Page 99 of In Love with a Ruthless Man

“I’ll owe you a favor—-”

“Done,” the prince said so swiftly it left her blinking. “And I’ll have that favor returned tonight.”

“Umm.” Had she just been manipulated?

“Now...what you did you want to talk about?”

Her fingers tightened around her phone. “You’re going to think I’m an idiot, but...do you think she loves him?” When several moments passed and the prince hadn’t yet answered, she prodded uncertainly, “Prince?”

“You’re right,” the prince said finally. “Youarean idiot.” Ignoring her sputter of protest, he said cynically, “Your guilt’s wasted on that woman. I’m betting if I offer a million dollars on the spot, she’d let me fuck her in front of Bennett.”

“Prince!”

“She targeted Bennett because she considered him an easy mark.” The prince’s voice became hard. “And because he didn’t love you enough, he was. Despite telling you he loves you, he still fell for her hook, line, and sinker, so you should keep that in mind, too.”

IT WAS A FEW MINUTESpast eight by the time the prince returned home, and he went straight to the cabana by the pool to change into a pair of black shorts. He had just made himself comfortable on the shallow end of the water, stretching his arms against the edge of the pool, when he heard Igor murmur from behind, “Good evening, sir.”

He twisted halfway in time to see Igor bowed in greeting. Behind the older man, the prince glimpsed Fawn ascending the stairs, her body wrapped in a fluffy white robe.

“Thanks for bringing her here, Igor. You may leave us now.”

“Yes, sir.” Igor disappeared from view while Fawn continued on, making no attempt to hide the fact that she was dragging her feet. She stopped the moment her bare feet sank into a thin layer of powder-fine sand, and the prince was more amused than offended when she tightened the two sides of her robe over her body.

“Look up,parthena mou.”

I don’t want to,Fawn thought immediately, but since she knew going against the prince’s command was futile, she slowly raised her gaze to his—-

Oooooooh.

Fawn silently gulped at the sight of the prince’s ripped body, made sleeker by water glistening on his skin.Déjà vu,she thought dizzily, and her throat went dry.

Behind the prince, the sun had started to set, scattering a mix of fiery rays and shadows that crowned his dark head like a halo. He might be the Prince of Darkness, but even daylight loved him, turning him into a god who could make a girl’s heart beat madly with just a hooded glance.

Holy sweet Jesus, it wasn’t fair how sexy—-

The prince’s lips curving in an arrogant grin, he murmured huskily, “No need to limit yourself to staring,parthena mou.”

She turned red. “Gross!” Embarrassment finally allowed her to wrench her gaze off the prince, and she resisted the urge to cover her face, just to keep the prince from seeing her reddened cheeks.

She half-expected the prince to get mad, like he always did whenever she called him gross, but instead the prince simply asked, “Are you wearing it,parthena mou?”

“It” was the favor she owed him, a two-piece swimwear that couldn’t even be rightfully called a bikini. The top consisted of scraps of fabric just large enough to cover her nipples while the bikini bottom, possessing more strings than cloth, was a thong with a capital T.

“Yes,” she finally managed to croak out. “I am.” She shook her head. “And I can’t believe you actually asked me to do this—-”

“Why shouldn’t I?” the prince charged softly.

She threw her hands up in the air, thinking that the prince was really the biggest bully in town. “Because it’s not right! In fact, it’s positivelyindecent!”

A rich, dark chuckle slipped past the prince’s lips. “I never cared about being decent,” he said dulcetly, his rock-hard shoulders moving in a nonchalant shrug.And if wearing a skimpy bikini was her idea of indecent, the prince mused, then he was keen to hear what she’d think once she learned what he had planned for tonight.

“Prince...” When he looked up, she pleaded, “Can’t you just make me swallow a bucketful of sand instead? Please?”

Swallow what?The prince stared at Fawn in utter amazement. “How do you come up with these things?” And why was it that the more she made him laugh...the more he wanted to fuck her?

Fawn squirmed when she felt the prince’s gaze start to travel down her body. He was practically undressing her with his eyes, and dear God, instead of feeling disgusted or violated, she felt—-

“Stop staring at me.” She forced the words out, determined not to let herself succumb to the baser demands of her body, which was currently doing its best to drown her common sense so she could throw herself at the prince.

---