Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 56208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
I nodded with a fake smile, hoping she didn’t notice my enthusiasm was false. Finally, I decided I wasn’t doing either of us any good by just hovering over her. I needed to get some fucking answers.
I closed the door after I left and made eye contact with the guard. I’d seen him before, called him Sir like I’d been instructed to.
“Will you watch out for her?” I asked him, the lump in my throat impossible to swallow and tears suddenly welling in my eyes. “Please. Just… Make sure she’s alright and that no one touches her.”
He stared at me impassively and I let out a choked sob.
“She’s only eighteen, but she comes across much younger,” I told him desperately. “She could be your little sister…”
This seemed to move something inside him, and I saw his eyes shift, grateful that I was finally getting through to him. He gave me a small, curt nod and I moved away feeling relieved. For some unknown reason, I felt like I could trust this man. He seemed to have the same concerns I did – that Amber didn’t belong in this den of nightmares and lust. She was much too innocent.
I moved down the hallway and marched straight into my room. I was shocked to find Ellis there, sitting on my bed and grinning like the Cheshire cat. I had to fight every instinct in my body so I wouldn’t launch myself at him and scratch his fucking eyes out. I hated him for what he’d done.
“Nice little surprise?” he asked me easily, and I wished I had a weapon because in that moment, I was certain I’d be capable of killing him. “I’m so glad your friend has joined us, little one. Maybe now you won’t be so lonely.”
“I hate you,” I told him clearly. “You are the most fucked up individual I know, Ellis.”
He didn’t flinch at the mention of his name, which he only allowed me if we were playing. Instead, he got up and walked over to me. His fingers dug into my cheeks as he grabbed me, almost lifting me off the floor when he made me look at him.
“Remember your manners,” he told me pointedly, and I struggled to breathe. “You shouldn’t forget I’m your master, little one. If you overstep again, I’ll make sure you never fucking forget it.”
Malice glinted in his eyes. A kind of evil I hadn’t known he was capable of. It sent fear rushing through my bones, making my skin prickle at the thought of what he would do to me. He had barely touched me since the previous night. Hadn’t fucked my ass, or my pussy, or my mouth. I wondered when he would. I would take it, amplified a thousand times, if it meant he’d stay away from Amber.
“Why did you bring her here?” I asked him tearfully, gasping for breath. “Did you do it to mess with me? To taunt me?”
“You don’t know shit,” he told me roughly. “You think you see the whole picture, but you have no idea.”
With those words, he dropped me to the ground and I grabbed my throat, rubbing at the raw spots as I coughed and sputtered. He sat down on my bed again, as if nothing had happened at all. It was in that moment that I realized something was wrong with Ellis. He was a sociopath. Something inside him, something every human had, had broken into pieces, twisted into something unrecognizable, and he was unable to feel empathy, unable to understand how inherently wrong his actions were.
I’d only seen two people like that in my life, one of them being Ellis… and the other, Pia.
Not for the first time, I wondered whether there was something going on between the two of them. Whether there was more to the story that I didn’t know just yet.
“Please,” I begged, crawling to his feet. “You can’t let anyone touch her. Please, just… Please don’t let them.”
I didn’t say what I truly thought.
That none of the guards or the women would be sick enough to molest someone as innocent as Amber. The real worry here was Ellis. He was the one I was worried about. The one sick enough to harm Amber.
He knew as much, I could tell from the wicked glint in his eyes. He smirked as he reached down, caressing my cheek. I let him, even though it made me want to be sick. I wanted to smack his hand away, but I took his gentle touch as a good sign. Perhaps he would show her mercy. Or maybe he’d hurt her just because he knew I cared.
“I have an idea,” he spoke, and my heart fluttered at his gentle tone.
Maybe he’d found it in his heart to figure out a solution. I sat up straighter, my eyes going to him hopefully, trusting him to make the best of what was already a fucked-up situation.