The Dancer and the Masks by Bea Paige

Chapter 22

JAKUB

“You wanted to speak with me?” One asks, stepping into the library.

She’s changed from her outfit earlier and is now wearing a white, knee length gown with red flowers embroidered across the hem. It’s far more demure than anything I’ve ever seen her wear before and I can’t help but wonder if this is her way of trying to attract my attention. I can’t remember the last time she wore white. It’s been years. I guess Nothing’s arrival has stirred up more than just Twelve’s jealousy.

“Sit. I have things I wish to discuss,” I say curtly, giving her a cursory glance as I take a sip of the third glass of brandy I’ve drunk since my interaction with Nothing. Despite the heat of the brandy burning my throat and the pleasant warmth it’s spreading through my limbs, it’s done nothing to ward off the hunger I feel for her. For Nothing.

My cock is still hard.

“Of course,” she replies, walking towards me gracefully, her long limbs shapely. Everything about her is perfect, from her long black hair to her pert breasts, neat pussy and flawless skin. Age has done nothing to take that beauty away from her. If anything, she’s grown more beautiful. It helps that she’s had access to every possible potion and lotion from Thirteen who, in another life, would be a millionaire by now. Fortunately for us, Thirteen has never wanted more than what she has. Content to be here in this castle with us and not them. My brothers and I are well aware of how valuable she is and we treat her accordingly.

Taking a seat opposite me in a high winged-back chair, One crosses her legs at the ankle, and places her long piano-playing fingers over the end of each armrest. I notice that her nails are painted a bright red, reminding me of the times when they had dug into the flesh of my arse, puncturing my skin as I rutted into her. I was a boy then, a fucking child who’d been conditioned into seeking her out whenever unwelcome emotions had begun to creep back in.

From the ages of thirteen to eighteen, whenever I felt myself weakening I’d beat, then fuck One like a wild animal. In return she’d marked me with her talons, staking her claim on me. For five years I used her but that stopped when I realised fucking her wasn’t working anymore.

That fucking her made me feel worse. Not better.

With age came realisation. She used me, like I used her. She abused me, like I abused her.

The thought of touching her now turns my stomach.

“Jakub?” she asks tenderly.

It’s rare when she calls me Jakub and not Master, but I’m beginning to understand that this is her attempt at reminding me of our bond. Neither Konrad nor Leon were permitted to fuck the Numbers after their initial breaking-in. Only me. I’m the true heir to the Brov legacy and that gave me some allowances. I took advantage of that fact today so I could fuck Nothing’s mouth without feeling guilty about it.

Except I do feel guilty.

Not because of what I took from her, but because I went behind my brothers’ backs. Because I broke our rules. The ones we agreed upon together before we brought her here.

Fuck.

“Jakub?” One repeats, cocking her head to the side, her berry-red lips parting on a breath as she watches me. She’s fully aware of her sexual prowess, and is an expert at using it to her advantage. Of all the Numbers she’s coveted the most, followed by Six as a close second. Both are innately sexual. One overtly so, Six without even realising it.

And Nothing… She has no idea just how fucking tempting she is. How much power she could wield if we don’t watch our step. Right now she’s oblivious to it, but I’m acutely aware of her ability to completely ruin everything we’ve established here.

I need to keep my head.

I need to stay the fuck away from her.

And most of all, I need to make sure my brothers don’t lose sight of what’s important: our business, what we’ve built here, and our bond.

Putting Nothing in The Menagerie will mean she’s not readily available if one of us were to slip up. I know very well that if we’d kept her in our apartment she would’ve already been shackled to that bed and fucked to within an inch of her life.

It’s better this way. For all of us.

Even her.

“Jakub, you seem… out of sorts. Can I help with anything?” One asks me, her sexy accent rolling off her tongue, dripping with sexual innuendo.

It may work on the clients we invite to the castle but it won’t work on me, not anymore. I’m not that teenager who revelled in beating then fucking a sexy Italian woman almost twice his age. Those days are long gone.

