Before Elizabeth visits Silver Rest Inn...
The corridor air was thick with the sll of old parchnt and the undertone of tallic regret. Elizabeth straightened the folds of her robe, her movents precise, almost chanical, as she readied herself to walk into the lion’s den.
"Sugar plum, wait." Alexander’s voice cracked behind her, a sound so fragile it seed at odds with his usual deanor.
She paused, not turning around imdiately. She felt his presence hovering just behind her shoulder, that awkward and uncomfortable presence of a man who knew he had ssed up beyond repair but lacked the courage to fix it himself.
"You don’t have to go to him," Alexander whispered, stepping closer. "Maybe I can fix this by myself..."
The guilt in his voice was palpable, dripping like slow poison. "I can... I can try to negotiate with Lady Valentina."
"I can explain that the key’s destruction was an accident, that I was simply trying to protect... maybe we can lie about it..."
"Protect what, Alexander?" Elizabeth finally turned, her violet eyes cutting through him like a scalpel. "That oversized piece of enchanted brass that you thought you could keep from her? Or your own goddamn ego?"
"And it’s my mother... we can’t just disrespect and lie about it!"
"That key is the fate for Aethelgard to stop the way against the underlayer!" Elizabeth said. "Even if we lie... there are a lot of eyewitnesses, and one of them is from the Nightwing’s family!"
Alexander winced, looking down at his boots. "I just wanted to impre—I didn’t think that the key would—"
"The key is gone, and it’s because you were too stubborn to follow protocol."
"You’re also too proud to admit you were wrong," she interrupted, her voice devoid of heat but heavy with cold reality. "And now?"
"Now Rex needs to be... compensated. And since you’re too pathetic to handle him, I have to take the fall for your incompetence."
"I’m sorry," he choked out, reaching for her arm but hesitating. "God, Elizabeth, I’m so sorry."
"I’ll make it up to you. I’ll..."
Elizabeth let out a short, bitter smile that didn’t reach her eyes. It was a jagged thing, devoid of warmth. "You’ll do nothing, Alexander."
"You’ll stay here, you’ll continue being the man who tries to impress everybody, and you will pretend this never happened," Elizabeth exhaled. "Because that’s the only way Lady Valentina won’t have your head on a pike for destroying the key."
She stepped around him, her stride purposeful. "This is for our future. For the order of the capital."
"I’ll deal with Rex’s... directions for this. It’s a small price to pay for the chaos you would have wrought otherwise."
"But it’s not fair," Alexander muttered, his voice small.
Elizabeth stopped at the door, her hand on the latch. She didn’t look back.
"Fair has nothing to do with it..."
"Now get out of my way. I have a beast to satiate before he decides to ruin us even more, Lady Valentina."
She left him standing there in the dim candlelight, his shadow stretching long and pathetic across the stone floor, as she walked toward the darkness where Rex waited.
...
Back to the present...
The door clicked shut with a heavy, final sound, the lock turning with a tallic snap that resonated through the dim room. Rex didn’t waste ti; he crossed the space with predatory grace, his massive fra casting a shadow over Elizabeth as he claid the edge of his oversized bed.
He sat there, sprawling his muscular legs wide, the muscles in his thighs tensed as he watched her. His smirk was razor sharp, cutting through the professional composure she tried to maintain.
"Look at you," Rex began, his voice dropping to a dark, raspy growl. "Standing there all poised, all composed... like you aren’t about to get absolutely wrecked."
He let out a sharp, mocking laugh. "And all because that pathetic excuse for a fiancé of yours couldn’t handle the key that I gave him."
"The key that I’ve worked hard for is fighting those fucking legions... and if he hadn’t broken them, here we wouldn’t be." Rex facepald. "This is entirely on his fucking failure."
Elizabeth stood still, her hands clasped in front of her, the long purple strands of her hair catching the dim light of the inn. She didn’t flinch.
Instead, her gaze remained steady, almost eerie in its calm. "Rex Rexilion."
"I knew what kind of man you were from the mont we t," she said, her voice devoid of judgnt. "I knew you were a pervert all along, and not just a normal pervert, but I knew you were dangerous."
"But my fiancé’s incompetence isn’t my concern; his failure is why I’m here. And since you’re the one who retrieved the key, you’re the savior in this scenario."
Rex’s eyes darkened with a mix of irritation and arousal at her audacity. "Oh, so you’re just accepting your fate..? Like there’s no sha? No protest?"
"Good... I like it when my won are being obedient without any force like the last one." He stood up slowly, stalking toward her until the heat radiated off his tanned skin.
"Last one...?" Elizabeth asked. "Don’t tell ..."
"Mireya, yeah, I’ve done punishing her, and now she finally shut the fuck up," Rex laughed. "I fucked her good enough!"
"I see... so not just one..."
"Well, you know ." He lood over her, his massive fra completely eclipsing the light. "And here... You’re going to learn really quick that being a ’professional’ won’t save you from how I play."
He reached out, his large hand gripping her chin firmly to force her eyes up to his. "You want to talk about stakes? Let’s talk about how your fucking screams are going to sound when I’m done with you."
Elizabeth didn’t pull away. She simply t his gaze with that sa maddeningly calm expression.
"Then stop talking, Rex... Do what you ca here to do... I promise I won’t act like Mireya because you have our future right now..."
A low growl escaped his throat. This was exactly what he wanted to break that composure, to strip that professional veneer away until nothing was left but her begging under him.
He grabbed the collar of her attire, the fabric straining against his strength. "Fine then... Let’s see how long that calm, nonchalant look lasts."
Rex prowled around her like a predator assessing its kill, the heavy thud of his boots on the wooden floorboards marking the rhythm of her impending surrender. He dragged a calloused hand along the curve of her shoulder, his eyes roaming over her massive bust and the swell of her hips with a possessive hunger.
’He’s like a beast,’ Elizabeth thought, her breath hitching as his heat radiated against her skin. ’Dangerous, unhinged... exactly what the rumors said.’
She kept her gaze fixed forward, her professional mask firmly in place even as her heart began to race. ’This is getting... awkward...’
’But it’s not my fault,’ she reminded herself sharply. ’Alexander was the one who couldn’t hold onto a simple key.’
’Alexander is the one who forced this.’
’This is his failure playing out in this bedroom.’
Rex’s hand wandered lower, his fingers tracing the valley between her breasts with deliberate, heavy pressure. "You’re probably thinking about sothing."
"Just look at you," he murmured, his voice dripping with sadistic glee. "Trying so hard to stay composed while your body is going to slowly betray you."
’He’s right,’ she admitted to herself, feeling the familiar warmth of arousal betraying her calm facade. ’I should feel disgusted, but instead...’
’I’m... I’m doing this willingly.’ Her mind darted back to the expedition, to the way he’d saved them and how she’d been placed in this position. ’If only Alexander had been more competent... If only he hadn’t been so fucking useless.’
As Rex’s hand slid lower to squeeze her hip, Elizabeth’s eyes fluttered closed for a split second. ’Fine... If this is what I have to endure to rectify his ss... then so be it.’
’Let him take what he wants. He earned it by being the only one capable of fixing the situation.’
Rex leaned down, his breath hot against her ear. "You’re thinking about how much you hate him right now, aren’t you?"
"How much you bla him for you being here with ."
Elizabeth finally looked at him, her eyes cold yet accepting. "I am... And I’ll continue to bla him until the very end."
Rex’s grin widened, sharp and cruel. "Good..."
"That’s the spirit." He grabbed her hair, tilting her head back to expose her throat. "Let’s see if that cold logic holds up when you’re screaming my na."
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