“What don’t I know about you, Lola?” His eyes darkened for a second before he leaned down and kissed me softly. His lips tasted like salted cherries and I was unprepared for the shock that ran through me as his tongue entered my mouth, smooth and steady. I reached up and grabbed his neck to stop from falling to the ground as my legs started shaking. His eyes laughed into mine as he continued kissing me. I didn’t kiss him back, but I wasn’t able to stop him. In that moment I couldn’t think or act or do anything. I didn’t care who he was or what he wanted. All I could think about was the fact that his lips were on mine and burning a deep desire down into my soul, and then he pulled away. I groaned involuntarily and he laughed as he studied my red face.
“I want to know everything about you, Lola.” His fingers traced a line down my face as he stared at me intently. “I’m not going to let you leave until I know everything.”
And that’s when the ground beneath me felt like it was shaking, like some sort of earthquake had hit. Suddenly, I was afraid and totally aware of my environment. I wanted to cry out in shame as I realized what I’d just done and felt. I’d let him kiss me, intimately. And for a split second I’d enjoyed it. For a split second his intensity had overwhelmed me. And that is when my body started trembling uncontrollably. Suddenly, it struck me that this man might be the one person that Xavier had been trying to warn me about. Maybe Prince Stephan was the one I should have been worried about. Maybe Casper was nothing but an innocent distraction. Maybe Stephan was the top dog. Maybe that was why Casper and Violeta had not stopped Xavier from attending tonight. Maybe they were nothing but pawns to be ignored and discarded.
“Tell me your deepest desire and I’ll create your darkest fantasy,” Stephan said, and I didn’t know how to respond. I didn’t want to respond, but my imagination was running wild. Was he propositioning me?
“Wh-What are you talking about?” I stuttered, my eyes wide. I didn’t anticipate his swift reply or how quickly he would pull me into his arms again.
“Spend one week with me. Let me pleasure you and show you how I can make your fantasies come to life.” His blue eyes looked dark with desire as he stared at me with such intensity that I wouldn’t have been surprised if bolts of fire had emanated from him. All of a sudden I was taken back to what Casper had said to me in the room in Delmar when he tried to convince me to have a threesome. Hadn’t he said something similar? Hadn’t he also wanted to take me on a sexual journey? And then I realized that this was the game. They were trying to get me. I was the prize. Or rather, I wasn’t the prize, but the goal. Whoever ended up with me was the winner, even though I wasn’t important to Casper or Stephan. They were trying to usurp Xavier. Xavier had brought me here for a reason. He trusted me. He trusted that I could play the game and not fall under Casper or Stephan’s spell. Unlike Violeta. Violeta had fallen for Casper and then gotten pregnant. Only she had been discarded by all of them because Xavier had never really cared for her. Not like he cared for me. He’d been right. This world was dark and scary. And I wasn’t sure that I was prepared to play the game. I was attracted to Stephan in a way I hadn’t been attracted to Casper. It was easy for me to say no to Casper, but I knew it would be harder with Stephan, even though I didn’t want him mentally. There was just something about him physically that drew me in and mesmerized me. Something that made time stand still and made me forget exactly who I was and what I was doing. And that scared me. I’d never been so inexplicably drawn to a man. Not even Xavier, though I’d thought of him as a sex god the first time I’d seen him.
“What do I have to do during that week?” I asked softly, my voice a whisper as I answered him. I couldn’t believe we were having this conversation. Or rather, I couldn’t believe that I was having this conversation with him. I couldn’t believe I was playing this game, letting him think that I was actually entertaining the idea of spending a week with him.
“Submit.” He growled as he leaned toward me. “All you have to do is submit.” He grabbed my wrists and pulled them up above my head. My heart beat fast as his fingers dug into my skin. I could feel my chest rising and I watched him staring at the exposed parts of my breasts.
I swallowed hard as I stared at his handsome, brooding face, and I knew exactly what my answer was going to be. I knew exactly what my answer had to be if I wanted to find out all of his secrets and how far this game was going to go. I wished that I could speak to Xavier. I wished that I could find out what he wanted from me. “So what do you say, Lola?” He dropped my hands and stepped back. “Will you spend the next seven nights with me?”
I nodded slowly and I watched as a wide smile spread across his face. He looked away as a flash of excitement and power invaded his soul. I looked down and tried to hide my smile. I had him where I wanted him. Prince Stephan actually believed that this was the beginning of his wicked week with me. He actually believed that he was going to succeed where Casper had failed. He believed that I was going to capitulate to him and forget Xavier. He believed that his sex appeal meant more to me than my love for Xavier. He had no idea that I had other plans. He had no idea that he was the one who was going to get played. I just hoped that whatever games Xavier had planned wouldn’t extend past the night. I knew that Xavier had to have known that I would be tested. And I knew that he had faith in me. I was going to play along for now. I was going to see what happened next.