Page 91 of Sin & Sapphire

But Valentin and Angelo wanted to provide me with one. Angelo killed a man for what he did to me. So had Valentin. Both of them had killed for me, more than once. And neither one of them had ever lied to me.

My heart thudded in my chest, protesting.No.I didn’t want to be their toy and their slave for the rest of my life. Silently, I lowered my head to the plate again and ate, bite by bite, until my belly was full.

Since Angelo had shipped me off weeks ago, I’d been operating on instinct, rather than thinking my strategy through. That had to change. I needed information. I needed their trust. And when I had it, I’d use it to get the fuck out of here for good.

35

VALENTIN

“She’s notready to be taken out yet,” I snarled at my lover after I’d fed her. “She only obeyed me yesterday because she thinks there’s still a chance of escape.”

“Luca Russo wants a meeting, and I need to show him that she belongs to me,” Angelo snarled right back. “They were lovers.”

I blinked.

“Are you sure?”

“I’ve been stalking her for a decade, you fucking idiot.” Angelo grinned at me, his expression so boyishly pleased with himself I had to return the smile. “He’s her escape plan,” he continued. “He has to be.”

“Set the meeting up for Friday. That gives us three more days.” Too soon, and it’d undo the effects of our patience. Too late, and it wouldn’t serve as a reward.

I turned on my heel and went to rummage through the drawers in the room we’d set aside for her, this one with a mirror in the bathroom, clothes in the closet, and a shelf full of books on the wall.

A moment later, I stood outside Ana’s cell, taking deep breaths. I thumbed open my phone to stare at her, surprised to find her doing yoga in the middle of the room. Something had changed.

The click of the lock caught her attention, and she settled down into her expected position, on her knees, with her hands behind her back.

“Up,” I told her. “Time to take another shower.”

Her face lit up with surprise and pleasure. “Is it because I—” she cut herself off and lowered her eyes. “Sorry,maître.”

I held out my hand to her. “Good girls get rewards,” I said, answering her question anyway.

Her fingers curled in mine, and not for the first time, I wondered at her trust.

When I led her to the shower in Angelo’s and my room, she slipped in without a word, and I left her alone with the door cracked open. I couldn’t watch, lest I forget that she had days of training left before she earned my cock.

Even so, blood rushed to my cock at the sound of the water pouring over her body, her soft sighs as she washed off the sweat from the last few days, and her laugh of delight as she found the lotion we’d left her.

Ana finally appeared at the door, still dripping, a towel in her hand. Water trailed over her skin, rivulets dancing over her breasts and her rosy nipples, then down her soft stomach, to fall over her luscious thighs, a waterfall of delicious temptation.

She opened her mouth and then shut it, pressing her lips together.

That’s my good fucking girl.“What do you need, princess?”

Ana smiled ruefully and lifted the towel, dangling it from her elegant fingers. “Maître, I wasn’t sure how you wanted me after—” Her voice caught, before continuing, “After my shower.”

She was trying so goddamned hard to submit, fighting against her instincts to fight and rebel. Pride squeezed my chest, unfamiliar and warm, and a smile curved across my face.

“You can dry off,” I told her.

She smiled softly and stepped back into the bathroom, though I stopped her from closing the door.

“Let me watch.”

Ana held my gaze as she slid the towel across her body, her breath catching when it scraped over her nipples, then turning so I could watch her drag it over the curves of her back and ass.

“Stunning,” I said softly.

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