Page 10 of The Villain We Tempt

I really don’t have a choice.

My arms drop to my side as I drag in a rasping, tight little breath.

The Ghost Prince says nothing. But, again, even with his face and eyes covered by that mask, I canfeelhis heated gaze sliding over my exposed skin.

The seconds tick by, until I feel like I’ll scream from the building tension.

The Ghost Prince sets the phone down on one of the arms of the chair. Then he brings up his hand, palm facing up, and beckons me with two fingers. When I stay where I am, he does it again.

“Come here, little villain.”

I shiver.

The Ghost Prince just turns his head and looks significantly at the phone sitting on the arm of the chair.

Goddamn him.

I force myself to take a step toward him.

“No. Not like that.”

I stop abruptly when he speaks, and I bite down on my lower lip as I force myself to keep my hands clenched at my sides instead of hugging my bare chest.

…Which he’s clearly lookingrightat.

“I don’t understand,” I choke in a tight whisper.

The Ghost Prince raises a muscled, tattooed arm, running his palm over the smooth material of the mask that covers his whole head.

“On your hands and knees,” he says. “Crawl to me.”

What?

“I—”

“Now, Galina.”

My lips purse as my gaze slips from his blank, masked face to the phone on the armrest. My jaw sets.

“What happens when?—”

“You’ll find out when you get here,” he practically purrs through the vocoder.

For a second, I find myself wondering what his actual voice sounds like. Is it deep, like right now, or is that just the modulator? Is it warm? Confident? Or Is it screechy and nasal-y and awful, andthat’swhy he's altered it?

“If you think stalling is going to change anything…”

He trails off. We both know he doesn’t have to utter the threat.

The phone sitting silently next to him is doing that just fine.

My tongue slips out and wets my lips. My fingernails dig into my palms as I squeeze my hands into fists at my sides, feeling his eyes on my bare tits.

I hate that he’s right, but he is. Me stallingisn’tgoing to change his mind.

And so, feeling like I’m watching from outside my own body, I slowly lower myself to my hands and knees on the floor. The Ghost Prince rolls his shoulders, settling into his chair a little more and resting his masked jaw on the “L” of his thumb and forefinger.

Watching me.