Page 93 of The King's Maiden

I stared blankly at the black Amex nestled atop my blanket, blinking away sleep and feeling like the pretty female hooker in that movie where the rich guy picks her up off the streets. Frowning at the card, I pinched it at the corner and inspected it. It had Landon M. Scott inscribed on the back—notKingston D’Arthur this time.

Landon shifted uncomfortably at my reaction. “You could grab some books to read while you’re here?”

My eyebrows rose.

The offer intrigued me, but it sounded a little too good to be true. With my luck, he meant books for research on Arthurian legends. Or how-to guides likeServing Your Lord and Master: For DummiesandA Good Girl’s Guide to Preserving Her Virginity.

I side-eyed him. “What sort of books?”

He huffed a laugh. “Any books you want, Maiden.”

At that, I perked up immediately. I’d whore myself out for a set of special edition hardcovers if the offer was on the table. No shame. I picked up the card before he could rethink his kindness, sliding it into the pocket of my sleep shirt.

After huffing my way to the chaise last night, I’d gotten back up when I couldn’t sleep and put one on just to annoy him. He’dlaughed, his eyes still closed from where he’d been resting on the bed. But the way he wrinkled his nose when he eyed the garment now made me feel much better.

He grumbled something that sounded suspiciously likeburn them allas he turned to leave the room.

“Thank you,” I called out. When he turned around, I nodded toward my pocket. “For all the books.”

He nodded in return and left the room.

An hour later, I was dressed, armed with iced coffee, and surrounded by a pile of books I’d had on my TBR list for the last year.

It wasliteralheaven.

And yes, that word did mean what I thought it meant.

Gia popped by during a break in her summer class schedule. Skin flushed from the hike across campus, her honey-blonde hair fell out of her scrunchie as she weaved through the bookstore to join me. Taking a seat on the floor beside me, she held out her hand expectantly.

I dug into my pocket and passed the heavy black credit card over.

“You’re telling me he just handed this baby over to you and said go buy any books you want?”

I nodded, biting my lip.

“Damn. That’s it. Marry him. Wife him up. Let him have your babies while you take his name and this card and build your dream library. There’s really no other option.”

“Gia!” I laughed, dropping my voice to a whisper. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

“Good point. I wouldn’t be surprised if they all have those.” She stuck out her tongue. “No need to buy the bull when you can get the black card from his friends.”

I was pretty sure that was a joke. But the whole thing with Landon’s credit card made me more uncomfortable the longer she stared at it with stars in her eyes. Glancing down at the large pile I’d collected, I couldn’t help but feel like maybe I was taking advantage a little.

Since that feeling would pass when she left and I no longer had to think about it, I pushed it aside. No self-respecting smut reader walked away from a hot guy offering free books, right?

“Gia, I might be in over my head here.”

“How so?”

I gestured around me. “Unlimited spending on books? Too many orgasms to fucking count? I mean, if he were just trying to lure me to the dark side with cookies, I’d be able to resist. But this?”

“So much better than cookies. Mixed metaphors aside, he found your kryptonite.”

“Exactly. And it doesn’t help that he looks like he fell off the pages ofDark and Broodyweekly. I lost the battle in resisting him sexually, but if he finds and exploits all my weaknesses, I’m going to catch feels.”

“Who could blame you? After this, I might be in love with him.”

I buried my face in my hands.

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