Page 27 of Servitude to Serpents

She mumbles something that sounds too close to Basilisk as I let her legs free. My jaw clenches at the lack of honorific, reminding myself why I’m taking a different approach with her. Why she could be an asset. Why I wasted fifty million dollars on a woman. The floor-to-ceiling stained glass windows from the endof the hall bake in the setting sunlight, casting her in jewel-toned rays. She’s stunning, no doubt, but there’s no shortage of stunning women in this world.

Finally, her round, coffee-colored eyes flutter open, the right one streaked and bisected with an odd milky white tone in the iris, only drawing more attention to her two pupils, one taking on the shape of a teardrop where the other one is more or less the standard, although smaller.

“Master.” Even my name from her lips is spoken with an innate shyness, an uncertainty that has me forcing a deep breath through my lungs. She tries to adjust, but her hands are still restrained to her collar, thrusting her small breasts up. The longer I stare, the more Pup squirms, but if I move now, my actions won’t be gentle.

I’ll hurt her.

I want to hurt her for messing up on her first full day, for crying and whimpering and snotting, for making my cock hard all fucking day long. I should be in my office, liquoring up the men inside, working out the ins and outs of a deal that could spear things in my favor, but no, I’m here, caring for a dog I didn’t want, an overpriced pet with little to no training, big tears, and even bigger brown eyes. A woman who will no doubt offer more headaches than pleasure.

If I wasn’t keeping her to annoy that cunt over at the House of Tyet, I would’ve already taken her back to Bloom, handed her off to my staff, or maybe even used her for target practice, although I haven’t done that in ages. Forty-six seems too old to be chasing women through the woods with grenade launchers. My haunting parties used to be legendary. “Luckily for you, the worst of my sadistic nature seemed to work itself out in my late twenties,” I tell her out loud.

She offers me another sweet, shaky smile that she doesn’t mean, and for the life of me, I can’t understand why the fuck she keeps doing that. It’s nearly more unsettling than her tears. No doubt, it stems from the same abuse that makes her react so viscerally to my disapproval. She’s desperate for praise. It drives her—that much was easy to figure out, practically written in bold across her face. Perhaps her father was her first. An uncle, maybe.

There’s an undeniable link between fathers who treat their daughters badlythat sees them ending up in the hands of men like me. Misery breeds misery. Perhaps we have that in common. We’ve always been wretchedly miserable. She’s deadly still as I undo her hand restraints, shaking my head at her when she tries to scramble into her position at my feet.

“You’ll have an early dinner, seeing as you slept through lunch. Do you need to use the restroom?”

She flushes as she nods. “Yes, Sir.”

Stuart passes us in the hall, a gaggle of women trailing behind him. Pup’s thin brows furrow as they are all filed into my office, something to keep the men busy before I return. I watch her curiously as I unhook her leash from the bracket on the floor, giving her a command to follow.

“I’ll help you in the restroom and clean you up before dinner. After you eat, I expect you to go straight back to bed in the hall. You will not have any privileges until tomorrow morning when your punishment ends. I hope this is an adequate deterrent for future bad behavior, Pup. I was quite disappointed.”

She sniffles, and I bite back my smirk as I slow my pace, giving her time to crawl behind me. I leave her outside the bathroom to wait for my command, noting the way her eyes keep darting down the long hall toward my office.

“You may use the restroom now, then undress.”

Her thin pale brows are still knitted together as she makes her way toward the toilet, crawling over the marble flooring. “May I have privacy, Sir?”

“Were you permitted privacy at Bloom?”

“Of course not.” She shudders at the mention of them. Perhaps her training was more thorough than I thought. That makes her behavior and tears even more disappointing.

“Then why would you expect it here?”

“I… It’s just nicer here. I thought-”

I fix my gaze on her, my impatience mounting with each passing second. “Relieve yourself quickly. I have a meeting to get back to.”

Her soft jaw hardens as she hikes up her dress, pulling the front back down after she’s seated on the toilet. I watch her until she’s finished, seeing the blushspread across full cheeks and down her slender neck. When I unclip her leash, letting her strip before ushering her into the shower, she turns her back to the hot stream, reaching for a bottle on the shelf.

“I will take care of your washing.”

She nods, staring at the shower floor as I roll up my sleeves. Tears bud in her eyes as I tug her further under the water.

Chloe

I jump as Master’s office doors burst open, spilling the spoon of mashed potatoes on Master’s pants.

My eyes go wide, my wet hair dripping onto the front of the nightgown I’m wearing. “I-I’m so sorry!” I fumble, lunging toward him to jerk a napkin off the cart. A hiss leaves my mouth as my leash catches, jerking me back. The man who burst through the door laughs loudly, too drunk to notice the woman on his arm is barely awake.

They’d barely been in there for an hour.

I ignore him as best I can, my attention on Master as I scramble from my relaxed lounging to my presenting position. “I didn’t mean to. If you’ll hand me a napkin, I can clean it, I promise.”

“It was an accident, Pup. It’s alright,” he offers, but not in a kind way. He sounds…annoyed. I lift my eyes hesitantly as he shoots a glare toward the man now openly watching our interaction, his cock half pulled out of his pants. The girl who was on his arm is swaying as she leans up against the wall for support. “Pup.”

My attention snaps back to the mess on his pants, blinking rapidly to clear the tears threatening to well in my eyes. “I really amsor-“

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