Dark Need by Clarissa Wild

Chapter 11

Soren

Years ago

My first timeventuring off the island is no easy feat. I have no clue where I’m going or how to get there, but I have my guide to bring me to my destination. A guard sent from the House comes to pick me up from the island and take me there, so I will work for my new owner, just like all the generations before me did.

An honorable job as a punisher of sinners, a responsibility I won’t take lightly.

When we get there, the giant mansion in front of my eyes makes me gawk up at the sky. Where I come from, no one builds homes this big.

Is this what my predecessors saw and felt when they first came here to help our friends?

My new owner comes to greet me outside the House, and he holds out his hand. “Name’s Eli. Welcome to the House, Soren.” I take his hand, and he shakes it vigorously, planting another hand on my shoulder. “Great to have you here. I was waiting for someone to help us out. Come, walk with me for a second.”

We go into the house, where guards stand at every door.

“This is where you’ll spend most of your time,” Eli says as the doors close behind us. “Behind these doors is where the magic happens. I call it the House of Sin. Do you know why?” he asks.

“Because you punish sinners,” I reply.

I don’t need to know how he finds them or if they deserve what he has in mind.

My job is only to dish out the pain, not to judge whether it’s right.

“We,” he adds, pushing a finger into my chest. “You belong here now. With us.”

I like that. I like how it sounds. We.

Maybe I will be of use here.

“And your job will be to punish those who are already lost beyond relief,” he says, cocking his head at an opening behind the main stairs, where some sort of cellar appears. “The dungeon is where we keep those who’ve sinned too badly. Those who I personally cannot help.”

I raise a brow. “Can I help?”

“Of course,” he replies, patting my back a few times. “You’re perfect for the job. You’ll feel right at home.”

“Home?” I mutter.

I hadn’t thought of that.

This place will be my home for the foreseeable future.

“Yeah, of course.” He smiles. “Make yourself at home. Pick one of the free rooms up there.” He points at one of the corridors upstairs. “You’re free to choose. Oh, and the kitchen is there, bathroom over there, and my study is over there.” He points at everything like he wants me to feel comfortable. As if he actually wants to make it easier on me.

As though he thinks of me as an equal.

And that has never happened before.

“So, are you ready?” He rubs his hands together. “I can’t wait to start this collaboration with you.”

I nod and take in a deep breath. I don’t know how long this job will last, but I know that when it is over and my owner dismisses me with honor, I will make my people proud.

And with an owner as nice as him, this is going to be easy.

“When do I start?”

A vicious smirk spreads on his lips. “Today.”

* * *

April

Present

I knew it.

Deep down, I always knew Soren wouldn’t take me back to civilization. That I wouldn’t be freed. But to hear it coming from his mouth so obviously is still a blow to my ability to reason my way out of this.

I’d made this image in my head that if I would come along and play a nice girl, all would be well, and maybe he’d be kind enough or take pity on me and set me free.

But the look in his eyes says enough.

He’s in this to complete this mission, one way or the other.

And if we don’t make it … we die together.

I swallow hard, knowing I could’ve fought him off and run along with the other girls.

Maybe I wouldn’t have been where I am right now, stuck in the middle of some unknown forest on a journey to God knows where with a man who doesn’t care about himself or me.

Who would give their life for a place like this?

How badly has he been brainwashed to believe that house is worth his damn life?

Damn him.

If I wasn’t tied up, I wouldn’t have spent another minute with him and ran as fast as I could. Not that he wouldn’t catch me in no time, but at least I could’ve tried.

With this rope tied between us, I have no choice but to continue and obey his every order. But I’m not giving up hope.

There has to be something I can do to better my chances of making it back home … alive.

I only have one weapon at my disposal.

My voice.

“If we aren’t going to a city, where are we going? Another prison for captives? Am I going to be sold or something?” I ask, shoving more of those mushrooms into my mouth.

But the longer I wait, the more pissed off I get.

He only answers my questions when it suits him, so it makes me feel like I’m talking to the trees.

“Fine, then don’t tell me,” I add, rolling my eyes. “You know what? I think it’s safe to say I would’ve been better off staying at the House.”

