She stumbled back, brushing her hair from her face. “Giving you a hug?”
“Ahug? You think just because I don’t keep you locked up, that means you’re allowed to touch me?”
She shook her head, hair falling forward. “I’m . . . I’m sorry.”
“I don’t think you are. But you will be.” I didn’t fight the darkness swelling within me, knowing no other way to throw these fools off my scent as I caught Aveen’s arm and hauled her toward the rear of the castle.
She stumbled along behind me, but I couldn’t slow my pace with Muireann sneering with obvious delight. I channeled all my contempt for the fish into my rage, throwing the door to the dungeon open with a burst of magic and lighting the torches on the other side while I was at it. The familiar smell of old stones and dried blood overwhelmed as we made our way down, down, down into the depths of the cliff beneath the castle, to where death lived.
I forced my soulmate into the closest cell, letting the door slam so everyone above would hear it for miles.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry—”
I stalked toward her, feeding off the panic and fear, stopping when her skin was so close, I could feel her warmth, her subtle sweetness consuming my senses. “I will tell you this once,” I whispered. “You cannot touch me or speak to me as if I am anything but the vile bastard I am. I have no friends in this castle, in this kingdom, or in this world. If anyone learns what you mean to me, I will be forced to kill them.” Her delectable mouth fell open, drawing my attention to her lips. Before I could stop myself, I eased forward, stealing a kiss. “You are my only weakness,” I confessed, knowing no other way to make her understand but through the dangerous truth. “And if the world found out, it would take you away.”
And I would burn everything and everyone in my path to get her back.
I’d lost love before but knew in my hollowness that nothing would compare to losing this woman in front of me. My light in this shadowed world. I would do anything for her.Anything.
Aveen’s breath caught, emotions flitting across her face.
I dropped every mask I’d ever worn so she could see the depth of mine, which had grown and grown despite my best efforts. “If I could, I would hold you close and never let you go. I would kiss you for the entire island to see. I would take you in the middle of the feckin’ courtyard.”
For the only way to save him was at her own expense.
That life, the life where I got to be free, wasn’t worth the price. “But this place is more dangerous than you could ever imagine. The only way to keep you safe is to leave you be.” I knew that, and yet here I was, stealing every scowl and harsh word because even her contempt felt like basking in sunlight on a summer’s day. “But I’m not strong enough to let you go.”
She licked her lips. “Then don’t.”
Those two words cut through me like a scythe.Then don’t.
Maybe it was time to stop fighting who I was and give in to my most selfish desires.
I kissed her with every ounce of fear and rage in me, letting her goodness steal it away, breathing new life into my lungs. Perhaps the reason fate had chosen this woman for me was because her heart was big enough for us both.
Aveen’s mouth devoured with just as much hungry desperation as mine.
I couldn’t leave this cell without having her at my mercy. It was only fair considering she had me at hers.I shackled her wrist the way she’d shackled me, body and soul, and wrapped those beautiful legs around my waist, hearing her breath catch when I pressed my hips against hers. Hardening as I moved, slow and steady. “Will I torture you, human?”
Her head fell back against the stones, eyes glazed. “Do your worst,Your Highness.”
Oh, little viper, you can’t handle my worst.
When she gave me control of her body, I took all her mouth and tongue had to give, shifting my dagger, slicing through every layer keeping her from me. “You are magnificent.”My fantasy made reality. Everything I desired and more.
My lips skimmed her mouth, her throat. Teased her breasts until she whimpered. The chains rattled as I stripped her bare and fell to my knees on the stones.
For her I would kneel.
For her I would bow.
For her I would live in the feckin’ dirt.
I lifted her soft, supple thighs over my shoulders, sweeping my tongue straight up her center, finding my downfall. Searching for the spot that made her moan. And when she did, her heels dug into my back, dragging me closer. My fingertips bit into her skin as I buried my face against her and worked my tongue in slow, torturous strokes until she whimpered my name.
“That’s it,” I whispered against her. “Cry for me. Beg for me.”
Aveen cried. Trembled. Pulsed. Came undone.