Their Wife

Thirty-Four

I took a step back.

"Get on the bed Ms. Riar."

I swallowed as my eyes darted towards the large, king bed with blue-tinted, perfectly made, grey sheets and back towards Cassius and Axel. They stood to the side of the bed near the head in the corner Axel was tied to a chair in.

"Assisting how?" I asked, my voice quieter than I liked.

Cassius disregarded my question as he addressed Axel.

"Is this close enough?"

Axel fidgeted, tugging against the ropes, his hair falling into his eyes. "Yeah."

Close enough for what? 

Everything that I thought I knew was going to happen wasn't.

A tremble shook my fingers before I curled them into my palm. "Assisting how?" I repeated, louder.

My mind was running wild. It always was. But during those other times, I wasn't faced with the cold, domineering man known as Cassius. He approached everything with apathy, including my fear.

"I will be stimulating you until you climax," he answered bluntly.

I stumbled back a step. 

Did he mean that in the way I thought he did? Or was this one of those language barrier things that the magical translator spell was having problems with? Ezra had told me it didn't work on a select few languages.

Then again, he also told me his friends wouldn't do this kind of thing.

"Bed, Ms. Riar," he repeated as he crossed his arms, the action strained the material of his shirt across his muscles, accentuating them.  

His eyes ordered I follow his demands. It didn't take a genius to sense the 'or else' they held in their depths.

Then it clicked. The reason why he frightened me the most.

Since I arrived, seeing him invoked anxiety in me. I had dismissed it because he had seemed the second safest after Ezra due to his lack of interest in me. He hadn't given me a chance to believe otherwise until just recently. 

But the way he was looking at me. It jogged recognition. 

His eyes reminded me of the man who had been tormenting me for almost ten years. He reminded me of that man who had broken me. Not just with the way he was looking at me as though I would trip over myself to fulfill his wishes like it was expected- that I'd dance like a puppet at his words. The shape of his eyes, the way they narrowed, and the arches of his brows. They were familiar. The reason Cassius struck fear in me was that he reminded me of him. The man that still stole my sleep in the dark hours of the night with nightmares produced from memories.

And he was continuing the torment I escaped in his steed. 

And that pissed me off.

I took another step back and stood straight, shoulders back. 

He was disappointed in my acting, maybe I should show him how well I could play the role.

"No," I stated. I suppressed the grimace that wanted to twist my face when my voice cracked. It was easier to convince myself to act daringly rather than actually portray it.

The room stilled.

Axel threw his head back against his armchair as he barked out a laugh.

Cassius, on the other hand, didn't seem amused. His eyes narrowed on me. I began second-guessing my course of action before remembering the temporary protection the presence of the guests in the manor provided me. I had already taken the leap, might as well try to make it to the other side.