Page 23 of Iblis' Affliction
Master isn’t fair. Master can’t throw Slater away and pick him up whenever Master pleases. There is no way back. Master chose her once, and Master will have to choose her again. Broken or not, Master will.But he never said it; instead, his lips dropped, “Very well, Talha.”
His spare hand reached behind his back, and the habitual weight of the karambit landed in his palm. The black claw swished in the air and licked Talha’s chest, slicing the tender flesh above his heart. The vertical, two inches cut instantly beaded with blood.
“That’s one, Master.”
Slater froze, overwhelmed. The smell of blood wafted in, making his head spin. The crimson line on his master’s chest was so perfect, so beautiful, that he wondered why he had never marked Master’s body before. Red beads of blood swelled and formed a lazy trickle.So beautiful, so perfect.He itched to taste it. Submitting to the weird craving, he leaned forward and brushed his tongue against the wound. An electric impulse ran from the tip of his tongue down to the depth of his core, instilling a weird agitation. The dramatic contrast of temperatures between his mouth and Master’s body set his soul in turbulence, making him unsure about what to do next. He glanced up.
Emotions flickered on Talha’s face as he stared down at his chest, morphing from confusion into astonishment and disbelief, then to something dark and unpleasant. Something that made Slater’s chest blaze with pain—disappointment.
Crushing his tangled feelings, Slater said, “You traded me to Hanim, didn’t you?” Bringing her head up to his own ear, he frowned, listening to the silent mouth. His smile returned. “Well, then, it makes her my Mistress. And Hanim just told me—she wants you to suffer.”
Getting up, Slater licked the droplets of Talha’s blood off the blade before sheathing it.
“You refused my deal, so now there is no salvation. I offered you life, now you will only face death. The day will come when you fuck her mouth. I have all the time in the world, but you don’t. Time spares no one, Talha. Day by day, she will rot, so my advice, do it now while she is still pretty, and I will kill you fast and painless because every day you refuse her, you will scream, cry, and suffer. Everyone can be broken, Talha. Give up. There is nothing left for you, only pain.”
SLATER HAD LEFT LONG AGO,but his even voice, void of emotions, still rang in Talha’s ears. Psychopathic, short-tempered, unbalanced, Slater had always been hard to deal with, but this sepulchral, lifeless voice stripped of his ever-present, liquid intonation was something new, something Talha wished never to hear again.
Beams of light sneaked through the grate into the small chamber with the warm summer air. Talha embraced the heat with all his being. But the more day progressed, the more his prison resembled a suffocating ‘brazen bull’. Overheated, packed with dust and the sickening stench of death, it made him gag and wish he could breathe through his mouth.
His bladder ached, and at some point, he had to let himself go. He found little consolation in the thought that he didn’t need to take a shit yet. His feverish mind threw him from deep remorse that he hadn’t listened to Ejder and hadn’t chipped Slater, to the realization that even if he managed to survive, the road to England would be closed for him forever.
‘You reek of a bitch, Master.’Slater’s voice rang in his mind, and he closed his eyes, seeking escape from the torturing realization.I should have known. I should have seen it coming. He was obviously bothered by Camilla, but I ignored him, hoping the sex and beating would do the trick. I should have talked to him. I should have made him understand. Now it’s too late...
He shuddered, remembering the demonic feast Slater arranged and couldn’t help but wonder who’d been the “lucky” one to make the discovery.
Was it Ejder? The police? Someone else? Is anyone looking for Slater now? Is anyone looking for me? What will happen if they find Slater?
There was no way in the world that Slater would give anyone his location, and at that moment, Talha hoped that no one would find Slater.
The pain in his ass had dulled and didn’t reappear again, suggesting that Slater took his time preparing him. The vivid memory of abuse seared his cheeks and made his blood boil; it also plunged him into a thoughtful mood.
Talha had never bottomed before. Slater had never shown any kind of interest in topping him, so Talha had never raised this question, satisfied with how things had been. Talha had never touched another man in his life, making Slater the only exception…If he wanted to kill me, torture me, punish me, why did he bother with stretching me? This doesn’t make any sense…
The vivid image of Slater’s red, flustered face surfaced in his memory. Covered with sweat and trembling with primitive need, Slater had always been different from any man. The only one Talha could ever imagine in his bed.
The image blurred, then sharpened, plunging him into a mist of memories.
5 YEARS AGO
“MAKE A LIST OF THINGS YOU NEED,and Zeynep will take care of it. Do you have anything you want to pick up? Documents? Weapon? Money?”
“No, I have everything I need, Master.”
Talha frowned, listening to the rather unpleasant, oscillating voice of his new assassin. The curious gaze Slater gave him flickered with sparks of hidden laughter as if Slater doubted that someone like Talha was worth his loyalty. This thought pissed Talha off.
“Your room,” Talha said, controlling his temper. Pushing the door open, he invited Slater in with a careless hand gesture. Heavy with gold and blue, the spare bedroom was a little ostentatious for his liking, but he hoped Slater wouldn’t mind. “Zeynep will help you with everything else.”
Sparing the room no glance and ignoring the maid, Slater peered into Talha’s face.
“Slater stays here alone?” The constant jumping from the first person to third, confused the hell out of Talha, but he noticed that more often than not, Slater jumped to the third person when his voice trembled with emotion.
“Do you want a woman?”
“A woman?” A creepy smile stretched Slater’s lips as his head tilted to the side. His eyes lost all curiosity and now glared at Talha with an open challenge.
Touched by the same irritation that seized Slater’s shoulders, Talha uttered, “Whatever it is you want, tell Zeynep. She will arrange everything. And, I don’t know what rules you had to follow in Behçet’s house. You lived with him, right?”
“Yes, Master.”
