Page 116 of Serpent King's Prisoner

He’d reminded me he wasn’t my boyfriend.

Then he told his mother he intended on marrying me.

So what the hell was I to him?

“Stop it,” I snapped, the words tasting bitter on my tongue. “Don’t flatter me. You’re making me feel like I’m your girlfriend, not some plaything you can parade around.”

“Abby, I was…so wrong.” He reached over, fingers brushing mine in a touch that sent unwanted heat spiraling through me. “You’re not just a toy to me. I see you, all of you—the sharp mind, the strength, the way you fight. You’re a companion, a partner. You’re not…holes.”

His own words made him cringe.

“Not just a fuckdoll?” I asked.

“Not just a--” Nathan paused, a shiver of something passing through his eyes as he gripped the steering wheel tighter. “No,” he admitted in a low voice. “Not that.”

“Is that so?” I kept my tone light, fighting against the pull of emotions I couldn’t afford to feel. “And here I was thinking you had a whole other kind of partnership in mind.”

His eyes, dark as the shadows we drove through, locked onto mine. “Maybe I do.”

I swallowed hard, the reality of his words sinking in like a stone in deep water. We weren’t heading back to just any place. We were heading to a future I hadn’t planned for—a future where I might be wearing a ring given to me by the same man that had cuffed me, kidnapped me, raped me.

Fangs Zhou wanted to marry me, and the craziest part was, a part of me was tempted to say yes.

“Forgive me,” Nathan’s voice was a rough whisper, cutting through the charged silence in the car. We stopped at a red light and his eyes searched mine, looking for absolution I wasn’t sure I could give.

“Forgive you?” I repeated. I knew what he was talking about, but I needed him to say it. The words had to come out before we could get through this.

But he just kept hedging.

“Can you ever let it go?” he asked, tension coiling in his voice like a snake ready to strike.

“Let what go, exactly?“ I gritted out.

“I’ve done…a lot of things in my life,” he finally exhaled, his low voice barely above a whisper. His dark eyes flickered over to me as the car started moving again, filled with a strange mix of pain and relief. “I’ve hurt people, killed people, but Abby...” He swallowed hard, his throat bobbing with the effort. “I’ve never...used a woman like that before.”

I leaned back in my seat, looking out the window. The city lights passed in a blur as we sped through the night-drenched streets, creating a surreal landscape that reflected our tumultuous reality. “And how did you use me, Nathan?” I asked. “I need you to say it.

His breath stuttered, hitched.

“I raped you,” he whispered. “Almost killed you. I was a monster…and maybe I still am.”

The silence stretched out between us, tethering us together as much as it tore us apart. Nathan didn’t speak, letting me sit with that confession–and I let him stew in his own guilt.

He deserved it, after what he’d done.

“Do you regret it?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper above the hum of the car’s engine. “Everything?”

There was a silence before he answered. “Do I regret hurting you? Every goddamn day. Do I regret meeting you? Never.”

I shook my head. “But why, Nathan?”

“Because when I think about what I did to you...” He paused, his voice catching with emotion. “I feel like I should cut my own fucking dick off.”

In the dimness of the car, his dragon tattoo seemed to shift with his movements, a silent testament to the complex man before me.

“But you haven’t,” I said, my words brittle as I met his gaze. “And why is that?”

He gave me a sad smile, his eyes reflecting the passing city lights. “Because it’s not about punishment. It’s about change.”

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