Page 79 of Wicked Court

Her delicate fingers would feel like salvation on my skin, stirring a part of me that should remain dormant—a part that screams to be acknowledged by her loving touch.

The fantasy of her taste consumes me.

I bring my fingers to my lips, searching for any remnant of her flavor, sucking on them like a man starved.

And fuck, it’s her openness, her warmth, that pulls Axe toward her, desperate for the light she exudes.

We’re all desperate for it.

As I pocket the gem, the rawness of my emotions collides with the rigidity of my stance.

“Damn it,” I hiss under my breath.

I burst out of my hiding place, branches snapping underfoot as I storm into the clearing.

Axe reacts with the honed training of a bloodhound, leaping first and thinking second, but I catch him mid-launch and toss him aside. He has the skill to stay on his feet rather than toppling to the ground, still snarling.

“Enjoying yourselves?”

My voice is a razor slicing through any remaining tranquility they might’ve had.

Axe darts in front of me, shielding Elara and tensed for battle.

Confusion and betrayal swirls in his eyes as he regards me, but there’s no time for explanations—not here, not ever.

“Ease up, Cav,” he growls. “We’re finished with her tonight.”

“Make me,” I taunt, stepping closer, my grin disguising a regret I dare not fully acknowledge.

Elara weaves around him as if to shield Axe from me. “What gives you the right?—”

“Right?” The word unfurls from my lips like smoke. “Axe wasn’t being entirely honest with you. I chiseled those scars into his back. It gives me every right.”

My confession detonates against her like a bullet and Elara recoils. She attempts to speak but no words come out, her voice strangled by the sickening revelation.

Axe has seen much in his life, but my unhurried confession to Elara seems to have caught him off-guard.

“Good. I should make you sick.” I fling my words at Elara like a cloud of daggers. “The Court should make you want to vomit with disgust.”

Axe’s knuckles turn white. His teeth grind together with a sound akin to breaking bones.

I lift my chin and meet Axe’s livid gaze head-on. It’s crucial he sees no remorse in my eyes. Only a decree.

Axe holds my stare for several heartbeats before finally erupting into laughter, a hollow, mirthless sound that echoes eerily. Even Elara startles at the sound.

“You’ve always been great at having the last word,” Axe spits out, his laughter dying down as quickly as it came.

Elara moves closer to me, her anger radiating off her in palpable waves.

“You’re a monster.”

A monster. Yes, perhaps that’s what I’ve become.

I smile at her, empty and soulless. “Were you expecting a prince?”

She lunges at me, nails aiming for my face. I sidestep her charge and grab her arm, twisting it behind her back and leveraging her forward. Her pained yelp fills the night as I toss her to the forest floor with ruthless force, pinning her with my body.

Every point of contact between us is electric, and I revel in the hiss of her breath, the flush on her cheeks.

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