Page 43 of Hallow’s Crown

He laughs again, but softer. “That’s why you fucked me?”

I shake my head. “I fucked you because I wanted to. The rest is just context.”

He steps forward, closer than before, matching my movement.

“Am I your asset, then?” he says.

I circle him, slow, predatory. “You are my project.”

He lets out a breath. “And what happens if I fail?”

I stop behind him, close enough to touch. “You won’t.”

He turns, so we are face to face again.

I see the question in his eyes, but he’s too smart to ask it. Instead, he picks up his glass, sips, then sets it down.

He says, “You talk like you’ve already decided.”

I nod. “I did. The minute you survived the first hour, I knew you were mine.”

He breathes in, a slow, calculated draw. “So what now?”

I smile, the first real smile all morning.

“Now you learn how to live in my world,” I say. “Starting with the rules.”

He waits, patient. Always patient.

I lean in, close enough our foreheads almost touch.

“Rule one: never lie to me.”

He says, “I don’t lie.”

I believe him.

“Rule two: never disobey, unless you want to be punished.”

He tilts his head, considering. “Sometimes I want it.”

“That’s allowed,” I say.

He grins, blood back in his lip from where he chewed it.

“Rule three,” I say. “You never belong to anyone but me. Not even yourself.”

The words land, and he blinks, once. No fear. Just a flicker of something like hunger.

I step back, give him space.

He stands a little straighter, the way a man does when he knows he’s being watched.

I pick up the water, take a sip, then toss the rest in the sink.

“Any questions?” I ask.

He shakes his head.