"I'm serious," I murmured, my eyes trailing slowly across Rose's face, down to the angry rise and fall of her chest. "I really do want to check if the rest of you is perfect."
I could see her pulse racing, the flutter of her veins beneath her smooth skin. It was almost intoxicating, this fear and defiance she wore like a crown. But she had no idea what she was up against.
"You really think you can just... ignore me?" I murmured, stepping even closer and closing the space between us.
I could feel the heat of her body, her breath hitching every time I inched closer. But she didn't move away. She didn't flinch. Instead, she held her ground like a goddess on trial. She didn't even back down when I stood a breath away.
She was infuriating. She was perfect. And she had no idea what I was capable of.
Her mouth fell open with an indignant little breath that thrilled me more than it should've. "Don't you dare touch my body."
That defiant voice was so damn satisfying. Not because she was scared. No. Fear was easy and predictable. But her? She was a firecracker.
"You forgetting something?" I tilted my head, letting my gaze darken as I stepped toward her again.
She tried to stand straighter. I liked that. The fight in her. The dignity. Too bad it wouldn't get her far.
"I own you now. I bought you. You're mine. I can do anything I want to you and with you."
She flinched like the word burned her. "Return me to the convent then," she said bitterly. "I'd rather go back to that stone prison than lie in bed with a monster like you."
I laughed sarcastically. "Oh, sweetheart, you're already here. There's no going back."
She gaped at me, mouth open, like she couldn't even begin to comprehend the depth of what I was saying.
I smirked. Okay then, let's have it her way.
I took a step toward the door, glancing over my shoulder. "Maybe I should go back and... cut off more fingers. That seems to get people's attention around here."
One… two… th-
"Don't you dare!" she hissed, and I could see the way her hands clenched into fists at her sides, as if she were fighting against the desperate need to rush forward and stop me.
The victorious smile that curled up my lips was petty, but I couldn't help it.
"You're really not in a position to make demands, sweetheart."
She paused for only a heartbeat, then her chin lifted as she folded her arms. "Fine. What do you want?"
I turned back toward her, my heart suddenly beating so fast in my chest, because for the first time since I met her, I wasn't sure what I wanted. The answer was so simple, but it still caught me off guard.
"I want you to breathe. Just breathe and let me do everything," I whispered in a softer tone but with that commanding authority I'd always worn.
Rose's breath died. She shook her head, but she didn't pull away. She didn't run too.
"Fine," she groaned, her voice bitter as she let the words slip from her lips.
I could feel the way the air in the room was heating up as she stood there, rigid but willing. I was certain she hated every second of this. She probably hated me, too, but something told me that it didn't stop her from wanting me just as much.
I stepped into her again, close enough to feel the warmth of her skin even through the thin cotton of that virginal white dress. I traced my hands up, fingers brushing her hair. Those soft but thick curls coiled around my knuckles like they were made to be held. I leaned in, closed my eyes, and inhaled deeply.
Sweet hell.
Her scent. It wasn't just soap and flowers. It was… something else. Like firewood and jasmine and a thread of something warm, like the start of rain. It made my head spin, sent heat coiling through my gut.
Why did her pheromone smell like hard drugs to me? Why did she smell better than every human, every wolf, and every woman I'd ever touched?
"Fuck," I whispered against her hair.
She almost recoiled in what I was sure was shame. She probably hadn't been held that way before. Oh, hold up.
Her file said she had a stepfather who used to molest her… always raped her before she broke his head.
That's my girl.
However, I knew she had never been touched in this way like this. Deeply. In-depth.
"Why does your scent affect me so damn much?" I muttered more to myself than to her, brushing the hair between my fingers and playing with it.
Rose's eyes were wide, still full of fire and defiance, but I could see the crack in her armor. She wasn't just angry anymore. No, I could see this confused curiosity dancing behind her gaze. She didn't want me close, but she wanted to understand. She wanted to know what this was between us.
I let my fingers trail from her hair to the hem of her white dress, tugging it just slightly, teasing the edge of fabric between my fingertips. The subtle shudder in her body didn't go unnoticed, but I didn't care. I was too lost in the sensation of touching her, of knowing I could make her feel something… anything, by just the softest of gestures.
I dragged the pad of my finger along the curve of her arm, over the sleeve of her dress, then down to the cinch at her waist. The fabric was cheap. Probably convent-issued. But on her, it looked obscene. Holy and sinful all at once.
She didn't move. Didn't push me. Not even when I began to slowly peel the material down over her shoulder.
"I should've bought you sooner," I murmured, tracing her skin with the back of my knuckles.
She shook. "You don't own me. You just rented my body. My soul was never up for sale."
Oh, if only you know how wrong you are, little one. But I won't tell you. I'll show you.
"You should consider yourself lucky. You're going to be the Queen.You're not just mine – you're going to be royalty. An Alpha's breeder. My queen, with blood on her hands and power in her voice. That power, I'll give it to you. Enough to do whatever you want. Take anything you want. Command anyone."
Her eyes snapped up to mine at that.
Wait.
Was she… thinking? Was she plotting?
I could see her pulse quickening, her breath growing shallow, but her eyes remained fixed on me. She wasn't flinching. She wasn't pleading. She wasn't the frightened little girl I thought she'd be. No, this was someone else entirely; someone who might just be capable of breaking me if I wasn't careful.
She didn't back away when I touched her. She didn't push me away. In fact, I felt her lean into me a little, and I knew she was holding herself together with everything she had.
I circled my palm around her bare shoulder, caressing until it went lower to her chest, and I was clutching her breasts.
Holy shit… it was big. Huge. Way more than one would expect of a twenty-year-old.
I half-expected her to slap me as I pressed it into my palm, spit in my face, scream bloody murder. But instead, she surprised me again.
"Anything I want?" she asked quietly.
My eyes dimmed.
"Yes," I said, amused. "Anything."
She wet her lips, eyes burning now with something very different from fear. "Then I want something."
Now, now, now, would you look at that? Bargaining, are we?