Page 104 of Cruel Master
He’s him but better. My husband but my master too. I thought I’d lost him forever, and now I have him back. Is it crazy that I don’t want to give him up?
Maybe. I’m well aware of how captivity can twist the mind. But my mind has been twisted for a long time. In a way, isn’t this what I’ve always wanted?
As if he’s reading my mind, Hadrian drops my hand, pulls me to face him, and wraps his fingers around the back of my neck. “We’re going to walk in there, and you’re going to impress them. They’ll love your ideas. Promise.”
My insides shiver. Confident, strict Hadrian is going to be the death of me. I lean my head into his hand, loving the possessive pressure. “Yes, Master.”
“Good.”
Then he slaps my sore ass, grabs my hand, and leads me through the doors. Christ. I’m going to need new panties, and he only just let me put these on.
Calm down. Don’t embarrass yourself in front of the super-intelligent electronic lifeform.
The elevator takes us to Hadrian’s lab, though I’m not sure he can call it that anymore. He tells me Candice and Quinn live there pretty much permanently. Sure enough, the doors slide open before Hadrian can touch the hand scanner, and Quinn pulls off her headset just as we walk in. My body relaxes a little when she gives me a wide grin.
She’s a different person to the broken woman I first met. Her hair is dyed in crazy, rainbow colors, and she’s dressed in a tiny denim miniskirt and a vintage 80s T-shirt with a picture of a cobra. A weird combo, but she pulls it off. She even makes her electric-blue eyeshadow look good.
It’s the first time I’ve seen her since the day we restored Candice, and I’d been worried things would still be awkward. Instead, she rushes forward. “Hey. He”—she waves an imperious hand at Hadrian—“only fucking told me who you are yesterday. Triple-Six Games!Saldar’s Curse! You’re like a celebrity.”
My face warms under her praise. “Christ, hardly.”
She rolls her eyes. “Don't do that. You know, I would have loved to design games. Except I can’t draw for shit and don’t have the patience for coding. And, well, basically, it wasn’t going to happen. But now we’ve got Candice back, and you’re here, and…”
She trails off, and it hits me. Quinn is nervous. From the way Eve and Ophelia talk about her, I didn’t think she was scared of anything. But I don’t think I’m wrong.
She takes a deep breath. “Sorry. It’s just…I know I made a shit first impression. I wasn’t in a good place when we met, and when I saw you, it was a real shock. You know?”
I smile. “I know. I nearly shat myself when I saw footage of Candice.”
Quinn’s smile returns, and her shoulders relax. Hadrian clears his throat, and I turn to face him. He’s got his stern expression on, but there’s a softness to his eyes that he can’t hide. He’s glad this is going well.
“I’ll leave you to it and be back in a couple of hours. Be good, doll.”
My mouth goes dry. I know what he’s expecting me to say, and I’m still not used to doing it when other people are around. I’m sure Quinn won’t care, but it’s still a struggle to force out “Yes, Master.”
The little shivery pulse of embarrassment that runs through me warms the dark parts of my soul. Hadrian dips his head and kisses my forehead. His eyes search my face for a moment longer before he turns and strides away.
God, this is going to be awkward. I turn back to Quinn, expecting to find her with eyes averted, but she’s staring right at me. “Holy shit. He’s so different. With you, I mean. When I first met him, he was this quiet, geeky guy, and now he’s got this dangerous vibe…” She shakes her head. “I wouldn’t want to fuck with him. And I pissJacoboff on purpose so…you know…”
Her description is so on the nose it makes me laugh. A dangerous vibe. She’s got that right. “You think he’s scary now. You should have seen him in his Saldar mask. Talk about terrifying.”
Her eyes light up. “I bet, and the dungeon? I really want to get started on this game right now, but soon, we’re going for cocktails and you’re telling me everything. Deal?”
Her enthusiasm is infectious. “Deal.” I glance up at the dead monitors. “Where’s Candice?”
“She said she’d give us some space in case you were weird about her. She said she wouldn’t be listening in. She’s working on respecting boundaries. I’ll get her.”
As if I believe that for a second.
But I’ll play along. There’s no point upsetting Quinn. She picks up her VR headset without putting it on and speaks into the microphone. “She’s fine. She wants to see you.”
Not even a second later, one of the monitors flicks to life, and Candice’s uncannily real face smiles down at me. “Hey there. How’s it going?”
There’s not a trace of Scottish in her voice, and her image doesn’t resemble me in the slightest. It should probably feel weird talking to a screen, but after everything I’ve been through in the last couple of months, it really doesn’t.
What does, though, is how to respond when people ask me how I’m doing, even as a casual, polite greeting. It seems a really, really weird thing to ask someone who is being held captive. Do we all just pretend that isn’t the case? I know most of the Wards seem to, but I’m not very good at pretending like that. What I’m thinking tends to come flying out of my mouth.
I manage an eloquent “Hi.”
