“We don’t have to leave.” I shook my head. “I’m fine,” I lied and watched the three other girls walking over to Charles. “I’m fine,” I said again as I made my way over to Charles myself. My warm face told me I was a liar, as did my clammy hands. I was freaking out inside. I had no idea what was about to go on. I had no idea if I was going to be okay with what was about to go on. And even worse, I wasn’t sure how I felt about heading into the unknown. A part of me felt excited and tingly all over. It wasn’t an emotion I was used to: this heart-pounding, panty-wetting, fear-inducing excitement.

“I’m going to be in charge today and I want to explain what’s going to happen,” Charles said as he gazed at all four of us. “Before we go into the main room, you can all wear as much or as little as you want.”

“Do we have to take our clothes off?” the girl next me said and I looked at Charles for his answer. They didn’t really expect us to take our clothes off, did they? They couldn’t expect that. At least not yet.

“At this point, you can wear as little or as much as you want,” he repeated, his eyes peering at the girl in such a way that let her know that as little as possible was preferred. I heard Violeta giggling as she unzipped her dress and stepped out of it. It fell to the ground and she lifted her long,tan legs up and moved to the side. I gazed at her body in admiration and a little bit of jealousy. She looked perfect in her slinky black thong—covering her pert ass—and her small black bra. I was envious of her sexy body. I felt like I didn’t come close to matching up, at least next to her. Her stomach was toned as well and I felt my stomach dropping as I looked back at the men to see if they were staring at her. My face grew red as I felt Xavier’s eyes on me. He had a small grin on his face as he raised an eyebrow at me and I knew that he’d watched me staring at Violeta. I raised an eyebrow back at him and he licked his lips and winked. For a few seconds I was taken back to that first meeting in the museum. It felt like years ago, even though it had only been months. My stomach still jumped at the sight of his silky black hair and laughing green eyes. He was so handsome, so suave, so sexy. He was a sex god personified and I swallowed hard thinking about being with him, having him next to me, filling me up, taking what he wanted.

“Are you ready, Lola?” Charles’ voice snapped me out of my daydream and I nodded back in silence.

“Then let’s go into the room. I’ll explain the rules in further detail there,” he said and opened a door. We all followed him into the room silently and I wondered if I had lost my mind. I looked around the room and the first thing I noticed was a big king-sized bed. Then I stepped back and looked around properly. The room was spacious and there was a huge window that appeared to be double-glazed. One of the girls saw me looking at it and made a face. I stared at her questioningly, not wanting to ask her why she looked so apprehensive, not wanting to know exactly what was going to go on today, in case it made me want to flee far away from here.

“They can see us.” She nodded towards the window. “It’s how they keep it fair.”

“Keep what fair?” I replied, keeping my voice low. I could see Violeta staring at us with narrowed eyes, but I turned my back on her.

“The tests,” the girl said and made another face. “Each round you accept, the stakes get higher and higher, but there are restrictions. The windows are there to keep the men honest.”

“I see,” I said in a small voice, though I had no idea what she was talking about.

“We can’t see out, though,” she continued. “We can’t see anything. And they blow some sort of overpowering air freshener into the room, so you can’t tell anything based on smell, either.”

“Oh, wow.” I looked at her consideringly. “How do you know all of this?”

“My sister came last year,” she said and shrugged. “She told me, well, she was trying to warn me not to come.”

“Oh?”

“She chose wrong.” The girl bit her lower lip. “Her lover, Prince Marx, wasn’t allowed entry to the inner circle and then he went and married Caroline, a lord’s daughter from Belgium.”

“Oh, no.” My eyes widened. “That’s awful.”

“Yes.” She nodded. “My sister lives with our parents with her son and she cries every night.”

“Her son?” I asked, shocked. “Not Marx’s son as well?”

“Yes, but he’s a bastard so he doesn’t count.” She nodded, her voice matter-of-fact. “My sister told me that a part of her knew it wasn’t Marx when Casper entered her.”

“Casper?” My jaw dropped and then my face paled. “Did you say ‘entered her’?”

“Yes.” She nodded and then touched my hand. “Don’t panic, that’s the later rounds—”

“All right, ladies,” Charles said, cutting the girl off and I stared at him with my heart in my mouth. Was another man going to try and have sex with me? Oh, my God, what had I agreed to do? “As most of you know, you’re about to take part in a series of tests. These tests are in place for two reasons. Firstly, they are to prove that you know your lover better than anyone in the world. Secondly, they are to bond the princes of the world together. These bonds are unbreakable and only when a prince passes all of the tests of the inner circle will he be allowed to join.”