::CHAPTER 26::

Buttoning my pants, I let the shirt fall over the waistband. I waltzed out of my quarters with the ghost of a smile on my lips. I was happy and obscenely so.

After suffering in silence, I’d finally had my long awaited feeding. It had put me in considerably good spirits and I was practically trotting down the stairs two at a time. My appetite had not been satisfied in a while and it was a relief for my throat to not feel raw and irritated.

Last night – or rather early this morning – I’d drunk what I could from Ria and then taken another human to finish fill me. For the first time in years, I hadn’t drained the poor sap. It went without saying that he was damn pleased to be alive for breakfast today. I didn’t even mind. I was feeling warm and full and quite frankly, it didn’t hurt that I’d been just as pleasured sexually too.

After drinking from the other human, it became pretty obvious that my erection was not going to disappear with time. In fact, I doubted any woman had ever gotten me that hard before. It wasn’t complaining. Life was getting boring now that I’d succeeded in the first few stages in my take-over plan. Honestly, a part of me had hoped to fail simply so that something different would happen. No such luck.

It was a win-win situation either way. The whole point of this plan was to fight my day-to-day boredom. All the lives lost and cities destroyed were for the greater good of my dwindling entertainment supply. After all, for all intents and purposes I already had the world. I simply did this because I could…and because there was never anything good on TV. I truly hated re-runs. Perhaps there would have been fewer deaths if someone had bothered coming up with a decent cooking show or something. I liked cooking shows.

Speaking of cooking shows, I had to admit that having two meals in lieu of one was so much better. Before I didn’t see the point, but now things were different. It was even better knowing that I had a relatively warm body in a nearby room, wet and waiting for me once I was finished feeding. Caroline had come in very handy.

Admittedly, I would have preferred to finish what I’d imagined with Ria, but that was not possible at this early stage. Especially when she was a virgin. I knew very well that though women may desire me, I was not the sort that one would give their innocence to.

I didn’t care much for deflowering anyone at the moment. All that mattered was that I was drunk off the high of my Pet’s blood with no plans of being grounded again. I grinned to myself. With this sort of happiness, it is the perfect mood for me to do something fun later. I took a breath at the idea of a new heart to join the others. A part of me wondered what Little Red would think of my hobby. The thought made me laugh.

Ares paused as he was walking by. He didn’t say a word, but there was a question in his eyes. “Blood, war and sex, my good man,” I clapped him on the shoulder, “No better combination to put a man in a chipper mood.” Ares nodded and bowed before he slipped down the nearest hallway. I shrugged and turned away.

The sounds of voices reached my ears and I followed them. Sitting in the kitchen were Carol and Ria. The two were talking politely enough but there was an undercurrent in the air. Carol was at ease and friendly but Ria was keeping her emotions in check. Despite that, I caught extremely faint echoes of them.

There was some agitation and bitterness, but there was also a certain level of jealousy and guilt too. It was an odd combination of emotions when added to the kindness and loyalty and a few other things I couldn’t put my finger on yet.

It would appear that Ria liked Carol, but the woman had pissed off the girl somehow. And despite being pissed, she was trying to hide it rather than talk it out. Very unlike what I’d come to expect from a woman after all these years knowing them.

“Pleasant morning, ladies,” I said offering a smile to them.

“Good morning,” Carol returned the smile.

“You’re in a good mood,” Ria said.

“Yes I am,” I pat her head with one hand and placed the other on Carol’s shoulder, “You’ve both pleased me a great deal.”

“I see we’ve gained your favor,” Carol laughed, “You’re welcomed.”

“Glad you’re happy,” Ria nodded and went back to her breakfast.

“Are you, Little Red?” I asked.

“Am I what?”

“Glad that I’m happy.”

She made a show of chewing so that she didn’t have to answer. But I was immortal. Time was a commodity that I had oodles of. I sat beside her on a barstool and waited patiently. She seemed to realize that I wasn’t going away.

“You don’t seem particularly happy,” I said curling a lock of her hair around my finger.

“I am.”

“Are you sure?” I said watching the oddly colored hair unravel.

“Positive,” she said and flashed what was admittedly an excellent fake smile.

“Why don’t I believe you then?”

“I don’t know, sir,” she put on a perfectly measured tone, “You’re the Master. You know all, understand all, see all, and can do all that you want. And without the need to feel guilt no less. You live an enviable life.”

I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being scolded and complimented at exactly the same time. I had no idea why I would be scolded, but I did find it odd that she would be complimenting me. She clearly wasn’t too happy with me. Plus she was Ria. She didn’t hand out niceties just because. Especially not to me. There was always either an ulterior motive or something she was hiding.

