A litany of hands roam over his impeccable body.
“What gives you the impression that I care?” I mumble.
“You could join us,” he offers, nodding to his lap, which is already crowded with courtesans.
“I would rather gouge my eyes out than touch you.”
“Oh darling, you are a terrible liar.”
I snap my gaze to him. “It’s amazing to me that you think I’m lying.”
“Your thoughts are loud, Dragon Rider.” He snickers, dragging his hand up the bare leg wrapped around his waist. “I know what you really think of me.”
I scoff. “You know that I think you are the most vile, abhorrent, soulless prick I’ve ever met?”
“When you first saw me, you thought I was the most beautiful creature you’d ever seen.” He leans forward on his gilded throne, charm dripping from his perfect face.
“I’ll admit, I thought the same thing about you. Even though you were scheming the entire time, trying to use those pretty little eyes to ply me for information.” He clicks his tongue, a smile coloring his voice. “It was adorable.”
I freeze as he continues.
“When I slipped that collar around your neck, you told yourself the chills were from the breeze rolling through the open doors. But they weren’t from that at all.” His eyes close as the female straddling him works her fingers through his tousled hair.
“When we danced, and you found yourself leaning in, you told yourself it was an act. But I could taste your lie in the air, that little bit of sour edging the sweet truth of your wanting.”
Shame washes over me, staining my cheeks red.
How does he know all that?
“You imagined what it would be like. You and me. You thought that I would rip your clothes off with my teeth”—he chuckles, opening his eyes to me—“but that’s only the beginning of what I would do to you.”
“Stop.” The heat in my cheeks grows unbearable. I hug my knees to my chest, turning away as much as the chain allows to hide my humiliation.
“You thought because I was a siren I was charming you. But the truth you may not want to hear is that I didn’t use an ounce of power on you. I didn’t have to.”
“You’re a liar,” I toss over my shoulder.
He shakes his head earnestly. “Your thoughts were all your own. Your mind was screaming them so loud it was impossible for me not to hear.”
Mortified, I stare out at the sea of bodies, biting down on my lip. There’s no way he didn’t plant those thoughts in my head. He’s lying.
He has to be.
“I’ll tell you something else,” he adds in an exaggerated whisper. “Youstillwant it.”
“I could never want someone like you.”
“There is only one other person like me. You. What shames you more—the fact that you want me, or that we deserve each other, and deep down you know it?”
I say nothing, focusing on barring him from my mind. I don’t want him rummaging around in my head.
“The king is talking to you,” one of the serpents snaps, preening her head to look at me. She’s striking, with pale eyes and olive skin made even more brilliant by the gold body chains fitted to the groove of her waist.
“Really?” I quirk a brow, glancing back toward the crowd. “I don’t see a king anywhere.”
Before I can blink, she bounds forward and slaps me across the face.
In my weakened state, the stinging force sends me careening into the floor. I snap to my feet, ready to return the favor.