He glances at me over his shoulder. “Why?”

Oh, so now I have his attention?

I raise a single brow and stuff some of the herbs into my mouth. “At least I had a cozy bed and a warm meal while also being ignored.”

He throws me the same look back. “You weren’t.”

I pause for a moment, as everything in my body begins to tingle while his gaze is solely on me. As though he knows exactly what he means and isn’t afraid to say it out loud.

Because he’s right.

Someone was watching me … giving me every ounce of his attention.

Him.

* * *

Days ago

I’m staringat a table full of copious amounts of food that would make anyone’s mouth water. Fruit, fresh waffles, scones, fried eggs and bacon, everything you could ever wish for, and coffee that makes your head spin.

If I wasn’t a captive here in this freaking House, I’d almost say it was luxurious. My growling stomach is begging me to take a bite. But whenever I try to pick up my fork, my whole body shakes.

Because in front of me are two men. Tobias and Soren.

The leader of this house, Eli, hasn’t shown his face in days.

I don’t know why, but I don’t care either. It’s one less problem to deal with.

But it’s still not enough to stop the fear from encroaching on my heart.

Because one of those two men cannot keep his eyes off me. Not even while he eats.

Soren.

With one hand, he grabs a piece of bacon and shoves it into his mouth whole, chewing on it like only a beast would. Then he picks up his fried egg with his fork and eats it whole, no cutting involved. Eating is the wrong word. He devours.

But it isn’t his etiquette and dining skills that have me completely frozen to my seat.

No, it’s the way he looks at me and me alone.

Like I’m the sole object of his desire … or like he wants to murder me in his sleep.

It could go either way with a buff-looking man like him.

His eyes are stone-cold, pristine blue, and deadly. Like he could pierce my heart and split me in half with just one hand without breaking a sweat.

He pauses to lick his lip, all while keeping his eyes homed in on me, and it makes sweat drops roll down my back. Then he picks up his fork and stabs a couple of grapes, shoving them into his mouth.

To say that I’m scared is an understatement, but I don’t know if it’s because it looks like he wants to puncture my heart with that fork he just licked … or because he wants to lick me.

I shiver in place and avert my eyes, staring at the food instead, but when I pick something up and put it on my plate, I come eye to eye with the man who won’t stop staring at me, and it’s freaking me out.

What is his problem?

“What do you want from me?” I blurt out.

When I realize I said it out loud, I slap my hand in front of my mouth, but it’s already too late.

Tobias glares at me, placing his fork back down on his plate, while Soren stops chewing entirely and puts his food down.

When he swallows, I do too.

Tobias narrows his eyes, but all I can focus on is Soren, and he notices too, leaning over to check out Soren’s gaze as though he didn’t know the guy was staring at me all this time.

Then a dirty smile appears on Tobias’s face, and he clears his throat. “It’s not nice to stare, Soren.”

All he does is grumble, but the sound sends heat waves up and down my body … and between my legs.

And without saying a word, without even admitting that he’s doing this on purpose, he picks up an apple and leans back in his chair to take a huge bite … all while staring at me with hunger in his eyes until I lose my mind.

This food will not satiate him, and it isn’t here to feed any of us.

It’s here to intimidate me. To remind me of my place and why I’m really here.

To confess to a crime I didn’t commit.

To submit … to someone like him.

* * *

Present

Now I rememberwhy I can’t stop feeling all hot and bothered when he looks at me the way he does now. Because he’s not interested in my words.

That same hunger still shows in his eyes.

And it’s the same look he gave me when I was curled up against him the night we slept.

“What?” he growls.

I swallow down the lump in my throat. I can’t say it out loud. I simply can’t. “N-nothing.”

His eyes narrow, and then he quickly turns around and continues walking, expecting me to follow.

But it’s hard when the adrenaline rushes into my veins again. Because there is another option other than escaping. If I can’t use my strength … I can use seduction.

I know it’s wrong, but what other choice do I have right now?

Wherever I’m being taken could be worse than the house.

It never crossed my mind, but seducing him to let me go might be an option even though I have almost zero experience with it. But something about this man tells me he doesn’t either, and that could be my saving grace.

Only one way to find out.