Lycidas' POV
The sunset hung heavy outside my window, its crimson glow bleeding through the curtains, casting jagged shadows across the room. I'd dragged the man back to my lair, his wrists still bound tight with the coarse rope. The stairs creaked under my boots as I hauled him up, his useless squirming only stoking the fire in my gut. I flung him onto the bed, the frame groaning under his weight, and watched him thrash like a trapped animal, his voice grating against my ears.
"Let me go!" he barked, his words sharp and desperate, clawing at the air. "I must go see my pro officer today! Otherwise..."
I loomed over him, my shadow swallowing his form, and let a smirk curl my lips. "Otherwise, will they throw you in jail again?" My voice rumbled low, a predator's taunt, and I savored the way his eyes flickered with panic, even as he tried to hide it.
"Let me go!" he snapped, his tone brittle, cracking under the strain. He twisted against the ropes, his scarred skin catching the dim light - marks from the jail, etched deep, a map of his shame.
I sank onto the bed beside him, the mattress dipping under my bulk, and tilted my head, letting my gaze strip him bare. "When you ask for help," I said, slow and deliberate, "you have to have a begging attitude. Kneel down and beg me in a low voice. Maybe I can make you suffer less." The words dripped from my tongue like venom, and I watched his face twist, a delicious mix of rage and fear.
"You pervert!" he spat, his voice trembling now, though he tried to mask it with venom of his own. "Let go of me!"
I swung a leg over him, pinning him beneath me, my weight pressing him into the bed. He squirmed harder, his breath hitching, and I reached out, brushing my fingers over the bruise blooming on his cheek - a purple stain against his pale flesh. "If you want to see your pro officer today," I growled, my voice a blade sliding under his skin, "you'd better not struggle like this. You know the more you struggle, the more excited I get." My claws twitched, itching to dig in, to mark him deeper.
The door slammed open then, a sudden crack of sound that jolted me upright. I whipped my head around, and there stood Finn, his lean frame filling the doorway, his eyes flicking from me to the bound man sprawled beneath me. He didn't say a word - just stared, cold and unreadable, before turning on his heel and shutting the door behind him with a soft click that echoed louder than it should've.
"Fuck," I snarled under my breath, shoving off the bed and storming after him. My boots pounded the floorboards, the man's protests fading into a dull buzz as I chased Finn's retreating shadow. I caught him in the living room, my hand clamping around his arm, yanking him back before he could slip away.
"What the hell are you doing here?" I demanded, my voice a low growl, vibrating through the space between us.
He didn't turn, didn't even flinch, just kept his back to me like I was nothing. "I'm sorry, Your Highness," he said, his tone flat, clipped. "It's your birthday today, and I wanted to come and give you a surprise. It's my fault. I should have asked."
My eyes snagged on the table then - a cake, squat and lopsided, sitting there like some pathetic offering. The date clicked in my skull - my birthday. I hadn't even remembered. But Finn standing there, refusing to face me, lit a spark of fury in my chest. I grabbed his shoulder, spun him around, forced those icy eyes to meet mine. His face stayed blank, a mask of nothing, and it pissed me off more than any defiance ever could.
"Let me be very clear," I said, my voice cutting through the air like a whip. "I only fuck you for my own pleasure, just like I fuck anybody else. You can only show up here whenever I give your permission. Do you understand?" I leaned in close, letting him feel the heat of my breath, the weight of my words.
He dropped his gaze, his lashes shadowing his cheeks. "Yes, Your Highness," he murmured, soft and submissive, the way I liked it. "Today's all my fault. It will never happen again."
I gripped his chin, jerked his head up so he couldn't hide. "For what you've done, you'll be punished," I said, my tone cold, final. "Now, take off your clothes and get on your knees."
He didn't hesitate. His hands moved to his shirt, peeling it off with practiced ease, letting it fall to the floor in a crumpled heap. His trousers followed, and then he sank down, knees hitting the hardwood, his head bowed just enough to bare the back of his neck. I towered over him, the sunset's bloody light spilling through the window, painting his skin in shades of slaughter. My pulse thrummed, a beast's rhythm, and I let the silence stretch, heavy and thick, before stepping closer. He'd play his part, unlike the one upstairs, crawling, submitting, pleasing - because that's all they were good for. And I'd take what I wanted, like I always did.
Then, I heard a loud bang upstairs.
I grabbed Finn and dragged him upstairs.
Darren was gone.
I stood there, staring at the empty bed where he had been. The ropes lay tangled, a mocking reminder of his escape, and the chain dangled from my hand, cold and heavy. Finn knelt where I'd thrown him, his bare skin catching the dim light that spilled through the open window. The air carried a chill, but it did nothing to cool the fire that roared in my chest. That bastard had slipped away, and now Finn - obedient, trembling Finn -was all I had left to toy with.
I turned to him, the chain clinking as I let it swing. "Look what you've done. He's gone," I said, my voice low and sharp, like a blade drawn slow across stone. "Now you have to work very hard to make up for it."
Finn's eyes flicked up to mine, wide and wary, but he didn't speak. He knew better. His chest rose and fell quick, the sweat still glistening on his brow from what I'd made him do downstairs. I stepped closer, the floorboards creaking under my boots, and let the chain brush against his thigh. He flinched, just a little, but enough to make me smile. I liked that - the little cracks in his calm, the way he tried to hide how much he feared me.
And I was sure that he fucking liked it as well.
He finally got my full attention this time.