Ruthless King

She sucked in a breath.

“But I will guard you with everything I have. People need to fear me . . . so they know that if they even look at you strangely, they will suffer. Do you understand now?”

She did. It still worried the hell out of her, though. However, now she was scared for him.

Because what would he have to do to protect her?

“Do not worry about me. I know what I’m doing. All I need from you is to be that soft spot for me. To be the place where I can let the monster go and just be Jilly’s Regent. Where I can feel safe peeling back the darkness and letting some light in. You. You’re my light, precious girl.”

She blinked her tears back, amazed that he thought she could be that for him.

“I’ll do that.”

“And you’ll let me protect you how I see fit.”

She hugged him tight. “Yes.” At the end of the day, it would be her sacrifice for being with him.

And she was willing to sacrifice almost everything for that.

“I’m not your father or mine. I don’t hurt innocents.”

“I know that. I know you’re not like them. You think you’re a bad person, but I know that you’re my hero.”

He shook his head, but she didn’t let him speak.

“And the reason I was sitting here instead of getting changed is because I’d just realized that I was going to have to bare a whole lot of skin. And I was trying to think of the last time I’d worn something that didn’t completely cover me. Well, other than when I was Nyx, obviously. And I was thinking about why that was.”

He tilted his head. “I assumed this was your style.”

“Looking like a sack of potatoes?” she asked dryly.

Regent flipped her over onto his lap and landed five hard smacks on her ass.

“Hey!” she cried as he turned her back over. “That hurt!”

“That wasn’t a real spanking. Just a warning. Do not speak badly about yourself.”

It had sure felt like a real spanking. And now that the initial pain and shock had worn off, she found herself pressing her thighs together as her clit beat in time with the throb in her bottom.

Still, she didn’t think she wanted to experience what he considered to be a ‘real spanking’.

“My father used to insist we dress like this. After he died, Mama’s style changed. It became brighter. She wore shorts and tight tops. And . . . I’m just wondering why I didn’t change.”

“Maybe you’ve never had a chance to decide what your style is.”

She thought he was probably right. It had been easier to dress this way because it was what she knew. Not because she liked it.

“There’s something I don’t understand,” he said.

“What?”

“When you got up and danced as Nyx, you didn’t wear much. Well, at the beginning of the dance, you wore a long dress, but underneath that . . .” He tightened his hold on her with a growl.

“I know,” she said in a high-pitched voice. “I never thought I’d be able to do that. But somehow, I could because I wasn’t really me. I was Nyx, you know?”

“You were still you,” he stated. “And all of those people saw what belongs to me.”

He was such a caveman sometimes. Actually, no. A caveman wouldn’t wear those suits. Or look at her with such arrogance. As though the world should fall at its feet because he deserved it.