Page 32 of In Darkness We Claim

“Well, I might have reconsidered,” she states, and that flicker suddenly grows into a burning ember.

“What does that mean?”

She lets out a huff as she rolls her eyes at me, and my palm twitches with the need to punish her every time she does it. “It means, I will be your Prize, but I have conditions.”

I narrow my gaze at the beautiful girl, wondering where this confidence has come from. “What conditions?”

“I know who your father is. Your family name is legendary within the Order, and you have connections that most members couldn’t even dream of. I need you to use them to help me.”

I can’t keep the confused expression off my face. “I don’t understand.”

Everyone knows my father is a member of the Obsidian Council, and he doesn’t exactly hide how well-connected he is. In fact, it’s part of the power he wields over people, but I’ve been very careful not to use my family name at all over the last couple of years.

Every assignment I’ve passed since joining the Crows has been through my own merit. I’ve never once used my family’s connections, or wielded the Radley name as a weapon, so I’m not sure why she thinks that’s something I’d be willing to do.

“My father is innocent, and I need you to help me prove it,” she rushes out.

My mouth falls open in shock, as that was probably the last thing I expected her to say. I haven’t been following her father’s case, but from what I’ve heard, there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that he’s guilty. It’s actually more confusing why the Order hasn’t taken him out yet.

Just as I’m about to argue with her, a small voice in the back of my mind tells me not to. She’s offering to be my Prize, which is exactly what I want.

Yes, I’ll have to make it seem like I’m helping to clear her father’s name, but when it becomes obvious that he’s guilty, and the Order ends him, she will have already been gifted to me, and there’s no turning back from that. This is the perfect agreement—I really don’t have to do much, and I still get everything I want.

But I have to make sure she knows what she’s getting into by agreeing to be my Prize. Shuffling closer to her, I fight to hold back my smirk when her breathing speeds up from my proximity.

Once my lips are beside her ear, I rest my hand on her opposite cheek, smoothing her hair away from her eyes as I whisper, “Are you sure you want this, sweetheart? If you gift yourself to me, I won’t go easy on you. I’ll use you, dominate you, before ruining you for all other men that come after me. Are you prepared for that?”

I’m close enough to hear her breath catch in her throat as she lets out the tiniest whimper, which seems to have a direct line straight to my throbbing cock. Harper shuffles slightly, and I can’t help but wonder if she’s rubbing her thighs together to alleviate some of the ache she’s feeling between her legs.

“I will do whatever it takes to clear my dad’s name,” she replies, her voice low and breathy.

I pull back just enough to make eye contact with her, smiling when she doesn’t shy away from the intensity of my gaze. “I hope he’s worth it, sweetheart, because I’m going to fucking own you. I want to bring every dirty fantasy you’ve only dared to dream about to life. I’m going to learn to play your body like it’s an instrument that only I can master. I’ll make you my whore, and you’ll love it so much, you’ll beg for more.”

I watch as her cheeks flush, but I’m not sure if she’s embarrassed or turned on. Given the rapid rise and fall of her chest, and the ragged breaths she desperately pulls in, I’d say she’s just as turned on as I am.

With her firm gaze locked with mine, she finds a confidence that I really wasn’t expecting. “I know I’ll have no choice but to do exactly what you say, and I’m sure there’ll be some stuff that I’ll even enjoy. But I can promise you now, I’ll never be your whore, and I’ll never beg you for anything.”

I can’t help but laugh at her fierce tone, and the way she’s trying to cut me down with her deadly gaze. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see, sweetheart.”

She glares at me, her nose wrinkling at my use of the nickname she pretends she hates. “So, we have a deal? I’ll be your Prize, and you’ll help me clear my dad’s name?”

The side of my lip lifts into my signature cocky smirk, and I try to ignore how much my heart is racing as excitement builds within me. I never in a million years expected to have Harper Westmore as my Prize, but now it’s happening, I plan to grab it with both hands and never let go.

“Are you sure you want to make a deal with the devil, sweetheart? There’s no going back once you do,” I tell her, even though I have no intention of letting her back out now. I just want her to be very sure that she knows exactly what she’s agreeing to.

“There’s nobody in this world that I care about more than my dad, and if that means doing a deal with the devil, then so be it. All I can hope is that the flames of hell don’t burn me beyond recognition when it’s all said and done.”

Obsidian Order members get everything they want in life, even if they have to take it by force. As a Legacy Pledge, this is something my father taught me from an early age. Nothing is out of reach for a Radley.

So when I met Harper two years ago, and found out she was off-limits to me, it was a completely new feeling, not being able to get what I want. But the most disturbing thing is that I didn’t know why I wanted her so much.

Bram has been hinting that the only reason I’ve been obsessing over her is because she’s off-limits. That age-old saying that you want what you can’t have. And maybe he’s right. Maybe if I fuck her once, she’ll be out of my system and I can move on. But I’m not so sure. I think my obsession with her will only grow once I finally have her—and that’s fucking terrifying.

So, I’ve been playing the long game, hoping one day to make her mine in whatever way I can, and in just a few hours, everyone will know who Harper Westmore belongs to.

It’s the day of the Gifting Ceremony, and she’s finally going to be mine. Not only will she have to announce that she’s mine to all the Obsidian Order Pledges, from all four Houses, there will be senior Order members there too.

But it’s more than just saying the words; she’ll have to demonstrate her willingness to obey me. She’ll have to prove to everyone that she means every word of the vows she will have to take. That she is freely giving every part of herself to me, for me to do with as I please, until we both graduate.