Page 329 of Coal Hearts

My hands curled to kill him.

Knowing he’d touched what was mine.

Been inside what was mine.

It made me homicidal.

Not noticing my glower, Ily rose higher on her knees and looked toward the stage. No doubt trying to see if Peter was the lead star again. Her shoulders relaxed a little as she noticed the chosen boy, then tensed as she recognised the Viking-looking slave marching around in a tool belt and low-slung jeans.

She seemed as uninformed as I was, which didn’t make sense as she’d spent two hours with the jewels.

Shredding some chicken with my fork, I bent down and offered it to her.

She turned to me with a gasp.

“Did you have a nice afternoon?” I asked softly, pressing the tines against her lips.

She opened just enough for me to place the chicken on her tongue.

My cock went rock fucking hard the moment she bit down.

Chewing, she shook her head. “No.”

“No?”

She swallowed. “Everyone was still serving. I spent the afternoon alone.” Something flickered in her eyes. Something that summoned an answering flicker inside my chest.

“You could’ve spent it with me.”

“Thank God I didn’t,” she shot back. That little flicker again. A little smoulder. A shimmer of need.

Just like I was a fast learner of what got her off, I’d started cataloguing her tells.

Gathering another mouthful, this time a perfectly seasoned potato, I fed it to her and whispered, “You’re frustrated, little nightmare.”

“What?” She reared back, the potato fat in her cheek. “No, I—”

“Liar.” Ignoring Victor’s glance, I cupped her nape and pulled her into me. My mouth landed on her ear. “You made me come so hard this afternoon, I completely forgot to return the favour. You needed to shatter too. You still do. I smell it on you. I see it in your eyes.”

“You’re mad.” She flinched and tried to pull away. Chewing the potato, she swallowed hard. “Get off me.”

I only dragged her closer. “Did you get wet from me spanking you? Is that what’s got you so hot and bothered? Why you’re sitting there so quiet and still? You don’t want to move because every twitch reminds you that you’re needy and greedy and dying for me to spread you open and stick my tongue deep, deep inside you.”

She jolted. A breathy little moan. “No. I mean...hell no. I hated you hitting me. I—”

“You were wet. I noticed your arousal before you hid it with your t-shirt.”

“No, I—”

“Let’s see, shall we?” Tossing my fork onto my plate with a clatter, I dragged her up by her elbows. The suddenness in which I scooped her from the floor and draped her on my knee ensured she didn’t fight. But the moment I turned her to face away and spread her legs over my thighs, she stiffened into ice.

Victor smirked and fed a few mouthfuls to Rachel by his feet.

He didn’t interfere, and the porno began at the top of the ballroom. The guy prowled toward the girl. She wore the scantiest sundress and clung to a dishtowel as if she were a meek little housewife about to be ravaged by the handyman.

Drawing out Ily’s discomfort, I turned to Victor. “Who’s playing tonight?”

Victor dragged his gaze down Ily’s body, spread and trembling on my lap. “Kirk and Suri. A Norwegian boy I stumbled upon a few years ago trying to score ecstasy in the wrong place, and a Persian girl who was given to me in a trade for an alexandrite gemstone.”