Page 27 of Kneel with the King
But…
I also feel off-balance, somehow. Heated from the inside out.
“This wasn’t about trust,” I murmur.
“No,” he agrees. “It was about proof.”
“Of what?”
With a smile, he gestures to the bench in the middle of the clearing. “Sit.”
I tilt my head and cross my arms. “Sit,what?”
His gaze sharpens, hardening ever so slightly as his jaw feathers. “Sit. Please.”
With an annoyed huff, I walk over and plonk down onto the bench heavily. “This feels like some sort of setup.”
King walks over and sits down in the space next to me. “Do you know what a witness scene is, Harrison?”
I blink. “A what?”
He settles himself, leaning forward slightly so that I get a whiff of cinnamon. “In kink spaces,” he starts, his tone even, “a witness scene is a negotiated moment where one person sits—fully present—and simplyobservesthe other. No touching. No talking. Just… being seen. Vulnerable. Honest. Raw.”
My mouth goes dry on that last word. “I didn’t agree to do anything kinky with you.”
His eyes flick to my pocket, and it’s like I know what he’s thinking before he says it. “Didn’t you?”
The silence swells all around us. My toes are starting to go numb, and despite the heated jacket wrapped around my wet suit, I begin to shiver again.
“No. I didn’t. I agreed to pretend to date you for the sole purpose of getting close to Walter Davenport.”
“This is how I bond with people. Kink is my thing—and I know you’re vanilla?—”
“I’m not vanilla,” I say quickly, interrupting him.
His lips twitch as he subtly arches a brow, but he doesn’t argue. “As I was saying, we’re not selling this very well.You,in particular, do not like me.” I open my mouth to confirm that very astute observation, but he holds a hand up. “I understand why. My point is, whether we like each other or not, we have to look like wedo.And if we’re going to sell this relationship—if we’re going to make Walter and Jacques believe in it—then we have to find some way to actually connect. Even just a little.”
I snort. “So your idea of bonding is dragging me into the woods when I’m half frozen for some sort of kinky scene dressed up as a therapy session?”
His eyes glimmer with something satisfactory. “It seems to be working better than I expected. Maybe we’re getting somewhere.”
I narrow my eyes. “You keep saying ‘we’. But let’s be honest, you don’t need this deal. So before we proceed, what’s in it for you, really? Why are you so eager to help me?”
He doesn’t answer right away. Instead, he just looks out past the trees with a tight jaw and an unreadable expression.
“There are a lot of reasons I came this week. I wasexpectingto be here with a guy I’m casually dating, but instead I’m here with a middle-aged brat who can’t get over something that happened a year ago.” My mouth drops open.Middle-aged brat?!I’m ready to fight him, but he holds that damn hand up again. “Now that I’m here, I think I’m realizing that you need my help more than you’re willing to admit.”
His phrasing sends a shiver down my spine—either from surprise or… something else I don’t want to admit.
King shifts forward, eyes still locked on mine. “Are we going to do this now?”
I want to sayhell fucking no.But there’s something about him—something that intrigues me. I don’t know if it’s because of the fact that Iloathehim for stealing Trent, or that I feel somehow out of my element here with him. I have to admit, the comment about being vanilla hit me harder than it should’ve.
I think about all the times Ari asked—no,begged—me to try different things in bed. It’s not that I was opposed, per se. I have a healthy sex drive when I’m on my own, but for whatever reason, I always had trouble with Ari.
And Brooklyn.
And… all the other women I slept with.
