He stands, and I tense, but he doesn’t come closer. Just moves to the table where I threw the clothing.
He picks up the dress, fabric pooling in his hands like liquid shadow.
“You rejected my gift.” His tone is soft. Almost hurt.
I don’t answer.
He looks at me, and there’s something in his expression—disappointment, maybe. Like I’ve genuinely wounded him.
It’s a lie. I know it’s a lie.
But my chest still tightens with something that feels horribly like guilt.
“I only wanted you to be comfortable,” he continues, running his fingers over the silk. “To feel beautiful. Was that so terrible?”
“You’re trying to control me,” I manage. “Make me into—”
“Into what?” He sets the dress down gently, turning to face me fully. “Someone who feels worthy? Someone who knows her own value?”
He takes a step closer.
I press back harder, but there’s nowhere to go.
“You would look exquisite in this,” he says, gesturing to the dress. “The color would bring out your eyes. Make your skin glow against the dark fabric.”
His voice drops lower, more intimate.
“The way the neckline would frame your shoulders… I’d watch you move in it and forget to breathe.”
Heat crawls up my neck, and I hate that I feel it. Hate that his words land somewhere soft and vulnerable.
“You’re already beautiful, little queen.” He moves closer again—close enough now that if I reached out, I could touch him. “But imagine… feeling beautiful. Knowing it. Wearing it.”
I should stand. Move away. Put real distance between us.
But I’m frozen against the wall, legs still bent where I woke, and he’s right there.
Close enough that I can smell him—something clean and sharp, like spice and smoke.
It’s almost intoxicating.
“I could dress you in silk every day,” he murmurs. “You’d never wear anything rough again. Never feel anything but softness against your skin.”
My hands curl into fists.
“You deserve that. Luxury. Comfort. To be worshipped the way you should be.”
“Stop,” I whisper.
But he doesn’t.
Instead, he crouches.
Slow. Deliberate.
Until we’re eye level.
Until those green eyes fill my entire world.
