Page 42 of Brutal King

“You’re welcome. While you determine if you’re a good or bad person, you can at least know this about you. You’re a passionate photographer,” he says. “Not even I can make you doubt that.”

I nod. “There is that, I suppose.”

He makes to leave, but turns back to me. “Oh, and one more thing.”

Before I can ask what that is, he fists the front of my shirt and pulls me to him. Our mouths crash and the impact is enough to knock all my senses askew. I’m instantly surrounded by him, infiltrated and consumed. He is everywhere, taking everything.

When his arm snakes around my waist to pull me tighter, I melt into him. And when he pushes me against the counter and his hands cup my ass and lift me onto it, I open my legs to make it easier for him to stand between them.

He presses himself into me, creating the most achingly delicious pressure point against my core. Heat and something liquid forms in my center. I’m craving what I’ve never had before, but instinctually know I want it. Fullness. Thrusts. Pleasure.

I make a sound that’s foreign to me, a combination of a mewl and a cry. It’s my body begging for something that I refuse to put into words, because if I do, it means willing defeat. It tilts my own needle away from good and toward a man that fits the definition of a villain to a tee.

The problem is, I’m still vulnerable. He’s exposed my weakness and is exploiting it.

I want him and that’s what will damn me in the end.

Gideon pulls away, leaving me dazed and cold. His eyes are molten silver, swirling and mesmerizing.

“I’m going to fuck you in this room, Little Bird. Not today, you’re not ready. But soon. And then, you’ll be something else too.”

“What?” I ask breathlessly.

“Mine.”

11

GIDEON

“I’d like to come with you, Father.”

He closed his brown leather bag and shrugged his coat on. “You’re not ready.”

“I’m eighteen years old. You’ve taught me everything you know.”

“I have not.” Father patted my arm and squeezed. “There are men out there who would use you against me. You must stay here for your protection.”

“I’ve been here for years, Father! You’ve kept me in a bubble for too long. I’m a man now. It’s time I see the world.”

With a heavy sigh, he nods. “You’re right, son. When I return, we will venture out together.”

“I want to go with you.”

“Not to this.”

“Father.”

“Gideon!” My name was said with a sharp underlying command.Do not push me. In a calmer tone, he added, “Do you trust me?”

“Yes.”

“This trip will be faced with too many dangers. When I return, we will go somewhere safer. I promise.” He plucked a penny from his pocket and flipped it toward me. WhenI caught it, he said, “For you to pay the Ferryman when I come home.”

Five days later, he returned badly beaten and shot through the shoulder. He’d been betrayed. We didn’t leave the manor as he promised. I wasn’t ready to take on the world he lived in.

I trusted him.

It’s been two days since I gave Sofia the dark room. She has spent almost every waking moment in there since. Even when she comes up to eat, her mind is there.

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