Shoving me away, he marched to a carved wall unit where hundreds of little drawers waited like an apothecary dispensary, hiding pills and potions, secrets and sins.
Ripping open a drawer in the top row, he fisted something and turned back to face me.
I hadn’t moved.
My legs were full of metal that he’d melted and hardened to anchors. My heart flew too fast, making my pulse unsteady and lack of nutrition obvious on my burned-out system.
Straightening his shoulders, as if hauling himself back from whatever edge he’d almost fallen from, he strode back toward me. Slow and meticulous, he held out his palm, revealing a crystal vial.
A vial with a silver cap and a tiny sticker with a purple orchid on the front. “Your first requirement as an owned woman.” Taking my hand, he planted it firmly into my grip. “Drink it.”
My eyebrows flew up as I opened my fingers and gawked at the tiny bottle. “I won’t drink anything if I don’t know the contents.”
He ran a hand over his mouth, letting it fall away as he struggled to stay normal. “Let’s just say…it’s plant-based and good for you.” Pacing around me, he went to recline against his desk, inserting hands into perfectly pressed slacks. “It won’t hurt you; you have my word.” His eyes gleamed, hinting it might not hurt me, but it would do something.
My hackles rose.
I wanted to throw the bottle to the floor and smash it.
I went to tip if from my palm, but he murmured, “If you damage, destroy, or do anything to that elixir, you will severely regret it.”
I paused. “Elixir?”
He nodded, holding me prisoner with his stare, just daring me to ruin whatever he’d given me. “An elixir guaranteed to make your life here far more bearable.”
Frowning, I studied the miniature bottle. It couldn’t have held much. Thirty millilitres at the most. “What does it do?”
He chuckled, far more in control of himself than before. “Take it and find out.”
“Elixir means a magical or medical potion. I don’t take drugs, and this isn’t a storybook. So, I politely decline.”
His chuckle tapered off into a scowl. “You’re forgetting that you no longer have free will.” Pushing off from the desk, he ripped his hands from his pockets, snatched the bottle, twisted off the lid, and grabbed my chin. “The first thing you should know about me is…I’m not a patient man. When I tell you to do something, you do it. Immediately.”
His eyes pinned me to the floor as he pulled my bottom lip down with his thumb and tipped the bottle into my mouth.
I fought to repel backward, but he just walked with me, dumping the contents onto my tongue. The second the last droplet entered, he tossed the bottle away, grabbed me in a bone-crushing embrace and planted his hand over my mouth and nose. Pinching my nostrils, he took away my air, clutching me close as I wriggled and squirmed.
I begged with my eyes for him to let me breathe.
I kicked at his shins to get away.
But he just held on with unnerving, unyielding strength. “Swallow and I’ll release you.”
I shook my head, tasting the sweet, rose-infused liquid. Hating the slight numbness on my tongue and the tingle in my cheeks. Already it affected me. What would it do if I let it slide down my throat?
My lungs clawed for air.
My mouth tried to open beneath his large, heavy palm.
I gasped and choked, and still, he didn’t let me go. He moved with me when I backed away, patiently allowing me to come to the conclusion that I had no choice.
I do. I do have a choice.
Die or swallow?
That wasn’t a choice at all.
We danced a little more. I tripped over the woven flax mat, and he kept me upright, tutting under his breath. “Swallow.”
I fought one last time, moaning and trying to get my arms free from his vise-like hold. But blackness feathered my eyesight, and my lungs ached as if they’d filled with poison.
I stumbled again, unable to coordinate my legs.
He showed no signs of mercy. No flicker of indecision or clemency. Just ruthless behest to win.
The pain of no air became unbearable. The instinct to survive overrode my need not to drink.
I swallowed.
I stumbled.
He let me go.
I fell to my knees, bouncing hard on the hardwood floor. Little grains of sand stuck to my bare legs as I planted my hands into the ground and breathed.
Breathed
And breathed.
Gasping and grateful for sweet, sweet oxygen.
The taste from his elixir still lingered on my tongue. Fragrant and subtle. Sugary and potent.
Moving toward me, he slid to his haunches. Stabbing one finger onto the floor for balance and using his other hand to tip my chin to face him, he waited until I stopped panting before he smiled.
The feral glitter in his blue eyes terrified me. “Now listen to me. Pay attention…you don’t have much time.”