A Savage Debt (The Beholden Duet #1) - Zoey Ellis Page 0,20

the law, and fucking everything we come across!”

She winced at the sharp tug at the base of her neck as he yanked her head to one side. It was difficult to look at him in such a position, but she could feel him watching her and she tried her hardest to levy her most baleful glare in his direction.

A rumble came from his throat, and it cause a spark throughout her body. “So the puppet speaks passionately.” She didn’t miss the mocking sarcasm heavy in his gritty tone. “And her choice of words are... interesting.”

“Whatever you’re here to do, just do it,” she snapped. “Do you think this display will tarnish me any further than this entire agreement already has? Any more than having your disgusting cock shoved into my mouth?” The words came out of her so quickly and fervidly, she was shocked by them, but she tried not to let him see it.

“Things can always be made worse, Analisa.” His voice vibrated close to her ear. “Always.”

Ana’s mouth tightened. At this point, she didn’t care. The idea he was saying these things about her, about her father, had dulled some of numbing fear that had been paralyzing her. He couldn’t be allowed to get away with making statements like that to the commoners. It was a bold attitude to have, considering the reason why she was there and her inability to truly do anything to stop him. Both her father and Milly had told her not to provoke him, but she was quickly losing any reason to care about what he might do her. In court Maddoc had been simple, if not somewhat straightforward, in his request. He wanted to debase the king’s daughter by using her for three nights to seek whatever relief he was after. Based on the crowd before her, clearly it was more than that. He wanted to embarrass her as much as he could, tear her down, shred her reputation, and make her completely unfit for queen. Who would want to wed her now when everyone had seen her body?

So now, she was too angry to care about holding her tongue and being a “good” princess. Fuck it. What ever he wanted to do to her, she would fight as hard as she could against him. She wouldn’t make it easy. After all, his agreement was with her father, not her, and their agreement was to spend nights with her—but she didn’t have to take it submissively.

“Then make it worse,” she said, the taunt heavy in her tone, as she glared at him. The problem was, of course, he was significantly larger than her. Nothing she could do would be much of a fight for him.

The outlaw’s head tilted, very slightly, something changing in his eyes

“You told my Father I am of unmatched value to gold, riches, and even a pardon,” she said hotly. “Now you’re saying I’m worthless. Which is it?”

“You are worthless to rule the kingdom, yes. But not worthless to everyone. Your tight pussy is still worth fucking.”

Ana was so furious she could form no words. She stared out of the window, at the crowd and tried to ignore him.

The crowd outside built steadily, until guards finally arrived. When they saw where the crowd was looking, they tried to do their best to disperse the commoners, but the outlaw simply chuckled. “Trying to drag a crowd from a naked woman is like trying to drag an alcoholic from his mead. The scandal is too great for them to care about the consequences. Especially when they are in a crowd.”

“So you’ve done this before,” Ana muttered, her disgust evident.

“It’s not that hard to figure out how people will react.” He grabbed her hips and pulled her against him tighter. “They are predictable. Just like you.”

“I don’t care if you think I’m stupid,” Ana hissed. “I’d rather be that than a murderer and rapist. I heard you fuck animals as well.” It was childish thing to launch at him, but it made her feel better.

The outlaw peered down at her. “Yes, I can see you’d be the type to enjoy folktales for children. Is that what the book is?”

Ana tried to glance at her book on the bed, but he held her too tightly. “That book is a great feat of modern storytelling, not a folktale.”

“For you to even believe that an Alpha like me would need to fuck animals throws your intelligence into question, princess. You have an entire library at