Ophelia’s face darkens even more. She ignores the men and focuses on me. “Don’t be scared. It’s not all bad in here. What did you do before—”
