Page 15 of To Tame An Angel

Tentatively, I take it.

“You’ve slept for half a day,” she said. “I’ve ordered lunch. I’m certain you’re hungry.”

I was starved. A hunger I’d carried for many years. She moved away and I could smell the perfume she wore; it was soft and likely the loveliest scent I’d ever smelled. It wasn’t lost on me that she stayed with me, ensuring I was well.

Through my hours of sleep, I had the strangest dreams. This young woman, who was kind one moment and stern the next, plagued them. I dreamed she bound me and grasped my cock as I begged for a release. I dreamed of her hair falling over my face. It felt tangible but incongruous with my predicament.

She moved around the room and took a seat by my bed, her dress floating around her. I watched her carefully, for she seemed nervous and not as calm or sure of herself as before.

“I realized I’ve not told you my name,” she said.

“Nalla,” I said.

I knew who she was. The daughters of the general were well known. Fools in the pits both feared and desired them. Her oldest sister was notorious, a stunning beauty who was both passionate and brutal. The third woman who owned me was not that. A beauty she was, but I sensed her brutality was selectively handed out. I didn’t know what to do with that realization. She should’ve branded me last night. I’d expected it. She should’ve beaten me for my actions. She still might. Actually, I was fairly certain she would. She would become the harsh mistress, but at this moment, that was not her. She was, to my utter shock, worried. About me. Because no one had ever worried, I didn’t know what to do with this information.

“Yes,” she nodded. “I know you won’t tell me your name.”

“You’ve not earned it,” I snapped. It was a little lie. I was still hurt that she’d tracked me and brought me back.

However, my name was mine. To give it to her meant accepting this was my fate. That I would belong to her. I wouldn’t deny that a part of me shivered pleasantly at that thought, especially as she described it last night. But most of me still longed to fly in the sky and spread my wings.

“Why did you stare at me?” she asked quietly. “In the pits. Why did you risk it?”

To tell her the truth would be complicated. Half of me was curious, the other half wanted to escape. When I’d seen her and observed her softness, I knew I could escape from her, and I’d succeeded. I didn’t have any means of surviving or a place to go, and that was a different matter.

I didn’t answer her question, making her sigh once more, and she looked away. She grew frustrated with me.

“What exactly happens when women bring one of us into their lives?” I asked.

Her jaw twitched, but she met my eyes with a steady gaze. “We tame you. You may be surprised that most men enjoy it very much.”

Scoffing, I looked away. I was unwilling and unable to wrap my mind around my reactions the previous night. Bound on her bed, her hands caressing my skin, and then her smacks on my ass, the tone of her voice–my body responded on its own. She’d flipped me over and seen my cock come to life. I wondered how long it would be before she mentioned it. In all technicality, I could overpower her, but sitting as I was on her bed tended to and warm I’d never felt better.

“I suppose I was idiotic to think you’d be willing to experience pleasure when for so long you’ve only known pain.” Her voice slithered to something dark and promised.

The room was bright with sunlight, but I felt a shift within. I stared at her once more and her eyes darkened as she crossed her legs, sliding her hand over her knee. I stared, transfixed, at her movements.

“I thought we’d enjoy a nice dinner. Perhaps converse. Then I would’ve kissed you. Have you ever been kissed?”

My mouth dried at her words, and I had a sharp imagining of her pressed against me, holding me, caressing my head as she ate from my mouth. No. I’d never kissed. I’d seen it happen. Some men loved each other in the pits, and I’d witnessed their fucking.

“I haven’t either. I’ve been allowed to play with my mother’s men, as training, but never a kiss,” she said.

A burning jealousy flared in my stomach. It was sharp and unexpected. Thinking of her playing with others just to train for when she’d have me. I didn’t like it. I didn’t care for it at all. If I had no choice but to be stuck with her, a foolish part of me demanded she belong to me in the same manner as I belonged to her. It was silly, for women took many men. Eventually, I’d have to witness her coupling with others and showering them with the same tenderness she attempted to show me.

It hurt a little.

“And what exactly did you train in?” I asked spitefully.

She raised a brow, sharp and brown. “Whips. Anal. Binding. Denial. Communication. Comfort. Tenderness. A variety of things. Our education is extensive.”

All thoughts flittered through my head as I imagined her performing these acts on other men. My hands fisted around the glass vial I’d yet to drink, but still my cock twitched slightly. Because it morphed from her doing these acts to others to her doing them to me.

“I’m certain you enjoyed yourself and satisfied your sadistic thirst,” I snapped.

She showed no shame. “I did. So did they. There was more than one smiling face.” Her words were dripped with promise and my cock twitched once more.

Gods. Fuck.

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