Chapter 52

I had returned in the dark.

The one thing I had so very wished to avoid. Yet I walked in the darkness slowly and blind. In an absent-mindedness that left me uncaring for those memories.

The mansion came to view. Lights illuminating the gardens. Servants could be seen rushing across the halls. There was life inside.

I walked around it to the back door. The place where I was meant to enter from. Where maids enter from.

The kitchens were clean.

I must've been gone for a while.

I left the clothes basket in the basement where the maids would spend the night ironing away at them. A job I had been excused from.

Soon everyone would be sleeping and I didn't have much longer to wait for Cain at all. But still, I walked towards the duke's study, now Cains study.

The door looked so much smaller than it did in my youth. It looked so much less intimidating, but I couldn't raise my arm to knock. The paralysing fear of my childhood still whispering to me.

The images of the whip that beat down on me. The stamp that branded me. The overwhelming pain created the butterflies that would cover my eyes.

It was only when I noticed the door had opened and a prominent figure towered over me and reached for my arm that I came to my senses. I staggered away from his reach.

"Are you?"- he began but was cut off.

"Isabelle!" Cains's voice rang out as he squeezed past Kendrick and reached for me. At his touch did I finally relax.

I felt safe as he held a hand to my face and worriedly spoke.

"Are you okay? Do you want to sit down?" I wasn't sure what I must have looked like to both men, but clearly, I looked sick or something.

"I'm fine. I just seemed to get a dizzy spell when I was passing by" I straightened up, backing away to be at an appropriate distance.

"You look like you could get some rest. I suggest going straight to bed", the hero Kendrick gave me a warm smile. He then turned to Cain, face shifting ever so slightly to a grim expression, "Duke Goldiar, I am sorry for all the trouble I've made you go through".

Cain just shook his head, face painting a smile. A very fake one.

"Don't be ridiculous. It's the least we owe you. Please, have a good night", he shook the hero's hand and the hero turned away.

Before he turned the corner at the end of the hall, he looked back and our gazes met. Those glowing eyes looked so out of place with their demonic vibes on such a kind face. I wasn't sure why he looked back at me but he turned away soon and disappeared around the corner.

Cain had been watching him too. His face was tense and jaw stiff. There was a look of fear flashing behind those red eyes.

He rarely looked so out of control.

"Cain", I called him and he looked back to me, snapping out of his thoughts as he began to tend to me like a mother hen.

"What happened? Are you okay? Did you get hurt?" His hand had found its place on my cheek and I resisted the urge to lean into it. Because I could feel the gaze of those green eyes drilling into us from afar.

"I'm fine. Completely fine. I was hoping to see you".

At my words he finally relaxed, hands returning to his side as he opened the study door for me to enter.

I looked to the interior. A normal person would think it looked warm and inviting, but in truth, its warmth was a farce. An illusion.

I gulped and stepped in. Trying to block out the images that threatened to overtake me. Somehow they had become worse after he died.

"I hate this place", I couldn't stop the words from tumbling from my lips.

"I know", was all Cain said. An echo of sympathy.

I felt his arms circle me from behind as I stared down at the fireplace. My eyes were drawn to the burn mark mirroring the seal of the Goldiar dukedom. It was reminiscent of the time I had moved away and the duke had missed my shoulder. I should've just stayed still. It would've been less painful.

"Do you want to burn it down?" The whisper in my ear attempted to comfort me.

Did I want to burn it down?

It would always be the same room regardless. It would always taunt and terrorise me.

"No", I replied, "it would be a waste of time and power".

"Nothing is a waste of time and power. Not for you", his words made my knees tremor.

The warmth from his lips travelled down the nape of my neck. I wanted him. But the questions in my mind were too heavy to avoid.

"Cain", I felt uneasy with the closeness of his arms near my neck.

"Yes my darling".

"If I were to cry to you. Would you set me free?" After my words, the temperature in the study dropped despite the blazing fireplace.

"Is that what you want?" His words were no longer a product of lust.

"I'm not sure. If one day it were then what would you do?" I asked, turning my head towards him. Back leaning into his chest.

There was a silence after I spoke. One that conveyed more than words could ever. It was more than enough for me to understand that he would never let me go. That the rope he tied around me would forever be fixed in place.

Usually, I would feel suffocated at the thought. I should be sickened to my core. Terrified.

But at that moment, I felt none of those things. The only drive behind my words was Justin and my own curiosity.

Cains's face looks stony. A storm brewing behind his face.

"I will give you anything you want or desire. I'll give you riches. I'll show you the world. But what you're asking me to consider, even though you must know how I feel,"-

I cut him off with my finger pressed on his lips, a smile playing on my face.

"I remember when I saw you as nothing more than my master. The beautiful child of the duchess. The boy I would serve. But here I am, fascinated by you. I think… you've driven me mad", I wasn't sure if the words came from pity but I knew that they were true. That when Cain was near me, all I could think of was him.

His frown lifted. Smile on his lips as his eyes once again dimmed.

"You've driven me mad for years, you have no right to complain", he took the hand I held to shush him and began kissing the palm of it, "It's only fair I return the favour".

My body warmed up. That familiar heat taking over me. But I tried to hold it back.

"If you were to set me free. I think I might just fly back", my other hand reached his, fingers slipping between his.

As the words left my mouth, he pressed his lips to mine. His hands suddenly held my face, caressing the tendrils of baby hairs around my face.

He deepened it. Tongue brushed my lips and I gladly opened my mouth to invite him in. The taste of him immediately in my system. He tasted sweet, of Sherry and chocolate.

It was as if we were dancing. Clinging for every inch of each other until we pulled away, panting. Yet still stayed close enough to start it again.

"Why", I took another breath for air, "did you speak to Kendrick privately".

He didn't seem completely in his right mind. Just as I hoped. I barely was as well, but I had to push for these answers when he was weak.

"Oh, that…?" He began slowly starting to wake, but I couldn't allow it. I placed a hand on his chest, slowly moving it lower as I continued.

"He's quite scary. I don't like him alone with you" I continued.

He was shuddering. Face flushed deeply as he stared at my lips.

"He is.. isn't he? I wouldn't like him alone with you either", he moaned just as he finished speaking. My fingers just below his navel. I decided to drum him lightly there, teasingly.

"So why was he?" I continued, lifting my thigh to rest on his waist.

"Isabel… you- you play quite cruelly don't you?" He suddenly said, voice raspy.

At his words, I stopped my advances. Did he notice?

"Cain, what do you mean?" I stepped away.

"You seem so accustomed to this?" He pulled me towards him, "I hope nobody has been teaching you strange things?"

I was stunned at his words and then let a low laugh. One of mixed relief and humour.

"You've made me like this, Cain".

He pulled me towards his chair. Once the late duke's chair but I couldn't care less.

"Then if you want to know so much. Why not just ask him? I will not forbid it" He lifted me from my waist and set me on his desk, facing the chair he now sat on.

He caught me.

I might have cursed under normal circumstances. But this was by no means normal. Instead, I found myself leaning down towards his face and grasping it in my hands. Caressing his sharp jaw.

"I only ask for my curiosity. I might have always wished to leave you Cain, but whatever you've done to me has made me want to stay. I don't care that you're... different. I don't care if you can't treat me like how you might a duchess, but you're stuck here with me. Whether you like it or not" My words tumbled out to console him, but they were genuine.

I think I was truly in love with him.

"I wouldn't have it any other way, Bella." He shot me a smile that didn't quite meet his eyes, "But... I will make you my duchess. Be it now or later. Don't deny me this Isabell. I will not go further beyond this play that we put on until you are named duchess".