Queen Takes Rose (Wicked Villains #6) - Katee Robert Page 0,7
I harmed the girl, most of the territory leaders would turn on me. Even Ursa might, and she’s been my closest friend for years.
I lean back and cross my legs. “I have no intention of damaging your little princess, Hades. I just want to play with her.”
“Why now?”
I shrug, feigning nonchalance. “Now’s as good a time as any. Word has it that her bargain with you is almost expired. It’s my last chance to enjoy her.” Enjoy her. Such simple words that don’t come close to describing the fire in my blood whenever I’m around that pretty submissive. It’s been years since that single scene we shared, and I can barely be in the same room as her without wanting to wind her colorful hair around my fist and drive her to her knees. To make her cry and beg and orgasm. She ignites all my worst impulses, tempts me to forgo the control I value so highly.
If I were less stubborn, I’d let her go. Nothing good can come of having Aurora in my home for two weeks, but I have to risk it if there’s even a chance I can purge this burning desire from my veins. Moreover, a small, secret part of me wants to indulge in this selfish thing.
It’s been so long since I wanted something that I couldn’t take simply by the nature of who I am. Twenty years. Two decades of having everything I could possibly dream of at my fingertips.
Hades shakes his head. “The contract starts tonight. In one week’s time, I will either send one of my people to check in with Aurora, or you can bring her here. If I’m not satisfied at that point, you will forfeit the remainder of the time with her.”
“So protective,” I murmur. “Do you think I’m going to cut her into little pieces? Surely you know better.”
He holds my gaze. “I wouldn’t put anything past you, Malone. Anything. Better that you understand the consequences before agreeing.”
His determination to think the worst of me might sting if I hadn’t spent half my life curating a reputation that I am not one to be fucked with. Fear accomplishes as much, if not more, than violence does. Make a few examples of people and suddenly you have much less conflict on your hands. Another lesson from my mother. If only my sister had taken that particular rule to heart, she wouldn’t be dealing with the shitshow going on in Sabine Valley right now.
I push the thought away. There’s no point in worrying about my nieces and little brother. There’s nothing I can do to assist the situation while I’m here in Carver City, and trying to interfere will only make things worse. It doesn’t mean the knowledge sits comfortably, though.
Not that any of that matters right now. It’s simply time to stop denying myself Aurora. I wave a lazy hand in his direction. “I agree. She’ll be returned to you in the same condition she’s delivered.”
His jaw clenches, but he manages to resist the urge to threaten me again. “Do you have specifications for what she should pack?”
“That won’t be needed.” Two weeks ago, when I finally decided to do this, I made all the necessary preparations. “Aside from anything personal she needs to stay overnight, I have everything taken care of.”
He stares at me a long moment. “Very well. Wait here.” He rises and moves around the desk, striding to the door.
It takes everything I have not to turn to keep him in my line of sight. The man is a predator, and offering him my back goes against all my training. I resist. It’s a power play, and getting out of my chair as much as admits that I don’t trust him not to knife me in the back. That I’m afraid of him. Unacceptable.
The door opens and closes, but I don’t relax. This office undoubtedly had cameras set up, and as tempting as it is to rifle through the desk, everyone knows that this is only Hades’s public office. He’s too smart to keep anything damning here where anyone could come sniffing and find it.
Instead, I fall back into an old habit of my childhood. The first lesson my mother taught me was patience, and there’s little more torturous than a child being forced to sit for long hours without any entertainment. It took me weeks before I realized that there was a point to the exercises. An observant person can tell a wealth of