Page 45 of Hearts on Fire

“Bright like fire.” He clicked his tongue approvingly. “A day before my final victory, the gods sent me a human with the hair of royal color.” He looked around with a self-assured smirk. “The gods want me to win.”

His men cheered, raising their wine goblets. With the king’s permission, they started choosing their women. Once every one of them had asalamandraperched on his knee, the king dismissed the rest of the women.

Even without looking at the exitingsalamandras, I felt Zenada’s stare at me as she left the room with the unclaimed.

Thirteen

AMBER

The king kept inspecting his “gift from the gods.” Holding my chin, he turned my head this way and that. His fingers then trailed down my throat.

“Not a speck of fae shimmer anywhere,” he muttered under his breath. “Yet, technically, she looks so much like us.”

Technically.

I rolled my eyes—the gesture that probably would earn me a few stern words of worse from him, except that the king was no longer looking at my face.

He tugged at the laces of my robe, opening it. Sliding the robe off my shoulders and down to my elbows, he effectively trapped my arms at my waist. Next, he dipped his hand into the neckline of my shirt.

I jerked my arms back, shaking off my robe completely to free myself, then slapped my hand over his, stopping him from progressing any further.

He shot me a surprised look.

Arching a reddish eyebrow, he snarled into his beard. “You want to play, little human? That may be fun, some day. But I’m not in the mood right now.” He swatted my hand away, as if it were a pesky bug. He then undid the clasps of my dress and shoved it down my arms in a similar fashion as he’d done with the robe, trapping my arms. “Now, stay put and let me look.”

I bit my lip so hard it bled as he ripped my shirt open. Then, his rough hands were on my chest.

“These are nice,” he murmured, kneading my breasts and rubbing my nipples. “Though I prefer them bigger. Maybe the hag can do something about that.”

Repulsion surged through me in a foul swell, making my stomach roil. Speechless from shock and burning with shame, I twisted my torso away from him, evading his hands.

“Sit still I said.” He turned me back to face him, but I couldn’t look at him, keeping my head turned away.

Olanna, another woman from the Sanctuary, was straddling the thighs of the man on the perch next to the king’s throne. Her dress was also undone. The ties of her shirt were open. Leaving her breasts exposed. The man played with her pink nipples as she ate cherries from a small metal dish. Olanna looked completely unfazed by his attention. Absorbed by her meal, she allowed the man to use her body however he pleased.

Clearly, I was expected to act the same.

“How much are you like us?” the king mused. “Would you feel wet and hot inside likesalamandrasif I fucked you?”

He pinched my nipples, then rubbed them with the pads of his thumbs. The caress was firm but gentle enough to cause an echo of an unwelcome physical reaction in my body. I winced and squirmed in his lap, trying to shift away.

The king took it as a sign of excitement.

“You liked that?” He smirked.

“No,” I bit out.

His eyes flashed with cold anger. He grabbed my chin again, forcing me to look at him.

“Don’t youeversay ‘no’ to me, woman,” he snarled in my face. “If I hear it again, I’ll personally cut your tongue out.”

The force with which he said it left no doubt he’d do it. I drew in a shaky breath, fighting the fear that gripped my throat.

“That’s better.” The king’s voice was thick with satisfaction.

I closed my eyes, wishing for it to be over. It had to be over sooner or later. Everything had its end.

He hiked up my shirt and shoved his hand between my thighs. His touch was rough. It hurt. The pain spurred my anger, making me forget about caution. Choking with disgust, I grabbed his wrist and twisted his arm as far as the dress around my elbows allowed it.