"Have you already found a toy to play in the large mansion, Elias?" The voice did not show any emotions but he was living with her for a while to know the tone had a warning hidden beneath it.
He raised a brow at her reaction. They were not in the relationship so that she could control her. But then, he did not plan to start a relationship with that girl either.
"I do not even know her name." he explained only for her to laugh without humor.
"Missed an opportunity, did you? Should I call her again so that you can ask her name first?" This time, she did not even pretend to be calm. Her voice was snickering with venom. It made Elias frown.
"I only tested if I was the only fool or if Cladria's word worked on everyone." His voice had ice in it and it silenced her at once. Now she understood what he was testing and the smile returned on her face.
"I must say, Cladria knew how to control the emotions of people around her and you were not such a big fool if you fell for those words." she teased as her eyes glimmered with joy.
Seraphina had always teased him. But this was the first time he realized that there might be more to her teasing.
"Rather than testing her methods. Do you want to test her first?" she asked, Seraphina's voice dropped lower, silkier.
"I thought we are going to meet in small groups and I will expand my connections before challenging her. What trouble are you planning now?" he frowned and tensed without realizing it but Seraphina noticed it. Her lips curled but it was not a smile anymore.
Seraphina leaned closer, her fingers brushing over the lapel of his coat, smoothing it out as if he were a doll in need of dressing. "Trouble, is it?" she whispered, close enough that he could smell the hint of spice and rose she always wore. "No, Elias. This is preparation."
"For what?" His voice was low and sharp, showing his irritation.
"I have changed my plans because that method would take a long time and I do not have it." Her hand slid from his lapel to his shoulder, then down his arm but it did not leave from there. her touch lingering. "You have been trained well by me for a week. Then why waste time on simple and boring tasks when we can finish it at once. Or are you afraid that you could not pass this test?"
"I passed more tests than you know," he said, but it sounded hollow even to his ears. Her closeness was affecting him, but not in the way he wanted to admit. Her gaze was too knowing.
"Well then." Her lips were curved in a mockery of innocence. "Let's see how well you do under pressure."
She leaned in further, almost chest to chest now, her mouth near his ear. "Cladria and her family are hosting a gathering tomorrow night. You will attend as Baron Crestford, with full rights and standing. Smile at her because she would be the only one to remember your face as her slave. You can make her wonder and then worry about who you are? But do not lose composure, her end would come soon. But this is just the first lesson you can teach her. So go on." she smiled at him as if she was offering a rare delicacy.
He clenched his fists. Seraphina's fingers traced the edge of it slowly.
"If you ever melt to her.." he looked at her narrowed eyes and the threat in them. It made him smile, and that surprised her. No one had laughed at her threats before.
"I have tasted something far better than her. Why would I care about her anymore?" he asked in a teasing tone that made her blink.
The Elias she knew never joked. He had always stayed with a serious and brooding face.
Her fingers slid back up his arm and then stopped at his jaw, tilting his face toward hers. "Besides," she added with a dangerous gleam in her eyes, "my brother's men would be there. I want to see what he was up to these days and I want to see how well my nobleman performs when the stakes are real."
And with that, she leaned in, close enough that her lips brushed the edge of his cheek, not a kiss, but a challenge.
"You are ready," she whispered. "And I am sure you want this chance to see how well she was doing all this time. No?"
Then she pulled back, her face unreadable again. "You must wear something impressive. You will be walking into a den of foxes. Don't show up like a sheep."
Seraphina took a deliberate step back, but before she could fully pull away, Elias caught her wrist and tugged her forward. She stumbled slightly, surprised, her body brushing against his again. His grip was firm, not rough, but enough to hold her still if she had been a human.
"What are you doing these days, Seraphina?" His voice was quiet as he looked down at her, searching her face for something he couldn't quite name.
Her expression flickered for the briefest second and then she laughed, light and dismissive, as if he had asked her to tell him a joke.
"Oh, you know," she said airily, "I like teasing and testing you. You must get used to that if you want to work with me."
It was just teasing, she was rubbing her breasts to his chest for a long while now. Any man would have already tore her dress and pulled her on the nearest table or the ground would be fine too. But before he could press further, she leaned just a touch closer again, her smile turning feline.
"But" she said slowly, her voice dropping a note, "I could do more… if you wanted me to." Her gaze locked with his, daring him to respond.
Elias released her then with a force that would have made her tumble if not for her strength. She raised a brow at his reaction. He looked as if her skin had suddenly burned him. He took a step back with sudden force.
Her smile faltered for the briefest moment. A flicker of something unreadable passed through her eyes. But she hid that disappointment and accepted the challenge he offered. she masked it quickly, her lashes lowered as she composed herself.
"Ah," she murmured, folding her hands behind her back with a slight bow of her head. "Are you just being cautious from your mistress or you just do not care?"
Elias didn't respond immediately. He watched her, tension thrumming through his body like a pulled string. "I don't pretend."
She gave a soft hum, tilting her head. "No. But you hesitate." There was no accusation in her tone but the fact that he ignored her touch even when they both knew he was aroused and wanted her. And maybe, underneath it, the quiet sting of being kept at arm's length one time too many.
The air between them stayed thick, the space he had created now felt far heavier than when she had been standing in it. She watched his gloomy face with a flicker in her eyes before she laughed and broke the tension at once.
"I will send word about the gathering," she said finally, straightening and turning away. "Bring your best mask, Elias. You will need it."
And then she was gone, leaving only her perfume and the quiet hum of tension behind.
"Damn it! Next time, I will take her so that she stops playing with me."