Page 44 of Iblis' Affliction
I don’t get him… He tried to kill me not long ago, now he offers me his life. He’s unstable and should be put down, then why can’t I kill him? That would solve my problem. That would solve Ejder’s problem. Maybe it would even solve Slater’s problem, but how can I kill him when he does something like this?
Never dropping his focus from Talha, Slater licked the edge of the knife, and blood mixed with saliva. Talha cringed.
“What the fuck are you doing? Stop!” He tried to release his fingers, but Slater’s hands clasped around his palm, guiding the blade deeper into his tongue.
Without thinking, Talha thrust his other thumb into Slater’s mouth, sliding it under the blade, over the tongue, and hissed as the knife bit into his knuckle.
The smile evaporated from Slater’s face, giving way to a weird, unreadable expression. His fingers released Talha’s armed hand, then clasped over the other, and rapacious lips closed around the thumb. The lacerated tongue lapped over Talha’s skin, mixing their blood. A heavy pink touched Slater’s cheeks, dropping the eyelid of his healthy eye closed, as he craned his neck lavishing Talha’s digit with his eager mouth.
“Huh? Isn’t that funny? Now we are blood-bound, Master.”
It took Talha a moment to come around before he snatched his hand away. “This is gross…”
Slater licked his lips, then grinned. “Slater made up his mind. Slater stays.”
“No,” Talha said as hard as he could. “Slater doesn’t. You leave, or one of us dies.”
“Master could have killed Slater, but Master didn’t. Master is kind. Slater realized that to have a perfect master, Slater has to mold him. All the others were failures because they were established, but Master is young. Master is good material. Master can be what Slater needs.”
Mold me?Does he think I can be manipulated and controlled?
“No,” Talha repeated. He put the hose aside and propped his palm against the carpet, ready to get up, but a scorching hand landed over his knee.
“There is no escape from the deal. Slater stays. Slater belongs to Master. Master shouldn’t worry, Slater won’t harm anyone who Master holds dear.”
With cat-like grace, Slater lowered his chest, pressing it to the carpet, his pelvis rocking as his pink tongue lapped over Talha’s shoe, smearing blood all over the surface.
“That’s disgusting. Stop it.” Contempt quirked Talha’s upper lip.
“Slater will be good. Slater will bring Europe to Master. If Master wishes, Slater will burn the whole world to the ground. Slater will do everything for Master as long as Master keeps Slater entertained,” Slater hissed and pushed his upper body up and forward, so his chest touched Talha’s knee; the left side of his face contorted with a grimace of hurt.
Everything?Talha tried to shake the ripper’s words off, but the gambling ambition, the same one that drove him from Mardin to Istanbul, inflamed his chest.But what price do I have to pay for it?
Tilting his head to the side, Talha picked up the hose and extended his hand, offering Slater the mouthpiece of the hookah. “Pull. It will ease the pain.”
A flicker of a victory smile lit Slater’s face for a split second, before he obediently opened his mouth, squeezed the metal part between his bloody lips, then sucked.
HALF-EXPECTING EJDER TO RETURN,Talha left Slater in his room, and moved down the corridor, searching his pockets for his cell phone. Before his foot landed on the marble staircase, the front door flew open, and a group of men, searching the hall with gun muzzles, entered his mansion. Holding a gun with both hands, Ejder shot a glance around, before his eyes focused on Talha.
Heaving a sigh, Talha descended, then waved his hand in the air, demanding attention. “You’re all dismissed. Call for the cleaning crew.”
“Is he dead?” The hard line of Ejder’s mouth quirked in an arrogant smile.
“No, he isn’t. And you are going back to Mardin,” Talha said, passing by his disheveled brother and the group of armed men. Turning to enter the kitchen, he raised his voice. “Wasn’t I clear? Dismiss.”
“What the fuck, Abi?”
Grabbing a clean glass from the counter, Talha poured some water, then drained it in one go.
“You are returning to Mardin,” he repeated even before he took the glass away from his mouth; his breath misted the transparent walls.
“No, I’m not. I’m staying here, with you.” Snatching the glass from Talha’s hand, Ejder slammed it against the counter. “What the fuck is going on? Why didn’t you kill him?”
“Listen to me…” Stealing a glance at the door, Talha lowered his voice. “I don’t have any intention of killing him.”
“What? He almost killed us!”
“After you drew a gun! And now you brought people here. What did you tell them? That I can’t control my new asset? Do they know he is Iblis?” Silence hung, so Talha added, “That’s why you are leaving. I can’t run the business and worry about you two murdering each other. You threatened Iblis. I haven’t heard anyone ever surviving that. You shot at him. I hope he is sleeping now because if he isn’t, there is about to be a blood bath. What were you thinking?”
