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My hands give a sudden tremble as a memory flashes into my mind, and I can't stop the little moan that escapes me. Last night, Hadria Imperioli had her mouth between my legs, making me feel things I'd never felt before.
In the heat of the moment, I would have done anything for her. She seized control because I asked her to, stripped me bare—and not just of my clothes. I felt powerless, but not in a way that I disliked. Because I also felt profoundlyseenby her. And the lines between us blurred, awakening a disorienting mix of resentment, arousal, pure lust…
And something else I dare not name.
Her body pressed to mine, her hands roaming possessively across my bare skin… My body sings with remembered pleasure, even as I hate my heart for being so easily swayed. I remind myself fiercely of my vow made just days ago: to always remember that, in Hadria's eyes, I'm just a pawn.
The problem is, I didn't feel like a pawn or an object last night. I felt…
Oh, I felt…
But I'm startled as Hadria herself appears silently at the edge of the garden, her tall figure bathed in shadows. I gasp softly, feeling like a child whose furtive wishes have just been granted.
When I woke today, Hadria was gone from my bed, though her scent was still all over the sheets, and I rolled around in them fora long time, a throbbing need between my legs as I remembered what we'd done. But I didn't see her at all today, and I started to worry.
What if I'd done something wrong?
What if she hadn't enjoyed it?
What if…
Hadria offers a wry smile, seeming to read my thoughts as she extends a bottle of red wine and two glasses. "Care for a nightcap?"
I accept the glass after she fills it, though wine has never been to my taste. Hadria sits on the little stone bench and drinks deeply while I stay on my knees in the dirt and take a small, polite sip. She seems on edge, that usually-ironclad control slipping a little. We drink in silence and she stares not at me but at the lush tangle of night blooms, until she's drained her glass.
I've barely had a few sips of mine when she pours herself another.
Then: "Walk with me," she says, holding out a hand to help me up from my knees.
We wander along the garden paths, glasses cradled in our hands, the heady perfume of the flowers combining with the red wine, enveloping us both. I sneak a glance at Hadria as we walk in silence. The hard lines of her face are softened, a furrow between her brows. She seems lost in her thoughts, and I don't want to break into them.
I'm afraid of what they might be.
We turn back at last, heading once more into the night garden, where Hadria stops. And sighs.
"You seem a little…troubled," I venture cautiously. "Is it—did I do something—" I break off.
Hadria blinks as though she's forgotten my presence, and shakes her head with a smile. "Oh, no, little sunbeam. You're completely perfect. That's the…" She trails off with a sigh and takes a slow sip of wine before answering. "Do you resent being here?"
Her blunt question startles me. "At first I did. But now…it's more complicated than that."
Hadria nods slowly, processing my words. "What happened between us last night," she says, choosing her words with care, "I think it shouldn't have happened."
"Was I very awful?" I ask, cringing.
She stares at me for a long moment. "You were…absolutely wonderful, Aurora. And I hope you don't regret what happened."
"Oh, no," I say at once. "No, definitely not."
"But you are still a captive here," she goes on gently. "And captive by necessity. I know you want more freedom, more agency in your life. You told me that yourself when you begged me to teach you to defend yourself."
I swallow and think about how to respond to that. "Can you blame me?" I ask her at last. "Even pet birds will fly away if you leave the cage open."
I'm getting too close to the truth with a comment like that, but Hadria just drinks from her glass again. "But I can't let you go," she says at last. "I thought about it. Last night, when we were…I thought about it then. Opening that cage door and letting you decide your own fate. But I can't do that, Aurora."
"I know," I say mechanically. "I'm proof of your victory over Nero."
She shakes her head. "It's not that at all, Sunshine. No. If I let you go, you wouldn't besafe. There's nowhere you could go on your own that Nero wouldn't find you, and when he does…he would do terrible things to you, in order to punishme."
