Page 31 of The Cruelty of Thorns

“Why were you looking for me?”

“To bring you your toiletry.”

I sighed. “I suppose that means she wants to see me tonight.”

While a small part of me was excited about the prospect of another lustful evening with the woman responsible for my captivity, I was equally content spending time here in the garden with Rosetta. “I already miss our talks.”

She smiled shyly. “As do I.”

“Then sit with me. Surely you can take a short break from your duties.”

Her eyes grew wary and she shook her head. “Not here. It is too…exposed.”

“Then will you come to my room?”

“That is what I was intending.”

“Good.” I stood and started toward the door to the house. “I’ll see you then.”

I was sorry to be leaving the sunshine behind, but the prospect of spending some time alone with Rosetta had me almost whistling as I made my way back inside and up the stairs to my room. When I arrived, I saw the bed had been made and the curtains drawn back. A fresh urn of water was sitting on the floor next to the washstand. I poured it into the bowl and stripped off my cioppa and shurt to clean myself. I still didn’t understand the Contessa’s obsession with washing, but I was not anxious to do anything to upset her. I didn’t want the same fate as the captive who had been sent to the cellar.

Rosetta arrived at my door about an hour later, flush from whatever duties she had been performing. The warmth looked good on her face, and before I could stop myself, I complimented her on it.

“You mustn’t say such things,” she replied.

“Why not? There’s no one here but us.”

“Yes, but you might slip and say something when there is someone present. The Contessa…”

“The Contessa what?” I prompted when she didn’t continue.

“She can be very jealous.”

I started to say she didn’t own me, but in reality, she did. Almost as surely as she owned Rosetta. Maybe she hadn’t paid for me with coin, but she had laid claim to me, telling me as much last night. And I, like a fool, had agreed with her. Just like everything else I agreed to while in her presence. It was like I had no willpower against her, and not for the first time I was certain she was using some sort of mind control on me. Still, she wasn’t here now.

I smiled at Rosetta. “I promise it will be our secret.”

She returned my smile and nodded. “See to it that it remains as such.”

CHAPTER 16

MYRA

Double jeopardy

I DIDN’T KNOW what to wear. I had pulled half the clothes out of my closet, discarding them one by one on my bed as my frustration grew. Maybe it was time to upgrade my wardrobe like Kristin had suggested.

Kristin watched me for several minutes from her own bed then sighed and walked over to the closet, pulling out a deep blue long skirt and a creamy cashmere sweater.

“Here. For someone who isn’t sure you want to go on this date, you sure are stressing out over it.”

I shook my head and took the hangers from her. I still couldn’t believe I had agreed to this. Dinner. Tonight. With Ron. What was I thinking? What did we have in common, other than the same school?

“I…haven’t done this in a while.” Try never, I didn’t say. Even with Poe, we had never actually dated. We’d just hung out, either at one or the other of our houses or in the park or the local coffee shop. Dating was completely beyond my comfort zone.

“Don’t think about,” Kristin said while she watched me dress. “You did fine talking to him at the bar the other night. How is this any different?”

“You guys were all there. This…this is just him and me.”

---