Page 185 of Auctioned

I just wanted him dead and out of the way.

For Ophelia, this is personal.

This is for Baylor, a girl she hardly knew. For Oliver’s sacrifice twenty-two years ago. For Camden’s mom.

We’re a lot alike, her and I. Much more than I’d care to admit.

Except she has a heart. I don’t.

“James.” The color has drained from Oliver’s face. “Help.”

He’s still frozen in place. There’s no need for me to come to Ophelia’s rescue.

She has it covered.

I’m so fucking proud of her that I could kneel behind her and fuck her like that. While she’s stabbing Oliver.

“You’re a bad man,” she hisses, and his eyes cut to her. My entire body is on high alert. “A fucking rapist. Worse than that.”

At the sound of her voice, he jolts. His hands are in the air, fingers curling. Reaching for my Ophelia’s neck. “And you’re a dead girl.”

“No.” I get up at the exact moment she yanks the knife out of his throat.

Blood comes flying out of the gash. It splashes onto her face and her neck. Soaking the front of her dress. So much of it.

Her eyes are wide open for this. She doesn’t cower from the onslaught of blood. From having it cover her.

She knew she hit his jugular. My good girl listened carefully when I taught her about human anatomy.

He’ll bleed out in a matter of minutes.

But he’s still coming for her. His large hands are on her neck.

Mine.

I grab him by his hair, tug, and slam his head on the back of the chair.

“James.” My name is garbled. Blood sputters on his lips. On his shirt. His body spasms uncontrollably. “I w-w-was right.”

“Fuck you.”

Ophelia pushes the handle of the knife into my free hand. I shoot her a glance. Relish the adoring look in her eyes. The fact that she’s there, on her knees.

For me.

My feral queen.

The woman who’s both the end and the beginning of me.

I return to the man who’s bleeding out on my chair. His life is about to be snuffed out of his eyes any minute now.

“This is all on you.” My last words to him. “I asked you to end this tradition. You wouldn’t. Instead, you had me stalked. You waited for the opportunity to get me for breaking the rules.”

“Camden,” he whispers. “Don’t hurt him.”

Like me, his heart beats for one person and only them. In his case, it’s his son.

“Owner.” Ophelia’s hand latches on to my thigh, her voice pure seduction.

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