Mated to the Alpha: Sold to the King novel Chapter 44

Chapter 44: 0044

Lorelei POV

"No—"

The corner of Kaelen’s lips curled as he took several steps back. Then he reached into the pocket of his sweatpants and pulled out a handkerchief, wiping his hand clean slowly and deliberately while I stood there trembling, my chest heaving. My whole body screamed for something I could not name.

He watched me fall apart from across the room, his amber eyes dark with satisfaction.

"Why did you stop?" The words left my mouth before I could stop them, and shame immediately flooded through me. But how could I not ask? I had been so close.

Kaelen raised an eyebrow. "Didn’t you say no?"

I bit down hard on my lip.

"What kind of gentleman would I be if I continued after you said no?"

I scoffed internally. Gentleman. My foot.

He had trapped me against his desk, flooded the room with his pheromones, and pushed me to the edge of madness, only to stop at the last possible second.

There was nothing gentlemanly about any of this. He was a ruthless, calculating sadist who knew exactly how to dismantle my defenses piece by piece.

"You did this on purpose," I wheezed, gripping the edge of the desk to keep my trembling legs from giving out entirely. "You can’t just start something like that and then not—"

"Do you agree to my terms?" he cut in, his voice calm, measured, and utterly infuriating.

"That’s not—"

"It’s a simple question, Ella." He crossed his arms.

My jaw tightened as I stared at him, completely at a loss for words. This had to be some form of blackmail, and the worst part was that it was working flawlessly. No matter which option I picked, I would be the one losing.

"Well?" Kaelen prompted, looking like a man who had all the time in the world, while every second that passed felt like absolute agony for my aching body.

But if I was going to do this, it had to be on my terms. At least that would save a little of my dignity.

"What’s in it for me?" I asked, forcing myself to raise my chin.

His head tilted slightly, clearly caught off guard by the question.

"I thought you said you weren’t a hooker," he said, throwing my own words right back at me.

That bruised my ego a little.

But I sucked in a breath and forced my chin to remain high.

"I’ll be sleeping with you anyway. It’s better than doing all that for free."

Hearing that, his lips curled into a full smirk, which still low-key creeped me out.

"What do you want, then?" he asked.

I thought about it for a moment. I knew I couldn’t ask him to let me go. That would directly contradict the entire reason we were having this conversation. He might as well hand me back over to Hawke and the executioners himself.

"I want to stop working as a maid and have access to better food."

If I wanted to properly plan my escape, I needed the hours I spent cleaning his massive estate back. I also needed my strength, and the miserable scraps they fed the servants were not going to cut it anymore.

He went quiet as he considered it, and part of me thought he would refuse. He was the Alpha King, after all. Why would he negotiate with a maid when he already had me completely cornered?

"Okay," he said, and my eyes widened.

Okay? Just like that?

"And my roommate too," I rushed to add.

If I couldn’t get Skye out of here, the least I could do was make sure she lived comfortably too.

But the smile vanished from his face the very next moment.

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