Page 38 of Coveted

“What part don’t you understand?”

His icy-ocean eyes regard me as though he does this every day. Having a woman kneel at his feet mustn’t be a new sensation for him.

“You want me to sit on the table?” I repeat. “That’s your order?”

He grunts. “So you did understand.”

The table is low, made of thick glass, and that’s about it.

Confusion cuts through my anxiety. Why the hell does he want me to sit on it? Will the glass break, engulfing me in shards?

He can’t be that cruel, can he?

“That’s it?” I ask.

“Not quite. You must sit there for ten minutes.” A shadow crosses his sharp, handsome features. “And you’ll remove your underwear first.”

He flicks a switch on a discreet panel on the wall. The black-glass platform beneath the table lights up, and I realize it’s not actually black glass.

It’s a mirror.

“Oh god,” I choke out. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am,” he says.

“You want me to sit on the glass table, above a mirror? With no underwear on?”

“Yes.”

“But you’ll see everything.”

His eyes gleam as if he’s enjoying every moment of my horror. “That’s the idea.”

“No fucking way. Sick creep.”

“Sure. You can refuse.” He pauses, filling me with dread. “But if you fail this order, you owe me another three in its place. It’s your choice.”

“Some choice.”

My mind spools through possibilities, searching for an escape.

I could leave. Just get up and walk out of here. Never look back.

The rules are made up anyway. All rules are, when you think about it.

But then what? I sit in my dorm room, never doing anything out of the ordinary? Maybe even leave Darkbloom because I don’t belong? I would have to try to forget my wondrous, terrifying glimpse of this world.

I’ll never forget though. I would always wish I’d been braver, because as long as I’m at Darkbloom, I have a chance of reaching the life of my dreams. If I go back, I have nothing.

Professor Worthington’s chant repeats in my head.

Abandon safeness, all ye who enter, and watch how you thrive!

The professor probably didn’t mean showing my pussy and ass to a billionaire’s heir, but it would definitely count as branching out.

If I obey the order, what’s the worst outcome? Lucan has something over me? He acts like he has something over me anyway, so this won’t make much difference.

I take a deep breath. “If I say yes, what would you do?”