He cocked his head to the side. “Lucky you aren’t rotting beneath the earth somewhere.”
I looked around myself and then laughed. “You call this lucky?”
“Your situation could be vastly improved upon if you opt to work with me rather than against me.”
“Do you suppose it a wise decision to flaunt my naked body in front of all those men when you’re after my cooperation?”
He took a step closer to me, and I could have sworn a beastly growl echoed up from his throat. “You don’t question my decisions.”
I pushed forward, crossing the distance that separated us. And though he towered over me by at least a head and shoulders, I glared up at him as if I were seven feet tall. “I will question all your decisions.”
“You owe me your fucking life.”
“I owe you nothing.”
His hand shot out and gripped my chin, fingers pressing into the hinge of my jaw hard enough to crank my face as farupward as it would go. Then he walked me backward until the rough stone wall bit into my shoulders. I did my best to suppress the gasp that started in my throat, but I wasn’t quick enough to stop it. And my own shock at his actions seemed to please him because a smile lifted the corners of his lips.
“You will address me as your king.”
“You are not my fucking king, and you will never be my king.” I spat the words out with as much venom as I could manage. “So, if that’s the reason you’ve come here, you should have saved yourself the visit.”
His eyes dropped to my heaving chest. Just briefly, but it was long enough for him to notice that both of my nipples were pebbling into hard rocks beneath my prison tunic. It had happened the moment he’d touched me: my body had reacted as it always did to this man, much though I detested that fact.
A low chuckle moved through his chest, something that was dark and unhurried. “You believe you hate me.” His thumb pressed the corner of my mouth, and it was all I could do to keep my lips closed. “But your body appears to have a different opinion entirely.”
My nipples were firmly stiff now, aching to feel his touch but thrilled that his gaze kept returning to them. I, on the other hand, was not.
Heat climbed my throat, but I refused to let it reach my face. “There’s nobeliefthat I hate you. Only the cold, hard fact and one that’s incontrovertible.”
“And yet,” he started and dropped his hand, gliding it down the side of my face, down to my collarbones, then my shoulder, until it rested on top of my covered breast. “Your tits are rock hard.” He leaned in even closer. “And I would bet good coin that your cunt is soaking wet... and ready for me.”
I laughed, and he pulled away to look down at me with a curious expression. “Or so you’d like to believe because in yourown warped mind, every woman desires you.” I took a breath. “What’s more true is the fact that you’ve kept me alive for your own enjoyment.”
“I’ve told you the reasons why you’re still alive.”
“And they’re nothing but farce. Just simply lies you’ve told yourself to justify your true reasons.”
“Which are what?” he asked in a bored tone.
“That you desire me as much as you’re convinced I desire you.” I leaned in even closer. “And you despise the fact that you do.” My voice came out steadier than I deserved because on one subject, he was correct. I did want him. More than I was willing to admit. “Or is it the beast within you that does? The thing underneath the crown.”
His expression dropped, any amusement bleeding away from it in an instant. He immediately turned his head to face the guard who stood at the far end of the dungeon, as if concerned the man might have overheard me. I wasn’t fazed.
“I know what lives inside you, Arthur,” I continued in a soft voice, one that no one could overhear. “I watched it climb out of you at the lake. When you put your hands on me and nearly forced yourself—”
His free hand rose into the air fast, palm flat, the threat of it sharp and absolute. He held it there, just inches from my face, warning of violence if I continued.
I couldn’t help but wince against him. The response was automatic even though I hated myself for it.
“Do not.” The words came out of his mouth and they were scraped clean of everything but a dire warning. “You will never fucking repeat those words again if you value your fucking life.” He took a breath, and it was then that I realized he was panting. “And as for nearly forcing myself on you...” His voice dropped, deliberate now, each word placed like a blade. “I would never have to.” He brought his hand to my face again, his thumbdragging slowly along my jaw, and I felt it everywhere, felt my own traitorous skin respond, felt heat pooling low, immediate and hateful. “Every time I touch you, you yield. Every single fucking time.” His eyes traveled down my body again, and he let them linger on my pebbled nipples that were straining against my tunic. His eyes found mine once more, and they were full of victory. “You wear your need for me like a second skin. It disgusts me.” He released my chin and stepped back. “I don’t chase willing prey.” Then his gaze moved over me once more, but this time it was clinical, dismissive, cutting. “There’s no satisfaction when there’s no chase.”
I hated the fact that his comments cut me so sharply, but even though they did, I wasn’t about to let him have the last word. “The only feeling for you that I harbor is absolute hatred.”
“I’m uninterested in your feelings towards me, witch.” His eyes narrowed, and his demeanor was now all business. “All I care to know is the method by which you contacted your father while pretending to be in service to me. Be specific.”
“And if I’m not in the mood to comment?”
He paused, and his eyes narrowed even further. “Would you prefer death? That can absolutely be arranged. And quickly, for I’m growing exceedingly tired of you.”
