Page 51 of Mercenary Princess

Why did she want to soothe that annoyed crease between his eyes so badly?

Telling him this truth risked nothing. “If I don’t play by my mother’s rules, this trip ends. I don’t know when I might be stuck at a social engagement until dawn or have to go to the opera with a man I don’t want to be with. I won’t sleep with anyone. I have no interest in the men I’m expected to spend time with.” Or any other man for that matter.

Viktor’s shoulders had tensed, and he’d gone very silent.

“I’m being honest with you. I’m expected to date, or this trip ends.” That only seemed to frustrate him more. His fingers slid into his hair and seemed to tug.

“No dates,” he practically growled.

“I don’t want to go back to Porenza sooner than I have to. Not dating isn’t an option. If that’s too much for you, I understand.” Though it would kill her to give him up before she had to.

Was all this crazed pleasure worth the potential risk to her heart, because if she were being honest, the sick feeling in her gut at the thought of not seeing him was becoming something to worry over. She liked him. This wasn’t just about her teenage obsession anymore. This was about the man who sat with her, fighting a harsh possessive streak, and these rules of his. Would he be willing to take what he could get? This was a man who, she was almost certain, had never been forced to compromise on anything. What he wanted, he got, exactly as he demanded it, yet she could feel his rules breaking, could feel him relenting to have her in his bed for the next week.

He eyed her intently. “If we continue this, I want it all, Sophia.”

She licked her lips and struggled to form a single word. “Yes.”

A knock at the door broke his watchful gaze. He handed her a towel before getting up to answer it.

She’d wrapped the material around her by the time he took the tray from whoever knocked. The scent of pancakes followed him in, but she wasn’t truly hungry for food anymore. One look at him said he wasn’t interested in eating any more than she was.

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