Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 62063 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62063 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
With a sob, I obeyed, and he drove his hardness deep into my mouth and held himself there.
A little grunt of pleasure emerged from his chest before he seemed to remember Marcus still standing there, behind him.
“Thank you, Marcus,” he said. “You may go. Please remember how crucial this deal is. In two weeks, we secure our future.”
CHAPTER 17
Sophia
I got through that night with my owner somehow. At least Monsieur Delacroix didn’t seem to care when I merely lay still and received what he chose to bestow with his grasping hands and his thrusting manhood. All the while, as if I had transcended my body even further than on my previous nights of lewd service to the man who had purchased me, my mind turned over what I had heard.
Secure our future. In two weeks.
In two weeks, we secure our future.
As I drifted off to sleep, something that had become in some ways distressingly easy while tied to Delacroix’s bed, I made up my mind that the Pretorian Guard must learn of the meeting, somehow, even if Marcus’ cover didn’t allow him to make contact. The actual information Malleus had sent me to steal from Delacroix’s computer took on a material reality: the list of names Delacroix had sent to Marcus would, I felt certain, have incalculable value for the Guard.
The next morning as my true miles guided me along the opulent hallway, my mind raced with possibilities. My heart pounded as I realized I had to act tonight, simply so that I didn’t risk the situation changing, my losing the tantalizing access to the computer I had every night while Delacroix felt such a need to use me every night. The fate of the mission—the future of civilization—hinged on my ability to engineer some way to get within a meter of the computer and stay there for thirty seconds or so.
“You seem tense this morning, Sophia,” Marcus murmured, putting his hand lightly on the small of my back. He had never done that before. The warmth of his touch sent a shiver through me and distracted me from my desperate planning. Before I had come to this crucial moment, I would have given anything for that hand on my back. Knowing I couldn’t communicate with the only person who might have helped me complete the mission—the only man I really wanted to touch me—made the contact almost maddening.
I forced a demure smile as I turned to look at him. “Just tired, sir. Monsieur was… demanding last night.”
I blinked as I thought I saw Marcus’ jaw tighten, just a little. Did I see a flicker of jealousy in his eyes as well? I swallowed hard, trying to keep the glow in my chest at bay.
Don’t be stupid, columba. I told myself. I pictured Malleus, but his face had turned into Marcus’. I felt myself frown deeply in confusion, and I turned away from Marcus to keep my expression concealed.
As we approached my bedroom, I began to formulate a plan. It would be risky, potentially catastrophic if I failed. But the alternative—allowing the Groupe Synergistique to close their deal and tighten their grip on power without even the knowledge of the Guard—seemed unthinkable.
“Rest well,” Marcus said as he opened my door and ushered me in. “I’ll see you later.”
But unlike every day for the past five days, Marcus didn’t return that evening. The dinner cart, which usually arrived in the late afternoon, so that I had finished eating before my miles led me to my owner’s bed, instead came at the time Marcus usually arrived.
With a growing sense of anxiety, I considered asking the guard—Jacques, one of the two whose names I’d learned—whether I should expect Marcus to come. I didn’t want to give Jacques an opportunity to comment on Monsieur’s pleasure with me, though, let alone raise his suspicions in some way.
Briseis. Observe. Then act.
I waited. Marcus didn’t come.
As the hours ticked by, my anxiety grew. Had something happened to Marcus? Had my own cover been blown? I paced my mildly gilded cage, the plush carpet muffling my footsteps as I tried to calm my whirling thoughts.
Wait, Malleus said in my head. Watch. And when the time comes, don’t let fear paralyze you.
Night fell, and moonlight filtered into my little window from a waning crescent. Doing everything in my power to keep my breathing calm and even, I activated my cybernetics to spoof the camera. Then I stood by the door, listening.
At least, I reflected, this time I didn’t have the horrid training harness on. I could move much more easily than the last time I had ventured out.
I heard, faintly, sounds I felt certain came from the first floor, re-echoed by the marble of the foyer and the stairs. Unoccupied with fucking me, I felt certain, Delacroix was out of the chateau, or perhaps working in his study. If I waited too long, he would pour his brandy and bring it upstairs to bed.