Page 20 of Vicious King

It was like a scene from a Roman orgy. Rich, carnal, debauched.

Scores of beautiful women in various states of undress were spread around the enormous room, along with at least fifty men in suits. The women had black collars around their necks. Several of them were wearing gold filigree domino masks as well. Some of them were on their hands and knees or bent over furniture with men fucking them from behind, eyes scrunched with either pleasure or pain. Others were upright, being fucked in standing positions as they clutched at the walls or curtains. Still more were slinking around the room, letting men grope them or finger them with their free hands as they sipped at drinks and smoked cigars, and others were on their knees, servicing those same men with their mouths.

The room itself was filled with tufted black leather sofas, French-style chaise lounges as big as beds, individual armchairs that almost resembled thrones, Persian rugs in deep crimson with golden threadwork, and walnut accent tables littered with empty glasses. Heavy dark velvet curtains were drawn across the high windows, making the room dim and shadowy around the flickering candlelight, and multiple bars were set up on the edges, serving drinks in golden chalices and crystal flutes.

Braided black whips, wooden paddles, ropes and mean-looking sex toys were on display on one of the walls, lying in stark contrast against the classically-patterned wallpaper behind them. A couple of wide swings were also suspended from the ceiling with golden chains, along with black harnesses hanging nearby. On top of that, there were crosses, cages, stocks, benches, and leather spanking horses, all of which were in use.

In the center of the room there was a shimmering indoor pool with steam rising off it, designed to look like a natural lagoon. In the middle of the pool was a bronze statue of a naked woman rising out of the water, which was twinkling with submerged golden lights. A couple of naked women were frolicking in the pool, putting on a show for two men with dark, lecherous eyes.

Grunts and moans echoed in the room along with shrieks and giggles. The women seemed to love what they were doing, which immediately struck me as odd. I used to get turned on by witnessing this kind of stuff, picturing myself being taken and used for the pleasure of rich, powerful men, but now I couldn’t imagine anything worse than servicing these slimy pricks.

The thought of doing it with Elias, however… that was a different story.

I looked at a woman strapped to a cross, moaning with pleasure as a man lashed at her with a tasseled whip. I imagined it was me there instead, letting Elias bring me that potent mix of pleasure and pain. My nipples tightened under my shirt as arousal flooded my body, pooling between my thighs.

“Tatum. This way.”

I looked to my right to see Elias beckoning me toward the staircase. I started walking again, letting the sounds from the room on the left drift away as I trailed upstairs after him. On the second-floor landing, two men in suits were talking. When they turned to look at us, my stomach flipped with terror.

One of the men was Tobias.

He excused himself from his acquaintance and strode toward us. My mind was immediately filled with black, incredulous horror, and my knees went weak, threatening to give out.

I tried to stay calm by telling myself that I’d already be dead if Tobias wanted me gone for what I did to him. All I had to do was pretend to be apologetic in order to avoid incurring his wrath.

“You’re finally here,” he said crisply to his son, ignoring my presence entirely. “Everyone else arrived well over half an hour ago.”

“We had some issues getting off the island,” Elias said curtly. “But don’t worry, all your art is safe.”

“Good.” Tobias finally turned his gaze to me. “Tatum. You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

I swallowed hard. “Mr. King, I’m so sorry about what I did to you,” I murmured. “I… I don’t know what came over me.”

His eyes glittered with barely-concealed malice, but he smiled anyway. “Don’t worry about it. It’s all in the past, and it barely left a scar. Nothing a good plastic surgeon can’t take care of, anyway.”

He was right. I couldn’t see anything on his neck at all, save for a tiny red dot that could just be a broken capillary at first glance. No one would ever guess he’d been stabbed a month and a half ago, or that he nearly died. It was almost as if it never even happened.

But itdid.

There was no way Tobias had forgiven me, no matter what he claimed. His smile and easygoing words were nothing but lies, and the malevolent expression in his eyes told the dismal truth. If I wanted to survive in this place, I needed to stay as far away from this man as possible.

“Show Tatum to her new room,” he said, returning his attention to Elias. “You know where it is.”

With that, he swept away. Immediately, I felt as if I could breathe again, my legs no longer threatening to give out from under me. I followed Elias down a long hall on the right. He stopped and swung open a large wooden door a few minutes later, letting me inside for a tour of my new quarters. The sight before me was enough to make me forget all about Tobias.

The enormous room beyond the door was a wonderland, containing almost everything I could ever imagine wanting or needing in a bedroom. It was spacious and airy with light dove gray walls, polished hardwood floors and a chandelier dangling from the center of the ceiling. A queen-sized bed with a white and gold duvet and matching pillows stood on one side, flanked by bedside tables made from dark wood. Tiffany lamps sat on the tables. To the left of one of them, tucked in a corner near the window, there was an antique toile fabric armchair; the kind that looked like you could sink into it with a book and never want to get up.

On the other side of the room, there was a tufted sofa in front of a low coffee table. A few feet behind the table was a widescreen TV sitting in a cabinet filled with movies, and to the right of that was a bookshelf stacked with books, magazines, and beautiful ornaments. It was so big that it took up almost half a wall.

Two large windows on the far side of the room let the pink-orange light of the setting sun spill in from outside, casting a warm glow over the furniture. The windows were barred, a jarring reminder of where I was, but thick brocade curtains covered most of that.

Elias smiled gently as he led me around, directing me to another section I hadn’t noticed when I first stepped inside. He seemed amused by my stunned reaction. To him, a room like this was probably ordinary, but I’d never seen anything like it. It was beyond words to a girl like me, especially considering I’d spent the majority of the last three or four months trapped in an underground cell with only the sparsest of furnishings.

I padded after him into the attached bathroom. It was just as beautiful as the rest of the place. The tiles were marble and in the center was a large rectangular bath which looked like it had been carved out of a single slab of stone. To the right was a double shower with a rack of fluffy white towels beside it. There was also a bathroom cupboard and mirror with toiletries, various lotions and moisturizers sitting on it.

In one upper corner, I saw a tiny black object with a blinking red light. A surveillance camera. The bedroom had one too, above the bed. They were probably there to ensure I didn’t attempt anything like hanging myself with a sheet or drowning myself in the bathtub.

Elias beckoned to me a moment later. Apparently there was more.

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