Page 129 of Taken By Touch and Torment

You know I want the same. Things are delicate right now, more than you even know. Matters a woman shouldn’t have to be concerned about.

Now it was my turn to roll my eyes. “In other words, don’t worry your pretty little head.”

“I’m the only one who should ever be allowed to condescend to you,” Rune scoffed, making me laugh.

I know you’re hesitant to return because of Durian. But I promise you, it would only be temporary. We’re destined to be together, our union blessed by Lillian herself. Durian, he… well, it doesn’t matter. Just know that soon you’ll be all mine.

“The underlining was truly the confidence I needed to go all in,” I joked. It was nice to be able to belittle these men with Sadie and Rune.

It was nice not to be alone anymore.

Brennan continued writing.

You can trust me, Scarlett. I’m already working on a way to bring you here safely, one that keeps you out of sight. Your addictive blood is an obstacle. I don’t trust anyone around you but me, and there’s too much discord in Hatham and on the border for you to wander back here blindly. But I think I have a way for you to come back to me with minimal risk, so long as you can make it to the border.

I wrote back to confirm things were going as I intended.

Wouldn’t Durian be able to help? Are you going to tell him?

I watched his elegant writing manifest on the page.

No. I want to do this myself, and I want you to be a surprise. It doesn’t matter… just trust me. No one will be able to track where you’ve gone. You’ll be back at the palace unharmed.

I sat back in my chair arrogantly, looking between Sadie and Rune with an unabashed grin. They both lifted their brows, their expressions so similarly scolding that I giggled again at the sight of it.

“I told you,” I said. “Tunnels!”

Rune sighed. “Sometimes I wish you were dumber.”

I pretended extreme offense, gaping at him. “Why?”

“Easier to control,” Sadie answered for him.

Rune angrily fucked my body with his eyes. “Precisely.”

I lazily ended my conversation with Brennan, leaving him with the heavy lifting of securing my passage back to the castle via tunnels that would eventually spell his downfall.

“What’s the kink for two doms staring at you?”

Rune glared at me, and Sadie smirked, her eyes trailing slowly down my form. My head was swimming with delirious pleasure from using my succubus magick.

“I dunno, but I have that kink too,” a voice said from behind us, startling us all.

“Kitten,” Sadie snapped. “What did I say about entering my chambers at this hour?”

I looked back at Imogene, her curvy form cloaked in a soft pink blouse and skirt. Her hand was halfway into a giant bowl of popcorn.

Her eyes widened. “Oh no, I’m sorry, Mistress, I must’ve misread the time,” she hurried, her voice an octave higher than before. “I was distracted! And upside down!”

I couldn’t even begin to imagine what she’d been up to that had her upside down. But with Mason’s cagey behavior every time Imogene was mentioned, I hoped to the gods it involved her.

Maybe that was why the frightening vampire woman had been so much more personable lately…

I snorted, and all eyes returned to me.

“Sorry, was I… interrupting something?” Imogene asked while chewing on a mouthful of popcorn. She sounded hopeful.

And horny.

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