Page 25 of The Goddesses' Gifts

I didn’t struggle when he rolled me onto my back and reseated himself. The damage had been done. He’d maneuvered me into an active participant of my own undoing, which I’d known would happen the moment I was given someone to protect. I hadn’t made it easy for him, at least. His body was as bruised as mine felt.

Dulanzo moved against me, arms cradling my upper back and shoulders, fingers buried in my hair, his cheek nestled in the crook of my neck, while he rutted me. I was oddly ambivalent about it. If the encounter had just been this, an exchange of sex for the child’s safety, I might even have taken a little, I don’t know, pride in my actions. But the way he’d inserted shame into the mix, bringing my inexperienced heart into it, that part hurt. Rationally, I knew Lhoris wouldn’t hold my decision to engage with this asshole against me. After what I’d witnessed in the short time I’d been imprisoned, and the way Lhoris had reacted after the incident in the tower, I suspected he’d been forced to make similar choices.

When Dulanzo finally came in a spasmatic jerk of his body and contented sigh I murmured, “You’re an awful lay.”

He laughed and planted his hands on the mattress, pushing to lift his head and shoulders to peer down at me, eyes merry in the pits of the skull tattoo. “What did I say about lying, little pet?” He shifted one hand, grabbed my ass cheek and squeezed it. I slapped him and he laughed again. “Wet as you are, I’m certain it won’t be long before you’re delighted to receive me.”

“I won’t lower my standards for the likes you,” I scoffed.

“What standards?” He snorted and rose to his knees. “Your body knows all too well what it likes. Don’t act as though you’re more than a common whore—that what you just did is beneath you.”

I bared my teeth. “The only thing wrong here is you.”

“Perhaps,” he tipped his head and peered down at me thoughtfully, “but I’m not ashamed of it.”

And that was a truth I couldn’t argue. No amount of pithy comments on my part would make him feel more than amusement. I bit my tongue and glared back at him. He picked up my shredded tunic to wipe the slippery mess off himself while he got to his feet.

“You’re still angry,” he observed. “Good.” He started gathering his clothes from the destruction around us. “I’ve never had anyone take hate-fucking so seriously before.” He pulled his shirt on. “You were good to your word, on the fighting, though. The fucking was merely adequate, but I know you’re still recovering. I’ll expect better next time.” He looked me over, his eyes lingering over my cunt. I bent a knee and shielded it from his sight.

Dulanzo’s grin was broad and genuine. It didn’t suit him.

“I’ll send the healer down,” he gestured to his throat and nodded at me. “We don’t want your throat swelling up after all that.”

“Go fuck yourself,” I shouted and dragged a blanket over myself. The chill was getting to me again now that I wasn’t active, and his body heat wasn’t surrounding me.

“I don’t need to,” he laughed and pulled on his pants. “I’ll give you time to recover before I come back for more. Though if you still find yourself in need of attention, I do have some half-brothers I could send your way. You could complete the set.”

I didn’t respond and he took the light with him when he left.

CHAPTER 12

ZELFEK

Once recovered enough to feign completion of the dreadful task Dulanzo had given me, I trudged up to the bastard’s study, freshly bathed and haggard. I could have pretended my heart was heavy for having slit the throats of my pupils, but nothing was going to sell the completion more than his alleged detection of bonds.

I knocked and was told to enter. Dulanzo sat at his desk, bottle of wine open and already halfway consumed. His hair was loose of its braid for once and he was somewhat disheveled. It was odd to see him so relaxed.

“I have to admit,” he said before I could greet him, “I didn’t think you could do it. Those pups were practically your own children.”

“One can love nothing in Irnon’s shadow,” I said with a sigh.

Dulanzo gestured for me to sit down, even pouring a glass of wine for me though he had to know I wouldn’t touch it.

“You monster,” he chuckled.

“Because you made me that way,” I said as I settled in the chair opposite him.

“How did you do it?” He asked with a malicious glint in his eyes.

“I beat them with a cane before slitting their throats,” I said with a frown and a shrug. He gave me a disapproving look. I sneered in return. “They were children, it didn’t take much to frighten or hurt them.”

“Too, soft.” He spat the words.

“Next time, do it yourself instead of ordering the elf that thinks of the pups as his own to do your dirty work,” I challenged him

Dulanzo grinned. “One of these days, I’ll find the right way to break your insolent ways.”

“I doubt it.” I was very tired of his bullshit. “You raised me to be an insolent little shit and made me your right hand so you could enjoy ...” my words trailed off because I didn’t quite know what this was between us, so I gestured vaguely at him.

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