{Music Recommendation: K. ~ Cigarettes and Sex}
Jenna hated herself only after the words left her lips. She knew she didn't have to be that harsh with her words, but letting Rhane find out Percy was going to aid her escape wasn't something she wanted to risk.
"You..." Rhane's voice trailed, so did his soft gaze on Jenna's body. "Think it's funny to use someone's feelings against them, don't you?" he asked calmly, still standing in place.
Jenna turned her eyes away. She was itching to cover her body but also didn't want to make any move at all.
Rhane took a step forward, this time closing the distance between them. He raised his hand to touch Jenna's face, and she closed her eyes tightly.
"If you're going to offer yourself that cheaply, you might as well open your eyes and watch me take you." Rhane's voice was sharper than intended.
Jenna slowly opened her eyes, but this time she was glaring at Rhane. "I—"
"Why?" Rhane interrupted, with his hand hovering above Jenna's chest. "You didn't think you had to look at me before you made the offer you think I want?" He stretched his last statement, and bile rose in his throat.
Rhane's sharp words hung in the air like a threat neither of them believed. But when he saw her eyes wide, wet, burning with defiance, his own fury faltered. He sucked in a breath, as if steadying himself, then bent down and picked up the towel.
"If you keep doing this to me... I don't know how long I can keep my control. It's really hard knowing I want you so bad." Rhane folded the towel under Jenna's arm before moving his fingers intentionally to graze Jenna's mounds.
"Mm," Jenna inhaled sharply, almost biting her lower lip.
"I want you so bad, but not like this, Jenna." Rhane muttered softly, taking a step back.
Jenna held the towel tightly. She couldn't look at him, she wouldn't. His eyes had always stripped her bare, even when she was clothed. But now… now the fear she'd once worn like armor was slipping, peeling back to reveal something worse, wanting him. Whether she was shielding Percy or chasing temptation, she could no longer tell. Either way, she was losing the battle.
Jenna, wake up. She cried in her head. Maybe getting hit and being treated like an animal was beginning to fade from her memory. If not, why was she longing for Rhane? A liar. Gerald's brother. These were enough reasons to keep her mind straight.
Rhane noticed the conflicting expression Jenna wore, and he smirked. "Don't assume you know everything about me, Jenna. You might have heard so many stories about me."
Jenna widened her eyes, wondering if Rhane had heard the maidservant telling her stories about him. Now she was more worried for the girl's safety, seeing how much she had panicked earlier.
"No need to look so scared," Rhane turned around to give Jenna space to dress up. "I hear everything people say about me, even in my presence."
Jenna took this time to find her blouse on the bed, first tying up the piece of band that held her breast before wearing the shirt. She quickly buttoned it up while glancing at Rhane. Making sure he wasn't watching.
"The animal they tell you I am is what Gerald is, even though I grew up on the harsh side, trained to be one," Rhane said with a sad smile that didn't reach his eyes, as if he remembered something.
Jenna found her pants lying on the bed. She pulled the tight trousers up to her waist before tucking in her shirt. "You're trying to get me to believe you're not dangerous."
"Wrong," Rhane remarked. "I am. But—"
Jenna didn't know when she chuckled, too late to stop herself. She pressed her lips together and said, "Something like, 'You won't hurt me because I'm some special kind of woman.' Yes? That's old. Try something else, Rhane. But I won't be fooled into trusting any man again. You should just stop all of this display now."
Rhane let out a bitter breath. Her words had cut through him, slicing his insides, but it hurt him even more to know why she was like this.
"You think I planned this? To want you, of all women?" he said with a steel voice. "I ruin things. People, even. Yes. I've blood on my hands you'll never want to touch. I get it." Rhane's voice trembled, but he was subtle about it.
He found Jenna's shoe close to the foot of the bed, and he walked over to it. Jenna's eyes followed him cautiously, wondering what he was going to do.
"If I truly meant you harm, you wouldn't be speaking so boldly, Jenna." He dropped to one knee, not out of duty, but desperation disguised as grace. His fingers curled around her ankle, holding just long enough to say what he couldn't speak aloud. Then he let go, slowly, carefully, as if releasing a secret. And she let him.
Jenna watched his fluid movement, softer than any treatment she had ever received. And it didn't feel forced one bit, because it had always been like this.
'Please, I beg of you to sit for me. My lady.'
The moment reminded Jenna of the night she was drunk and Rhane knelt down just because he was begging her to sit. The coercion in his voice and the yearning in his whimsical eyes were the same even now.
Rhane made sure Jenna's shoes were perfect on her feet. He nodded with a smile, then stood up to his proper height, towering over Jenna, who was now fiddling with her innocent fingers.
"You don't need to worry. I will not touch you," he said. "Not until you ask." His hazel eyes filled with hope as he spoke.
"But do not tell me to stop wanting you. I would not know how, I'm afraid." And he meant it, literally. Rhane's biggest fear was denying his burning passion for the woman in front of him. He was mad, yes. For Jenna, he really lost all reasoning.
He cleared his throat and smiled. "I told you I like to hunt, didn't I?"
A flustered Jenna moistened her lips unconsciously. Jenna was flustered beyond reason. She was nearly undone by him again. Damn him! Jenna cursed in her mind. She needed to be on guide with this one. "You mean with me as your prey? I should have known when you asked if I ever pray."
Rhane's lips made a mischievous curl. "I'm glad to see master enjoying my jokes," he replied with a mirthless laugh. "Actually, I hunted real animals for you this time. I had the kitchen prepare all kinds of dishes for you. Enjoy, and let me know your best I will go every night to get it for you." He began walking to the door.
"Wait," Jenna stopped him. "Um... ehm... where are you going to?"
Rhane's eyes lit up. "You... well, master, I'll be having some visitors today. I'll be running back to you once I'm done." It was a promise.
"That's okay. Take your time," Jenna replied with a small smile. I'll be gone by then, she completed in her mind.
Rhane's heart swelled just thinking that Jenna worried for him. "The servants will be at the door to tend to all your needs, master."
Jenna moved her head to the side. "I want to know why you switch between master and my name."
Rhane exhaled, but it wasn't calm, it was a quiet surrender. "When I say Jenna, I'm not just Rhane the scourge....the killer. I'm the man who dreams. Of you." He paused, his eyes finally meeting hers without guard. "But when I say Master, it's the part of me that already belongs to you not the other way around. It is the part of me you own... utterly, and without your consent."
Jenna opened her mouth and closed it. If flabbergasted had a face, Jenna's own at that moment made it to the top.
"So yes. Your name is my confession, and master is my surrender," Rhane completed, before leaving the room, feeling completed, though done shamelessly that he had let his heart out.