Lorelei POV

"What?! Are you crazy? What a perverted asshole."

Those were the words I actually wanted to scream directly into his face.

But because he was the Alpha King, the words died in my throat before they could escape, and all I managed to choke out was:

"W-What?"

That caused one of his brows to rise.

"Was I not clear enough?" he asked as he took a step forward, but this time, I actually took one back.

"I want to have sex with you. Fuck you. We’ve already done it once, so it shouldn’t be a problem if we do it again. On a continuous basis."

I physically cringed.

With how terrifying the Alpha King was supposed to be, and after everything I had personally witnessed, I never would have expected him to speak so bluntly.

So crudely.

As if he were discussing the weather or negotiating a trade agreement instead of talking about something as intimate as...

No.

I wasn’t even going to finish that thought.

The only reason I hadn’t thrown up yet was because, unfortunately, he had a very handsome face. Looking at him didn’t make my skin crawl, even if the words coming out of his mouth absolutely did.

Even then, the sheer audacity of what he was saying left me staring at him in complete disbelief.

"What happens if I refuse?" I asked, daring to test the waters as I desperately tried to figure out my options.

At that, Kaelen’s amber eyes darkened slightly, and his pupils dilated.

He didn’t look angry.

If anything, he looked dangerously amused.

"Let’s see," he said thoughtfully. "You entered my chambers, which is a highly restricted area. If we’re being technical, that alone is enough for a death sentence."

A soft gasp escaped me.

Not only because of the horror of hearing those words, but because of the sheer absurdity of them.

I had just spent the last ten minutes explaining exactly how I had been tricked into entering his chambers, and he was acting as though none of that mattered.

"So you’re saying you want to sleep with me in exchange for my life?"

The sentence sounded even more ridiculous when I said it out loud.

"You’re smart," he replied, and the corner of his mouth curled upward. It wasn’t quite a smile, but it wasn’t his usual cold expression either.

For some reason, that made me even more uncomfortable.

"I’ll assume you’ll make a smart choice too."

This wasn’t a choice.

Not really.

If I actually weighed my options, one side was death, and the other was...

Well.

That.

My fingers twitched nervously at my sides.

Still, despite the fear clawing at my chest, I forced the word out.

"No."

"No," he repeated, a slight twitch appearing in his brow, and before I could react, he took another step forward.

Then another.

And another.

Until my lower back hit the edge of his desk, and I had nowhere left to retreat.

"I’m not a hooker, a sex slave, or whatever it is you think this is," I said, forcing the words out despite how intimidating he was. My life might have been a complete disaster, but I still had my dignity, and I wasn’t willing to trade it away so easily. "What happened was a mistake. You were drugged. I was tricked. I was also affected by your scent, I never would have crossed that boundary if I had been in my right mind."

"Really?" he asked, placing both hands on the desk on either side of me, completely trapping me in place and causing my stomach to twist. "Then what about now?"

The question made my breath catch as, in the next second, he began to release his pheromones.

The effect was so strong and sudden that the air in the room instantly turned to liquid fire as the overwhelming scent of cedarwood washed over me. It flooded my senses so quickly that my head began to spin.

A gasp lodged itself in my throat. The scent was everywhere. In the air, in my lungs. It flooded my nose, my mouth, sinking deep into my skin, causing my pulse to stumble, and heat rushed through me so suddenly that I struggled to think.

"I... I don’t think this is legal," I managed to say despite how deeply affected I was, but even hearing my own voice sounded strange.

My knees were trembling. My breath came in shallow gasps until every instinct inside me was pulling in opposite directions.

One part of me wanted to run.

And the other wanted to stay exactly where I was, to surrender to him.

"What do you know about law?" he asked, a dark amusement creeping into his voice, followed by a breathy chuckle vibrating against my lips.

But he didn’t move away. If anything, he seemed even closer than before.

"In my empire, I am the law. Everything within these borders bends to my will."

His gaze locked onto mine.

"....Including you."

A shiver ran through me at that, and my head involuntarily fell back a bit while my vision blurred for a second as the heavy scent surrounding me made it harder and harder to focus.

It wasn’t a fair fight.

My mind was screaming at me to push him away.

To tell him exactly what I thought of him.

To wipe that arrogant expression off his handsome face.

But my body seemed determined to ignore every ounce of common sense I possessed.

"Didn’t you say I was bad in bed?" he added quietly, and my eyes widened in horror.

But before I could fully snap back to my senses, he bit down on my earlobe, sending a sharp spark of pleasure straight to my core. A moan almost slipped out, but I forced it back down.

"That slander alone is enough to have you severely punished," he growled, making my stomach flip even as that strange heat from that night pooled between my thighs once again.

"How... how did you..." I wanted to ask, but my words trailed off when his hand suddenly gripped my hips and pushed my dress up until I could feel his fingers pressing firmly against me through my underwear. The moan I had been trying so desperately to hold back finally escaped.

"There it is," he murmured, his lips brushing against my jaw. "That sound. I’ve been thinking about it for days. I can hear it clearly now."

I gasped and tried to twist away, but the drug made my limbs heavy and slow. My toes curled, and my back arched as he pushed my panties aside.

His touch felt cool against my overheated skin at first, but it quickly turned scorching as he stroked my slick folds, coating his fingers in my unwanted arousal until he was able to slide one finger in with ease.

Unlike the first time, it did not hurt. My body accepted it far too easily, stretching around him with a wet sound that made shame burn across my cheeks.

Then he slid in a second finger, and this time my walls tightened around him, resisting even as pleasure shot up my spine.

Seeing that, he nipped the skin below my jaw, making me wince. My body relaxed for a split second, but that was all he needed to push deeper, curling his fingers perfectly against that spot inside me that made my vision blur.

In and out, he began moving slowly yet deeply inside me. My thoughts clouded over completely, the drug mixing with his touch until resistance felt like a distant memory. Combined with his mouth at my neck, sucking and biting at my skin, it was almost unbearable.

Fuck.

I felt trapped somewhere between heaven and hell.

Soon enough, I lost myself completely, and my hips started moving on their own, chasing that building pressure.

Soft, desperate moans spilled from my lips with every movement.

I hated it.

I hated how good it felt. But I could not stop myself, especially when I felt that familiar tightening low in my belly. The tension wound tighter and hotter, and just when I thought it was about to break, he suddenly pulled away.

A broken whimper escaped my throat at the loss.

"No—" I gasped, not even realizing I had spoken out loud.