I gritted my teeth, squirming to try and get out from under him. He chuckled and leaned closer to me, his nose softly brushing against mine. "Where did you go with Alfie?"
"To a cafe."
"For four hours?"
I nodded. "It's our little hang out. You didn't say I wasn't allowed to leave. You cannot be angry with me-"
"I'm allowed to be angry with you if I want. I'm the King."
"Not my King. You have no control over me," I grumbled.
A slow, wicked grin came onto his face and I immediately regretted my last words. "Don't I, sugar? Wanna test that little theory of yours?"
"No."
"I bet I could get you on your knees using one word," he cooed. "Would be an easy task to get you into my bed. It was easy last night."
I gagged theatrically, but on the inside I was terrified. My knees were shaking. He was right, of course. I was just as much influenced by his power as any of these other fools. "I'll see you at dinner, princess. I'll save you a seat next to me." His lips touched my forehead before he slowly backed away from me, and sauntered into the house. "Behave."
Behave? What was I, three? I was currently cursing out Dominic with every vocabulary word I knew as I fixed the dress I was forced to wear in Alfie's room, who was watching me with an amused grin.
"He won't be able to keep his hands off of you in that dress." The dress was a simple black, long-sleeved dress that fell halfway up my thighs. It was form-fitting, but wasn't too flashy. Which is why I picked it.
I cursed myself. In that case, I needed to change. "Come with me to my room and help me pick something uglier out!" I gushed, grasping his hand and dragging him out of the door.
Andrew intercepted Alfie and I, giving my best friend a very subtle wink after checking him out. "Dominic is waiting for us. Let's go."
"Excuse me, sir, is there any way I could get out of this? As much as I'd hate to miss this dinner, I'm really not feeling so well. It must've been the food I ate last night plus that nasty crap I had to drink as punishment and-"
Andrew laughed, looking at me kindly. "I understand you're scared. You shouldn't be, but as a mortal, I can see where the fear comes from. As long as you just do as he says and act like the pretty little trophy you are, no harm will come to you," he said. "Alf, you alright to sit with me?"
Alfie nodded vigorously, almost submissively. I gaped at him. "Alfie," I gasped in betrayal.
He looked at me and shrugged helplessly. "I'm sorry!"
Andrew stopped, and I bumped into a hard chest, not realizing he wasn't moving anymore.
Dominic smiled down at me, holding my waist as he issued the standard greeting - a kiss on the throat. Shifters around us went silent. They knew this was uncommon. You didn't greet a human that way. It was shameful, disrespectful to Shifters. At best you give a human a courteous nod.
"Hungry?" He asked me softly.
I nodded stiffly, not really thinking about his question. "What're you doing?"
He motioned to an empty seat beside his, ignoring my question again, and I slowly, unwillingly, sat next to him. "I'm just being nice, is all. Is that not what you wanted? Didn't you want me to stop being so scary?" He murmured, sitting in his seat and leaning towards me.
"You don't scare me."
"Sure, gorgeous."
I glared at the plate in front of me, and Dominic kissed my cheek. I jerked away from him, my jaw dropping. "You can't do that to me. You have to save that for the female Shifters. The ones you are courting," I hissed. He grinned lazily at me, leaning back in his chair and digging into his food. Alfie and Andrew were sitting across me, and Alfie gave me a reassuring smile.
