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Tread very, very carefully.
Choosing my words with deliberation, I said coldly, “You’re not wrong, but you’re also not right. I asked to join your club, after all. I want to be who I truly am, but I can’t help it if I’ve been conditioned to play nice.”
“That conditioning will fade, you’ll see.”
I shrugged. “But what if that conditioning is the only thing keeping us human? If we all gave in to what we truly wanted, the world would be run by thieves and sinners.”
“Or the mess of society would be forced to conform to the natural order of things.”
“Natural order?” My forehead furrowed.
“Tell me, Henri, what happens in a forest that has no predators?”
Roland leaned back and scratched his jaw, no doubt used to this spiel and enjoying the entertainment.
I glanced at Ily. She never took her eyes off me.
Two men wanted me to admit all the darkness inside me, while a small, breakable girl wanted me to prove that whatever she’d felt when she first saw me was the truth. That she’d been right to let me affect her. That she wasn’t broken because she was wet for me. That she wasn’t stupid for agreeing to sell herself to me for one delectable night.
I wished I could lie and convince her that I was the good guy.
But even if we weren’t on a plane about to take off—if I hadn’t agreed to traffic her into a world where she would never be found, or condemn her to a future full of pain and damnation—I wouldn’t be able to pretend.
Tearing my attention from her strained, beautiful face, I answered Victor’s question. “If there are no predators, the ecosystem fails. Prey animals breed too fast. They swarm the area. Devour all the resources. Without a threat to keep them running and an enemy to eat them, their sheer numbers destroy everything.”
Victor slapped his thigh and pointed at me. “Exactly!” City lights twinkled past outside the oval windows, revealing we were in a small queue of larger aircraft waiting to gallop down the runway. “Couldn’t have said it better myself. The food chain needs predators and prey. If there are too many of each, the other cannot survive. Balance. It’s all about balance.” He grinned at Ily. “I’m merely providing balance to the rampant breeding by a species that has no natural enemies.”
“You are one twisted man,” Ily muttered. Her eyes narrowed with bravery even as the airplane’s engines switched from a purr to a fuselage-shaking thunder. She gripped the armrests as we lurched forward, plummeting down the tarmac, racing away from gravity’s hold.
“Twisted?” Victor shrugged. “I prefer to think of myself as enlightened.”
“You are the exact opposite of enlightened.” Ily fisted her hands so hard her knuckles popped. “You dwell in shadows and think you see the fucking light.”
“I do see the light.” Victor chuckled. “Each time I climax in a pretty jewel like yourself, I touch nirvana. You’ll see. You sit there and judge me, but soon you’ll be above all that. You think you won’t come too? That you won’t feel pleasure? That you won’t beg to be fucked? I hate to tell you, but your body will betray you well before your mind, but your mind will soon follow. And once that happens, your heart will give in too. You’ll find peace in submission. Joy in service. My jewels exist in a state of permanent arousal because they’re no longer trapped by fear. You don’t have to work for a wage, worry about rent, or lie and cheat to get ahead. You will revert to what you truly are: prey. Prey whose only purpose is to please the predator who owns you.”
Ily opened her mouth to say things I had no doubt would get her hurt.
I moved before I fully thought about the consequences.
Grabbing her wrist, I yanked her hand into my lap and pressed it against my never-deflating hard-on.
Her wide eyes flew to mine. She fought to get free. I merely held her tighter. “He’s right, you know.” I rocked my hips into her unwilling palm, shuddering at how good it felt to take rather than ask. “I felt it myself. You were wet. You clenched around my finger like a greedy little—”
“Fuck. You!” She fought, but I didn’t let her go.
I leaned into her, fighting the devil inside me. “I think you’ll find I’ll be the one doing that.”
Roland laughed. “And I can’t wait to watch.”
“I’ll stab your eyes out with a fork before I let that happen,” Ily snapped.
“Now, now.” Roland held up his hands in mock surrender. “Don’t make threats you can’t deliver on, pet. It’s a personal joy of mine to prove them empty.” His gaze shot to Victor, his voice lowering with need. “Victor, sir, I know you’ve given her initiation to Henri, but can I request second breaking?” He shifted in his chair, his trousers tenting. “I’m open to being one of her teachers.”
Teachers?
Merde, what did that mean?
My hand clenched around her fragile fingers still pressed against my cock.
