Chapter 24

Olivia’s POV

I froze, startled by this command. Damien had never taken any interest in my body before, but now he was staring at me lazily from his arm chair like he expected something from me.

What? A show?

I had no intention of disrobing in front of him. Yet, the servants easily bowed to Damien’s will. They seemed to have no trouble at all changing their plans and reaching for my clothes.

Uncomfortable, I wanted to hide, but instead, I allowed them to remove my outer clothing, so long as my bra and panties stayed on, I could survive this humiliation.

The servants took the old clothes away and presented the new outer garments. So far, it seemed as if my worst fears would not be realized and that I would get to keep my underwear on.

Yet, just as the servants held out the pants I was supposed to wear for that day, Damien’s voice cut through.

“Stop,” he said again. The servants stilled at once. I did too, but my reaction was more out of fear than a desire to obey him.

“That color,” he said, gesturing toward my underclothes. “This doesn’t work. I’d rather see her in the blue.”

The servants nodded, and moved again as if he had pulled a string that allowed them to do so. One moved to my small chest of drawers and combed through. After a moment, they retrieved a pair of sky blue panties and a matching bra.

With the underclothes in hand, the servant walked nearer to Damien. Damien glanced down at them, then nodded.

“That will suit me,” he said.

Great. Sure. I was thrilled that could suit him, but what about me? What about my choices?

I tried to contain my outrage, knowing this was all part of being a vampire’s pet. Yet, because this hadn’t happened before, it left me feeling unbalanced and unsure. I had thought, by now, I had learned all the behaviors of my bloodthirsty master, and had even developed something of a routine.

Either he had decided to shake things up just to keep me uncomfortable, or he was trying unpredictable, and I would never be able to learn a habit, to develop any sense of routine or comfort.

The servant bowed at Damien and then brought the bra and panties back to me. At the same time, the other servant, behind me, unhooked my bra.

Gasping, I immediately lifted my arms to block the further removal of the bra, as well as to hide myself. I backed away from both servants, putting myself nearer the bathroom.

“Where are you going, pet?” Damien asked. “I know you aren’t attempting to disobey me?”

“I want to be left alone,” I said. “Please. There’s no need for me to be naked like this. I can change in the bathroom…”

Damien replied by standing up. His face stony, he walked toward me.

I stumbled back, trying to reach the bathroom.

“Stop,” he said.

I did, but when he reached out toward me, I winced, crossing my arms even more tightly.

He frowned. “You will change now, in front of me.”

I swallowed hard, but shook my head vehemently.

“Do it, or I will bite you,” he snapped, clearly annoyed.

I shook my head even harder. I didn’t want him to bite me, I didn’t want to disobey, but neither did I want to be naked in front of him.

Maybe it shouldn’t have bothered me. From his side, he only saw me as a pet and a nuisance besides. He had no romantic feelings toward me, or even sexual feelings beyond liking the taste of my blood.

He would likely look at my naked body and be entirely unaffected. But I didn’t know how I would feel.

The way his bite made me feel was… revealing to me. To be naked before him, when I already felt that tangled web of emotions… It would only make things more complicated in a way they didn’t need to be.

My fate was to be his pet, but not his lover. As long as the boundaries were clear, I could forgive myself for how my body reacted.

Without those boundaries… If the lines started to blur…

I didn’t know if I could survive it.

I just wanted Jacob, my fated mate. I wanted to stay as pure as I could for him and him alone.

He looked at me for a long moment, then scoffed and backed away. “No. You don’t deserve my bite when you behave this way.”

Damien turned from me. To the servants, he said, “Send her to confinement. My pet needs to learn a lesson in obedience.”

“But… wait!” More than being naked in front of him, I didn’t want to be locked in that dark room again. “Please! I’ll do this, I swear!”

He placed his back to me, and did not acknowledge me at all as I was pulled from the room and down, down, down, to the dungeons below.

Locked in confinement, I wrapped my legs around my knees as I sat as close to the corner of walls as I could, as far back from the door as I could manage.

The door was closed, limiting my light to only a slight outline around the metal door. It was cold in here too, especially as I was still in my offending bra and panties, though I had since clasped my bra closed again.

Disobeying him had clearly been a mistake. My feelings had been in a tangle which caused me to be emotional and reactionary. There was no place for that here.

Vampires had no need for emotions, Damien had told me, so what good were mine in this situation?

Yet, that line of thinking only unnerved me. Part of why I was here was because Damien wanted to kill the side of me that felt things. He wanted to mold me into his perfect unthinking and unfeeling pet.

By destroying my emotions, even by hiding them, I was playing exactly into the kind of role he wanted for me.

I knew, to keep from being punished like this in the future, I would have to be more cautious in the future, to always obey him without question. I didn’t want to come back down here again, to this dark and dank pit. I shivered just being here now, and tears were in my eyes.

At the same time though, I was so tired of being treated like a marionette with Damien at the strings. I’d only been here a short time, and I was already miserable. How was I possibly going to survive this for the rest of my life?

The truth, I knew, was that I wouldn’t. Not without becoming the thing Damien wanted, the thing that was no longer me anymore.

To save myself, to keep myself whole, I couldn’t stay here anymore.

I’d have to fight the blood bond to even attempt to escape, and my last effort ended in disaster, not just for me, but for my friends. To keep others safe, I couldn’t involve anyone else.

Whatever I planned to do I would have to do on my own.

Yes, I was frightened of Damien. He was terrifying, but I would rather fight and be killed than stay and live this way, controlled by him forever.

For now, I would play along. But I would remain watchful, always. I would never let my guard down.

And when the moment came, I would make a break, and find my freedom one way or another.