being grossed out or acting above such things. In Leopold, there were no prostitutes or whorehouses. Those were for the poor class, the vile and depraved. Though I heard murmurings from Leopold soldiers about slipping over here. I had never witnessed it or talked about it. It was shunned and deemed disgusting and lowbred by the elite.
Instead, the rich just opened their legs for power and dominance. Games of deceit and treachery while dressed in finery, sipping expensive liquor. Weren’t arranged marriages the wealthy’s version of a whorehouse? Selling your daughters and sons to the highest bidder? Were we any better than the men and women here trying to survive?
Not wanting to answer the question, my mind jumped to Caden. The notion I could get back to him, go home, filled my thoughts. I had to be close, about a mile from him. A smile crept over my face, my lids closing as I shifted in the tub, imagining Caden’s expression when he saw me again.
Alive.
His shocked face turning into pure elation, his smile lighting up the world as he ran to me, folding me up in his arms and spinning me around. His lips crashing against mine.
“You’re alive,” he would breathe against my mouth, taking them fiercely again. “They told me you were dead.”
“I know.” My lips would seize his, unable to break from his for a second.
“I can’t live without you again. I won’t. It’s always been you and me, Brex. I should have fought for you that night. I will never make that mistake again. I want you. I love you.”
The words rained down on me, bubbling in my chest with joy, sliding tears down my face.
“I love you too.”
My mind quickly switched to my bedroom, Caden laying me down on his bed, his mouth on me, his body crawling over mine. I wanted so badly to actually feel him; my mind tried to make it real, like that night in the prison.
“Brexley…” His vision whispered my name, sounding like a plea. Desire. Want.
Falling into my illusion, I shut off the outside world, committing fully to my fantasy. My hands moved down through the water, ignoring the scars and bumps trying to bring me back to reality. I pretended my hands were his, caressing me, undressing me.
Touching me.
My fingertips squeezed my nipples, the pleasure opening my thighs with need, drowning in thoughts of Caden and me exploring each other.
“Is this what you want, Brexley? Me?” Caden murmured in my ear, his imaginary kisses soft down my neck.
“Yes.” My back arched.
“No, it’s not.” A deep gravelly voice skated over my skin, the man over me suddenly changing. A smirk covered his mouth, his aqua eyes glinting. Long, dark hair played through my fingers, a massive form pressing down on me, sparking fire in my veins. I could feel his weight. His wet skin against mine. His heat and excitement pressing into me.
Damn, he feels so real. So good.
“You don’t want tender or sweet. You want to be fucked. Hard. Feel alive.” Warwick’s mouth skimmed my throat, electricity sizzling through me, filling me with desperate need. “You think you still want him? Think he’s the kind of man you should end up with? You hold on to him because he’s safe. But it’s not you. Not anymore, princess. You are feral and dangerous. A monster that can’t be caged. There is a wildness inside that won’t be tamed. And that’s all he’d want to do. Break you of your savagery. Tame you.”
His words felt like arrows, each digging into my soul.
No! I yelled at myself. Get out of my head. I don’t want you. I love Caden.
I tried to clear my mind, reset it.
“You’ve tried that before. Didn’t work then,” Warwick growled against my ear. “Just like I tried not to think about you while fucking those women. I want you out of my head just as much.”
Every word was a threat. They dripped with hate, but his hands moved down my body, sending tingles over me, parting my mouth, my pulse thumping through my nerves.
How did this feel so real? Like he was really here with me. Fear rang in the back of my head when I knew my hands were at my sides but could still feel fingers glide down my sternum, a moan growing in my throat.
What the hell! Stop it, Brexley. My eyes jolted open, yanking me out of my dream world with a gasp. Alone in the tub, I peered at my limbs as