Page 52 of The Mourning Throne
“Yeah, but he’sbreathing.Now I want someone who isn’t.”
Even if Lex was quiet, that still sounded too loud for public.
“Do you understand how entitled you sound?”
Lex tilted his head to the side, the smug smirk back. “Tell me no.”
Of course, he wouldn’t. Lex was easier to manage when Morgan said yes—it was that simple. He thrived in excess: pretty and gleaming, over-indulged, attention-fed, praise-drunk. A creature of appetite.
And it wasn’t as if Morgan was giving him anything he hadn’t already bled for. He’d earned the golden cage, every inch of it wrapped in satin and gore.
Morgan let his hand linger over Lex’s. He traced each of the silver rings and watched the goosebumps ripple up Lex’s arms like static.
“One more,” he said slowly. “But you won’t ask me for a third.”
He snapped his fingers around Lex’s wrist. Held him there, firm in warning even as Lex tried to twist out of his grip.
“Are we clear?”
“Crystal.”
But Morgan saw it—the subtle twitch, the telltale raise of Lex’s eyebrows as irritation slipped into calculation. That pretty, tan face never stayed still for long.
“You wantanother bet?”
Morgan let go. “After you lost the last so gracefully?” He finished the wine and poured another glass. “How can I say no?”
Leaning over, Lex nudged away the plate and folded his arms over the table. “We go to the bartonight, with someone from the restaurant. Someoneyoupick.”
“Where’s the bet?”
“You do it, you win,” Lex snorted. “Honestly, haven’t thought of a prize for you yet, but if you can’t find someone here—right fucking now,Morgan—then I win. And I get to be in control. All night.”
“That’s a very polite way of asking to fuck me.”
“I’m including what happens to our cat.”
Morgan ran his finger over the edge of the wine glass, rolling the idea over in his head. He had to admit, it sounded amusing.
After a minute, he shrugged.
“Alright. If I win,” he met Lex halfway across the table, lowering his voice, “then I get to make you cry. In any way I deem necessary.”
“Been there, done that, Morgan,” Lex whispered back, his throat bobbing as he swallowed.
That bravado never lasted all too long, either.
“No, my sweet. We have not.”
Watching those blue eyes bounce around in Lex’s skull—part excitement, part horror—was a prize in and of itself. Better than wine. Better than the meal.
“Are you backing out now? Did it become too real for you?” Morgan asked, when the quiet stretched too thin and heavy.
Lex shook his head, finally straightening. “It’s a deal.”
“Are you sure?” Morgan smirked. “I’ll give you one last chance. I have years of experience.”
“In bumfuckOhio.”
