Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 94782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
“I think you left something behind.” The heel dangles from my finger, and she eyes the glittering shoe with a nervousness that betrays her wish to escape this situation.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she says. “That isn’t mine.”
The vein in my neck hums. If there’s one thing I refuse to tolerate, it’s a liar, and I can’t figure out how in the matter of a few moments, she’s already sentenced me to her dishonesty.
“If it’s not your shoe, then you won’t mind me testing that theory.” I take a step forward, and she shrinks beneath my shadow.
“But why?” she challenges. “What does it matter one way or the other if it is my shoe?”
“Because you’re a little liar.” I glare down at her. “And I don’t have patience for liars.”
“I’m not,” she declares, shaking her head so righteously, I’m tempted to beat her ass black and blue right now to teach her a lesson.
“So, you’re telling me that you didn’t use a ticket with someone else’s name to gain entry to the ball?” I demand. “You didn’t lie to the palace guards, and me, about who you really were?”
Her face pales, and when I kneel before her, reaching for her leg, she tries to scoot away from me. My fingers clamp down around her ankle and drag her back, and she shrieks about the same time the kitten darts away.
“This won’t take long.” I pry off her pathetic little shoe and slip the heel onto her right foot. Sure enough, it fits like a glove, and she’s practically quaking with fear when she opens her mouth again.
“Please don’t tell anyone,” she begs. “I didn’t mean any harm. I was only trying to help the sanctuary, and if you tell anyone—”
“I’m not going to tell anyone. But you have to do something for me.”
Her eyes widen, and she considers my words carefully, awareness coloring her voice when she speaks again. “What would I need to do?”
“What are you willing to do?” Against my better judgment, my fingers caress the soft, creamy skin around her ankle as I remove the heel and replace her shoe.
“I… I don’t know,” she says. “Do you have something specific in mind?”
“Have you always been so naïve?” I lean into her, my fingers gripping her jaw. A breathless sound escapes her lips, and her pulse comes alive for me, throbbing with panic.
My cock is so hard I could fuck her for hours, but not yet. There’s a time and a place for my depravity, and they are both elements I need to be able to control. Reluctantly, I let her go and stand.
“I have a proposition for you,” I tell her. “Something that can save you from the repercussions of your deception and help your precious sanctuary too.”
Her eyes light up, hope shining like a beacon in the darkest ocean. “You’re going to help me?”
“I can help you. But you have to do something for me.”
“What is it?” She rises and grabs the kitten, who has snuck back into her orbit.
“Come with me, and I’ll tell you.”
She hesitates, eyeing me like a shark in the water. Little does she know how true that is. “I can’t come with you. I have to get home, in fact…” She checks the time on her phone, and alarm seeps into her features. “I’m so late.”
“Who’s waiting for you at home?” I ask, not out of curiosity but necessity.
She hesitates but thinks better than to lie to me again. “My stepmother and stepsisters.”
“I’m sure they won’t mind your absence a while longer.”
“No, you don’t understand.” Her panic rises. “I’m sorry, but whatever it is will have to wait.”
“I think you must have me confused with someone else.” I laugh darkly. “I don’t wait for anyone.”
Indecision paralyzes her, and if I had to guess, I’d say she was weighing the balance of her indiscretions. It doesn’t take her long to figure out that whatever strife is waiting for her at home can’t be worse than the potential for punishment of her actions at the royal palace.
“Tell me what you want,” she pleads.
“Tell me your real name.”
She considers it for a moment, and I’m half expecting another lie to spill from her pretty lips before she finally answers.
“Ella,” she says. “My name is Ella Laurent.”
“Ella,” I repeat, rolling the word over my tongue. “Good. Now, Ella, I’m going to give you a ride home. Where are you going?”
She chews on her lip, holding the kitten hostage against her chest. “I only live a few streets away. I usually just cut through the field.”
“And today, you won’t.”
She glares at me, and there is a spark of fire in her that I already know I’m going to enjoy stoking. When she concedes, I almost regret the battle being won so easily.
“Okay, but only to the end of the lane. I don’t want my family to see.”