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The auctioneer blinks. “For what exactly?”
Rhett’s eyes stay on mine when he answers.
“Her.”
The room erupts instantly.
“Oh my God.”
“No damn way.”
“Rhett Maddox finally bid?”
Margie practically smacks Rune in excitement.
Jace starts laughing into his beer beside the bar.
Liam mutters, “Told you he was gone.”
“What are you doing?” I hiss.
Rhett ignores me completely.
“She’s with me,” he says to the room.
And somehow that’s worse.
Because everyone in Devil’s Peak immediately knows what those words mean.
Possession.
Protection.
Claiming.
A local woman near the front gasps dramatically. “Holy hell.”
Margie looks ready to cry from happiness.
“You cannot be serious,” I snap under my breath.
Rhett finally looks down at me fully.
Up close, he smells like snow and cedar and something painfully male that immediately tangles my thoughts.
“You want to stay here tonight?” he asks quietly.
“No.”
“Good.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you’re coming with me.”
My jaw tightens. “You don’t get to decide that.”
His gaze drops briefly to my mouth before lifting again.
