Page 153 of The Delta's Rogue
Sebastian deposits himself into the chair across from her without greeting her at all. He only nods in response and slams back his entire drink in one gulp. His hand combs through his already messy hair as he sets the glass on the table and swallows, gritting his teeth against the slight burn of the alcohol.
She sits straighter and glances around the room briefly.“Where is your sweet little pet?”
“I have her chained to a bed in the back.”The lie floats from his lips like the smoothest silk in existence.“She passed out in the middle of our last session.”
Amara’s eyes brighten with cruel delight at his lie.“May I see her?”
The hand resting on his thigh tenses, and through the bond I feel the slightest glimmer of pure savage wrath at her request.
I cower back into the leather chair, though, panic rising within me again.
“Breathe, Sarina.” Riven’s hands flex, but he crosses his arms instead of reaching for me like he would have before all this happened. “No one is going to let her near you.”
I swallow and pull my knees onto the chair, hugging them to my chest. A wisp of sweet lemon wafts into my nose from Sebastian’s jacket I’m wearing, and I close my eyes for a moment to enjoy the brief flash of our bond.
“No,”Sebastian replies with a fierceness befitting his title as a Dom.“I’m breaking her in, and I’m not letting anyone else see, hear, or touch her until I know I have her fully under my control.”
“Is she giving you a fight?”Amara asks, that fiery delight still in her eyes.
“She is, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.”
Amara nods.“Well, if you need tips on how to manage her, I’m happy to give insight into what worked for us when we had her.”
Sebastian gives her a smirk.“I’ll keep that in mind.”
She smiles at him and lifts her glass to her purple-painted lips.
Sebastian watches her, waiting for her to speak, to continue their conversation and tell him why she’s there.
Her glass meets the table again. She licks her lips and brushes her hair over her shoulder.“I suppose you’re curious as to why I needed to meet with you so urgently.”
“I’ll admit I was surprised to hear from you so soon after the auction last night.”
“I can’t believe this, but Icompletelyforgot to give you something that we give all of our winners when they take their prizes home. I was so caught up in my excitement about the amount you spent on Anaís that it slipped my mind!”She smiles at Sebastian with that pretend sweetness she always showed us during training.
I grind my teeth together and hug my knees tighter.
“Forgot”, my ass. She was hoping she’d get another glimpse of me. She just wanted to prolong my torture as much as she could.
“Oh?”Sebastian raises a brow.
She reaches into the black bag draped over the back of her chair and produces a vial and a card made from the thickest black cardstock. She slides both of them across the table to Sebastian.
He eyes them with apprehension, more so the vial than the card printed on heavy paper.
“This is theseparatum amoris nexumpotion.”She taps the vial before moving her fingers to the paper.“It’s heavily regulated and not readily available through normal avenues, so this is a list of where you can buy more of it on the black market when you run out.”
Sebastian angles his head and wrinkles his brow.“What does this potion do?”He lifts and examines it.
“Even I believe he’s never heard of that potion.” Dominic laughs behind me, but there is no humor in the sound. “He’s too good at this.”
“It blocks the mate bond from both parties,”Amara continues.“This is how we ensure your investment is protected. The last thing any of our buyers want is for their new toy to stumble across their fated mate. That would cause way too many problems for everyone involved. You werewolves and lycans are incredibly possessive about your mates, after all.”
I can’t help but huff out a silent laugh. She brought him a potion to prevent me from finding my mate, but heismy mate.
The irony.
“Did they give you that potion while they held you?” Riven asks.
