Page 31 of Servitude to Serpents

Warrick

Pup’s hair is soft underneath my palm as I stroke her head, playing with the ends. It wraps around my fingers like tarnished golden thread. Judging by the way her body sags as she leans against me, her breathing deep and spaced out, she has long since fallen asleep. Petting her was meant as a reward, one she’s no longer conscious to enjoy.

Still, I keep petting her.

A smirk pulls at my lips. I’ve learned many things about my new pet over the past month. Some of the most interesting is that despite me denying her my cock all this time, Pup seems to desire it…badly. She comes beautifully. My dick has been in a permanent state of arousal since I purchased her. She can andwillfall asleep in most situations. Oh, and my new pet thrives on praise, to any degree, no matter how frivolously given.She beams, the type of smile that looks like it hurts, her cheeks flushing as she struggles to hide it. Opposite that, correction or punishment hits her in a way I can’t understand. For someone with a painfullyapparent praise kink, she gets herself into trouble often. Although I can’t say any of it is deliberate. It's…endearing, almost, her clumsy and panicked stumbling.

A light knock comes at my office doors, taking my attention from the dirty blonde mop of hair resting on my thigh.

“Come in.” I frown inwardly at the hush in my voice.

“Sir,” Stuart booms as he shoves the doors wide, and I barely suppress the need to choke him into silence. I don’t often feel violent toward the older man, but his obvious dislike of Pup annoys me in a bizarre way. Sure, her crying makes me consider swallowing a slug most days, but—

“Now that the girl is fully acclimated, there is no further reason to delay your duties. Several networking opportunities have come and gone since you sealed the trade with Ragnar, only to assassinate the head’s son.”

Pup stills in my lap, her breathing hitching, no doubt thinking about what was left of the man’s face when I laid him beside her. She’d slept fitfully that night, gasping like she was treading water. I shoot Stuart a warning glance, still fucking livid at him for attempting to keep me in the dark. Not to mention, the last thing I need is to spend the day with Pup sniffling around.

I lost myPup’s Tearsrecord yesterday after hitting a whopping three days without making her cry.

I’d bent her over my desk and shoved a vibrating egg inside her while I bruised her ass purple and blue for lying about finishing her dinner.

She’d sobbed wildly and came then begged me to do it again.

I’m not new to using women as pets, certainly not new to hearing “I’m sorry,” but Pup’s are easily my favorite. She gives them with her whole heart, and there’s an earnest, genuine air to everything she does. Even her acts of service are done with all of her, willingly.To please, not because she’s scared I’ll hurt her if she doesn’t or because it’s what she was trained to do. She does it because it drives her. In her previous life, I could see Pup rather enjoying a slave dynamic.

My jaw clenches, my hand halting its petting.

Has she had one before?

Was she mastered before she was taken?

“Sir…”

“The move against Tyet did not require the cooperation of Ragnar. My interests never truly aligned with theirs and they knew it. The pretentious cunt simply needs time to lick his wounds and mourn his decaying son. He’s hated Tyet longer than even I have.”

“Do you not at all worry—”

I sigh before taking a heady sip of my wine. “Stuart, there is a reason I have declined to have this conversation until this point. I do not care, nor do I worry. I was well within my right to kill the man—”

The easily sighted look of outrage on Stuart’s face is usually pretty fun, but it isn’t today. Pup finally moves away from me, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. I fight the urge to grab her collar and direct her back. “You killed him on the basis of theft because he fucked a whore under your domain! That must sound ridiculous, even to you. My assets within the houses have been hearing talks of unrest. We both know what he did was nothing more than a slight disrespect and should not have cost the man his life!”

Pup works to stand, dipping her head to excuse herself before I swivel my chair to face her. “I did not dismiss you. You may walk freely, but you will not leave my office.”

Her eyes dart nervously toward Stuart, who looks seconds away from an aneurysm. “Yes, Master.”

Her fitted red dress hugs her beautifully. The semi sheer fabric is what I most enjoy seeing her in. It gives her the illusion of modesty so she can be saved from the expense of walking the halls all day with her cheeks flushed and hands clasped in front of her sex.

I turn back toward my second in command, staring blankly while he works the frustration out of his system. I learned at a young age silence is a far more effective weapon than words.

“The merger between Dydicon and the Ragnars’ empire would have been monumental in any step taken against another house! Your father had Bloom under finger for—”

That constant simmering flow of anger grips my chest. “My father is dead and has been for over twenty years. I have little interest in the flesh or drug trade, nor do Ineedany support. It would simply lessen the blow I have spent the last twenty yearspreparingfor. I’ve never needed reminding of what it is I have worked so hard to achieve.”

Stuart lets out a huff, running a hand through his beard, a self-calming gesture he has done since I was a child. “You and your father are responsible for every headache I have had for the last several decades. There is a party tonight; some oil tycoon pushed enough funds to get it supplied by Bloom. There’s talk that Tyet sold him worthless information on a dig site years back.”

“That seems to be their preferred type,” I add, that old betrayal edging into my vision as it slowly tunnels. A flash of blonde hair jerks me back, my hang digging into the armrest of my chair. Pup bends, displaying her perfect ass as she warms her hands in front of the fireplace. Her long, pencil straight hair falls over her shoulder. She's fucking beautiful, as if someone painted her there, a part of the décor that was so well integrated, it pales the expensive art, linens, and wallpaper around her.

Pup is a statement piece.

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