Page 94 of Filthy Royal

Oh gods. Oh gods.

“We’ll get to that as well.” Damien kept on talking. “Brock also told me that there are rumors that the assistant’s actually more of a puppet, his strings pulled by an invisible second-in-command who’s as elusive as the big boss.”

So he knew about the mystery Alpha who often listened in?

Her heart slammed against her ribs, and from the sudden gleam in Damien’s eyes, she suspected she hadn’t done a great job of masking her reaction, but she was off-kilter. His reaction to her changed gift was not what she'd expected.

“I should warn you,” Damien continued, “Brock was also initially reluctant to talk to me, but in the end, as you can tell, he ended up being very chatty.”

Goosebumps prickled along her flesh. Brock had been a thick-necked pervert who spent far too much on the fights, drink, and omega whores, but he’d never once struck her as chatty.

“We’ll get there with you too.”

She tried not to hyperventilate.

Damien took another step closer. “He was particularlytalkativewhen it came to you.”

She swallowed hard.

“‘Such a gorgeous thing,’ he said. Accommodating, too.” Damien’s voice hardened. “So willing to drop everything whenever summoned. Which, apparently, happened every time the big boss swung into town. Matter of fact, Brock said you were one of his boss’s most frequent visitors, and he swore, on his dying breath, that you’re the key to finding Darvish.”

Scarlett lost the battle not to hyperventilate, her chest rising and falling fast. She was in so much trouble.

“So”—Damien unfolded his arms— “this newtrickof yours won’t make a blind bit of difference. Not when I know you’re the key to what I want.”

“Trick?” She finally found her voice. No one who’d witnessed her new “gift” had dismissed it as something as inconsequential as a trick before.

“You think that little show of yours impressed me?” The muscles in Damien’s broad shoulders bunched. “I’m the Skolov Enforcer. I eat tiny things like you for breakfast.”

Her gaze flickered to the hole in the crystal, an important reminder. She wasn’t Brock. She wasn’t thick-necked or dense, or the young female Damien once knew, and she had options. “You might not find me as easy to devour as those others.”

“No?” Her captor’s voice dropped to a sinful rumble. “I remember you being very easy to eat.”

Her lungs contracted; her traitorous body betrayed her yet again.

The past swirled between them, lust brushing against her skin, the memory of his tongue at her clit making her pulse surge.

However, she couldn’t afford to weaken.

The hole’s melted edges were proof of that. She watched as they cooled to yellow, then orange. Such pretty colors—like the ones that had once existed inside her.

But no more.

All that seethed inside her now was darkness. And that was dangerous to all, including Damien.

She ducked her head and carefully stepped through her self-made exit.

This time, she made sure to take shallow breaths; letting the impact of Damien seep into her slowly, acclimatizing to his appeal, so the overall effect on her senses would be less cataclysmic.

She couldn’t afford to lose control as she had in that corridor back at the stadium.

Her caution barely worked, desire licking across her skin like a roaring fire.

Their gazes locked.

She hardened her heart. “I no longer give away free samples. Especially to those who are not my Alpha.” She knew she was baiting the beast but couldn’t find it within herself to care. “And this littletrickof mine works on flesh too. So, I want you to tell me who is in that other cage, and then I want you to let us go. You’ll have to get your answers from someone else.”

The kid backed way up.

---