I suppress a sigh.
“I heard what you did,” I say at.
More silence.
“Is it true?”
She’s still glaring at me. I want to shake her.
Rising to my full, towering height, I prowl towards her until I’m standing directly opposite her, and she has to lean back to keep glowering up at me. “Is it true?” My voice is imperious.
“Is what true?” she says, once she finally realizes I’m willing to wait indefinitely for a response.
“Did you tell the other members of my harem they could pleasure themselves?”
If I hadn’t been watching closely, I would have missed the way her lips curve in the briefest smirk before she pulls herself back together.
“Answer me!” This time, I say it loud enough that she flinches in surprise.
“Yes,” she snaps. “Your punishment was unfair, and you know it! Besides, I had no idea they didn’t know how to freaking masturbate.” She shrugs. “Not how I expected to spend an afternoon. But when in Rome, do as the Romans do. And when in a harem…”
She’s completely unrepentant. But even I am having a hard time holding back my grin.
One of my spies was quick to inform me of what had happened. My first response was to laugh out loud. My Omega is nothing if not devious and determined. When was the last time someone dared to thwart my will? None of my Alphas dare to challenge me, yet here I am, bested again.
By a little Hoo-man female, no less.
“Come now, Kim. You’re smarter than that,” I tell her, schooling my features into a stern expression. “They told you they had been given korcan milk as a punishment. You didn’t stop to think that the resulting frustration might have been the punishing part?”
She looks away, and gives another shrug. “I didn’t think you were still interested in their… pleasure,” she mutters. “After all, you haven’t summoned them since I arrived.”
Her tone gives nothing away, and I consider any potential hidden meaning in that last statement. “Would you have been jealous if I had?” I ask.
“Of course not!” Her denial is too loud, too emphatic. I suppress a triumphant grin.
“I don’t believe you,” I say. “But it’s a moot point. I have no intention of summoning any of them to my bedchamber, ever again.” It’s a test—a casually made statement, and careful scrutiny of her reaction.
She doesn’t disappoint me. “No?” The hope in her voice is undeniable.
“No. After your little stunt, I have very different plans for them.”
Red spots flare on her cheeks, and her eyes spit green flames. “If you touch one hair on their heads, I’ll—”
“You’ll… what?”
Her little fists are clenched by her sides. Adorable. My cock surges. “I’ll fuck you up,” she threatens.
My laugh bursts out of me before I can stop it. “And just how will you do that, little one?”
“I hate you.” If her gaze was a dagger, I’d already be dead. “I mean it, Aurus. Don’t you dare fucking kill them.”
“Kill them?” I’m incredulous that she would even think such a thing. “Do you really think me that callous?”
“I don’t know! If you have no more use for them… You won’t kill them?”
I’m shaking my head. “Come here.” I open my arms and, to my immense surprise, Kim shoots into my embrace, burying her face in my chest. Her scent is like a punch to the gut, winding me. I fight to maintain self-control. “I have no intention of harming them,” I say, stroking her soft golden hair. “I no longer desire any of them, but that is not their fault—or yours. I’m making arrangements to have them sent to the city. They will be given houses, and stipends. They can find mates, if they choose, or remain alone. It’s up to them.”
“Really?” She looks up at me, her eyes shining. “Promise?”
