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I cried out with the pleasure, not caring how Dmitri would react to me disobeying his orders. Come to think of it, he’d never explicitly forbidden me to come in the first place. I reveled in it, taking what was mine and enjoying every second.
Only when the pleasure and urgency began to subside did I realize Dmitri had come as well. He slumped over me, gripping the edges of the tub on either side of me as if to keep himself from falling back into the water. His breath was hot and heavy on my shoulder.
“Good pup,” he said, sliding out of me and making me wince. “You’ll be feeling me in that sweet ass of yours for the rest of the night.” He slapped my ass, although the resistance of the water stopped his blow from having any impact. “And maybe later, if you’re very good, I’ll let you come.”
My eyes went wide, and I stared straight forward. Did he not hear or feel me come just now?
Apparently not. He must have been too wrapped up in his own pleasure.
Then again, if there was one thing I’d learned about Dmitri in the time I’d been with him, it was that he was often so wrapped up in himself that he didn’t notice the people around him.
A voice in the back of my head told me that I could use that against him.
Dmitri groaned as he pushed himself to stand, then stepped out of the tub. “Finish washing up,” he said as he walked toward the open cabinet filled with towels. “Scrub all the muck out of your hair. You look awful right now.”
For once, I barely noted his cruel comment. I pushed back from the edge of the tub, floating in the tepid, dirty water for a moment. He hadn’t noticed something as obvious as me coming. He didn’t pay a bit of attention to me as he rubbed his body dry while I found the bar of soap and washed my hair. It made me wonder what else I could get away with that he wouldn’t notice.
I finished washing my hair and gave my body one final scrub, including getting as much of him out of me as I could, before rinsing and climbing out of the tub. There was a large rubber stopper at the bottom of the tub, and when I pulled it, the entire bath began to drain away. It was a marvel of construction, and I would have stayed to watch it but I heard Mia in the other room. I heard Dmitri’s sharp, dismissive reply to whatever she said too.
I rushed through drying myself off, and when I walked into the other room, a large towel wrapped around my body, a fire had been lit and Dmitri was picking through a small pile of clothing laid out on the bed.
“We’re going to look like pretty city-dwellers wearing these frills,” he said, barely looking at me.
I went to stand beside him at the edge of the bed, surveying the things Mia had brought. The clothing was simple—linen trousers and tunics, like I’d seen everyone else in the Hakobyan household wearing—along with strange, long waistcoats that would come to my thighs, and a loose, long-sleeved jacket that would go over top of that.
“Hurry, pup,” Dmitri said, picking the larger size trousers from the pile. “That stupid woman also said supper was already being served.”
I frowned at Dmitri. There was no reason to be nasty. Then again, Dmitri didn’t need a reason.
I separated the smaller-sized clothing from the pile and dressed in them as fast as I could. There were shoes as well, though they were more like slippers than the tough, leather boots I’d been wearing since entering the forest. I actually liked the way I looked and liked the feeling of the soft linens against my skin once I was dressed.
Dmitri, of course, sneered at everything, grumbling under his breath about looking like a pussy, as he dressed. His gruff whining did more to sour my feelings toward him than the soreness in my ass did. At least I’d gotten something out of the fucking.
Finally, we were both ready, and Dmitri marched out of the room, ordering me to follow him. As though I had any inclination to linger in the suite without any food.
He didn’t speak to me and barely acknowledged me once we made it downstairs and out to the patio. Night had fallen, but the estate was lit with dozens of torches and braziers that lined the paths between the buildings. It was as beautiful a sight as the estate had been in the daytime. The city put on just as much of a nighttime show. The shining houses were lit from within, which made the city dance with light in a reflection of the sky above. Even the ships bobbing out in the harbor were lit.
I paused, catching my breath at the spectacle of it. No wonder Lefric wanted to live here. I had half a mind to beg to stay and be his servant if it meant I could have a view like that every day.
Although, once I thought about it, I realized that I probably could stay in Good Port if I wanted to. My life in Dunsk had been over for almost two years, and my life in Meadowbrook with Ludvig was over as well. I didn’t think I could stand to go back there with him. I had no intention of staying with Dmitri, even if he did manage to avoid Magnus’s knife.
That meant my entire life was suddenly in my own hands. I’d never had that sort of power before. I’d never had to make a choice about who I wanted to be and where I wanted to live.
“Pup!” Dmitri snapped from the largest of the patios, many yards ahead of me. “Stop gawping like an ass and come along! I need someone to serve me.”
My heart sank a little, but not all the way. It was hard to be completely miserable with the view from the Hakobyan estate in front of me.
It was hard to stay depressed once we made our way into Vikhrov’s house as well. I’d thought Olympus’s house was impressive, but his father’s home was more extravagant than any palace I’d ever been in. Like Olympus’s house, the ceilings were high and the walls were painted white and hung with colorful tapestries. Torches burned in wall sconces, and I caught glimpses of other rooms lit by ornate lanterns as we passed.
I nearly stopped breathing when we reached the dining room. It was as big as the ballroom in the palace in Dunsk. Its high, arched ceiling was set with reflective tiles that spread even more light from the glittering chandeliers than the candles would have shone on their own. The room was set with three huge, long tables that were arranged like the sides of a rectangle. Vikhrov, Magnus, Olympus, and few other men sat on the far side of the table at the top of the rectangle. To my surprise, along with Peter and Neil and Lefric, an adolescent girl and another girl and boy sat across from the important people. There were other children and a few women on the inside of the tables as well.
“May I show you to your seats?” a tall man with an anxious expression asked us as soon as we entered the room.
“I don’t care where I sit as long as I can eat,” Dmitri said, striding past the man and helping himself to a seat at the end of the table.
“You’ve been assigned a place higher up than that,” the servant tried to tell him, wringing his hands, but Dmitri ignored the man.
I could tell from the looks of the Good Port people around the tables that Dmitri had committed a grave offense. I hoped I would be able to make up for his horrible manners.
