Page 120 of Taken By Touch and Torment

Weirdly, it was a soothing coping mechanism for me too. The energy between us was volatile, explosive. We both needed to focus, now that Valentin was plagued with conflict from all directions.

I knew that when Rune finally did step out from his shadows, I’d be able to think of nothing and no one but him.

I heard footsteps approaching from the other side of Sadie’s door. When I’d seen her on my way to the training field, she told me to wear something that made me feel powerful tonight.

Mental and physical exhaustion were clouding the corners of my focus. But I remembered my appearance facing the full-length mirror in the bedroom—long lashes, full waves of dark hair, piercing blue eyes, cheeks with a brush of contour and berry blush. A black dress with slits down either arm and both sides of my legs, shimmering golden vines threaded throughout. A tease of my thighs with every step, a bustier top that accentuated the curves of my breasts. My neck, bare, showcasing Rune’s fading red bite marks.

Sadie greeted me at the door, her tall heels clicking as she led me inside. An herbal, woodsy scent permeated through the space, and candles flickered from every visible surface. They rose higher as Sadie passed them, and some flared black and deep red flames.

Furniture had been cleared in front of the fireplace to make space for a circle of salt and candles, a pentagram drawn in black in the center.

For the briefest moment, I thought of Durian and his demented sacrificial altar, and I shuddered.

“Is she here?” a voice squealed from an adjacent room, jolting me out of my memories.

A half-dressed Imogene hurtled out of the bedroom. She was beaming, her breasts exposed and lower half covered by a long blue skirt.

Sadie’s other submissive, Cliff, trailed her sheepishly.

“Sorry, Mistress,” he said, scratching his head. “She was excited.”

Sadie, wearing a busty black leather top and matching pants, regarded her submissives with a raised brow and frowning lips.

“Kitten,” she sighed. “Is exposing yourself to my guests appropriate or polite?”

Imogene’s smile was nothing short of endearing. I imagined it was difficult to be too angry with her, even when you were a frightening, ancient witch domme. Imogene’s shifter tattoo crawled up her bicep. She was a leopard shifter, and that made Sadie’s pet name painfully adorable.

Imogene glanced down at her own chest, as if just now realizing she was topless. She giggled. “No, I’m sorry, Mistress.” She looked at me next. “And I’m sorry Miss Scarlett.”

“It’s okay,” I said with a small smile. “Hello again.”

Imogene stared at me like I was some kind of celebrity. It was as disarming as it was discomforting.

“I’ll be dealing with you later,” Sadie said, her tone terse yet soft.

Again, I sensed nothing but love between all three of them. Cliff stared at Sadie like she was his only source of oxygen.

“Both of you need to find somewhere else to play for an hour. Cliff, make sure Kitten doesn’t get into too much trouble.”

He grinned. “Yes, Mistress, of course.” He gently steered Imogene back to the bedroom, presumably to get her fully dressed before they went off on their adventure.

Sadie led me back into a small study, which was just as overrun by witchy materials as the main room. Lillian only knew what Sadie got up to in her free time. The power that leaked from the walls and rose up from the floors was deathly potent.

Sadie lifted a large circular mirror that was entirely black and opaque, clearing a space for us at a side table. We sat across from each other, and I tentatively placed the notebook and pen between us.

Her green eyes were sharp and intense, nearly reptilian. Her long dark hair was pulled back into a high ponytail.

“I wanted to make contact when you were ready to escape. But it hadn’t been viable, and Rune was being very Rune about everything,” she said with a smirk. “And, as it turned out, you behaved exactly how I would’ve instructed to begin with.”

I raised a brow, refusing to show her my instinctive intimidation at her powerful, assertive aura.

“I was going to tell you to pretend you were taken by force, to never let them know it was an escape,” she explained with an amused glint in her eyes.

I lifted a shoulder, clasping my hands above the table. “It was a good play.”

“You have no idea how rare you are, do you?”

I hesitated, unable to read her desires but detecting nothing but genuineness from her features.

---