King of Me (The King Trilogy #3)(4)
Author: Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

Regardless, goose bumps broke out over my skin every time I thought about that conversation. Stefanos had called me King’s “queen.” So archaic. The real rub, however, was that from the first moment I’d met King, he claimed me as his personal property. Even went as far as placing his stamp—a “K” tattoo—on my left wrist. Later, I’d learned he could control and track me with it, which seriously pissed me off. I wasn’t his. I never would be. And a tattoo wouldn’t change that.

Neither will a house, I thought, because I’m not for sale.

I entered the large open living room with white modern furniture and panoramic windows overlooking the ocean. King stood with his broad back to me, staring out across the waves, a glass of champagne in one hand and unlit cigar in the other. “You are correct in your assumption, Miss Turner.”

“Can we go back to ‘Mia’? I think we’re a little past the formal stage at this point.”

He nodded, but did not turn to face me. “As you wish.”

“Which assumption?” I asked.

“It is true; I had everything constructed in anticipation of your arrival, hoping you might want to call it home.”

I sat on the white couch and folded my hands neatly in my lap, mulling that over. There was no use in pretending his statement didn’t affect me, because King could hear my thoughts. There were no secrets. In fact, because he’d crawled around inside my head and body on several occasions, he knew more about me than I did.

“So how did you know I was coming?” I asked.

He stood perfectly still and spoke quietly, as if reliving the memories in his head. “I felt you growing closer with each day, just as I felt the Artifact’s presence.”

I quickly shut down any thoughts or emotions blooming inside my chest that might urge me to believe I meant something to him. I didn’t. To him, I was a means to an end and nothing more.

“All right,” I said. “So I’m here now, in the home you built for me—”

“For us,” he corrected and turned to face me. I wished he hadn’t, because I found it extremely difficult to stay focused when he looked at me. Fact was, the man did things to me—to my body. Even now, completely in control of my emotions, I felt the sensual heat pooling between my legs and deep inside, like some messed up Pavlovian response. Only, my brain and heart were not on board.

Idiot body.

But that was the conundrum about King I couldn’t figure out. It wasn’t like I ran around swooning for hot men, completely discounting their flaws. In fact, I’d always gone for the nice guys whom some might overlook because they weren’t considered handsome by traditional standards. I always, always felt attraction for the insides first.

With King, however, something pulled me in. It was a feeling that radiated from some unknown place, drawing me closer while my rational mind kicked and screamed, telling me to stay away. After I learned about his curse, I began to believe that the conflicting emotions might make sense. He was once a man, a good man, and that part of him was still in there somewhere. Anyway, I wanted to believe that the physical attraction I felt was for the man—the real man—he once was. Of course, I’d never know. That person was gone or, at least, changed forever by this curse.

“I’m sorry you had the home built for ‘us,’” I said. “Because there is no ‘us.’ There’s just me and you, and one of us will soon be over.” I know that pointing out his life would soon end sounded cruel, but King was made from the very fabric of cruel. He understood it and thrived on it.

“Yes.” He grinned. “You are correct, and I look forward to the day my existence will end and you will have back your beloved brother. In the meantime, there is much to be done.”

This was what I really wanted to hear: what he expected from me in this new deal of ours. As in my dream, to end his curse we needed the Artifact, and then I had to provide “the antidote” by finding something inside him to love. Not a simple thing. Thankfully, there were many kinds of love.

“You may assume,” King said, replying to my thoughts, “that the breed of affection required to break my curse is not the sort one might feel for a puppy.”

I laughed. “Well, thank goodness for that. Because puppies are irresistible.” He frowned and was about to speak, but I held out my hand. “Just a joke. I get it. Problem is, I can’t force myself to fall in love. So what I really need to know is your plan. What is it you need me to do?”

He nodded solemnly. “There is no plan.”

Right. King always had a plan.

“Not this time, Mia. I have no scheme, no magic, no devices to force this on you.”

“Seriously? You’ve got nothing?”

He shrugged.

“You’re counting on me to just…swoon and fall in love with you?”

He nodded.

“Then we’re screwed.” Because without the aid of some of King’s otherworldly gifts, I wasn’t going to be falling for him.

He lifted one brow. “You really know how to hurt a man.”

“I’m sorry, but it’s the truth.”

“We could have sex and go from there.”

My jaw dropped. “But you said—”

“That was a joke, Mia.”

“Oh.”

He scratched his chin. “What I propose is something far simpler.”

It was my turn to raise a brow.

“I will take you away, just you and I alone for the next six days. You may ask me anything you like, we can spend time together without interruptions, and you will get to know the real me.”

My body broke out in a cold sweat. “You mean…a vacation?” Was he mad?

“Think of it as an extended date.”

My br**sts and core began to heat, fluttering and pulsing from just thinking about being alone with him. I could only imagine the overwhelming urges I’d have to resist if I actually went away with him. It was not a good idea. He had too much control over my body.

I shook my head no. “We should stay here and just…” I didn’t know what we’d do. “You’ve seriously got nothing? No love potions or anything?”

He shook his head no and crossed his arms. “The love must be genuine, or it will not work.”

“I’m not going away with you. I don’t trust you.” I didn’t trust myself, either.

“You will have to try,” he said starkly.