Was he angry with me? Or at my story?
Rhys released a breath and took my hand in his. “How early?”
I sat up and wrapped my arms around my bent legs. “My parents promised me to him when I hit puberty.” I frowned, recalling his first visits. “Well, he had access to me earlier than that…”
“What do you mean?” Rhys’s voice dropped dangerously low.
I shrugged. “He could do things to me for a long time now. My ass was supposed to stay virginal, but that was the only limit.” Bile rose up my throat at the memories, but I swallowed it down. So many Alphas, cum, and humiliation. “I’d been taking shots to delay my first heat. That’s why it came so late. My plan was to sell myself tonight and be ruined for him. Now I’m realizing that right after the heat, he might still take me. I’m so stupid.”
“No you’re not. I’m glad you ran. It must be hard to make a plan with limited options.” Rhys took my hand.
It was so small in his big, calloused paw, but the touch sent a calming echo through my body. My shoulders relaxed, and I sagged into a comfortable cross-legged position. If only I could be so tiny as to curl up on his palm and stay safe forever. What a naïve thought.
“Me too.” I shuffled around and sat with my back against his chest in the cradle of his legs. “Even if I almost got myself into trouble before you snatched me from the woods.”
Rhys wrapped his arms around me with a gentleness I’d never expect from a muscled Alpha.
“You’re very brave,” he said.
I snorted. “That’s new. I’m usually graceful, beautiful, fuckable. Or inferior, weak, only a breeding stock. I’ve been told I have the face of an angel, hair worth a princess, but an attitude like the devil himself.”
“The last part is definitely true.” He kissed the top of my head. “And I adore both the angel and the devil parts.” He was trying to make me smile, bless him.
It worked.
“You’re a very strange Alpha.” I rested my head against his pec, surprising myself how comfortable I was with him. The heat was doing weird stuff to me.
“All the ones you’ve met must have been incredibly stupid not to see your true value.”
“Oh, my parents know my monetary value. They’re planning to buy a new yacht and add a wing to their mansion for the money they’ll get for selling me to Dryden.”
“Whoa. That’s a lot of money.”
I scoffed, slapping his thigh. “Am I not worth it?”
“You’re worth much more than any sum I could imagine, but you shouldn’t be sold in the first place.” He pulled me closer to him. “Let me take care of you.”
“Shh. You can smell my heat and I’m hormone-crazy. We can’t make promises to each other. Service me this week, and that will be the best gift I’ve ever received.”
Rhys moved us around until he was facing me, then bowed his head as if I were royalty. “I will.” He took my hand and kissed the top of it.
The reverence in his movements threatened to break me. I cleared my tight throat. “We should clean up.”
He nodded. “Shower or wet towel?”
“Towel.”
“Okay. Stay here.”
Rhys made a trip to the bathroom and wiped us up. “Would you mind if I stayed naked to keep you company? If the soft blanket was uncomfortable, I don’t think I’d find better clothes for you.”
“I’d like that. And keep touching me. It’s…grounding.”
Rhys’s smile was a mix of happiness and mischief.
A doorbell rang, and he pressed a button on his watch. “Leave it by the door, thanks,” he said to the microphone, then turned to me. “It’s the package you ordered. Are you ready to eat?”
“I’ll try.” I wasn’t hungry, but having some nutrition would be smart.
