Page 44 of King of Fire and Flames

Well, I was done worshiping the Light Realm’s false god. Sick of being at this male’s mercy. All I wanted was for it to be over. Forever.

“Kill me.” Squeezing my eyes shut, I jerked against him. “Do it, Arrow. I never want to see your smug face again, and if that’s the only way to achieve it, then so be it. I’d rather be dead than at your mercy for one second longer.”

“Open your eyes.”

I shook my head.

“I never took you for a coward, my Aldara. Look. At. Me.”

Drawing in a painful breath, I cracked my lids and found myself drowning in swirling pools of molten silver.

“You of all people should know things are never how they first seem, Leaf.”

“Usually, it’s much worse. Hurry up and kill me, then I won’t have to watch you and Azarn turn the Five Realms to shit. Give Ari my love.”

My mind raced with desperate schemes. If he believed I’d given up, and if I could distract him somehow, maybe I could get enough space between us to break away and plunge my blade into his neck.

I clenched the knife hilt, and his fist tightened around my wrist. Why hadn’t he disarmed me? Struggling against his grip, I bucked again, and he hissed out a curse.

“Stop it. I’m not going to kill you.”

“And I’m not a fool. You heard Azarn. You have no choice.”

“You are a fool,” he replied, his voice low and urgent. “You’re the fool who once cared for the fae who enslaved you, believed in his redemption, then with little proof, had the gall to think he betrayed you. Do you deny it?”

“Of course not. It’s the truth. You never tortured me physically, never cut me or bruised my flesh on purpose, only attacked my dignity and pride. This made me believe you weren’t a monster. But I was wrong. I hated you once, and I despise you even more now.”

“Liar.” He sheathed his knife at his hip and wrapped his fingers around my throat. “You loved me.”

“Can a prisoner truly love their jailer?” I asked, my pathetic tears blurring his features. “Can an absence of cruelty be mistaken for care? Yes, I was once stupid enough to believe that. But the day Esen and Melaya arrested me in the desert, all those foolish assumptions shattered my heart. How I wish you’d left me in the gilt market cage to rot.”

“Believe me, if I’d had the slightest inkling of the pain that you’d cause me, I fucking well would have.”

Silence hummed through the trees, broken only by the sound of our ragged breaths and the dragons’ soft rumbles to the east.

I sighed. “Arrow, this is ridiculous. We can’t stand here all day. Do something. Please.”

He nodded, brows drawing together in an agonized frown. “Damn it, Leaf. I’m sorry, but I need to make it stronger. Don’t know how long it’ll last, but—”

“What? Make what stronger?”

Realization dawned as his gaze slid over my throat, but before I could react, his warm lips pressed against my skin, and he bit me without warning.

No, no, no, I thought as my head fell back against the tree, my eyes rolling with intense, mind-numbing pleasure.

As his fangs slid deeper into my flesh, heat and desire flooded my veins, and I asked myself, was it my longing or his that I felt flowing through me? An intoxicating poison. Destroying me.

“The Aldara bond,” he murmured, his words slurring against my neck. “Must be strong to speak to you.”

What in the hell realms was he talking about?

It made no sense, but as a deep groan rumbled in his chest, a spark ignited inside me. Clarity. This was it. My one and only chance to gain the upper hand. To kill Arrowyn Ramiel, my torturer. My beloved.

I allowed a moan to escape my lips and writhed, pressing my hips against his, teasing, as if begging for more.

“Leaf,” he whispered, taking my lips with horrifying tenderness.

The shock of his kiss nearly undid me, and I fought with every fiber of my being to stay in control. To not succumb to the wretched part of me that wanted nothing more than to dissolve in his arms. Wanted to believe he was still mine. My sanctuary. And that we belonged together forever.

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