Page 25 of The King (Masterpiece Duet 1)
I still remember the boy he was, so fierce and alone.
What would I want with a puny kid?
He said that to me so I wouldn’t be afraid of him. It worked.
It worked too well, because even knowing what he’s become, what he’s capable of, I’m not afraid when he’s near me. My body feels electric, my breath comes short, but not from fear.
I place my hand on his arm. The first touch. Heat arcs from him to me, along with a jolt of boldness. “What would you want with a puny kid?” I ask him.
The corner of his mouth turns up. “You’re in over your head.”
Dark water. Sharp rocks. I lift my chin, determined not to let him bring me low. “That’s probably true, but I know a secret. You are, too.”
He moves so quickly I can’t anticipate, can’t defend against it. Suddenly I’m up against the bricks, the coolness against my back, his hard chest an inch from mine.
“My sweet Penny. So smart. So pretty. So fucking little. And you’re right.” His words are low, bouncing off the bricks as if they’re coming from the night itself. “I lived so long underwater that I became a part of it. I rule this place.”
“Then what are you afraid of?” I ask softly, knowing it’s true.
Because the body in front of me, the arms that hold me in. They’re flesh and blood.
“You,” he says.
It doesn’t seem possible. I’m a poor village girl. He’s the prince. How could I pose any danger to him? But when he lowers his head, it feels almost against his will. As if he’s being moved by some unknown force, denial and frustration in the air. His lips brush my cheek, barely a soft touch. Chaste. Innocent. Earth shattering.
“It doesn’t matter, even if you give Daddy an extension. He has other debts. And he wants me to do this big poker game with him. He says—”
“Wait. The big poker game? How did he even get the buy-in money?”
I look away, my cheeks turning hot. My insides a terrible churn.
“Let me guess,” he says, his voice dark. Something moves in his eyes, a shadow beneath the waters. “He’s going to use you.”
It’s hard for me to say yes. Hard for me to look Damon Scott in the eye now that he knows. Impossible for me to reconcile the daddy who loves me with one who would do this. “He thinks we’ll win.”
“You won’t. And it’s not worth the risk. Do you know who’s running that game?”
“He came to the diner.”
A sharp breath. “After I did?”
“Yes.”
“What did he do to you?” His gaze sweeps over me as if he can see beneath my dress. “Are you hurt? Have you seen a doctor?”
“He didn’t touch me.”
“You’re lying.”
I spread my hands palm up, as if that proves something. “He came and ordered a slice of pie.” I shrug, not wanting to add about the coffee. Or the hundred-dollar bill. “I recognized him right away. I’m pretty sure he didn’t recognize me from that day on the playground.”
“Good,” Damon says tightly. “Stay away from him.”
I had given up more dignity in those fifteen minutes than actual sex would have been. Preparing his coffee and fetching pie he had no interest in eating. Only so he could watch me. I had known it was wrong, but I hadn’t known how to stop it. Never again.
“If I do the game I don’t have a choice,” I say, “but either way you don’t control me.”
“About this I do.”
I don’t know where the impulse comes from, but challenge sparks in the air like electricity. A touch, not with skin but with energy. I can feel him pulsing five feet away from me. “Or what?” I ask softly.
His black eyes narrow. “You want trouble, baby genius? Is that what you’re after? Because I know a way you can get a little adventure and help me find my father.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’ve been looking for him for years. Didn’t you know that? Trying to trap him. To hunt him down like the fucking animal that he is.”
“For what he did to you.”
“For what he did to everyone,” Damon says, his voice scathing.
He doesn’t need to spell it out. “And you want me as bait.”
He looks almost sad. “You always were smart.”
So smart that I had to hide for years. It might seem like a small thing. Only numbers. Only breathing. I’ve been in shadows forever, my skin pale, my eyes hungry for the sun. “I’ll do it.”
He runs a hand through his hair, mussing the silky strands. “No. Forget I said that.”
“I can’t forget. This is too important.”
“It’s not safe for you, not if my father has his eye on you.”
“He had his eye on me ten years ago,” I remind him. “I got away that time.”
“Only because—” Damon’s voice cuts off, but I can hear the rest. Only because he protected me. Only because he sacrificed himself. He wouldn’t do that again. Why would he? “I can’t risk it again.”
