Her light laugh floats across the room as she steps into my view. Her steps are silent, the ridiculous heels muffled by the thick rugs on the floor. She’s still wearing the same thing I last saw her in, so I assume I’ve only been out a few hours. I’m usually good at keeping track of time in my head, but whatever they gave me to knock me out this time was potent stuff.
“As interesting as you are, and as much as I’d love to know how you learned Russian, you aren’t really my priority right now, Sin,” she tells me with a smile. “But I think I’ll keep you close in the meantime.”
Her eyes meet mine, and she nods at the chains.
“How do you like them?” she asks, the smile never leaving her face. Not expecting a reply, she continues. “You know, originally I had planned to send you to my butcher. He’s not really a butcher, of course, but he did go to medical school. Perhaps ‘surgeon’ would be a better word for him. But I digress. I had thought of sending you to him to teach you some manners, but by the looks of you, that wouldn’t bother you much, would it?”
I keep my face impassive as I listen. I’ve heard of the infamous CASH-ULTY Butcher and had expected to have met him by now. But she doesn’t need to know that.
It occurs to me I may have given too much away already. I couldn’t resist the Russian endearment even though it made her suspicious of me. At least it got me this close. However, if she finds out I know who the Butcher is, she may find out who hired me.
“No,” she answers her own question, a thoughtful expression on her face. “I don’t think it would. But then I thought, hmmm, what would the Butcher do that I can’t do right here? I suppose I’d resist anything too bloody, don’t want to muss my nice carpets and all, but it got me thinking…. What would bother a man with those types of scars more? Pain or something else?”
The knowing smile on her lips strikes a bolt of ice in to me. My veins feel like they’re bubbling, the weight of the chains on my neck and arms suddenly seeming to drag me down. It’s been a long time since anyone overpowered me, but there was a time of darkness and chains.
Does she know? How could she if she doesn’t know about my past? I’ve taken incredible pains to ensure no one knows that Sin has any kind of weakness. I can withstand a lot for a long time, being confined, in chains. I’ve hardened myself enough for that, but even I have a breaking point. And a strong man knows his weakest point.
I need to change tactics.
“You want to keep me close, huh, Red?”
“Red? Really? Come on now. A bit cliché, don’t you think?” she scoffs at the nickname, and I smirk.
“Fair enough.”
“And what is fair, Sin?” she asks, making her way over to a chair in front of her desk, swiveling it so she’s facing me. Still wearing the tight business outfit, she looks out of place in the dungeonesque office.
“Fair means in accordance with the rules,” I respond easily.
She laughs, turning to a drawer in her desk, pulling a small decanter out to pour herself a drink. From where I’m chained, the smell of strong whiskey floats over. “Somehow, I don’t think a man like you puts much value in rules.”
“I suppose that depends on your moral definition of right and what rules you follow. I’m comfortable with my own moral code and the lines I will cross. I set my rules and stand by them.”
She gives me an impressed look then tips her glass.
“Touché.”
It’s a conscious will of effort to keep my mind off the chains or the thought she’s figured out my weakness. At least she’s distracting to look at. I watch her throat as she swallows and imagine biting down on it, wrapping my hands around the pale length of it.
“If you want me in your bed, you can just say so,” I tell her, and she chokes slightly, putting the glass down. Her fair skin reddens almost instantly, and my dick gets hard at the sight of her pink cheeks. Such a small thing to throw her off? I’m going to enjoy playing with her.
“Hardly,” she rasps, standing and making her way over to a side room I assume is a bathroom when the sound of running water follows. When she comes out, she looks pale yet composed once more. She walks over to me and crouches a few feet in front of me. Her gaze is hard and steely. Apparently, she doesn’t like being thrown off like that. I wonder if it was the sexual innuendo that did it, and if so, how I can use that to my advantage.
“Don’t fuck with me,” she warns.
I feel the mirth dancing in my eyes as I reply. “Princess, you have no fucking idea.”
I’m expecting more banter, but instead, she smiles, and fuck me if I don’t get even harder at the sight of her vicious grin, even though it can’t mean anything good for me. Women by nature aren’t as ruthless as men, but this woman certainly gives the illusion. I let the heat and hunger burn through my gaze as I stare at her. That is until she pulls out a fucking hood and drops it over my head.
The darkness is absolute, and I feel myself start to sweat. My breathing picks up, but I say nothing, listening to the sound of her receding steps.
Chapter 6
Ginger
“Galina, look at what I got!”Dmitri exclaims in a whisper. I blink a few times, my eyes adjusting to the darkness before they widen.
“Where did you get it?” I ask as he tears off a piece of the fresh bread and hands it to me. My mouth is already salivating before I’ve even put the first piece in my mouth. It’s been months since I’ve eaten something so fresh.