Page 72 of Court of Evil

Tem is his own person, even if he doesn’t realise it.

I don’t want a slave. I want something . . . more.

TEM

She dismisses me, and something inside me cracks. Fear courses through me—fear she will toss me aside like all the others.

I am not good enough. It’s why all my masters abandoned me.

I am not disciplined enough, powerful enough, or tame enough.

I do not want my mistress to leave me too. I never wanted to please my master so badly. I hated their orders, but not hers. I want her small smile when she looks at me when I’ve done well. I want her approval and attention.

I crave her need of me, need others demanded while she simply allowed me to choose.

I have chosen her, but she doesn’t seem to understand that.

She was strong enough to free me, yet she has not claimed me.

It’s what spins around and around in my head.

I shed the clothes she gave me with a simple spark of magic and step inside the cubicle she bathes in. I do not stop until I ampressed against her warm back, and I sigh happily. She stiffens, however, and whirls, pushing me back.

“Tem,” she snaps. “What are you doing?”

Searching her gaze, I see her displeasure, and it cuts through me like a knife. Does my touch repulse her that much?

I fall to my knees before her. I do not have the strength to stand anymore, not when I am once again not good enough.

“Tem,” she barks when I do not speak. “Words. Explain.”

“Have I displeased you, mistress? Am I not good enough?” I peer up at her, panic building in my chest. Sliding my hands around her legs, I press my face against her thighs as she grunts. I shuffle closer, trying to bind myself to her so she cannot let me go. My other masters chose me, but I am choosing her. “I can be better. I can be whatever you want, mistress.”

I press my face to her pussy. “I can serve you however you wish. Please command me, just do not release me. I choose you, mistress. I choose you. I want you. I can be whatever will pleasure you.” I let my magic flow over me, shifting to look like a blonde-haired female. Maybe she will enjoy that, since some of my old masters did. Her eyes widen, and not in pleasure, so I quickly change to a big, muscular male, and when I speak, my voice is deeper. “I can be whoever you wish me to be. Simply tell me.” I change again, my body adapting with my different faces. I hope to see a spark of desire for one of them.

She reaches down and cups my face, stopping the transformation. Her expression almost looks sad as she watches me. “I do not want any of that.”

“Then what do you want?” I ask in confusion. For all my age and power, this mistress of mine is a total conundrum. I can’t figure her out.

She lowers to her knees before me. I try to flatten myself further because we are not equal, but she simply holds me in place until I am level with her, as if I have the right to be.

“I want . . . I want something real,” she murmurs. “No magic. I want you how you are. No master or chains. I want a being, not a slave. You are a being, Tem, an incredibly powerful and ancient being. Surely you want more than to just be mine?”

“I want nothing more than to be yours,” I admit. She frowns, clearly struggling with my confession. “I want to make you happy. I want to be at your side every day. I want to wake with you needing me and sleep in your arms. Is that not okay?”

She blinks but slowly nods. “I suppose, though I have never had that before. To be happy, you simply wish to . . . be with me?”

“Yes, mistress,” I reply. “It is not a compulsion or an effect of the bond like you believe it is, though it is what drew me to you. I never felt this way with my other masters. I am my own being, but I wish to be a part of your life. I don’t need your entire focus, mistress, because I know you have great things to do, but I simply wish for a small speck of your attention. I just wish to be involved and important to you.”

“You do not want freedom to follow your dreams, see the world, or have a family?” It is clear she is trying to understand me.

“I know my mistress is a determined, strong hunter. You have big dreams for this world, but all I have is you. It’s all I want. I have seen this world a thousand times, mistress, and it is not what kept me going. It was the hope that someday, someone would come along worth serving, someone who would keep me safe. I do not want anything else, mistress. I just want a home with you.”

She runs her eyes across me as if she is truly seeing me for the first time. “I suppose I am no better than your previous masters, only seeing your worth and what you are capable of, not the real you. Those chains bind us, but you chose me, didn’t you? If you wanted, you could break this.”

“Yes,” I admit truthfully, voicing something I have never admitted to another before for fear of what would happen. “Yes, I could break this, but I do not want to. I am right where I want to be.”

“Then what do you want right now, Tem?” she asks.

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