I don’t need her that way. Not anymore. But I should indulge her efforts, if only to keep her on my side. She is, after all, the mastermind behind The Menagerie. With as much effort as I can muster, which is pretty fucking small, I plaster a rare smile on my face and say, “You look beautiful, One. Is that a new dress?”

She smiles, though it doesn’t meet her eyes as she shifts in her seat, uncrossing and crossing her legs, all the while flashing me the dark slash of her pussy. “It is, thank you...” Her voice trails off as she stares at me.

“What is it, One?” I ask, giving her a moment of my interest, even if it is fake.

“I don’t have to be beautiful for you. You understand that, don’t you? Whatever you need I can give you.” She looks up from under her lashes, her tongue running over her bottom lip as her fingers tighten on the handrests.

She’s overstepped, just like she did in the Grand Hall when she touched me when she shouldn’t have. She knows it. I know it. At some point I need to address that, but now isn’t the time. Instead, I allow myself to look at One, to really look. She’s still as stunning as she was when she first arrived here.

The first time I was forced to fuck her, I threw up. I threw up not because I beat her, marked her skin, bruised her and made her bleed. I threw up because I had to put my flaccid dick in her pussy and make myself come whilst my father fucking watched.

It was the single worst experience of my life.

But each time it got easier. With her help, I was able to switch off my thoughts, my churned-up feelings, all the weakness, and just fuck her. I owe her at least a little grace for that.

“I’m well aware of what you’re able to provide,” I reply, with a dip of my head. “But what I need from you remains the same as it has been these past five years. I will not cross that line with you. We will never be intimate again. Never. The Menagerie is your priority. Do you understand me?”

One fixes a smile on her face, but I see the darkness in her soul beneath the pretty facade. My father saw it too and that’s why she survived unlike all the others before her.

“I understand. So what can I do for you then?” she asks after a long stretch of silence when I try not to think about the fact I had Nothing on her knees sucking my cock in the room of curiosities only a few hours ago. It was supposed to be a form of punishment. It was supposed to scare Nothing into submission, remind her of her place. Somehow, it managed to have the opposite effect. She might’ve been on her knees, but at that moment, when she coaxed an orgasm out of me after years of abstinence, she had all the power.

“Nothing will be taking part in The Menagerie. I want her to dance.” I need her out of the way.

“And when the show is over...?”

I meet One’s gaze, lifting my brows at her audacity. She already knows that Nothing won’t be available to our clients. I made that perfectly clear in the Grand Hall. Bringing up the subject again rankles me. “No. As I already said, she is ours. She will perform on stage and that is it. Do I make myself clear?”

“As you wish.” She dips her head in acquiescence, but despite her carefully relaxed demeanor, she can’t hide her jealousy. It’s plain as day.

“Thirteen is responsible for Nothing whilst Leon, Konrad and I concentrate on the Ball and all the arrangements needed to make sure it runs smoothly. There is a lot of work to be done. Thirteen will remain in charge of her at all times apart from rehearsals where you will ensure she’s kept under control. If she goes missing under your watch, there will be consequences. Dire ones.”

“I’m willing to help with whatever you need,” she replies, keeping her expression neutral despite the insinuation.

“Offering yourself up again, I see,” Leon says, stepping into the room and interrupting our conversation. He smirks, looking between us both. I can feel the tension he brings with him from the other side of the room. This is worse than I thought.

Downing the rest of my drink, I jerk my head at One. “We were just discussing Nothing’s role in The Menagerie. She will rehearse with the Numbers and spend the rest of her time with Thirteen until we’re ready for her.”

“Of course you were,” he responds dryly as Konrad steps into the room behind him. He looks as haggard as I feel. We need to get our shit together, and fast.

“I could use a fucking drink,” Konrad says, clamping a hand on Leon’s shoulder and forcing him further inside the room. Leon bares his teeth at Konrad, that familiar gesture telling us all where his head’s at.

He’s in a mood. A dangerous one.

“I want Nothing in rehearsals tomorrow morning,” I say to One in a clipped tone. She knows me well enough to know that this is her cue to leave. My brothers and I need to talk. Alone.

