Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 148397 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 742(@200wpm)___ 594(@250wpm)___ 495(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 148397 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 742(@200wpm)___ 594(@250wpm)___ 495(@300wpm)
“Told you.” I threw him a look. “Not a party planner.”
“I know. But…” He bumped his shoulder with mine as we walked toward the heart of his citadel. “How about Lycans and…something? Or fae and…?” He snickered. “Some sort of monster perhaps? We could order in some more toys to play with. Perhaps even put on a show?”
Fighting my reaction to get away from him, I forced myself to be friendly. Stopping as we entered the large airy foyer, I smiled. “Do you even need a theme? All your games are epic, Vic. You’re the one with the great imagination for this sort of stuff, not me. I mean…” I whistled under my breath. “Amethyst Anguish that we played last week? Fuck me, that was hot.”
“Oh you liked that, did you?” He tapped his nose with a conspiratorial smirk. “I must admit, I came up with that playing with one of my previous favourites about eight years ago. A beautiful little submissive called Skye. She was so timid, so shy. I think a part of me fell for her—I’m a sucker for the fragile. One night, she seemed a little…tired from our previous excursions, so I decided to be nice for once. I teased her with feathers, flower petals, that sort of thing. She slowly grew so relaxed and dreamy, she no longer even knew I was there.”
His eyes flashed. “I didn’t like that, of course. I wanted her to be aware I was the one giving her pleasure instead of drifting off. So…I hit her with a cane.” He laughed. “She came back to earth with a bang, let me tell you.”
I nodded along, eyes wide with fake respect and awe. “It was definitely a power trip. Ily did the same thing.”
“I was watching you while I played with Rachel. I did notice your little nightmare was a sobbing, soaking mess by the end of it.” He grinned. “What did you use again?”
“For soft, I used my fingertips. For hard, I used the tawse.”
“Ah, one of my favourites. Did you know that split leather strap was still used in classrooms when I was a boy? I got swatted a few times in my youth.”
I laughed. “I didn’t know what it was until that night.” Lowering my voice, making it seem as if I confided a secret, I added, “I loved that Ily’s anguish came from not knowing what I’d deliver. It was genius to blindfold and ear-plug the jewels before playing. Ily had no idea if my fingers would pet or the tawse would punish. It turned me the fuck on watching her body sway toward mine hoping for soft only to flinch when I chose pain instead.”
“Ah, Henri.” He patted my cheek. “If only I didn’t have a son on the way. It would’ve been an honour to have you as my heir.” He dropped his hand, his face almost wistful. “Tell you what…I’m not getting any younger. If I don’t live to educate my son in all the ways he will rule, would you be open to it?”
I froze. “Y-You want me to teach your son?”
“As his guardian…yes. His godfather if you will.” His eyes grew serious and tinged with sadness. “You have no one. I have no one. No one else I’d rather ask anyway. So…what do you say?”
A pang in my chest.
A complex mixture of loathing and…loss.
I was a monster’s bastard.
I’d been raised far different than most children.
I suffered the ramifications of that curse daily.
And the thought of Victor’s child going through what I did?
Becoming what I am…
Swallowing hard, I said, “You never told me. Did you do it?”
“Do what?” He quirked an eyebrow.
“Kill my brother.”
His face turned dark. “Alas, there have been minor complications, but I’ve been assured he’ll be dead within the month. Perhaps after our Halloween celebrations, we can go on a trip together? Just us? I can take you to one of my mines. I’ve had some renovations done to house merchandise to sell online.”
Nausea splashed onto my tongue. “You’ve started doing what your colleague suggested? The one from Vietnam?”
“I have.” He nodded. “It’s not as easy as I thought. There are still glitches and techniques I need to learn to get around the pesky flags of such large transactions. I’m even considering hosting my own shop on an encrypted network, but…it’s all very promising.”
Clapping his hands, he looked past me to his butler subtly trying to get his attention. “Oh dear, I’m late for a meeting. Have a think about the theme for Halloween, and you never answered me.” He caught my eyes. “Will you be godfather to my son?”
The thought of being responsible for Victor’s kid?
Agreeing to raise his offspring, even while I planned on killing him?
Even hypothetically agreeing to something like that felt like the biggest commitment of my life.