Then, finally, he leaned down, brushing one's jaw with his thumb, before pushing them together with deliberate, commanding force. "Prove yourselves. Earn the right to be here."

Their movements began, frantic and eager, desperate to please. Lucian sat back again, expression calm, satisfied.

The sound of it filled the chamber-their gasps, their struggle to outshine one another-all for his attention. He didn't need to touch them. His power was in the watching, in the way they belonged to him ...