The clever bugger. As subtle as it was, she had me curious and very much wary. Before her, I’d never had dreamed of being wary of any human. But she was a Pet. This human had power over me. It did not help that she was an intelligent daughter of a bitch either.

I wasn’t complaining though. She interested me. That didn’t happen every day. Kudos to the kid.

“Leave us,” I said to Carol, eyes still locked with Ria’s.

“Sure. Whatever,” Carol said not sounding in the least bit bothered.

Ria’s eyes followed her as she left the room before meeting mine again. She managed to hold the eye contact for much longer than most before her gaze dropped.

“I don’t appreciate being lied to.”

“I expect that you don’t, sir,” she nodded.

“Then why aren’t you answering me truthfully? It was a simple question. I didn’t even care about the answer, really. I asked out of politeness. But now that you felt the need to lie, I’m curious.”

“Well you did dump me into an icy shower. That’s enough of a reason not to be happy with you.”

“No,” I smiled and shook my head, “It’s more than that. I can tell.”

Her cheeks turned a pale shade of pink. I would have missed it if I weren’t paying attention. “For someone hoping to serve in a nunnery one day, you’re quite the dirty little liar,” I said deciding to play on her emotions. Guessing that she was more likely to be insulted or angry, I felt it was safe enough.

I was right. She aimed a glare my way. In that moment, her blue eyes were cold enough to be compared to mine. I laughed outright. Holding my side, I shook my head and patted her on the head. Intending to get up and let it drop, I was surprised to feel the small hand circle my wrist.

“No one touches me without permission,” I said, “I’ve killed for less.”

“Sorry,” her hand pulled back as if burnt, “I thought last night was permission.”

“Yes. It was permission for last night. It is morning now.”

“Oh…”

“What did you want to say?” I sat back down.

“I was going to tell the truth.”

*********************************************

{3rd Person POV}

Ria saw the shadow of a smirk flit across his face before it disappeared from sight. He was a smug one, but she was getting used to that little fact. She had to admit that it was expected. He was the ruler of the free world after all. Add that to his good-looks, talent and penchant for being in power, he had all the right to be smug. Especially when he was about to get his way.

She pulled her long sleeves further down her wrists. She felt as if he could sense the goosebumps on her arms. He quirked a brow as if to urge her to continue. All it did was bring her focus back to his frost blue eyes that had no right ever being on a human.

“Go ahead,” he said, “I told you that, to a point, you have the privilege of free speech with me. And when it comes to matters of Master and Pet, we would have no secrets.”

“Alright,” she nodded, “I was pissed off at you.”

“Me? What did I do? Was last night not to your liking? Did it not please you as it did me?”

“It…” she had to look away from him then, “I wasn’t pissed off because of our feeding.”

“So it did please you then,” he asked.

“Yes,” she shot him a glare at the very male smugness in his gaze.

“Simply asking,” he held up his hands though they both knew he was the more dangerous one, “No need to be hostile.”

“The irony of you telling me that,” she scoffed, “Mr. I’ve-Killed-For-Less.”

“Hmph,” he gave a non-committal shrug.

“I don’t know how things worked back in your days, but in this century women don’t tend to like having sex with a man and then having him go with another woman just moments after.”

“They don’t have threesomes anymore?” he quirked a brow in genuine confusion.

“I – well – yeah. But that’s when you agree to share.”

“Oh I see. You were jealous.”

“I was not jealous,” she shot him a look, “Not really.”

“Just displeased at the thought of me having another woman’s thighs spread and trembling beneath me mere minutes after you,” he nodded, “Understandable.”

“I…” she trailed off.

As much as she wanted to tell him that he was wrong, it was true. That was exactly what had pissed her off. Yet when he said it, he made it sound as if she carried some kind of torch for him. Far from it.

“In my castle I do what I wish. I don’t have to run anything by anyone…particularly my sex partners. But,” he held up a hand when she was about to interject, “I will make an effort to not make it obvious next time.”

“I have no words for that.”

“‘Thank you, Master’ would have been nice. And to be clear, we never had sex in truth. You are still a virgin I believe. It was no more than a fantasy and furthermore, you are a Pet and no more. So there is no reason to be jealous, Little Red,” he gave her a smile and a pat on the thigh as if his words were supposed to make her feel better.

“No offense, but you suck at consoling people.”

“Samuel used to say that,” he nodded, “Well I have to go see to my men. You may come…once you make yourself decent.”

He gave a disapproving glance at her hair before leaving. Her face burned a little but he wasn’t there to see it anymore. Annoyed with his gentle insult, she went back to her room for a shower.