One dips her head and rises to her feet. “Goodnight,” she says before strutting past Leon and Konrad, her long dark hair swaying across her back as she walks.

I wait for her to leave, and for Konrad to lock the door behind her, before pulling off my mask.

“So what the fuck now?” Konrad asks, swiping a hand through his thick dark hair as he slumps in the chair One had just vacated. “I’ve had a fucking hard on since she came all over my fingers.”

“Nothing’s changed—”

“You can say that again!” Leon practically roars, cutting me off. “That woman who stood before us in the Grand Hall was not the same fucking girl we kidnapped.” He grabs the bottle of brandy from the side table and takes a deep pull from the bottle, not even bothering to pour himself a glass. He’s in shock. Well, that makes three of us.

“She’s still Grim’s sister. She’s still our revenge,” I remind him. “Focus, Leon.”

“Did you not see her face, her back?” Konrad asks, knowing full well that I did.

“You know I did, but this changes nothing,” I repeat, all the while knowing it could change everything.

Leon passes Konrad the bottle of brandy then starts pacing up and down the room. “Don’t fucking kid yourself, Jakub. I saw your reaction.”

“It was a surprise. Granted. But it means nothing. She’s here for one reason and one reason only. Revenge,” I repeat.

“You said she was ours,” Leon reminds me, his tone mocking, as though he already knows what I did in my room of curiosities. “You said we could have her the way we wanted. We fucking agreed, Jakub, and now you’ve moved the damn goalposts to suit you.”

“No,” I retort, shaking my head. “I’m doing this for us. We must concentrate on the Ball. When it’s over you’ll get what you need. Both of you.”

Leon snorts, shaking his head. He doesn’t trust me to keep myself in check. He’s right not to.

I’ve already broken our agreement. I fucked up.

I let her wrap her lips around my cock. I relaxed enough around her, trusted her enough not to fucking bite me, and she made me come.

She made me come.

A man who’s been celibate for the last five years. A man who’s had zero interest in fucking until her. Until she came into our lives with her fiery hair, her witchy eyes, and mesmerising flaws.

Truth be known, tasting Nothing’s pussy had been fucking heaven, and that was before I’d even seen her true face.

I wanted her to disgust me, but she didn't.

She fucking didn’t.

It had taken everything in me not to fuck her on my bed. Instead I’d feasted on her, and fuck if I don’t want to do that again, and again, and again.

Then to make matters worse, I worshipped her mouth and her lips and her tongue with my dick behind my brothers’ backs. I stroked her goddamn tonsils with it, and she took me, opened up to me and all the while her birthmark deepened in colour.

Fuck, I’d come so hard I nearly lost my goddamn footing.

I hadn’t lied when I said I’d given a piece of myself to her. It wasn’t meant to be a crude remark. I was being fucking honest because at that moment, when I’d relaxed enough to come, to pour my seed down her throat, Nothing had become everything I’ve been searching for my whole damn life.

“You’re making a mistake,” Konrad grunts, taking a long pull from the bottle. “Grim is looking for her. We’re running out of time.”

“By the time Grim finds out where she is, it’ll be over. You’ll have got what you wanted,” I say with a confidence I don’t truly feel.

“That’s it, then? You’ve made your decision?” Leon asks, gritting his jaw so hard I can hear his teeth grinding.

“Nothing performs in The Menagerie this weekend as discussed. She stays with Thirteen. Then we’ll all get what we need on the night of the Ball,” I confirm, standing.

“And Grim?” Konrad asks.

“Will die the moment she sets foot in this castle,” I reply, refusing to acknowledge the fact that not only have I hidden my encounter with Nothing from my brothers, but that I’ve broken our agreement to experience her together.

Konrad blows out a breath. “Fine. As you wish.”

“Leon?” I question, meeting his angry gaze.

“Understood,” he bites out.

“Good,” I say with a terse nod of my head. “I suggest you find something to occupy yourself in the interim. No slip ups.”

“No slip ups,” they repeat as I stride from the room and head straight for the forest.