Page 82 of Servitude to Serpents

Soon enough, I’m up, joining the other bodies writhing together on the firstdeck. Alcohol makes my head feel lighter, but it does nothing for the anxiety. I stay in the middle, gasping when I’m pushed or shoved even slightly. Everyone here is dressed like they’re going to the red carpet. It makes no sense for a yacht. Even with my upbringing, this is a level of wealth I can’t even fathom. My cheeks flush as a woman grips my hips, swaying them in tune with hers. Master’s eyes are rapturous as he watches me, only paying half a mind to the conversations around him. Soon enough, I feel it again, that pulsing, throbbingneed. The party drags on, the shoreline distant, and now and then, the smell of saltwater makes the panic rise in my chest.

Stuart appears from the shadows likeNosferatu,leaning down to whisper something in Sir’s ear. Notliterally;he’d just walked over from the bar, but he might as well have for how malevolent the man always looks. Sir raises the rest of his drink to me in an offering. I go to him willingly. Not because I want it, but because I want to be close to him. I extract myself from the other writhing bodies, walking over to him, sweat slicking my hairline. He wastes no time resting the drink on my lips, all but forcing me to swallow it, like we both know if I’m sober, I’ll fuck this up. It’s not a reassuring thought.

His fingers drift possessively over my collar as he works his jaw. His free arm locks me against him so hard, it borders on painful. “Keep your eyes on me. He’s been watching you. Upper deck. You touch nobody but him, and hedoesn’t kiss you. Dance for another song or two. Let him come to you. He will. Understand?”

The dread that’s been looming over me all evening settles heavily on my shoulders. The laughing and music batter my eardrums; it’s too loud, too pressing as I flash Master a wide smile I don’t feel. “Yes, Master.”

I don’t miss the hungry eyes surrounding us, and neither does he. The moment I leave his lap, he’s approached again by several men.

“Is that the infamous Lily from last season’s auctions?”

“I see you’ve finally loosened your reins.”

So much for a low profile at the party.

I peek over my shoulder as he watches me, his quiet anger lingering, ready. If I didn’t know better, I’d call it jealousy, but that’s likely wishful thinking. I’mhere,after all, going to fuck a man he needs something from. It doesn’t take long to clock him, or forhimto clockme, pushing through the other men and women dancing and grinding as I swallow past the sick stuck in my throat.

“Careful. Wouldn’t want that master of yours to see you straying too far. He’s been watching you like a hawk.”

I smile, letting my hair fall in my face as I move past him. “But so were you.” My eyes graze over a couple fucking on the upper deck, the man loudly mewling as he grinds down on another man’s cock, searching for that heat so hard, as if I will it into existence.

For a long time, I was confused how so many seemed to recognize me, why I was so highly sought after. According to Stuart, if he can be trusted, me falling to the ground and sobbing during the auction party made quite the impression, varying from thedamsel in distresseffect to men wanting to put me down like a defective model.

The man who follows me keeps a safe distance, just like Master said he would. Approaching me straight away would look bad. Most of the people here don’t run nearly that high in their circle, but those who do make this dangerous. The more I dance, the more he watches, no longer pretending not to. I’m panting, my stomach cramping by the time I get up enough courage to drift toward the bow of the boat, not only my fear of the water making each step grueling, but theman. No amount of coddling and forgetting could erase the harsh and brutal way I was taken before Master, when the lines of pain and pleasure didn’t blur but veered violently. There was no one watching, easing off when it got too much. There was blood and screaming, and it didn’t matter how much of either; they weren’t stopping.

His eyes dart over the railing, and I can feel Sir’s like a hot iron as the man follows me. I don’t hazard a look back at my master. The hungry way the man is looking at me is enough to tell me I’ve already won, but my stomach feels sick.

You want this.

I can remember my trainer’s touch, how good it felt when he wanted it to, how hard I begged for it. Even when I didn’t want it, it didn’t matter; Ibeggedfor thatfeeling. I assure myself I’ll fall back into that place, but it’s a lie. Already, my core has dried. Everything has changed. I’ve changed, fundamentally. I’m different.

I’m his.

The salty wind blows my hair around my face as I stare out at the ocean.

“Chloe!”Renee screams somewhere out in the distance, but she’s not there. I’m not in the water, and Iwantthis.

“Neither my boss nor I am stupid.”

I pause, spinning to look at him, only to find the man close. Very close. Panic strikes me like a bolt, making my heart frenzied in my chest. I don’t know what to do, my mind going back to Master’s other pets, the ones he left at Andres’ party.

Would he leave me here?

“You have any idea how quickly he’d kill me if he even knew I allowed that man on the boat? Let alone followedyouback here. It’s all but signing a contract with the man.”

“But you did let him on the boat, and you’re here.” I reach out, testing the smooth material of his dress shirt underneath my palm.

When I go to remove my hand, he grabs my wrist. It doesn’t hurt yet, but my breath leaves me all at once. “Then we might as well make it worth my while.”

I take a step back, but he follows me, leaning in as he nibbles at my neck. “What is this going to cost me?” He laughs. “Aside from my life.”

I try to laugh with him, but it sounds all wrong. Before he can take a step back to rethink anything, I lift my hands to the back of his head, burying my fingers in his slicked-back hair. He’s handsome, really, in a gruff, street-hardened way, exactly the kind of man who used to make me blush when I passed them. A man like my master, but without the funds to build a sprawling Victorian estate nestled in the hills. A man who could never make me his dog.

He’s not the man who killed for me.

The manIkilled for.

The man who made me forget I wanted to go home.

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