Page 114 of Fortress of the King

“See, it’s not that hard, is it. I have to applaud you, though, nobody has gotten this close to me since…” He taps his chin as he thinks. “My wife,” he finally finishes as my eyes go wide. “And we all know how that turned out.”

I know I’ve hurt him. I can see it now, which means he felt something for me.

It’s why he’s so angry. And it hurts more than I ever thought it could. Like someone has cut a piece out of my heart, and it will never repair. Bile rises in my throat.

“Despite what you think of me, I only did what anybody would do under the circumstances,” I bite back. “And do you want to know something else, Angelo Medici?”

“Enlighten me.”

“I’d do it again.”

I don’t even hear him move, but he’s at the side of the bed before I can blink, and then he’s on me, grabbing my wrists as he pins them over my head. I wriggle instinctively as I try to fight back.

His scent intoxicates me; it always has, always will. Even now, as his murderous eyes finally meet mine, I still want him.

“What’s wrong,Carina?Do you want to scream?” he taunts, his body pressing against mine as I lay flat on the bed, and he rests all of his weight on me. I feel his hard cock and desire shoots through my body, I can’t control it. Being aroused by this man isn’t part of the plan, not when I’m supposed to be his prisoner and at his mercy, but this is what he does to me.

He runs his nose up the side of my neck as I turn my head away. “Don’t pretend you don’t like it,” he whispers in my ear. “Or did you fake all the times I made you come as well?”

I swallow hard and shake my head. And for the first time in as long as I can remember, I go with the truth. “No,” I whisper back. “None of that was fake, in fact, it was the only thing that kept me from wanting to dive into the Charles and end it all…”

He grunts into my skin, then I feel him lift off me and he reaches behind to his back pocket and pulls out his tie.

I watch with trepidation as he straddles me, then grasps my wrists again and ties them together.

“That’s it, little fox. It’s so much better when you don’t resist.”

He knots the tie and then secures my hands to the bed. He sits back on his knees and tests the knot. “Perfect, now where were we?”

“I was disobeying rules one, two, and three.”

His lips turn up. “Even now, you’re not afraid, are you?”

I shake my head. “I know you won’t hurt me. You’re not like the other monsters.”

A slow grin spreads across his face as his eyes dance. “Don’t be so sure about that. Although tied up like this, I’ve got you right where I want you. At my disposal, to do with as I choose.”

“I told you I’ll do whatever you want,” I whisper.

He reaches a hand to my face and I resist the urge to flinch. “I bet if I reached under your dress right now, I’d find you wet and begging for me, wouldn’t I?”

I don’t say a word, for I can’t disagree. This man is probably going to kill me, yet my body still wants every single inch of him. It’s like I can’t rest without him inside me; I need him like I need air. It disgusts me as much as it thrills me.

His stern face waits for an answer, except I don’t give him one.

Instead, he reaches down my body, and I try to contain the thrill that runs through me because I can’t touch him back.

He’s not the only one who can play games here, I’ve been doing this long enough that it almost feels second nature.

I want him to touch me.

I wait with anticipation as his hand makes its way under the hem of my dress and he bunches it up so I’m exposed, then he slips his fingers through my folds, and I try to hide the groan that leaves my lips.

Of course, I don’t make a liar out of him. I’m wet, and as his fingers brush my clit I let out a gasp. His touch sears every part of my soul.

“Even now,” he muses. “Your body defies you, doesn’t it,Carina?”

“No,” I fire back. “My body knows exactly what it needs.”

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