An hour later we were on the bed once again. Cassie was kneeling over me, running her hands over me, caressing my skin, her touch as delicate as the beat of a dove's wing. A low-level healing spell filling my body with warmth.

"You really shouldn't let me go so far on you." Cassie said quietly.

"Hmm," I half opened my eyes, "why not, we both love it?"

"Because I don't want to hurt you." She was always worried about that, worried that her darker urges would take her too far.

I sat up, reaching a hand around the back of her head, I looked her in the eyes, and I kissed her. Not like the others, the hard and hungry exchanges of passion, but instead a gentle brush of the lips. It lasted barely a moment, but it was as it always was, as intense as an oncoming storm

"Love, you will never hurt me." To others the look I gave her might have appeared predatory, and it was. To Cassie, however, it was reassuring, a reminder that she wasn't the only dangerous creature in our relationship.

"So," I laid back down, "How are we going to handle the situation with Livia? It's a given that she'll be staying here until her uncle dies, and probably a bit after that while we ensure he doesn't have any allies who might try to carry out his will after his death." There was a good chance that we would have to liquidate his whole staff and replace them with my people.

Cassie rocked back on her hips, "That's what she says she wants and that's what's best for her, and I think we should keep her under collar until then."

That was surprising, I gave her a curious look. "Are you sure? I know she likes being a full time submissive, but after what happened today…?"

Cassie rocked back on her hips, tilting her head back and closing her eyes. I knew the pose; it was how from her old life, a meditative pose that she used to hide emotions, emotions that she was raised to consider weakness. "You didn't see her face when I told her, that her own uncle was the one who ordered the hit, about the others who died." She looked back down at me, opening her eyes and showing more sadness in those deep amber pools than I'd seen in a long time. "It shattered her Bella."

Her eyes hardened and her tone took on the cool calculating tone she usually took when talking about business, it was her shield. "She's drained, and guilt-ridden, and broken, and terrified. Terrified of her uncle, terrified of the assassins, terrified that her sister's in danger, and terrified that once she assumes her title, it's only going to get worse."

I nodded, Livie thought of being countess the same way a little girl imagines being a princess. All parties, and parades, and handing out alms to the poor. She didn't think of the blood and the conspiracy that went on behind all that. "And being our little slave girl is a familiar and comforting place for her to retreat to. Handing over control to us let's her escape the pressure and worry about the future until she's ready to confront it."

Cassie closed her eyes again, her tone barely hiding her emotions. "She's desperate to find stable ground, seeking comfort in the familiar." She dropped down to the bed to lay her head beside mine, her eyes were still closed. "She begged for her collar when I got her to her room, those were the first words out of her mouth when we were alone." I could hear the grief seeping through and I rolled over, pulling her closer to me. "It was the only way I could get her to rest."

She returned my embrace, I knew this was tearing her up inside. After me, Livie was the most important person in the world to Cassie. I cared about her too, but I was a switch, I could dominate Livie and submit to Cassie and take pleasure in both, but Cassie was domme to Livie's sub, they had a bond that rivalled the one Cassie and I shared. I mentally cursed the count for hurting two of the people I cared so much about. "Alright," I said softly, "We'll keep her under collar full-time until she assumes her title. I'll arrange for one of the servants to bring her into our bed tonight."

She didn't say anything, just kissed me softly on the lips and hugged me a little tighter. I didn't get to see the vulnerable side of Cassie very often; I wasn't sure whether to be pleased it was still there or pissed that someone had pushed her this far.

We just laid there like that for a while, the room silent except for the crackling of the fire and the sounds of our breathing.

Sooner than I'd like, the moment was broken, a knock on the door came. "Come in."

A young Argonian maid stepped inside, "Pardon me mistress, Lady Cassiopeia, but there's an urgent message from your father."

"Something about Skyrim."

...

Okay guys, this is just a tentative ending. I'm most likely going to come back to this later and continue, I've got more written, but my mind is dragging me in another direction right now. Those of you familiar with my other work know that my mind is bouncy and thus I shift focus a lot.

Tomorrow, I'm debuting a fallout four story, Frigid Warrior (tentative title), which is a continuation of another unfinished story, shadows in the tunnel, that I eventually plan to do a rewrite on. If you're unfamiliar with SITT, don't worry, the benefit of Frigid Warrior being the sequel to an unfinished story is that I never got a chance to develop the lore too intensely, so it's should be pretty acessible. There are a few details that might seem out of place, but those should become clear as the story progresses.

So I hope you all join me on that project, and I'll see you all then.

R&R People