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“Please, Father, no!” Jolie said, her eyes wide. “Not Mason!”

Jacob slammed his hand down on the table again, even closer to her. “If you speak again, I will cut out your tongue!” he roared. She cowered away from him. “You must learn that marriages are arranged based on what the Elders and I think would be the best possible pairing to teach the woman in question about her proper place in society. They are not based on filthy feminine lust and desire. So given your apparent disdain for Mason, I believe he is the best candidate for you.”

Jolie finally met my gaze for the briefest of moments. I barely caught it, but there was a flash of something in those beautiful eyes. Almost a smug gleam. Could it be… triumph?

Holy shit. She fucking set this up. She wanted this to happen.

Obviously, she wasn’t as innocent as she looked.

“I agree that Jolie must be taught some respect. Your decision is fair,” I said, turning my attention back to Jacob.

“Yes. She must also be punished physically,” he said. “Just because she came and admitted her sin to me doesn’t get her off the hook. Lust is a serious sin for a woman.”

I stiffened. “How will she be dealt with?”

He held up his index finger. “Firstly, she will spend some time in the Penance Rooms.”

My guts lurched at the thought of him taking her in there and hurting her. “As her future husband, I think I should be the one to take her,” I cut in.

His gaze wavered for a second, and then he nodded. “Yes, of course. You may choose the method.”

I nodded. “I will see to it she is properly chastised.”

“Good.” Jacob nodded, then held up another finger. “Secondly, Jolie will now participate properly in the Joining rituals. I have spoiled her for far too long and let her get away with only pleasuring men orally. But no more. From now on, no more favoritism. She will be treated like every other unmarried woman there and used appropriately. As you are going to be her husband, Mason, you can be the first one to do it.”

Jesus.There was nothing quite like being asked by a fundamentalist to fuck his daughter in the ass next Friday. It made me sick how casually he talked about her, like she was nothing more than a piece of meat. His own fucking daughter.

“Are we clear?” Jacob asked.

I gritted my teeth. “Crystal.”

“Good. Anyway, I must leave. If you aren’t busy, you can take Jolie to the Penance Rooms now.”

“Oh, believe me, I will.”

Jacob swept out of the meeting room. Jolie didn’t move. Didn’t look up. She simply sat there, waiting for me to react.

“Come on,” I said, reaching for her arm. I pulled her through the twisting hive of New Eden until we reached the Penance Rooms, and then I pushed her inside and turned the key in the lock.

She stood in the center of the room, her eyes on her feet. I stepped closer, reveling in the way she quivered as I approached her. She might have set this up, but she was still innocent in almost every way. A frightened little doe. It was fucking adorable.

“Look at me,” I commanded.

Her eyes finally shot up to mine. I wasn’t sure if it was excitement or terror I saw in them.

“You’ve been a bad girl, haven’t you, Jolie?” I said, stepping over to her.

She gulped and nodded. “Yes, I have been very sinful. I should not have thought of you and Danny in those ways.”

I chuckled and reached a hand out to her face, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Come on, pretty girl. We both know that’s bullshit. You made that whole story up to your father because you knew exactly what he’d do. You didn’t want to marry Danny Miller in the spring, and you wanted to spend more time with me. Am I right?”

She bit her bottom lip, carefully considering her answer. “If that were true, what would you do?” she finally asked, voice scarcely above a whisper.

I brushed her lips with the tip of my finger. “Well, to begin with, I’d do what I wish I’d done the second I saw you all those months ago.”

“And what is that?”

I leaned even closer, my lips hovering half an inch away from hers. “I can’t tell you. I’d have to show you.”

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