Page 7 of Tainted Saints

“I tried, telling them about something else, but having mental health issues is not something that’s tolerated in my world,” I tell him, hopelessness making my whole body feel too heavy, my shoulders slumping.

“Well, you’ve told me,princesa, and that’s a start,” he replies, and my eyelids flutter closed, his acceptance like a golden glow that fills my entire being with a lightness that I haven’t experienced in many years.

“Yes, it is,” I whisper, opening my eyes to see him standing there with the smallest of smiles tugging up his pillowy lips. God, he’s so fucking beautiful.

“You should try to get some rest,” he tells me, a note of command in his tone that I really shouldn’t like as much as I do. As if the world also bowes down to his orders, the lights dim, not going off completely, but enough to make the space feel dark after the brightness of moments before.

“Yes, Sir,” I tease, my heart racing when his nostrils flare and his thumb and finger tighten on my chin. He holds me for several long moments, both my hands wrapped around my cup of tea, squeezing it slightly with the need to reach for him.

“Get some sleep, I’ll keep watch over you,” he eventually says, and a lump forms in my throat at the kindness this stranger is offering me.

“Okay, Blaine,” I reply in barely above a whisper, his hand falling away as I take a step back. My breath catches at the loss, and I pause, my body screaming at me to get as close as possible to him.

“I’ll be right here,mi princesa linda,” he assures me, as if he knew the reason behind my hesitation. That should be weird, right? That he knows me so well, can read me so well, after only a couple of hours.

Taking a steadying breath, I nod, placing the cup on the low wall that surrounds the stainless steel toilet pan on the side that abuts Blaine’s cell. The front is open, and I shiver at the thought of using it, everyone being able to hear even if they can’t see.

Stepping up to the bench, there’s a thin, waterproof mattress on top. No blanket or pillow, and tears sting my eyes when I think of how low I’ve come. Of how angry the Ambassador will be when he learns of this.

Don’t think of what will happen, Aspen. Focus on the here and now.

Taking my own advice, I breathe deeply for a breath or two, then turning, I hop onto the uncomfortable bed. Blaine is still where I left him, his massive arms draped through the bars as he watches me, giving me an encouraging nod.

Deciding fuck it, I bring his coat up around my nose and, closing my eyes, take another deep inhale, letting his woodsy scent calm me. It’s enough to allow me to relax and lie down, facing the man in question.

There’s what looks like a gleam of satisfaction in his eyes, his features soft as he does as he promised and watches me settle down.

“Goodnight, Blaine.”

“Goodnight,mi tesoro,” he calls back softly, his deep voice like a caress of silk against my skin, even through my clothes. Despite being locked in a jail cell, and regardless of all of the trauma from when my father told me about my new boyfriend, my eyes close and sleep takes me in its embrace.

* * *

“Mi princesa linda…” a deep rumble teases me out of my slumber, and I find my body relaxing into the sound, a small sigh of contentment slipping from between my lips. A gruff chuckle makes me shiver, and my eyelids flutter open to a brightness that makes me wince. “Time to wake up.”

Stretching, the creak of leather followed by the woodsy scent of Blaine only makes me want to snuggle back into the depths of sleep, but the hard mattress underneath me, and the sounds of men pissing, remind me that I’m not at the mansion. A mixed blessing, but still.

“What time is it?” I ask, my voice rusty with sleep, and I look over to Blaine, finding him where he was last night, arms resting through the bars. There are violet circles under his eyes, making his honey-coloured skin look a little yellow in the harsh fluorescent light. My brows crinkle.Did he not sleep at all?

“Not sure, but I think a little after six,” he answers, his soft stare not leaving me as I sit up, brushing my hair out of my face. My teeth feel gross and fuzzy, and my bladder is screaming at me. Biting my lip, I look over at the steel toilet. There’s some loo roll at least, and it looks clean enough, but my nose wrinkles at the idea of using it so publicly. I know no one can see me, but it still feels too exposed. “I’ll keep watch if you need to go,mi tesoro.”

I snap my attention back to Blaine, releasing my lip at his pointed look. He gives a small nod of approval, and I flush at the unsaid praise. Some part of me likes doing what he says, even when he doesn’t speak the words.

“But everyone will hear me,” I murmur quietly, my gaze darting from his as I feel my cheeks heat at the admission.

“You could always sing to distract them,” he suggests, and my gaze snaps up to his, my eyes wide.

“Sing?” My heart thuds in my chest at the idea, at the desperate desire to sing in front of someone like Blaine, to sing in front of anyone.

I’ve always loved to sing, ever since I was a child, and although I was allowed to join the school choir, my parents didn’t want any undue attention on the family that might come from anything more. And the idea of actually singing professionally? It was made pretty clear to me that wasn’t an option for the daughter of Charles Buckingham.

“No one will mind if it sounds like cats wailing,mi princesa,” Blaine teases, a slight twitch to his lush lips that stalls my breath in my chest.

I’ve never been one to resist a challenge. No matter how much my parents tried to make me a meek and mild daughter, there were always small rebellions, ways that I pushed back a little, even if they never knew it. Narrowing my eyes, I stand.

“Will you turn around, please?” I ask him as I make my way over to the low wall that shields one side of the toilet.

He gives me a small nod, taking his arms out of the bars and turning, clearly folding them across his chest with the way his T-shirt stretches across his back. Heat pools low in my stomach at the sheer power he must have in his body, and a flash of just how he could use that power on me has my legs quivering.Jesus, Aspen, you barely know the guy and you’re imagining him fucking you into oblivion already?Real class act.

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