Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 55964 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 280(@200wpm)___ 224(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55964 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 280(@200wpm)___ 224(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
“Perhaps we’ll come up with something better after a time,” I say brightly. “Unless you’ll allow me to be so bold as to call you by your given name?”
“Given…name?”
Oh dear. Is this another “mortal” construct? “Yes. Like you call me Yulenna? That is my name.”
“I have called you nothing yet.”
I cringe inwardly. “Forgive me for misspeaking. I did not realize—”
“You are afraid of me.” He tilts his head again and that frown grows broader. “Afraid of displeasing me. Have I been so monstrous to you, then?”
Panicked, I try to think of what he would want to hear. “You are a god,” I manage. “My only job here is to please you. When I’ve said something wrong—”
“I did not say it displeased me. Just that I have not called you anything yet.” His brows furrow. “Are mortals all this sensitive?”
I force myself to take a calm, controlled breath. “I’m just anxious, my lord…Fate.” I add the title after I realize what I’ve done. “I truly do wish to please you.”
“Because I could wipe you from existence as easily as waving a hand?”
I go utterly still, hardly daring to breathe. A cold sweat breaks out on my skin.
“I would not,” he says in a low voice. “It serves me no purpose to acquire an Anchor and then simply destroy her.”
I sink to my knees, wondering if it’s too early to fellate him into liking me. Most men are more amenable after their cock has been thoroughly sucked. Getting eye-level with his belt should help indicate that I’m willing. “I want to please you. Just tell me what to do to make you happy, my lord Fate.”
He frowns at me. “I don’t like you shivering with fear.”
“I shall try to be braver,” I say eagerly.
“I would like for you to be yourself, I should think. I do not know how mortals act and I wish to observe you for a time.” He continues to frown down at me. “Why are you on the floor?”
“I…wondered if I might suck your cock.” I give him my brightest smile.
The Spidae blinks. “Why?”
Why? He honestly doesn’t know why? Or is he toying with me? He’s Fate, all-knowing and all-seeing. Surely he knows what sexual pleasure is. “Because it feels good?”
“Ah.”
“Do you wish me to pleasure you?”
He thinks for a moment. “I will consider it. Are you not hungry?”
“My needs are nothing compared to yours,” I tell him brightly. “I can eat later.”
The look he gives me is downright withering, and I suspect he doesn’t grasp my eagerness to please him. Either that, or it makes him suspicious. I’m just so anxious that I can’t help myself. It’s the former slave in me that’s desperate to conform to a new master’s wishes.
So I bite my lip and try again. “I am hungry.”
He nods slowly, and I get the impression that my honesty pleased him more than my sniveling. “Then you must eat. And you must tell us when you have needs to be met. We have no such needs, and thus we will not realize when you need something from us. It will be up to you to speak when you are suffering. Do you understand?”
Chastised, I bow my head in acknowledgement. “I do. Thank you, my lord Fate.”
The Spidae grunts. “I am not sure if I like Lord Fate as a title either. I suppose you must call me something.” He lifts his shoulders in what must be the most awkward-looking shrug ever, and it’s clear to me that he’s mimicking yet again. “Wait here. I will bring you something.”
I clasp my hands in front of me and do as I’m bid, watching him.
He doesn’t move, and after a few silent moments pass, my skin prickles with unease. Did I misunderstand? Should I get my own food somehow? There’s two doors in the kitchens, one heavy wood one that is sealed shut, a large copper pot placed on the floor in front of it. The other doorway is wide open and I see the slanted ramp of the stairwell that leads up into the rest of the tower. If I go up there, will I run into Faith and the others? The tower seems incredibly quiet, as if myself and the Spidae in front of me are the only people here.
Then, I hear something.
Scuttling.
The sound is faint, like something is brushing up against the webs, and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I get to my feet, instinctively moving closer to the Spidae. “Do you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
Before he can respond, one of the massive, silvery-pale spiders appears in the doorway to the tower. My throat turns into a knot and I cower behind the tall god, terrified as the many-legged creature moves into the room. It’s the size of a woale calf, coming up to my waist, and the legs are long and stretch obscenely far. It fixes its horrible, dark eyes upon me for a moment, then it drops something on the floor and turns and leaves again, the webs rustling as it does.