Sighing, he tucked a hand behind his head and rolled onto his back to stare up at the canopy. “I can taste the lies when they fall from your lips. They’re sweet, like honeysuckle.”
Another lie. It had to be. People couldn’t taste lies . . . could they?
Bloody hell.
If that was true, then he knew every word I’d said to him since he threw me into this bed had been a lie.
“A good liar sticks as close to the truth as possible,” he went on. “A great liar mixes the two. You don’t bother. You say what you believe you’re supposed to say in order to make others happy or save face. It’s fascinating.”
I felt exposed, stripped bare. Every time I had lied to him, he’d known. He’d bloody known. How was that fair? Did humans have any advantage at all? Why did he get to be powerful and free while I got to be weak and controlled?
“Ah, here now. There’s no need to get cross.”
“I’m not cross.”
His brows arched toward the hair falling across his forehead.
Dammit.
Arrogance oozed from his smarmy smile.
I punched his shoulder, wishing I had magic so I could put a bloody curse on him.
Rían laughed as if the blow hadn’t even registered. “Careful now, human. Striking a prince has dire consequences.”
Prince. Prince of what? Darkness and deceit? I hit him again for good measure.
He hissed, and his eyes began to glow as he rubbed his bicep. “Do it again and see what happens.”
Do it again.
Technically, he’d given me permission.
See what happens.
I’d consumed enough alcohol to make foolish decisions.
I balled my hand into a fist and gave him a good wallop on the shoulder. He flew upright, sending me tumbling back onto the mattress in a useless attempt to escape. Something snaked around my wrists. When I checked, I found only air and shadows. The invisible bonds tightened, drawing my arms over my head until my fingers brushed the headboard. Not painful, but unyielding and undeniably there. Another force pressed across my hips, pinning me in place.
Rían planted his hands on either side of my head, his glowing eyes glazed and unfocused as he lowered his face to mine. Our breaths mingled, his exhale becoming my inhale, a heady winter cocktail of wine and cinnamon.
“You said you wouldn’t touch me,” I choked, my voice not the only part of me trembling as panic seized my chest. “You swore on pain of death.”
Fool. I’d forgotten myself and pushed him too far.
His hair tickled my cheek as his nose grazed the column of my throat. “Ah, but I like pain and enjoy death.” He inhaled deep, his chest brushing mine. In my ear, he said, “And I swore not to lay ahandon you.” His fingers tapped the pillow beneath my head. His voice dropped to a whisper. “What you fail to realize,human, is that I do not need my hands to make you come undone. I could use my mouth.” He pressed a kiss to my pulse. “My teeth.” He nipped my jaw. “My tongue.” Flames swirled over the spot where he’d bitten me. “My cock.” His hips rocked once. There was no mistaking what nudged against my thigh. “My magic.” The bonds around my wrists and hips squeezed.
“I’d let you choose, Aveen. Choose how I unravel you.”
The truth was, he hadn’t needed any of those things.
All it took were his whispers to unravel me like a spool of thread and leave me in a tangled mess.
“I hate you,” I breathed. His arrogance. His cocky smile. His dimples.
Most of all, I hated the way he made me yearn for dark, forbidden things.
Men controlled my world.