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Whimpers slip helplessly through my moans. I hear myself loving it even as I writhe on the bed. Each rough touch makes me crave more. Makes me want him to force me to do every forbidden thing I’ve spent years trying not to imagine.

I don’t recognize myself or the sounds I’m making. And part of me loves that.

He pulls my legs higher so my hips are lifted from the bed and I can’t escape his grasp. This time, another sharp smack lands on my backside. The sting flares. The pain makes me crave pleasure as he continues to spank both cheeks. And that’s what he gives me.

He drops my legs and spreads them wide on the bed. His mouth goes back to my clit, lapping at it slowly before picking up speed. His fingers curl inside and pull up, rubbing that spot like he knows exactly how to draw it out of me.

My pussy clenches as a heavy wave builds until my body can’t contain it. My thighs shake. His tongue works relentlessly against my clit. Wet sounds fill the room between my broken breaths.

I grip the blanket, moaning my pleasure without knowing how to stop myself. When the release crashes into me, it tears violently through every nerve in my body until nothing remains except trembling emptiness.

Everything inside me pulses.

When it fades, I lie still, breath uneven while my body hums.

Tears sting the corners of my eyes. Not from pain, but from the shock of how alive I feel. Whatever punishment he just gave me stripped guilt away from pleasure.

Edwin rises and looks down at me while I struggle to catch my breath. I don’t know what to say.

He gives me no chance to recover. No space to think. I can’t pretend I didn’t choose this.

“Get dressed.” He grins and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. “It’s time to meet my family.”

CHAPTER 20

EDWIN

The dress clings to every curve, exactly as I knew it would. Black satin that shows too much of her alabaster skin and still it’s not enough. Pulled from the deepest part of night, covered in darkness, her softness wrapped around the danger she doesn’t know how to wield.

This is Zaiya’s natural state. Teeth bared through grace.

I have to lock my jaw to keep myself from hauling her back to my bed and tearing the thing off her stitch by stitch.

I’m already addicted to her soft little pussy. The way she tastes. The way she whimpers when I smack it.

Fucking herself with a skinny candle is amusing, but she has no idea what she’s in for with me. I want to split her open with my thick cock, feel her throb around me.

Fuck.

I can’t think about that now. Dinner is going to be hard enough without my cock begging to be touched.

She still thinks goodness will save her. That obedience is protection. Her theory won’t pan out well. The Trials don’t reward compliance. They reward spectacle.

That’s why tonight matters.

I take her hand and guide her down the corridor to the dining room. The manor hums around us, holding the day’s heat in its bones. Gold candlelight spills through the arched doorway ahead. This room has watched generations of Crotaveres break bread, make decisions, and decide who would be protected and who would be fed to the wolves. It’s never been just a room for dinner.

Zaiya’s fingers shift slightly in mine as we near the threshold.

“What if they don’t like me?” she asks, her voice soft enough that it doesn’t carry.

I glance at her profile and the way her pouty lips push together when she’s nervous. The pressure is mounting.

“Make them.”

When we step inside, the room stills around us. All eyes are on her, as they should be. Regal poise trying desperately to cover up her angelic innocence.

The table gleams beneath a crystal chandelier, dark wood polished to a mirrored shine. High-backed chairs stand in perfect alignment, too rigid to feel welcoming. Everything is presented as controlled and untouchable. Not a typical family dinner, but a play put on to resemble one.