“Gotcha,” I breathed.
Kieran offered me a lazy smile in return, the tips of his incisors flashing seductively as he spoke. “You sure did, Little Conduit.”
My eyes narrowed. “Godsdamnit. Youletme do that!”
His smile curled into a knowing smirk, exposing a dimple on one side of his mouth.
“You bastard!” I groaned, beating his chest with my fist.
“And what exactly are you going to do about it, Asher? Slit my throat?” His bronze throat bobbed beneath my twinkling blade, the look in his eyes almost daring me to do it.
“I mean, Icould,” I muttered.
In less than a godsdamnedsecond,I found myself disarmed—aetherblade flung across the room, our positions reversed as my back hit the mat faster than I had time to parse. Kieran had both of my wrists pinned above my head with just one of hishands, a shadowy aetherblade of his own forming in the more dominant left.
Holy fuck.
“No, you couldn’t,” Kieran crooned, a feral edge dancing in his voice as he lowered the dagger toward my neck. “But I would havelovedto see you actually try.”
He let the edge of the blade driftdangerouslyclose until it was all but caressing the sensitive skin of my throat.
I shivered and immediately felt his cock twitch in response, given that it was pressed up against my center. Kieran had captured my legs, bracketing them with his powerful thighs, his hips pressing into my own.
“Oh, fuck,” I whispered.
His wicked expression grew even more lascivious.
“Oh,” he purred, still teasing at the skin of my neck with torturously slow movements. “Youlikethis, don’t you, Arken? Filthy little thing…”
I swallowed hard, blushing furiously as I attempted to break free from his gaze. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Mmm, I think you do…” he sang, running the tip of his shimmering dagger down my throat, across my collarbone, and even further, letting it drag across one of my nipples. He appliedjustenough pressure so that I could feel it, but not enough to cut through the fabric.
Holy fucking Fates.
“My, my, Miss Asher,” he teased.
I pressed my lips together, attempting to keep a straight face as the gentle assault continued, the tip of the blade encircling my other nipple now.
“Not everyone is as aroused by sharp objects as you are, Vistarii,” I bit out.
“No, not everyone,” he agreed, the tip of his tongue running over his upper lip, exposing those little godling fangs once more. “But you are.”
“You can’t prove that in a court of law.”
“And I don’t have to,” Kieran replied. With the slightest flick of his wrist, I heard the sound of fabric tearing, his aetherblade slashing through the collar of my shirt until my breasts were threatening to spill out. “I only need to prove it toyou.”
There was no masking my sharp intake of breath as my heart began to pound, pulse racing.
“Now be a good girl and keep still, Arken. I think I’m going to need to corroborate these claims of yours.”
Oh, sweet fucking Hel.
Slowly, deviously, Kieran continued to cut through the rest of my shirt—hisshirt, I supposed. My nipples hardened into stiff peaks as he turned the dagger in his palm and began teasing them with the dull edge, and he chuckled as gooseflesh spread across my skin.
Leaning back on his thighs, Kieran slowly brought the blade down my torso, around my navel and paused just above my panties.
“Don’t you fucking dare, Vistarii,” I panted breathlessly. “That’s my favorite pair.