Free Possessing Allura by Reese Gabriel Page B

her, to humiliate and ultimately conquer her.
    â€˜You have my ear,’ he whispered. ‘Tell me why I should marry you?’ He released her panting body.
    Allura could barely stand, her breathing labored and her thoughts spinning. ‘B-because it makes sense for both of us,’ she eventually managed, her voice shaking.
    â€˜For you, not for me.’
    â€˜But surely you wish to marry the future queen?’
    â€˜The woman I marry will please me in bed,’ he said. ‘That shall be her only purpose.’
    Allura swooned. She had no hope. ‘Montreico, haven’t you made me suffer enough?’
    â€˜Actually, I have only begun,’ he declared, moving like a wolf to her throat, taking a bite that shivered down her spine.
    â€˜Oh, god, no more…’
    â€˜Now,’ he said, pulling back from her, ‘I suggest you attend to your affairs. You have one hour before we leave for my castle.’
    â€˜S-so you will marry me?’ she gasped eagerly.
    â€˜I shall take the matter under consideration. Now go to your room and await my final decision.’
    â€˜Send every available servant to my quarters,’ Allura told the chamberlain upon entering the castle, having taken a few quiet moments to herself in the gardens, despite the baron having ordered her directly to her room. ‘I shall be packing for an immediate departure.’
    A confused expression fell across his face. ‘But, Baron Montreico…’
    â€˜What about the baron?’ she demanded, barely able to stand the pronunciation of his name.
    â€˜Baron Montreico has already ordered all of your effects to be packed, princess.’
    â€˜By what right?’ she fumed. ‘How dare he touch my possessions?’
    â€˜But, princess,’ he spluttered, ‘the baron said clearly he was your fiancé; surely that gives him the authority?’
    A flurry of conflicting emotions lurched in Allura’s stomach. So he was intending to marry her after all. She was free – at least from all the others who might want to own her enslaved body. But why had he not told her himself? Had he not just a few moments ago said he hadn’t decided what he was going to do with regard to her?
    Allura’s expression froze in rage as she looked up at the sweeping staircase. The baron’s rough and ready guardsmen, forest men in leather boots and breeches were bringing down piles of her clothes. They were carrying them like rags, without the slightest respect for her station or for their exquisite value.
    â€˜Put them down!’ she cried, attempting unsuccessfully to interdict one after another. ‘Those gowns are worth more money than you will see in a lifetime!’
    â€˜Do not interfere,’ warned the baron, following his men down the stairs as though he owned the place, ‘or I shall be extremely annoyed with you.’
    â€˜You are a monster,’ she spat. ‘How can you let them ruin my finest clothes like this?’
    â€˜They’ll be fine. Or new ones can be made in their place, if need be.’
    She rushed at him, throwing her fists at his chest, but he twisted her easily about, pinning her arm high up her back. ‘Let go of me!’ she shrieked.
    â€˜Not till you stop making a little fool of yourself. Have you no pride?’
    â€˜More than you,’ she countered. ‘Very well, let go and I’ll behave like a good little wife. Oh, wait, I wasn’t supposed to know that, was I?’
    â€˜One day we’ll have to do something about that sarcasm,’ he said, releasing her.
    â€˜You need only cut out your own heart and hand it to me,’ she told him, ‘and I will be quite calm and pleasant once again.’
    It was then that Allura caught sight of the cage being carried down by a pair of burly men. Inside it, wide-eyed and nervous, squatted Veeta. ‘What are you doing with her?’ she demanded.
    â€˜This slave is part of