Chapter 6

Ella pushed open the heavy oak doors to her study. The room was suffocatingly opulent, filled with dark velvet drapes and towering bookshelves.

She stepped inside, and Kevan followed, closing the doors behind him with a soft click. The thick wood instantly muted the sounds of the estate.

Without a word, Kevan walked to the center of the expensive Persian rug. He dropped to his knees. He raised his arms, presenting his bloodied, ruined hands palms-up, offering them for whatever torture she had planned.

Looking at his pathetic, submissive posture, Ella cursed the original owner to hell and back. What kind of psychopath conditioned a man to do this?

She kept her face blank and walked around her massive mahogany desk. She opened a drawer, pretending to search for a weapon.

In her mind, she accessed the System shop. She spent the last of her newly acquired points on two low-tier Healing Sprays.

She turned around. In her right hand, she held a small, braided leather riding crop she had found in the drawer. Hidden in the palm of her left hand was a tiny, metallic aerosol canister.

She walked slowly toward Kevan. She used the wooden handle of the crop to tilt his chin up, forcing him to look into her cold eyes.

"You ruined my silk gown," she said softly, her tone dripping with malice. "Water won't wash away your sin. Only a potion of pure agony will do."

Before Kevan could brace himself, Ella brought her left hand down. She aimed the concealed nozzle directly at his open wounds and pressed the button.

A fine, cold mist sprayed over his sliced flesh.

The instant the liquid hit his exposed nerves, a blinding, searing pain shot up Kevan's arms. He convulsed, a sharp gasp tearing from his throat. His muscles locked up, and he bit down on his lower lip so hard it bled.

He thought she had sprayed him with acid.

But three seconds later, the burning vanished. It was replaced by an intense, soothing coolness.

Kevan stared at his hands. The deep, jagged cuts were literally knitting themselves back together. The bleeding stopped entirely, leaving only thin, pink scars.

His gray eyes widened in absolute shock. He looked up at Ella, his mind completely unable to process what had just happened. This wasn't agony. This was a miracle.

Ella didn't give him time to think. She kicked him hard in the thigh, knocking him off balance.

"Pathetic," she sneered. "You can't even scream properly. Get out of my sight. And tell that stupid wolf pup Daulton to get in here. It's his turn."

Kevan scrambled up. He clutched his healed hands to his chest, giving her one last, deeply conflicted look before hurrying out the door.

Five minutes later, the doors slammed open. Daulton was shoved inside by a guard.

He smelled strongly of horse manure and sweat. He stood in the center of the room, his fists clenched at his sides, glaring at Ella with pure defiance. He looked like a feral animal backed into a corner.

Ella looked at the gray wolf ears standing straight up on his head, twitching with aggression.

"Turn around," she commanded, slapping the riding crop against her palm. "Hands behind your head. Kneel."

Daulton's face flushed with humiliation. But he thought of Cordaro, still recovering in the dungeon. He couldn't risk angering her now.

He gritted his teeth, turned his back to her, and dropped into a crouch, lacing his fingers behind his head. He left his back completely exposed.

Ella stepped up behind him. She aimed the second canister of Healing Spray at the crisscrossing network of old, inflamed whip scars on his back.

She sprayed.

Daulton violently shuddered as the initial sting hit him, his breath hissing through his teeth.

While the medicine did its work, Ella's eyes drifted up to his fluffy, gray wolf ears. She reached out, intending to violently yank his left ear as a physical reprimand. But the moment her fingers clamped around the base, Daulton violently shuddered, a pathetic whine trapped in his throat. The raw, terrified reaction triggered a sudden, overwhelming flashback to a highly stressed rescue dog she had once treated. Her veterinary instincts completely short-circuited her brain. Instead of pulling, her grip accidentally softened. Her thumb subconsciously rubbed in small, firm circles over a cluster of sensitive nerve endings.

The sensation hit Daulton's brain like a lightning bolt.

It was a feeling of such intense, overwhelming physical pleasure that his body completely betrayed him. His eyes rolled back slightly, and a deep, vibrating purr rumbled out of his chest.

The second the sound hit the air, Daulton froze.

His face turned a violent, burning shade of crimson. The sheer humiliation of making a submissive, happy noise for his abuser shattered his pride. He spun around, scrambling backward like she had burned him, his eyes wide with horror and rage.

Ella bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from laughing. She instantly contorted her face into a mask of pure disgust.

She pointed the crop right at his nose.

"You disgusting freak," she shrieked, her voice echoing in the study. "Making a filthy noise like that when I'm trying to punish you? You make me sick!"

Daulton's shame instantly morphed into a burning, toxic humiliation. He looked like he wanted the floor to swallow him whole.

[Ding. Animosity Points +150. ]

"Get out!" Ella yelled, throwing a heavy book at the door.

Daulton practically tore the doors off the hinges as he fled.

Ella leaned back against her desk, letting out a long, exhausted breath. She rubbed her aching facial muscles. Acting like a psychopath was exhausting.

Just as she closed her eyes, a heavy knock sounded at the door.

"Master," the head butler called out nervously. "An envoy from the Saintess Kendra Klein is here. She invites you and your consorts to the central plaza for the Blessing Ceremony."