Grumbling to herself all the while, she sat before the mirror trying her best to detangle the curly bird’s nest on her head. It took nearly an hour before she was able to run a brush through it. By then her arms were too tired to straighten it.

Creak!

Her head whipped around at the sound of the bed’s noise. When she saw the man sitting there, she calmed down. It was the opposite reaction to what a reasonable person would have. A strange man sitting quietly on your bed staring at you? She should have run right out of there. But she didn’t. One, because he was immortal and would have caught her before she got up and two, because she wasn’t scared. Not yet.

She wondered if it was some effect of spending so much time with Alejo. Who on earth could scare you once you’ve spent enough time with Alejo Veracci?

Ria sat at her vanity table and looked at the man regarding her from across the room. He stared at her without saying a word. She decided that if he wanted something, he’d act first so she folded her arms and waited. She noticed his eyes drop to her impatient gesture before frowning up at her.

“Do you know who I am?”

“I remember you. We met in Alejo’s office,” she nodded, “but I can’t remember your name. What was it again?”

“Ares Odin,” his eyes darkened, “Your Master’s second in command.”

“That’s nice.”

“You don’t seem impressed.”

“Was I supposed to be?” she raised a doubtful brow.

“I’m one rank away from Master Alejo’s,” he said as if talking to a slow school child.

“Yes. But Alejo’s not going to give up his post to you and he’s too old for you to kill him.”

“What is this talk of killing?” he gave a smile that she saw right through, “I wouldn’t hurt a fly unless the Master asked it of me.”

“That’s a lucky thing for flies. What about people?” Ria said.

“You…” he laughed and lay back on her bed, “you are a clever one. You’re the first to pick up on that. I think I like you.”

“The feeling isn’t mutual.”

“Shame. I think we could be friends, Ria. The Pet and second in command to the Master. We’re two of the most important people in his life. We should stick together.”

Ria gave a scoff and laughed in his face. She didn’t trust him as far as she could throw him. She thought he could be as bad as Alejo and that made him dangerous. The difference between him and Alejo was that Alejo had branded her. Hurting her would mean less to Ares than it would to Alejo. Her emotions didn’t affect the younger immortal. Ares came across as a ticking time bomb that acted far older than he claimed and she was not going to ‘stick together’ with him.

Ares, of course, didn’t appreciate being laughed at. She could tell by the downturn of his mouth. The laugh died out of her the longer he stared at her.

“So,” he brushed a hand over military issued pants, “I’m glad that I amuse you.”

“Sorry about that, but it was a little ridiculous. You…me…sticking together. A united front or whatever. I don’t know you and I have a strong feeling that I’m better off not knowing you. If you want to get closer to Alejo, try using his brother.”

“If my motive was to get closer to Mr. Veracci,” he said making sure not to actively admit anything, “You would be my better bet. After all he needs you. He simply wants Loki. Much like he wanted Samuel. Loki is as disposable to him as the priest was.”

“Loki is family. Samuel wasn’t.”

“That changes nothing and you know it. Master Veracci does not love. He does not care for others. Family ties mean nothing to him. His interest lies in himself…and you are important to keep him alive and well.”

“And you think I’d align myself with you?”

“ Little Red,” he started.

“Don’t call me that,” she said refusing to give into the shudder creeping through her body at the cold intimacy of him using Alejo’s pet name.

“I was only talking in hypotheticals,” he ignored her comment, “I’m not after you or Loki or anyone for some dark and twisted Veracci-related reason. I’m only offering to be friends…or more if you like.”

Ria wasn’t shocked to find that the idea of being with Ares in a sexual way disturbed her a lot more than the idea of being with Alejo like that. It said a lot about how she felt about her Master’s second.

“Not on your life, dude,” she made a face and stood up, “Time for you to go.”

“You’re kicking me out? Honestly?”

“Yeah. You’re just creepy as hell and honestly you’re weirding me out,” she said shooing him out.

Ares stepped into the hallway where Loki stood leaning against the door. Ares smiled at the older immortal and left to go downstairs. Loki’s eyes followed him before turning to Ria. As usual, she couldn’t read a thing from those hazel eyes. They were a lot like his brother’s that way.

“You’re good for him, Ria,” he said, “What I don’t know is if he’s good for you.” She nodded at his quiet praise and allowed the hug he gave her. He didn’t have to say it. I knew he was talking about Alejo. It was odd to get Loki’s blessing after she was made a Pet.

“Are you alright?” he asked. She sighed into him and nodded again. She envied her sister for her Master. Loki didn’t have an army with possible psychopaths. Loki didn’t scare her senseless or sleep with women only doors away from Ana. He didn’t have a second in command who seemed impossible to trust.

