Dark Secrets Read Online Free

without fail. My blood became jagged with anger. He had Anisa in his bed yet was coming to a lust house. What kind of man was he? If I’d been in his shoes, I would have never left her. I wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. But I was sure Brixen didn’t want to know how much I still felt for his wife, so I pasted on a smile.
    He wore brown trousers and a pale yellow shirt with an orange waistcoat. He never wore white to see me, but he always dressed well. No one came through my door otherwise. I had standards to maintain. My lust house didn’t become synonymous with excellent service by having run-down rooms and letting anyone in. People paid for silence and not to get the Brewer’s itch that came from the loose-skirts hanging around taverns. I charged like a raxen in heat for the privilege of walking through my door.
    Brixen’s gaze met mine, and I slipped upstairs, wishing I could turn him away like I had the drunk. But no one said no to the Lawman. Part of our agreement was that I would go upstairs and a woman would escort him up so no one would even see him with a man. His demands for secrecy weren’t as onerous as others. But his demands of me were some of the worst. I was always very thankful I kept his lusts locked in his head so they weren’t taken out on my flesh.
    Brixen was the only man I saw. He’d wanted me from the moment we’d met five and a half years ago on a dark corner. Since then he’d become the bane of my existence. Back then he’d been in the militia, a no one, and I’d been a cheap tavern whore. As we’d gotten older, the stakes we played for had gotten bigger. We were both too well known for very different reasons.
    Why he’d picked me and never moved on I don’t know. Maybe because I was taller or too handsome or he just liked what I gave him. Either way, I was tempted to kill him the moment he walked into the bedroom.
    Brixen shut the door, a sour smile on his thin lips. Then he waited for me to undress him.
    Lazy son-of-a-brewer’s-whore, but it was part of the show to reinforce he was in control of me. He didn’t even suspect the truth. I could’ve taken control of his mind there and then, but there was no point—I couldn’t fake nudity and a bath. Some of the experience had to be real to make my lies convincing.
    I knew better than to question his appearance so soon after his marriage or even act surprised, so I busied myself removing his waistcoat and hanging it up. While the fabric was fine and threaded with gold, it was poorly stitched. I couldn’t hide the smirk that formed. He was trying to impress, but I turned over more coin in a ten-night than he did in a month, maybe longer.
    Best he didn’t know how I came by some of that coin. As Lawman he was supposed to be stamping out the FAA; however, no matter what he did they were always one step ahead. I knew they had a far-seer in their numbers. They also paid a few lust houses to act as exchange points, as no one thought anything of the comings and goings of a whore house, mine included. My life would’ve been easier if I didn’t accept the coin, but I couldn’t resist the security it bought. So I turned a blind eye and kept my mouth closed. I had even managed to convince myself that refusing was more dangerous. They’d start poking around and if Korene or I were discovered, life would take a turn for the worse.
    I hung Brixen’s shirt up and gave his back a loathing glare. Built like a raxen and just as hairy, he had as much delicacy as a bull in rut. I’d always pitied his wife as he satisfied his own needs first, and now my heart ached for Anisa. She deserved more, a loving husband and all the things I’d wanted to give her. If she saw me now, what would she say?
    My fingers trailed over his shoulder, my skin now separated from my mind—I would not let my body feel revolted, would not let him taint anything more than my mind. There wasn’t enough liquor in all of Prasine to make me forget the things I knew