teach him about my courses—something he should already have had access to—and now he planned to add me to his harem and teach me defensive strategies reserved for Vigils.
“Because you’re going to be my little secret warrior,” he replied, his eyes twinkling. “You’ll be the ally no one will anticipate.”
“Ally?”
“My ascension won’t be easy.” He drew his fingers through my hair, his eyes following the movement. “There are those who want to kill me, as you’ve just experienced. And you, my sweet pet, are going to help me slay them all.”
The prey becomes the hunter, I thought, mulling over the concept.
How had this become my life? My fate? How long would he keep me? Would I die at his side? Die because of him?
Would I die even faster without him?
My stomach twisted at the notion. He wanted to train me how to kill others. Perhaps I could use the knowledge to defend myself instead. To escape. To finally be free.
And go where? I wondered.
I couldn’t answer that.
Ryder stood and held out his hand. “Now come, it’s time for you to shower. I’ll make you some plain chicken to eat afterward since I know my other food has been hard on you. We’ll work up to it.”
This vampire baffled my mind, yet I found my palm rising to meet his. Warmth spread up my arm at the touch, the fire reigniting inside me. He tugged me up to my feet, his opposite hand finding my hip to steady me.
“You took sexual arts classes, yes?” he asked, his palm leaving my hip to press into my lower back. My chest met his bare torso, his heat a welcome blanket to my senses.
“Yes,” I whispered, my throat suddenly tight.
“Good,” he replied, releasing my hand to cup my cheek. “You’re going to need that training in Silvano City. Because I intend to take full advantage of it.” He pressed his lips to the edge of my mouth before gliding along my skin to my ear. “Try to use this week to prepare yourself properly, Willow. I’m not an easy lover, and I will be grading you on your technique.”
My stomach flipped, his words showering me in a sea of warmth and fury.
I wanted to argue and fall to my knees at the same time.
It was a perplexing reaction that rendered me speechless, something he translated as acquiescence.
He led me upstairs without another word, his palm a fiery reminder against my lower back.
I had a week to figure this out.
A week before he expected me to perform.
And if he was like all the other royals, he didn’t just mean with him, but with others. They notoriously shared their harems with higher-ranking officials of society.
Could I handle that?
Was I prepared?
Would my training kick in properly?
My knees shook as we entered my room. One glance at the bed had my thighs clenching, and not from fear but from the prospect of what Ryder intended to do to me.
This isn’t what I want, I told myself. Yet that voice sounded weak. Unprepared. Terrified.
Because some part of me deep down did want this, and that was the part that scared me the most.
“Strip,” Ryder said as he escorted me into the bathroom. Rather than watch me comply, he focused on the shower.
It gave me a moment to catch my breath.
Then I remembered his demand, and heat suffused my skin once more.
I had no choice but to obey, which wasn’t my problem. Naked, I could handle. It was the evidence of my arousal that I wanted to hide.
He already knows, I whispered to myself, recalling his superior senses. He can smell it.
That thought made my mouth go dry.
Rather than overthink it, I pulled off my shorts and shirt, refusing to acknowledge my shame at reacting to him. It was just another way for him to win, and I refused to give him that victory. Although, I really wasn’t sure what game we were playing here, or if it was a game at all.
He placed his hand under the spray and nodded. “It’s ready for you.” Then he turned and ran his eyes over my body, his heated gaze falling to my mound. “You’ll need to shave before we leave. I’ll find you a razor.”
“And if I don’t?” I asked him, feeling the need to stand my ground for reasons I couldn’t identify. It just seemed natural to fight him. At least a little.
His lips curled as he stepped into my personal space, his strides forcing me to back up into