Chapter 26 The Lamb's Slap
RAVIAL
“Ravial… too much… plis… slow…”
“You… Ravial… yours… only yours…”
Her words slithered through my skull like some unwanted thing, uncoiling in the quiet corners of my mind, refusing to fade. I leaned back in the throne-like chair at the head of the conference table, fingers steepled under my chin, staring through the floor-to-ceiling windows at the steel-gray clouds choking the New York skyline. The city sprawled below like a corpse, veins of traffic pulsing weakly in the rain.
Why couldn't I shake them? Those desperate pleas from her pretty little mouth. The way her voice turned sweeter when she begged.
It had been hours since I left her thoroughly fucked and sleeping in my bed, but her scent clung to me. Desire stirred again, hot and unwelcome, tightening my jaw.
I was the devil. Master of legions. I had toppled kings with a whisper and watched civilizations burn without a twitch of regret. And now this… this slip of a girl from some island had me distracted in my own domain.
“...Sir?”
The voice cut through the haze, timid, laced with fear. I turned my head slowly, the white blindfold shifting against my skin like a veil of fresh snow. Today it was white, pure, mocking. It hid the abyss in my eyes, the one that men piss themselves and then drop dead.
The conference room was a tomb of glass and chrome, the long ebony table reflecting the pale faces of the four men seated across from me. They were from some insignificant tech startup, barely a blip in my empire's shadow.
Their CEO, a balding worm named Harlan, had been droning on for twenty minutes about a partnership. Something about integrating their "revolutionary" AI into my supply chain software. The contract they slid across the table was riddled with loopholes, backdoors for data theft, clauses that shifted liability to me, fine print that screamed desperation and deceit.
They thought I hadn't noticed.
They thought they could slip it past the blindfolded trillionaire.
Idiots.
Harlan cleared his throat again, sweat beading on his forehead despite the arctic air conditioning. “Sir… Mr. Ashbourne… we've outlined the benefits. Your endorsement alone could save us. The contract is ready. If you'd just… sign?”
The other three nodded like puppets, their ties too tight, eyes darting to the door as if praying for escape. One of them, the CFO, had his hands clasped so hard his knuckles were white. I could smell their fear, acrid, delicious. It sharpened my focus, pulling me from thoughts of Leitana's trembling thighs.
I let the silence stretch until Harlan shifted in his seat.
“Sir?”
I leaned forward, elbows on the table, the blindfold tilting just enough to let them imagine what scarred feature laid underneath.
“You think this is a negotiation,” I said slowly. “You come into my office with a contract full of traps, data siphons, escape clauses for when your little company implodes and ask me to sign? Like I'm some blind fool you can fleece?”
Harlan blanched. “N-no, sir, that's not…”
I held up a hand, and he choked on his words.
“I see everything,” I murmured, tapping the edge of the blindfold. “Every loophole. Every desperate lie. You need my money because your investors are fleeing like rats from a fire you started yourselves. Embezzlement, wasn't it? Skimming R&D funds for personal yachts and mistresses?”
The CFO whimpered, actual tears welling in his eyes.
Harlan stammered. “How did you…”
I smiled, slow and cold. “I own the shadows you hide in. And now? I own you.”
One of the board members bolted for the door. Stupid. My assistant, Lucius, one of my demons in a tailored suit stepped in from the hall, blocking the exit with a grin that showed too many teeth.
“Sit,” I commanded.
He sat, collapsing like his bones had dissolved.
I stood, circling the table like a shark scenting blood. “Here's what happens next. I don't sign your contract. I burn it. Then I buy your company for pennies through a shell corp, of course. Your patents become mine. Your employees? The good ones stay. The rest… well, accidents happen in this city.”
Harlan was crying now, fat tears rolling down his cheeks. “Please… my family…”
I stopped behind him, leaned down until my breath ghosted his ear. “You should have thought of them before you tried to steal from the devil.”
I straightened, waving a hand. Lucius and two more of my "security" team, demons all of them, stepped forward, hauling the men to their feet.
Take them downstairs,” I said casually. “The syndicate will handle the details. Make it look like a merger gone wrong. Financial ruin, scandals leaked to the press, families disgraced. Let them live with the wreckage.”
They begged as they were dragged out, promises, pleas, snot and terror. Grown men reduced to children in under a minute. It should have satisfied me, the power, the fear, but it didn't.
Because even as the door clicked shut, her voice echoed again.
“Ravial… again… please… mi want again…”
Fuck.
I slammed a fist on the table, cracking the glass.
This obsession was a weakness. A crack in my armor. I didn't do attachment. I didn't do distraction. Leitana was a tool, a pretty little wife, a vessel to corrupt for amusement.
But I couldn't stop thinking about her.
About burying myself in her body until she screamed my name like a prayer.
I stalked to the window, staring down at the ants scurrying below.
Tonight, I'd remind her and myself, who owned whom.
And if she broke completely under me?
So be it.
The devil never apologizes for his sins
I made my way to the car. Lucius opened the door wide for me.
“Get me on a video call with my little lamb,” I said as I slid in.
Lucius paused, confusion on his face. He looked down at me.
Before he could speak, I cut him off. “Did I stutter?”
“Of course not, my Lord. But she does not have a phone. You yourself asked us to get her one,” he explained.
I remembered then.
“Where is it?”
He pulled it from his pocket and handed it over.
“Set it up,” I ordered.
