Czar Gregovivk Part 4

The man's face tells me what his mouth does not. His black eyes are frightened, but not because of him; they are afraid of Macro. Sebastian fell hard for his submissive, but between protecting Sebastian's love for the young man and throwing Mabel before the council, I choose to protect her.
"I'll be waiting for you!" I walk to the bedroom door and open it, letting him know our conversation has ended.
Sebastian walks with his head down, shoulders slumped in a defeated posture, taking deep breaths.
"I wish you, my friend, to never find yourself in the same position that my heart has left me." His head lifts, his eyes locked onto mine. "I hope you never find yourself at the mercy of another person, who holds you in the palm of their hand. Loving a submissive is to have an eternal weak point."


***



I lift the vodka glass to my lips, not even knowing how many shots I've had, staring at the dark library. It was late when I returned home. I remained silent, watching her asleep in bed for a long time before leaving the room and sitting in the armchair in the library, Sebastian's words repeating and repeating in my mind. I raise my face to the open door as the light in the room is turned on.
"I heard sounds and figured it would be you." She gives me a shy smile, her eyes still sleepy, and lets out a soft sigh. "Was it a busy night in Sodom?"
I nod, letting her believe that I was there and sparing her the knowledge of how many children I found in my research, who left that orphanage and were delivered to supposed families. I let out a long sigh and scan her body with my eyes. The loose, light pink silk nightgown makes her seem even more innocent, along with her loose hair. Her dark skin shows on her arms and bare thighs.
"Is everything alright?" she asks softly, rubbing her left foot against her right leg, hugging herself and leaning against the door.
"Did you like your room?" I avert my eyes from hers and look at the drink in my hands.
"Yes, I think it's very pretty," she sighs softly in response. "I didn't know if you'd come home early, so I ended up going to bed..."
I return my gaze to her, knowing that I myself pointed a gun at my head and kept it cocked the moment I decided to bring her into this house.
"Are you alright, sir?" Mabel uncrosses her arms and steps away from the wall, quietly walking into the library.
"Did you feel anything for him?" I ask directly, keeping my eyes on hers, wondering if at the beginning she felt anything for him. "Did you love Nate when you met him?"
She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, shaking her head.
"Open your eyes, Mabel!" I order, serious, needing to see the answer her gaze will give me.
She obeys and opens her eyelids, letting her eyes rest on the empty bottles on the floor near the armchair.
"I think you've had too much to drink, sir." In a burst of courage, even while I can still see her doubt shining in her eyes, I watch her slowly walk toward me and take the glass from my fingers, placing it on the table beside the sofa. "You should go to bed..."
"Are you giving me an order, little bird?" My eyes are fixed on her back, trailing downwards.
"No, sir, just saying what I think." Mabel turns and gives me a shy smile. "It's past midnight; you look visibly tired, your expression shows it, and you seem to have had quite a bit to drink too... You need to sleep."
My body remains still as Mabel steps closer and bends her knees, kneeling by my legs. Her arm stretches slowly and grabs my leg, pulling it forward, untying the laces of my boot.
"What are you doing?" I lean my head forward and look at her.
"I'm taking care of you." Mabel's soft voice comes out quietly as she removes the shoe from my foot. "It's not like it's the end of the world, since I let you give me a bath."
She repeats the same gesture with the other lace and takes the shoe off my foot, placing them neatly beside the armchair silently, like a perfect submissive who is binding me in her hands. My weak point, the Achilles' heel that leaves me vulnerable before my enemies.
"You didn't answer my question, little bird." Mabel remains silent, looking at the carpet with her hands resting on her thighs. "Did you ever love him?"
"I was sixteen the first time I saw him. As you know, I always lived at home," she sighs and gives a slight shrug of her left shoulder. "It was easy to be enchanted by him, that fairy-tale kind of youthful love, sir, where we still think the prince will come to save us from the clutches of the wicked witch..." Mabel lifts her face to me, a sad smile on her lips before lowering it again. "But he wasn't a prince, and he didn't come to save me. He was the monster that would destroy me."
She rises slowly and keeps her eyes on the ground, not looking at me. I see her hand move and stretch toward me, beckoning me to come with her. I feel her warm skin as my fingers slip between hers, closing around her wrist. Her small body leans forward as I pull her, using her other hand to support herself on the back of the armchair to avoid falling, her eyes close to mine, a brilliant black so deep like a well.
"Sir..."
"I'm not a prince either, little bird. I am the Bábaika, who feeds on your pain," I say seriously, staring at her, not allowing her to distance herself from me.
"People like me, who have faced evil," her eyes fall to my mouth, keeping her black gaze there, "learn quickly that there is no charming prince, and that the Bábaika is the most trustworthy, because they don't hide who they are."
Her black eyes rise to meet mine and give me a look that would make me tear my own soul out if she asked. My spirit of Jezebel, little sinful one in equal measure as innocent, who came to me to control her lustful demons, but ended up condemning mine with her sweet gaze and lustful soul. It's not me who feeds on Mabel's pain; it's she who gets me hooked on it. I grip her by the neck and slowly bring her face to mine, watching her eyes close gently, anxious and surrendered for what is to come, as if she had been waiting for me all night. I touch her lips slowly with mine, condemning myself among her moans and soft mouth, surrendering sweetly, obediently, and silently.