The realization plays on the heightened air between us, and the spell isn’t broken until Vance finishes the exam.

“The hymen is fully intact.” He pushes off on his chair, wheels rolling across the gleaming marble as he waves a hand in Liam’s direction. “Chancellor, the floor is yours.”

Teresa lets go of my hand and disappears into the periphery, her stance by the door becoming that of an unobtrusive spectator.

I suck in a breath and hold it as Liam settles between my thighs. Keeping his gaze averted, he inserts a finger into me, and it’s the first time he’s touched me like this. I despise that he’s doing so under the watchful attention of eleven other men.

His face is carved from granite, and I sense the control he’s holding on to. Without ceremony, he withdraws his hand and steps back before gesturing for Heath to go next. “Proceed.”

Heath barely touches me at all. He doesn’t offer me more than a passing glance either.

Landon, from the House of Gemini, breaks the ice first. “You were young all those years ago, and I won’t lie. I was skeptical, but you’ve matured, haven’t you, Novalee?” His tone is conversational. Not surprising for a Gemini, I suppose.

“I have.”

“Do you mind if I touch you?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“You have a valid point, my queen. I’d still like your permission.”

“I can’t in good conscience give it, but you have my dubious cooperation.”

“You are a feisty little spitfire, I’ll give you that,” he says with a laugh. “I’ll have to take your word and the testimony of my brothers as proof of your purity.” He reclaims his seat, and Sebastian stands, the next in line since Vance was the first to test my virginity during the exam.

“You heard the queen,” Sebastian says with a smirk. “Her cooperation is questionable. I want her restrained.”

Liam scowls. “That’s not necessary.”

“I think it is.” Sebastian snaps his fingers at Teresa. “Fetch me a set of wrist and ankle cuffs from the dungeon.”

I shoot a startled look at Liam. “There’s a dungeon?”

He winces. “I was hoping to spare you from that information until later.”

“Why is there a dungeon?” The question shrieks through the room.

“It exists for pleasure,” Liam says.

“Don’t coddle her.” The man I remember only as Libra snickers. “The dungeon is primarily for punishment, so keep that in mind, my queen, lest you end up in my hands.”

I’m close to having a panic attack by the time Teresa returns with a set of leather cuffs. Sebastian wastes no time is fastening my wrists and ankles to the bench legs. He tests the anchors holding me captive, then he circles me, just like he did all those years ago.