Lucius nodded, quick. He programmed the number, handed me the device. “It will ring in the villa. One of the staff will give it to her.”
I hit call.
It rang twice.
Rosa's voice came through. “Master?”
“Give it to her. Now.”
“Yes, sir.”
Muffled sounds. Footsteps. A door creaking. Then her voice. Soft. Shy. Like honey.
“Ravial…?”
My cock stirred instant, pressing against my pants. Just her voice did that now. Fuck.
“Little lamb,” I said low, keeping my tone smooth. “What you doing?”
She paused. I could picture her, big eyes wide, cheeks pink, holding the phone like it might bite.
“Mi… mi in library,” she whispered. “Reading book. From home.”
Books. Of course. Her little escape.
“You miss Vanuatu?” I asked, leaning back in the seat, watching the city blur past.
“A little,” she said soft. “The words… they make mi feel close.”
I smirked. “And me? You miss me?”
Another pause. Her breath hitched, quick and shaky.
“Mi… I don't know… but mi body… ache.”
Heat shot through me. “Ache where, baby? Tell me.”
“Ravial…” She sounded shocked. Scandalized. “No say that. People here.”
I laughed low. “No one hears but me. Touch where it aches. Now.”
Silence. Then gasp. “No! Mi no kan! Dirty! Mi give phone back Rosa, mi no want talk you! You dirty!”
Click.
She hung up.
I stared at the screen. Blank.
She hung up on me.
My little lamb just called me dirty and hung up.
I threw my head back and laughed. Dark. Real.
Lucius glanced in the mirror. “My Lord?”
“Drive faster,” I growled. “My wife needs a lesson.”
The car sped up.
The drive home felt too long.
When I arrived, I shrugged off my coat. Servants grabbed it fast, bowing.
“Master,” they murmured.
“Where is my little lamb?”
“In the library, Master.”
I headed there, steps quick. Heart pounding harder than it should.
The door was open a crack.
I pushed it wider.
Froze.
A male staff, a farm hand, boots caked in mud, shirt sleeves rolled up, leaning way too close to her.
She was sitting at the table, book open, teaching him words in Bislama. Her voice light. Laughing softly.
“Say it again… mi stap here… it mean 'I'm here'…”
He repeated, voice low, grinning like a fool. His eyes weren't on the book. They traced her lips. Down her neck. Lingered on the curve of her breasts under that sundress.
Too close. His shoulder almost brushing hers. Breath probably hot on her skin.
Jealousy hit like acid in my veins. Black. Burning. Spreading fast.
My fists clenched. Blood roared in my ears.
She looked up then. Saw me in the doorway.
Her eyes went wide. Shy.
Remembering last night, how I wrecked her, made her scream. Cheeks flushed pink. She looked away quick, biting her lip.
But that laugh. For him. That smile. For him.
Rage exploded.
I marched in, the door slamming behind me.
Books jumped on the table from the force.
She gasped. “Ravial…”
The farm hand jerked back, eyes bulging. “Master, I was just learning…”
“Shut your fucking mouth,” I snarled, voice deadly quiet.
Grabbed her arm. Hard. Yanked her to her feet.
She stumbled into me, hand on my chest. “Ravial, wanem, stop…”
I spun her. Bent her over the desk right there. In front of him.
Her palms slapped the wood. Dress hiked up her thighs.
The farm hand stared, mouth open. Frozen.
I lifted her skirt slow, purposely. Exposing her ass. Those tiny lace panties.
No one but me should see this.
Spanked her. Hard. Crack echoed.
She screamed, high and shocked. “Ravial! Plis, no hurt! Mi no do nothing!”
Another spank. Harder. Skin blooming red under my hand.
“You laugh for him?” I growled, voice shaking with fury. “Teach him your words? Let him lean close like he deserves to?”
She sobbed, twisting. “He just ask, plis Ravial, stop…”
Slid two fingers under the lace. Inside her. Wet. Dripping. Swollen.
Fuck. Even now.
She moaned, low and raspy, body betraying her. Arched back into my hand even as tears fell.
“No one looks at what's mine,” I growled, thrusting fingers deep, curling them hard. Hitting that spot that made her shake.
She bucked, crying louder. “Ravial—plis—not here—in front him—shame—”
THWACK
I spanked her again while fingering her. Wet slaps mixing with her sobs. Her ass glowing red, marked by me.
The farm hand stared harder, breath ragged. Bulge in his pants. Bastard getting off on this.
“Out,” I barked, voice lethal. “Before I rip your eyes out and feed them to you.”
He bolted, tripping over his feet, door banging shut.
Leitana slumped over the desk, sobbing. Face furious through the tears.
“You hurt me! In front of him! Like I nothing! Animal!”
Her hand flew fast as she whirled around. Slapped my face. Hard. Skin stinging sharp.
I froze.
Shock slammed through me like cold water.
First time. Ever. Slapped. Shouted at.
Rage surged. Black. Uncontrolled. Vision narrowing.
My hand shot out. Around her throat.
Squeezed tight.
Her feet left the floor. Dangling. Kicking weak.
Eyes huge. Shocked. Terrified. Tears pouring.
“Ravial. ” she choked, hands clawing my wrist.
I growled, low, animal deep. “You dare hit me? Me?”
Her face turned red. Lips parting for air that wouldn't come.
Then I saw it. Real fear. Her fear.
Of me.
Realized what I was doing.
Dropped her fast.
She crumpled to the floor, coughing hard, body shaking. Crying loud, broken wails.