Page 13 of Pawn of the Cruel Princess
My meal is done, and I wipe my lips with the cloth napkin. Her eyes fix on my mouth—and then her gaze trails slowly down over my chest. I flex subtly, tightening my pecs and abs while I set the plate on the hearth.
I’ve seduced my share of women, all colors, shapes, and sizes. I can find something beautiful and desirable in anyone. Perhaps that trait will aid me in this role. Despite her denial, I suspect that at some point I will be getting up close and familiar with the Princess’s body, and I may as well begin acclimating both of us to the idea now.
She hasn’t loved anyone romantically. But— “You’ve had sex, of course?” I ask, nudging the fork so it lies straight across the center of the plate.
When she doesn’t answer, my pulse quickens. I whip my gaze back to her face, grinning. “Why, Princess, are you a virgin?”
“Stop looking at me like that,” she snarls.
I drop the smirk, letting heated desire seep into my gaze. “Shall I look at you like this, then?”
She leaps off the bed and stalks toward me, where I sit by the hearth. There’s a regal intensity about her that kicks my heart into a new rhythm. I breathe a little quicker and tip my face up, anticipating—
Her hand flashes, smacking my cheek hard. She grips my jaw. “Don’t look at me anymore tonight,” she hisses. “You’ll sleep here on the rug. You only move if you need to relieve yourself. Don’t come any closer to my bed. Make a move I don’t like, and Iwillchain you up.”
I want to rise to my full height, push her back against the wall, show her who the true master is here. But I grit my teeth, lower my eyes, and mutter, “Yes, Princess.”
She reaches out quickly, and I nearly recoil on instinct, but she’s merely unlatching the collar around my neck. She sets it aside on a small table. “Tomorrow I’m taking you to Khal. He’s well-known in the city for having skilled, obedient thralls. He can give me some ideas for training you.”
“That sounds delightful,” I mutter.
“The sarcasm will have to end.”
“Of course. I’m grateful for the opportunity to change my entire personality for Your Highness.”
“Go to sleep, thrall.” She whirls and stomps away to the bathing room. After a few minutes she returns, douses the lamp, and climbs into bed, turning her back to me. She doesn’t offer me so much as a pillow or a blanket.
As a soldier, I’ve learned to fall asleep quickly, under almost any circumstances. This plush rug in front of a low fire is far more comfortable than some of the places I’ve slept.
Sometime during the night, I wake to the Princess standing over me, kicking me in the ribs with her bare foot.
“You’re snoring,” she hisses, her eyes snapping with anger. “Shut up.”
Without thinking I catch her bare foot by the ankle. “Apologies, Princess.”
She freezes, standing there on one foot with her other foot entirely in my power. “Let go of me.”
My head is drowsy with sleep. I’m not thinking clearly. I only know that I have the Princess off-balance, literally, and that the fine bones of her ankle feel tantalizingly breakable in my hand. With my other hand I touch her toes. They’re tiny, soft, slightly crooked. Her foot has a high arch, and its sole is calloused, especially the heel.
The firelight forms a soft, flickering haze around us. I feel as if I’m in a dream. So I do what dream-Ducayne would do—I tug sharply on that pretty foot.
The Princess sways, her arms flailing, and falls on top of me, chest to chest.
She’s light. Soft. Warm. My palms finds her waist instinctively.
Her hand slams around my throat with crushing force. “You’re attacking me now?”
My battle instinct surges. I want to throw her off, and I could. But I force myself to be still, to keep my hands gentle as they drift down to her hips.
She’s choking me tighter, and gods, my dick is reacting like it did when she was torturing me and speaking in that soft, wicked voice.
I can tell the exact second she feels my hardness against her core, pressing through the material between us. She tenses all over, and her eyes flare with fury and alarm.
“You’re insane, Captain,” she whispers.
Back at you, Princess.But I can’t say it, because her thin fingers are shockingly strong and my airway is completely cut off. My eyes roll back, and my grasp on her hips tightens as I struggle not to fight her. I could throw her off me so easily, press her against the thick rugs and drag that nightdress up her legs—
She shifts astride me, and my cock thrills. I’m far too sensitive—haven’t jerked off in days.
