Page 36 of Currency in Flesh

But then, from behind her, I heard Sean. I recognized his derisive snort, even through the gag. It was the sound he made when I came out of our bedroom feeling pretty, the sound that crushed the tiny bit of confidence I had found beneath all his cutting remarks and underhanded comments. That sound had struck me far harder, and so many more times than his fists and hands ever could. And it was that sound that reminded me which one of us was going to survive the night.

My spine straightened, and I lifted my chin. “My body is perfect,” I managed to say. The words trembled slightly, but I said them. “My body isperfect,”I repeated, stronger, my voice steady.

Lady Cora smiled down at me, and for an infinitesimal flash of a moment, I saw something in her eyes I had never seen before. My heart lurched in my chest, and my lips parted, but it was gone so quickly, I must have imagined it. Instead, what I found in her expression was a challenge. “Tell me your body is mine,” she said.

That was easier. “My body is yours, Your Highness,” I replied.

“And who doeshebelong to?” she asked.

I froze, not sure what I was supposed to say. Was I supposed to say he belonged to her? That his attempt at paying his bargain had failed, and he was still the cost? That he was tiedup in the Underworld, and under her dominion? She quirked a brow at me, waiting.

“He belongs to me.” Lady Cora’s answering smile was all the confirmation I needed that I had replied correctly.

“Yes, he does,” she said, turning back towards where his bound and suspended body swung gently from its bloodstained rope. “Show me.” I didn’t move. This hadn’t been what I wanted, I wanted to show him how she and I were together, to make him watch me please the Queen of the Underworld and see how much I wanted her.

With a wicked gleam in her acid-green eyes, she licked her lips. “I will make you come when you make him suffer. You want to taste me? I want to hear him scream.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Sean thrashed against his bindings, looking like a trussed pig headed for slaughter. The thought made me chuckle to myself because, honestly, he was.

I reached for the straps of my nightgown, preparing to pull it back up, but Lady Cora swatted my hand away with the flogger. “I do not recall telling you to dress.” My eyes flitted back and forth between Sean and Lady Cora. Did she really mean for me to do this while exposed? I took three deep breaths. Sean had seen my body countless times. This was nothing new or frightening.

But then his voice started to whisper in my mind.

Fat bitch. Your saggy fucking tits. Disgusting. You sure let yourself go.

The corners of my eyes prickled, but I stood. The little bit of fabric that composed my nightgown slipped down my hips and legs, and I stepped out of it. I felt Lady Cora’s eyes trace the lines of my body, lingering on the warm, red skin of my chest and the generous curve of my ass. I straightened my shoulders. Sean was a piece of shit in a blood stained bespoke suit. His opinion of me was as worthless to me as his soul wasto Lady Cora. I smiled, then, feeling strong and secure in the knowledge that he would never matter again, and that someone thought I wasprecious.

He continued to make pathetic sounds and squirm as I approached him. This time, I noticed, the table held not only implements to cause pain, but also a spread of much more appealing toys. I looked over my shoulder at Lady Cora and she smirked.

A thin metal rod sat at the edge of the table, about the length of my forearm, with a wrapped handle at the end. Picking it up, I swung it through the air and found an odd delight in the whistling sound it made. Sean’s eyes had widened to show the whites all the way around, and a high-pitched whine managed to find its way through his gag. He had lost a shoe at some point since arriving in the Underworld, and his bare foot was an odd shade of blotchy purple, I assumed, from being restrained. I gave the rod a few more practice swings, testing out the weight of it in my hand, before hitting Sean’s foot directly across the arch.

He screamed, and Lady Cora laughed. “Such a vicious creature,” she mused. “I generally save the feet for later on in the process. They are quite sensitive.” I hit him again, and he jerked wildly from side to side like a fish pulled from the sea.

“How does it feel?” I asked him, bending to put my face level with his. “To be unable to fight back?”

His features contorted with rage, and I walked back to the table with forceful steps. I picked up a pair of what I was pretty sure were pruning shears. Sean’s anger fueled my own. How dare he be angry at me, of all people. He should be begging for my mercy, hoping I’d find some shred of affection left in me for him. He should be praying I’d take pity on him, now that the tables were turned. But he had shown no remorse, no apology. He was just as filled with self-important disdain hanging here like a hog as he had been slapping me in our kitchen.

I moved without thinking, reaching between the rope and his upper thighs to wrench his pinky finger toward me. He blubbered and wailed, the noise building and building until it was a crescendo of true fear, and with a slightly manic laugh, I cut the wriggling finger off just below the knuckle.

I didn’t expect the blood to well up so quickly, and it poured from the wound onto the fabric of his pants, dripping down to the floor below. His eyes rolled back, and I thought he might lose consciousness, but before I could look any closer my confidence collapsed, and I doubled over, heaving. There was nothing for me to vomit up except the red liquor, and the sight of it made me dizzy, blending with Sean’s thick blood in my mind and sending my hand flailing for the table to stay standing.

I didn’t know why it affected me so much more acutely than when I had broken all his fingers. Furthermore, I didn’t understand why his fingers were even identifiable after what I had done with the flashlight. I sucked in deep breaths of cool, faintly smoky air, and tried to steady myself. Logic trickled in slowly, and I realized Lady Cora must have healed him. His face, too, was missing any sign of the slash I had given him. I startled at the sound of Lady Cora’s voice from behind me, but the gentle touch of her hands at my waist helped slow my rabbit-fast heartbeat.

“Breathe, blossom,” she murmured. “Remember the first time you visited the pit?”

I let out a grim chuckle. “I almost passed out then, too.”

Her lips grazed my shoulder. “I forget how delicate you can be. A fragile little bloom.” Her hands moved forward, sliding over my bare stomach and grabbing handfuls of my pliant flesh. “So soft,” she crooned in my ear. The anxiety coursing through me started to sink lower, heating my insides in a much more pleasant way, especially as I noticed her usual pointednails were shortened and smooth. She had promised to make me come, after all.

One of her hands drifting down lower, I sucked in a sharp breath as her fingertips grazed over my pussy. She nipped at my earlobe, lips curving into a smile against my neck when I let out a little whimper, and my back arched, pressing my ass toward her. Teasing, agile fingers slipped between my thighs, parting my flesh just enough to run one finger through the slick wetness that had begun to gather. Lady Cora hummed, in appreciation or approval, and I heard her bring her hand to her mouth.

“My perfect little pet,” she whispered, “you taste so very sweet.”

My lips fell open, but I couldn’t say a word as she pushed her hand between my legs once again, finding my entrance and slipping two fingers into me. Her long tongue traced lazy patterns across my neck and I leaned back into her, moving one foot to the side to give her better access. She fucked me with slow, languid motions, letting my arousal build until I could feel it on my thighs. Her long fingers moved against a place deep inside me that made my toes curl, and I couldn’t help but move my hips in time with her. When she withdrew from me, I whined, and she shushed me with a quiet hiss.

I felt slick fingertips move back, circling my ass, and I tensed slightly. I’d been fucked there before, but it hadn’t been enjoyable. But her touch was so gentle, my body so wet and accepting of her, that I relaxed into the slight pressure and groaned when one finger slipped inside the tight hole.

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