Page 8 of Steal Me

A heavy sense of numbness blankets my body as I watch him walk toward me. Behind him, his men are quiet and expressionless. Witnesses who don't give a whit even if they're about to witness me sacrificed or burned at the stakes. I think I'm already dead to them either way.

And as for their king...

His steps have come to a halt, and my eyes lift to his. I wait for my fear to devolve into terror, but it doesn't.

"You have two choices,ma petite."

He wraps his fingers around my throat as he speaks, but my pulse doesn't even race, and all I notice is how his accent has become more pronounced. More...old-money French than Parisian.

The fingers around my throat start to tighten, and I start thinking about the weirdest things.

Things like how his callused fingertips make me think of violence and elegance. Or how his proximity has finally started sinking in, and my pulse is now racing for all the wrong reasons.

"You pay for your life..."

How is that the same as starting fresh?

"Or—" His fingers tighten just enough to make breathing difficult. "You surrender it to me..."

He loosens his grip to cup my chin, and my breath catches as his thumb traces my bottom lip.

Dear oh dear.

My body is starting to feel weirder than ever, and the way I'm reacting to him is so, so wrong in so many levels. I should be screaming or shaking in fear right now. But instead I feel—

"Through marriage."

—like I should ask what he's just said.

"Make your choice, Liana."

Because surely, I couldn't have heard him right.

Right?

My lips part in confusion.

Which then turns into shock when he actually slips one finger inside of my mouth.

"Suck it."

No! Never! As if!

But instead...I actually find myself obeying him.

I'm sucking his finger like I was born to do this.

And when I look up and see the dark pleasure smoldering in eyes that are as blue as mine—

Oh no.

He slowly pulls his finger out of my mouth, and I actually feel empty.

I think I've lost my mind.

"You've made the right choice,ma petite."

I actually haven't given him an answer, but why bother arguing over semantics? He commanded me to suck his finger, and I obeyed without question. I might as well have told him I'm psyched to be his baby mama—

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