King's little slave maid

**Ivery Clark POV** 

A chill slithered down my spine, the fever burning inside me now was nothing compared to the ice crawling under my skin.

I stiffened under his piercing gaze. “What… other ways?” 

He leaned in, his presence suffocating, intoxicating, inescapable. “You’ll work here,” His breath ghosted against my skin, his voice low, deliberate. 

“Be my maid. Or…” He tilted his head, his fingers reaching out, tracing the line of my throat, slow, deliberate, possessive. “…whatever I need you to be.”

*Whatever he needs me to be..?*

I stiffened, my breath catching in my throat. The promise, or perhaps the threat, hung heavy between us. 

I stared at him, torn between fear and the strange, undeniable pull he had over me. “You want me to work for you… here?” I asked cautiously.

"Yes. You will follow every rule I write. You will obey without question." His voice was laced with a quiet authority, an unshakable dominance that suffocated the air around me.

“So you want to trap me again?" My voice was hoarse, barely steady. "To keep me caged like before?”

Alrigo chuckled softly—a dark, cruel sound, “When did I say that? You can have your freedom, ma bella. You can go wherever you like. Do whatever you please. But…”His eyes darkened, turning predatory. “..you will always come back to me.”

My heart pounded in my chest, and I struggled to find my voice. “And if I don’t agree?”

“You don’t have a choice, Ivery,” he said coldly, his gaze locking me in place. “I own you. Whether you like it or not.”

I shivered, frozen in place, his overwhelming presence stealing the air from my lungs. This was no negotiation. This was Alrigo Valerie King staking his claim, and I was his, whether I admitted it or not.

I stared at him, my breath hitching as I tried to process his words. “What do you want me to do?” I asked finally, my voice barely above a whisper.

Alrigo’s smirk deepened, his expression dark and wicked. “Please me,” he said simply, his voice sending a shiver down my spine.

“Excuse me?” I stammered, taking an involuntary step back.

“You heard me,” he said smoothly, the edge of a threat lingering in his tone. “Since you’re so keen on earning, you can start now. Please me, Ivery.”

I clenched my fists, my entire body trembling as I glared up at him. Wasn't it enough last night..? He kept torturing me through the whole night,  now he wants more. 

The man hovering above me wasn’t just dangerous—he was chaos personified, a storm waiting to destroy anything in his path.

Alrigo only watched me, unbothered, lounging in his chair like a king overlooking his kingdom. His dark eyes gleamed with something unreadable, something dangerous.

Fine. If this is what you want..

I moved forward, my trembling fingers reaching for the buttons of his shirt, my mind clouded with fury and despair. If he wanted to degrade me, if this was the only way to pay my debt, then…

But before I could go any further, his strong hand gripped my wrist. I froze.

“What do you think you are doing?” Alrigo’s fingers tightened around me, cold and unyielding, pressing just hard enough to send a silent warning through my skin.

“You want me to please you, isn't it?” My voice was hoarse, cracking under the weight of my fury and confusion. 

"You think I’d let you touch me whenever you like?" His voice was low, dangerously soft, sending a shiver down my spine.

I swallowed hard, my breath coming in shallow gasps. "Then… what do you want?”

Alrigo didn’t answer immediately. His dark gaze held mine, sharp and unreadable, and I barely had time to react before he released my wrists and rose to his feet, his movements effortless, unhurried, like a predator never needing to rush.

He strode to the chair across from me and sat down, spreading his legs wide, exuding nothing but dominance. Then, he lifted one foot, resting his ankle over his other knee.

"Start by cleaning my shoes.”

I froze, my mind blank with disbelief. A cold silence stretched between us. "What?" My voice came out weak, breathless.

He tilted his head slightly, as if I was slow to understand. "Did I stutter?"

Anger curled in my stomach, chasing away the feverish weakness in my limbs. My nails bit into my palms. "You—”

"That’s what you are now, aren’t you?" he interrupted smoothly, his voice a lazy drawl of amusement. "A maid. My maid. Or, if I feel generous, perhaps something else entirely." His smirk darkened. "A slave. My dear pet.”

Heat flared in my chest—rage, shame, humiliation all burning through my veins like wildfire. 

"You need to obey," he continued, his voice taking on an edge now, sharper, colder. "Whatever I command you to do."

I flinched.

He wasn’t bluffing. That was the worst part of it—there was no jest, no playfulness in his tone. Just complete and utter certainty that I would bend to him, that I had no choice.

My hands clenched. "You’re disgusting."

"And you are still on the bed, wasting my time." His voice dropped, laced with amusement.

"Now, go on," he urged, voice laced with mock patience. "Or do I need to remind you what happens when you disobey?"

My entire body felt like it was on fire with rage, but no matter how much I wanted to fight back, I was trapped.

He exhaled in mock disappointment, "Why? Are you upset? You're just upset because I stripped away the last of your delusions. I was kind enough to give you work, wasn’t I? Gave you a place here. But you’re too proud to accept it, aren’t you?"

"Work?" I laughed bitterly. "You call this work? You want to humiliate me, Alrigo. That’s all this is."

Alrigo chuckled, the sound low and almost mockingly fond—as if I were some foolish, naive thing amusing him.

"Ivery, if I wanted to humiliate you, you'd know." His voice was silk over steel, dark and edged with something lethal. "This? This is merely putting you where you belong.”

“And right now. He spread his legs a little wider, making himself comfortable, exuding a kind of dominance that suffocated the air around us. "At my feet.”

"Your freedom is an illusion, Ivery. I just happen to be the one who decides how far your leash stretches." His tone was almost gentle, but the threat beneath it was razor-sharp. "And right now, it barely reaches past this floor.”

Something inside me cracked, something fragile and desperate that still wanted to believe I had choices. That I could still fight.

He leaned forward slightly, his elbows resting on his knees. "But don't look so miserable," he murmured. "I could always make things worse for you. You don’t want that, do you?"

I didn't answer. I wanted to refuse. I wanted to spit at him, to throw whatever I could reach. But I knew—God, I knew—that every act of defiance would only tighten the chains around me.

His smirk deepened. "Now, be a good girl and do as you're told."

My fingers curled into my palms so tightly that my nails dug into my skin. My entire body trembled with fury, with shame, with the sheer injustice of it all.

I hated him.

But more than that, I hated this.

This power he held over me. This twisted game where every move I made was already dictated by his hand.

But what choice did I have?