My lips parted on another argument as this entitled little prick just clicked his fingers and made a decision about how I was supposed to keep my own home clean, but Tatum reached out to touch my arm, a short shake of her head telling me to drop this.
“Just let him send Rebecca in,” she urged. “Otherwise he’ll end up coming up here on his own and scrubbing it clean himself.”
“Yeah, Barbie liked the sight of me doing that in The Temple,” Saint agreed. “I just haven’t decided if that’s because she enjoyed me being on my hands and knees scrubbing or if she just wanted to see me beneath her.”
“Both,” Tatum replied easily and I smirked at her as I pulled another beer from the pack and tossed it to Saint. It made bile rise in my throat to act like we were friends after everything his family had done to mine but I needed to win his trust, his dependence, his secrets.
I needn’t have worried about sharing my beer with the devil though. The can hit him in the chest as he made no attempt to catch it and fell to the carpet with a sold thump as his jaw ticked.
“I only drink from a glass,” he said, eyeing the fallen beer like it had personally offended him. “I’ll take vodka if you have it, any other spirit if you don’t. Either way I’ll have it neat.”
“I’ve got rum,” I said, trying not to snarl as I hooked the can from the floor and set it on the counter.
Saint shuddered. “On second thought, I’m not thirsty. Besides, we really shouldn’t be staying. We just came to drop off Barbie and I’ve got a workout to fit in before bed.”
“Look, I get that it’s the rules or whatever, but I really don’t think she should sleep here,” I began on the speech I’d been practicing in my head all day. “She’s my student and if-”
“So don’t fuck her then,” Saint drawled. “But the sleepover is non negotiable. The rules bend for no man. They are forged in dragon fire and kept strong by the heat of the sun.”
“They’re just some things you scribbled on a bit of paper,” Tatum pointed out.
“I assure you Barbie, they are the bars on my cage. You should be glad to have them, because they offer you some assurances that I am muzzled. Who knows what I might do without rules to keep me in check?” Saint smiled like a predator and I shifted an inch to my left so that I was between him and Tatum.
Kyan barked a laugh as he looked over at us from his position on the couch.
“She sleeps in a different bed on rotation,” Saint went on. “Tonight is your night so she’s in with you. She has to sleep in your bed.”
“Or else what?” I asked, fully intending to break his fucking rules and tell him where to stick them. This whole thing was insanity. But as his gaze darkened, I realised it wouldn’t be as simple as that.
“Or else, she gets punished for breaking the rule. And I have several things in mind - I’m just waiting for her to give me an excuse.”
My gut twisted at his words and I glanced at Tatum beside me. She didn’t even seem shocked, just resigned to what he was saying. It was so fucked up. I didn’t know where they all got off claiming ownership of her, but I was going to make it my mission to set her free.
“Fine,” I ground out. “But I’ve had a long day and I wanna turn in soon.”
“Perfect, we won’t hold you up then,” Saint agreed.
“Are we going already?” Blake pouted like a petulant child.
“I packed a bag for her,” Saint said, ignoring Blake and pointing at the bag Kyan had dropped on the coffee table. “You have to choose what she wears to bed, so I gave you options. If there’s nothing to your taste you can always come to The Temple and select an alternative or put up with it for tonight then send me some ideas of what you like and I’ll order it in for next time.”
I opened my mouth to tell him I wouldn’t be picking her fucking clothes for her like a controlling psychopath, but she caught my eye and gave me a warning look that asked me not to comment.
“Alright, fine,” I muttered.
There were far bigger reasons for me to want to see Saint suffer but right now, I was hungering for his blood on behalf of the girl beside me and my fingers were twitching with the desire to wrap them around his throat.
The smirk he offered me said he could see that desire in me even though I knew for a fact that my poker face was second to none.
“C’mon, assholes, we’re going,” Saint announced and the other two got up, grumbling complaints about walking all the way over here for nothing as they closed in on us.
Kyan crushed his empty beer can in his fist and tossed it at the trash can where it bounced off onto the floor. Saint gritted his jaw, taking Blake’s can and throwing it away as he moved to pick Kyan’s up too. I couldn’t say I hated to see him cleaning up my house like that either.
“See you tomorrow, Cinders,” Blake said, leaning in to press a kiss to Tatum’s cheek.
Kyan knocked him aside with his shoulder and pulled her into his arms, squeezing her ass with both hands as he murmured something in her ear which included something along the lines of him tasting her again and taking his punishment for it with a smile on his face.
She cursed him out, shoving him back a step and he laughed loudly as he
