Tyrant's Obsession With The Heiress

Considering Orpheus' punishment from the last time, Lady Karina didn't know what she should have expected since the man was always an unpredictable force of nature.

She could only hope and pray that it wouldn't be anything too drastic.

"What...sort of punishment will you have me endure?" Lady Karina questioned, trying to gather her wits about her, feeling his thumb brush across her cheek.

Orpheus knew he could have simply taken advantage of the situation since she was at his mercy; it would have been a fine opportunity to finally get a taste of what he was dying to have.

However, it was much more thrilling when she was fighting him, biting and shoving at him rather than having her submit completely.

It was her fire and the way she always challenged him that lit the spark of his desires.

He bent down and whispered in her ear, his heated breath ghosting over the shell of her ear. "Turn around," he ordered. "And put your hands on the desk."

Fear filled her eyes, making the pretty emerald that had usually shone now dull with the fear of the unknown.

Why did he want her in such a position if not to mount her like a beast and have his way?

Even if it meant her fate would worsen if she proved to be defiant again, then so be it, but she would not allow him to take her innocence from her.

"No," Lady Karina refused firmly, shaking her head. "I will not allow you to have your way with me as if I am some harlot in a brothel to be used."

Orpheus' gaze narrowed, not pleased with the direction of her thoughts, since while that was something on his mind, he had no intention of acting on it.

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"I have told you nearly a thousand times before that I won't take you as my whore, Karina," Orpheus replied through clenched teeth, standing up again to gaze down at her. "Do you not trust that I will keep my word? I have told you that I am many things, but a liar and manipulator is not one of them."

And that had been true.

Whatever she demanded from him, the man had seen it through eventually.

Orpheus Van Merikh never lied, nor did he make empty promises.

"You are unpredictable." Lady Karina pressed her lips together. "I have no desire to trust a man who destroyed everything I knew."

And there it was again.

That sharp jab in his chest that he'd felt quite a few times on occasion by now.

What else did he expect? That she would forgive him for what he did and allow him to make her his wife?

However, he was not a man who gave up easily on his ambitions, and Lady Karina was indeed the hardest of his conquests since his ill-fated birth.

Orpheus took hold of her small, soft hand and placed it over the region of his heart.

Lady Karina could feel his heartbeat steady beneath her fingertips; it was the one place on his body that was warm at that moment.

She was taken aback by the gesture, wondering why the man would want her to touch him. And it wasn't long before his large, calloused hand closed over hers, holding her hand against that specific spot where his heart thumped.

"Then teach me," Orpheus said, his eyes softening despite the potent crimson streaks that were beneath the dual shades. "I do not understand remorse or forgiveness, nor do I feel it, so make me understand it."

The determination was clear in his eyes, but Lady Karina still couldn't believe her ears.

The man wanted her to teach him remorse and forgiveness?

"And since when does Orpheus Van Merikh ever want to be taught something other than what he's always known?" Her question held venom in it, but as always, it was a poison he would gladly drink.

"Since now," he answered sincerely, his eyes burning with something she'd never seen before. "I will not give up my ambitions for you, but there are some things that I am willing to compromise on, as long as you are able to make me understand them."

Such arrogance, but it was even a miracle that the man had come to find middle ground between them.

Of course, that didn't change the fact that Lady Karina had questions that needed answering and her revenge was unfulfilled, but was it worth taming a beast?

A beast named Orpheus Van Merikh in particular.

Was it really worth teaching her enemy the notions of something he had no concept of?

It wouldn't change anything between them, but perhaps if he wanted to learn, was there any reason that she shouldn't guide him?

It was difficult to decide on, but in that moment, Lady Karina remembered her mother.

She remembered Lady Hyacinth in their lush garden behind Moonveil's chapel on a bright summer's day with the breeze in her hair and the sunshine in her eyes.

She was only six years of age as she watched her mother dance in the field of dandelions barefoot and the way many of the smaller animals had gathered around her as if they had found peace in watching her.

It was the day her mother taught her something she carried and valued throughout her life.

And at the end of her dance, Lady Hyacinth had picked up her daughter in her arms and swayed gently with a smile on her angelic face.

"You have been afraid of the sanctuary ever since I first brought you there, haven't you, my darling?" Lady Hyacinth asked tenderly, her emerald eyes filled with affection. "Do you fear the beasts there, my little dewdrop?"

Young Karina nodded shyly, seeking comfort in her mother's bosom as she placed her head there.

Lady Hyacinth began to hum melodiously, swaying and twirling with her daughter in her arms.

"You need not be afraid, my darling," she said reassuringly. "Beasts run wild and some are fierce enough that they scare anyone away at a glance, but they all have a heart just like us. If you can show them the right way, there is no doubt that you will open up their heart to good."

Lady Hyacinth was referring to the fact that many of the ancient beasts who survived had been driven to corruption, and now and then they would become unstable; hence, they needed to be guided back.

Young Karina had been fearful if such a situation ever occurred with one of the beasts for she would not know what to do or how to guide them back.

"Now and then, even we humans lose our way or become misguided," Lady Hyacinth continued, pointing up to the serene blue sky. "Even the sky has two sides, night and day. Some fear the night and some praise the day, but there is even beauty in darkness, isn't there?"

Lady Hyacinth had always believed there was good even in the worst of people, and some called her foolish for it, but her daughter was one of the few who believed it wholeheartedly.