Page 24 of The Count

“Yes, please. Thank you, John,” I smiled in return.

I sat down as he started to prepare a mug for me. I said my thanks as he passed it to me, relishing a luxurious sip of the best coffee I’d ever had the privilege of tasting.

The morning passed quickly as I enjoyed a nice quiet meal with his company. I asked him some questions about the property, discovering he’d been here for most of his life and knew the place like the back of his hand.

When I was finished, I excused myself and told him I was going to explore on my own. He nodded, smiling gently with understanding.

“Enjoy yourself, Miss Mina.”

I spent the afternoon wandering the place, losing myself in the seemingly endless gardens and among the books of the incredible library I’d discovered the night before. I found hallways and rooms that I hadn’t discovered in the dark. There was a whole servants’ quarters section I’d missed last night, along with a few display rooms for historical artifacts that had been stored here over the centuries.

The hours passed by in a blink. Dinner came far too quickly.

When the time came, I nervously walked into the dining room to see that Dmitri had already been seated. His warm gaze lifted to mine, saying everything even though he didn’t speak a single word.

The relationship between us had changed forever.

I blushed, dropping my eyes to the floor as I strode over to my seat. As I lowered myself into the chair, I could feel him watching me and my face blazed even hotter. Was he thinking about me naked? Was he thinking about fucking me?

“Tell me about your day, Mina,” he finally said.

It was such a simple question. I cleared my throat mainly as a procrastination technique so I could gather my thoughts.

“I explored the estate today,” I answered. My voice cracked a little.

“What was your favorite thing you found?” he asked.

He flexed his hand and I found myself staring at the broad surface of his palm. When I caught myself, I quickly jerked my head away only to see the hint of a smirk on his lips. He’d seen me looking.

He probably knew exactly what I was thinking about too.

I swallowed nervously, digging into my bowl of soup. As soon as I put the spoon against my tongue, I cried as the hot liquid burned the roof of my mouth.

“There’s no need to rush,” he chided, but it felt like he was saying so much more than to be patient when eating hot soup.

I nodded quickly, simply trying to recover.

Throughout the whole meal, he never once referenced the night before. For that, I should have been grateful, but for the life of me I couldn’t keep my mind away from it. Every single thing he did or said reminded me of being bent over the kitchen table to be spanked and fucked. Every time he looked at me, I smoldered and by the time I finally excused myself to retire to my chambers, my panties were soaked through with my own arousal.

Trying to distract myself, I read a book late into the evening. Eventually, I fell asleep and the howling of a wolf woke me up in the middle of the night. I got up out of bed, tiptoeing over to the window.

I went to open it, wanting some semblance of fresh air. The window didn’t move. I stared at it in confusion for a long while, eventually realizing it was sealed shut.

I turned toward the door, a scared sinking feeling coming over me. I walked over to it and tried to turn the knob.

This time, it was locked.

I’d been invited as his guest, but I was being kept as his prisoner.

* * *

Over the next several days, I fell into something of a routine. I showered, then ate breakfast with John in the mornings, chatting about the history and area surrounding the estate. If I needed anything at all, he would get it for me, be it a book or a piece of chocolate or a special meal I wanted to eat. I grew to like him very much and would go so far as to call him my friend. I helped him with his sparrows most days and developed a bond with a tiny female named Lucy.

I said nothing to him or Dmitri about the fact that I knew that they’d been locking me in my chambers at night.

It should have bothered me more than it did, but there was something about it that made me feel safer, like they were protecting me from something unknown out there.

The thing that bothered me the most was Dmitri’s indifference toward me. The night we’d shared had been ridiculously intense for me. It had felt like a critical event in my life that had fundamentally changed me as a person.

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