Page 29 of Her Dark Promise

“You wouldn’t be the first to try and guess what happened to them? I killed them all.” I clenched my teeth together, then got a funny idea. “Si hoc incidas, tunc valde stultus es.”

I laughed at my own joke, he growled, “What did you just say?”

Loosely it could be translated to our language to mean,If you fall for this, then you are dull-witted.

I replied, “You will never leave this castle. I have placed a spell on you binding you to these lands. You can’t leave.”

He squeezed my throat tighter. “You’re lying!”

I continued to smile at him as a chill ran through me. Everything about this was exhilarating. I knew I shouldn’t be enjoying it, but I was.

“No, I’m not.” My voice was so low that I wasn’t sure if he could hear it.

He was desperate, so desperate that I could feel it, as thick as the fog outside.

“If I kill you—”

“I can smell the desperation on you.” I laughed in his face, as much as the restricted movement would allow. “I can’t die. You think I haven’t tried over the years?”

I squirmed a bit under him to test exactly how strong he was and he didn’t disappoint, but I could tell that he was still weak. He wasn’t strong enough to fight me in his current condition.

My words changed his features and softened them for a moment, but he quickly shook it off. “I could beat you with one hand tied behind my back,” he seethed.

“I think you are too weak to fight.” It was slightly difficult to talk around my throat being constricted like a snake.

I could see that he was determined and wasn’t likely to take no for an answer. I was curious to see what his next move would be.

“I want to fight,” he growled.

“I have magic.” I was surprised that he would propose such an asinine idea.

“I amnotafraid of your powers.”

“No, it seems like you aren’t.” I saw something in him I liked, perhaps a bit too much. “Even if you kill me, I have placed a spell on you so that you can’t leave.” I could see that he was fighting with himself, his grip loosening, wondering if I was telling the truth. “Sure, I could be lying, but is that something you are willing to risk?”

He took a moment to think about what his next move was. His thighs gripped my stomach tightly, his large form hunched over mine.

I stared into his moss-green eyes and waited when he finally asked, “Care to make a wager?”

This male had officially piqued my interest. This was the most fun I’d had in a long time.

“A wager?”

“If I win, you’re dead and I am free to go back to my village.”

“And if I win?”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “That won’t happen, so there’s no use in worrying about that outcome.”

“It’s only fair that we talk about theslimchance I have at beating you.”

“Coin.”

I looked at him pointedly. Was he slow-witted? He seemed to realize that would not be something I could want and sat silently on top of me, his hand still firmly on my throat.

“The wager is off. You have nothing to offer.” I didn’t move from under him, too curious about what he would say next.

He closed his eyes out of frustration, tired of wasting more time, and gritted out, “You win, you can do whatever you want with me.”

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