Ana was safe as long as Loki was around. She was safe from him. Ria didn’t have that same faith her sister had in her Master. Alejo was nothing like Loki. Loki might be bad, but there was no redemption for Alejo. And the men under his command were almost half as bad.

Loki went downstairs with her and took her out to the area where the soldiers were kept. Alejo was overseeing a training exercise so he didn’t pay much attention to her at first. She noticed the way the men would cower instinctively when he neared and yet brightened when he complimented them. It seemed like a rare gift for him to do it.

She noticed Ares teaching a class of fifty in the distance. Watching him demonstrating Alarician combat moves, she decided that kicking him out of her room had been the right thing to do. If things had gone south, fighting him would have been stupid.

“Like what you see?” Alejo came beside her, “Do you have a thing for my second?”

“No. I’m watching his fighting style. He’s impressive in combat. But as a person…”

“He’s not so impressive?”

“Far from it,” she scoffed, “I’d prefer you over him any day.”

“Really now?” he turned her face to look at him and searched for deceit in her gaze.

“I meant as a person,” she said quickly catching the mischievous glint in his eye, “I prefer you as a person.”

“Then you fear the cub more than the tiger. Interesting.”

 “I trust you a little. I don’t trust him at all.”

“You said ‘not like that’ before. So if you prefer me more than him as a person then does that mean you’d rather him over me sexually?”

“I never said that!”

“Then you do prefer me to him in that way,” he gave her the smuggest little smile, “I’m flattered, Little Red. I might just blush a little.”

“I give up,” she folded her arms and huffed, “You’re the worst.”

“No…apparently I’m the best.”

Her jaw dropped at his knowing – and somewhat dirty – stare. She didn’t get the chance to recover quickly enough. He had already walked away before she could give a comeback.

“I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen my brother do something like that without a motive,” Loki sniggered.

“Shut up, Cortada,” she smacked him on the chest, “That wasn’t funny. Go back upstairs to your girlfriend.”

*****************************************************

{Alejo’s POV}

With the good mood I’d been in all day, I felt the need to celebrate a little. I took care of all I needed to during the day so that by nightfall, my schedule was free.

After a meeting with the heads of states, I went back to my room to strip out of the suit I’d been wearing before. A quick shower later and I was dressed in a starched button down and slacks. I gave my hair a bit of a comb, barely containing my excitement. It wasn’t often that I felt that emotion and I did nothing to try to squash it.

It had been a long time since I’d added a heart to my shelves and today seemed like the perfect day for it. I wanted to look my best tonight.

I took my time to shave and smooth out my shirt as wrinkle-free as it already was. Taking a breath, I calmed a fraction. “Tonight we’re going to have some fun,” I murmured to my reflection.

“Really? Where are you off to?” Ria asked from the open doorway.

“Why does it matter? Are you going to miss me?”

“Yeah,” she scoffed with open scorn, “I’ll miss you tons and tons.”

“That hurt,” I gave a theatric sigh, “After all we’ve been through.”

“Are you always this full of it?” she gave a wry smile.

“Not always,” I fixed the button on my shirt before skirting around her on my way to the door.

I remote locked everything in the room that had a lock on it before ushering her outside. No one was allowed into my room unless I was present too. It was a rule that she knew well. Once the main door was locked, I nodded to her.

 “Goodbye, Little Red. Stay out of trouble tonight and don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone.”

“Stupid like what?”

“Sneaking off the property, freeing my human blood supply, sabotaging any of my documents…” I listed, “Things like that. I don’t know what it is with kidnapped people but every time I leave them alone, they go do something stupid and make me have to punish them.”

“Wouldn’t punishing me hurt you?”

“If you force my hand, believe me when I say that I will be angry enough.”

“Enough to hurt yourself?”

“Ria,” I cupped her cheek and bent to her eye level, “I can be as masochistic as I am sadistic. Don’t think I wouldn’t hurt you simply to spare myself the pain.”

“I am your Pet. You can’t.”

“I can do whatever the hell I want, darling girl. That’s what the title ‘Master’ means,” I smiled running a thumb over her cheek, “I will hunt down anyone who tries to harm you, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t do it myself if you give me reason to.”

“I won’t do anything,” she said with an involuntary shiver.

Sure that she believed the lie, I took a car from the garage and left. She didn’t have to know that his masochistic side didn’t flare up with pain from her. She didn’t need to know she hurting her would hurt him in the truest sense. Once she believed it, all would be well. For the moment, he had to concentrate on finding the perfect heart.