Echoed Lullabies (Lunar Chronicles x Reader)

Chapter 66

Aimery glided through the halls towards his quarters, skin crawling with anticipation. He couldn't wait to tend to the little wench he had collided with in the hallway. How he wished to see her writhe as he cut off her air supply. Perhaps she'd scream as he'd make her slice off her own thumb. Or ear.

All wonderfully tempting ideas, but no. He'd need more tact than that to break her. From the whispers he'd heard throughout the sectors of Luna, Commander Y/n was significantly more resilient than the majority of the cyborg's group.

He'd need to be strategic about this.

The girl was sitting in the chair he had pulled away from his desk. Her head was hung low, arms bound behind the backrest. Saliva had dried on the gag where it had seeped from the corners of her mouth into the fabric.

Aimery slipped the gag out of her mouth so it rested on her collarbone instead. He didn't want her screams muffled.

He crouched in front of her, then lifted her chin with two fingertips and whispered, "Wake." Her lids fluttered open, revealing two eyes the color of (e/c).

How pretty they'd look when they were swimming with tears.

Recognition flashed across her face and she moved to headbutt him, but he swerved before she was able to connect it.

He clicked his tongue. "That's not very kind."

"You deserve it, you asshole," she bit.

"My, someone's going to have to teach you how to control that mouth of yours."

Y/n's head swiveled from side to side as she tried to take in her surroundings. "Where am I? Where's my gun?"

Aimery straightened up. "That's none of your concern at the moment. Instead, you should be recounting why and how exactly you entered the palace without our notice."

"Like I'd ever tell you, motherf—"

"I think you want to be very, very cautious of your next choice of words. Now tell me..." He tipped the chair back so that the front legs lifted off the floor. Aimery could smell the salt on her skin as he leaned toward her face. "How did you get into the castle?"

She spat in his face.

Aimery blinked, then calmly lowered the chair and extracted a handkerchief from the inside of his garments. Once his face was clean, he threw the rag onto his desk.

"I think you deserve a special treatment."

Y/n turned her head away and slammed her eyes shut as his hand lifted, though it only came to rest on her cheek.

Then he reached out toward her bioelectricity—a hot, temperamental, whizzing mass of defiance. He doused the sparks of rebellion and instead fanned gentle flames of peaceful relaxation. Bliss. Euphoria.

Y/n's breath caught. Against her will, her lashes fluttered and her head collapsed into his touch. "Wh—what are you doing to me?"

Aimery's thumb stroked her cheekbone. There was something to be said about power and pleasure. Any simple-minded fool could inflict pain. Yes, it certainly could be a useful tool, but that wasn't what this was.

One of Aimery's hands smoothed back her hair while the other dropped to the side of her neck. Her breathing increased as he continued to administer heavenly delusions, dissolving all of her resistance.

"Poor thing," Aimery murmured. "Just relax. You must be so tired. So confused. So hurt, hm?"

"S-stop," she muttered. And yet she was completely leaning into his touch, desperate for more. More peace. More of the euphoric high she was leeching off him.

Humans were never designed to fight what felt good to them. Pleasure had someone who was expecting a fight as disoriented as a baby bird that just hit glass. To make someone who loathed him melt in his hands...the rush of power was intoxicating.

And all too fleeting.

Aimery retracted his hands as well as his bioelectric manipulation. "When you want more, and trust me, you will need more...you will tell me how you entered Artemesia."

Even as he left the room, her eyes were still half-lidded from the leftover heady feelings of rapture.

A/N: Guys this chapter has 666 words, I—