Page 102 of The Life of Anna-Tenth Anniversary Edition: Act 2

Anna stared, frozen in shock, as the room broke out into a great orgy. The only women in the room were the Elder-Mistresses, but that didn’t seem to matter. The men seemed to like each other as much as they liked women. Anna turned to look at Sakue but just saw her disappearing into the crowd. Anna felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Peter standing next to her.

“Peter . . .” She sighed in relief. “What?—‍”

He shrugged. “It is how these things always end. Bonding and brotherhood and the like.” He pulled her close and kissed her. “I want you, though.” Peter kissed her and pulled her to the floor.

He kissed his way down to her breasts and her eyes fluttered open long enough to see Kurt watch for a moment, then turn away, hurt on his face. Tears stung her eyes, but she wiped them away quickly and pushed the emotion aside. The only thing she was good at as an Elder-Mistress was sex. It was the one duty she knew and could perform well. She clutched at Peter’s hair and sighed as he made love to her.

“I didn’t think I’d get another night with you.” Anna and Peter lay in his new bedroom at his uncle’s Manor. She traced his bare chest along his pectorals and then lightly ran her fingertips over his nipples, turning them hard and dark. He’d brought her here after they’d made love on the floor of the Hall. Everyone else had been occupied, and he told her he wanted to be alone with her again. One last night.

“Me either.” Peter shivered under her touch. He caught her hand and pulled her on top of him, her hands propping up her chin on his chest. He put his hand behind his head and smiled. “I wish you didn’t have to go back.”

Anna smiled sadly. “I’m sure Dariya’s happy,” she said, changing the subject. She didn’t want to leave either. She’d been with him for so long, it hurt to think about not being with him every day.

His smile was wry. “Yeah. She is.”

“I’m going to miss dancing with you.”

“I’m going to miss everything about you, Anna. I wish... God, I wish things were different.”

“I’ve thought that so many times about so many things. It never does any good.” She spoke softly, but the bitterness still came through.

“Don’t be bitter. It will just make you miserable, and you’ve had enough misery.” He smiled. “At least you can see Wilhelm and Kurt again.”

Her heart twisted at the mention of Kurt’s name. The hurt on his face last night still haunted her. He had told her he didn’t want to share her with anyone. But that was a long time ago. Did he still feel that way? He had sent her over to be with his father their first night together, so what did that mean? She had her duties. Devin would never allow her to stop. Surely Kurt knew that.

“You like him, don’t you?”

Peter’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts. “What?”

“Kurt. You like him.”

“I think I hurt him last night.”

“It takes a while to get used to the sexual aspects of The Brotherhood.” He smiled. “It’s not easy being in love with an Elder-Mistress.”

“Peter, you shouldn’t?—‍”

Someone knocked hard on his door. Peter called out in Russian and the door opened. Wilhelm stepped inside, a frown on his face.

“Wilhelm!” Anna bit her lip as her cheeks grew hot. She didn’t know why she was embarrassed to be caught in bed with Peter, but she was.

“We need to leave soon,” he said in English, his voice gruff. He nodded to Peter. “Will you please bring her down to the entrance when she is dressed?”

“Yes, sir.”

Wilhelm turned and left the room without another word, closing the door behind him.

Anna looked at Peter. “He’s upset with me. What did I do?”

“I doubt he’s upset with you,” he said, but didn’t look especially confident.

Chapter 58

Fifteen minutes later, Peter had found Anna’s street clothes and was walking Anna downstairs to the entry hall of the Manor. Wilhelm, Kurt, and Devin all sat on benches along the wall, and none of them looked happy. Devin stood when she entered, walked over to her, and slapped her on the cheek. She clutched her face and fell to her knees in submission, bowing her head as her mind scrambled to figure out what she’d done wrong this time.

Peter growled. “Devin, don’t you?—‍”

“This is none of your concern, Peter,” Devin snapped. “Go home to your wife.”

---