It would be completely over for her.
“Are you certain? It’s just one word,” the prince cajoled. “C-o-c-k.”
“I just can’t.” But she was laughing this time. At the same moment, the prince reached for her, his fingers twining with hers, and Fawn stilled.
“What?” the prince bristled.
“You’re holding my hand,” Fawn said dumbly.
The prince’s teeth gnashed together. Trust Fawn to say what was embarrassingly obvious.
“Why are you—-”
“Stop saying it,” the prince cut her off irritably. “You’re just making me feel more juvenile.” His fingers tightened around her. “It’s all I can let myself touch. Okay?”
Silence.
Then—-
“You’re so sweet,” Fawn blurted out.
The prince’s grip started to tighten painfully.
“I mean, sweetly...cruel?”
Ah, if only he could kill her without hurting her. “Just stop talking,” the prince said grimly. “You’re only going to make it worse every time you open your mouth.”
A full minute of silence passed.
“Prince?”
He knew it. She wouldn’t be able to shut up. She never had been able to, so why did he even think this time would be different?
“I’m sleeping.”
“I just want to say—-”
“Don’t say it.”
“—-thank you for being so nice.”
Dammit. He could feel color staining his cheeks at the sweet sincerity in her voice, and his balls started to ache at the need to have that sweetness surround his cock. Glaring at her in the dark as the need for revenge filled him, he said darkly, “Thank me with your body tomorrow.”
Fawn gasped.
“Make sure you scream really hard while you’re at it.”
Another gasp.
“And while we’re at it, I also want you to say, I want your conana every time I thrust—-”
“Oh my God, I’m going to sleep.” She flipped to the other side, turning her back on the prince, and grabbed the ends of her pillow to cover both her ears.
But the prince wasn’t finished. “Yes, you should have as much sleep as you can since I won’t let you sleep a wink tomorrow night. I’m going to explore every inch of your pussy, and you’re going to suck my conana—-”
“LA, LA, LA!” She sang off tune to drown the sound of his words.
The prince laughed. “Good night, parthena mou.”
“You’re evil,” Fawn mumbled. “Everyone in this stupid house is evil.”
“Sweet dreams.”
“Evil.”
But a minute later, and the prince actually heard Fawn start to...snore.
Unbelievable.
He rose up to a sitting position, wanting to know if she was just faking it, but one look at her face told him that she had really fallen asleep.
Unbelievable.
It was their first fucking night to share a bed, and while his cock felt like it was about to burst out of his pants any moment, Fawn had fallen asleep like a baby.
The prince slowly shook his head. Unbelievable. And yet, he was more amused than angry.
He looked down at her hand, which still clasped his even in her slumber, and his smile faded.
Fawn.
She really was here with him.
But was it the right thing to do?
His phone vibrated against the bedside table, interrupting his thoughts and forcing the prince to carefully pull his fingers out of Fawn’s hold. Taking the phone off the table, he stepped out to the balcony to avoid disturbing her sleep.
“What is it?”
Noah reported his findings. “It’s not yet a hundred percent confirmed, sir, but we’ve enough reason to believe Davos has offered a bounty for anyone who can kidnap Beatrice Crichton.” Noah’s voice became grim. “Dead or alive.”
“If he thinks that will get me to give Beatrice Crichton up, he obviously doesn’t know me well enough.” The prince’s gaze turned hard. “Stay on top of this, Noah. But in the meantime, I also want you to triple our security.” His place was a fortress that had never been breached but even so, he wasn’t going to take any chances, especially with Fawn living here.
“Yes, sir.”
“Have the safe house on the island prepared as well, just in case we need to transfer her.”
“Understood, sir.”
When the call ended, the prince slowly walked back to his bedroom. For one long moment, he simply stood over Fawn, watching her sleep. He had thought he would have more time with her, but the way things were going—-
A month, the prince thought.
At most, he would have a month with her before he had to take action and make sure that Beatrice Crichton would be out of Davos’ reach until she took the witness stand in court.
The prince’s fists clenched.
A month to make memories with her, a month to pretend that he deserved someone like her before he let the dream go. A month before he had to remember who he was—-
The Prince of Darkness.
And people like him always stood alone.
****
“Time to get up, parthena mou.” The prince’s low murmur slowly woke her up, and when Fawn felt the prince sweep her off the bed, she simply snuggled closer and sleepily wrapped her arms around his neck.
Don’t think, she reminded herself drowsily. The prince told her that overthinking would make the pain worse so from now on, she was not going to think. She wasn’t even going to let her brain function in any way. She was just going to go with the flow, and that was that.
When Fawn felt the prince lower her to the floor, a startled sound of protest escaped her as she felt the icy cold marble under her bare feet. Wondering where the prince had taken her, she forced her eyes to open—-
OH MY GOD, I SHOULD HAVE USED MY BRAIN!
The prince had taken her to his private bath, and right beside them was his marble-inlaid hot tub.
“W-what are we doing here?” Fawn stammered.
“What do you think?” As the prince smiled at her, that was the only moment she noticed that he was wearing nothing but a black towel wrapped low on his hips. Everything else was completely exposed—-
Completely.
His broad shoulders, his rock-hard chest that was packed with muscles, his strong long legs—-
Fawn’s senses started to swim in a familiar sensation that was both painful and glorious at the same
