Page 24 of Ivory's Ruin Romance

Adrian cleared his throat. The deep hum resonated in her chest, and her thighs squeezed together.

“You did great, sweetheart.” His voice dropped dangerously, deliciously low. Like a warning wrapped up in the shining foil of praise.

There was no way she could ever look at him again.

Ever.

He reached out to touch her shoulder and squeezed lightly, encouraging her to look up. Responding to the gentle touch, she lifted her eyes and straightened her spine, even though the confident position felt unfamiliar. He hadn’t laughed or tried to demean her, but the truth had become painfully obvious.

She was weak. The moment she tried to pretend otherwise, her façade cracked. That’s exactly why Jace knew he could toy with her—she’d practically told him as much—and by now, Adrian must have caught on, too.

“Your words carry more value than you think, Iv.” He smiled. “No need to apologize for them.”

The darkness encroaching on her vision vanished, and her breath hitched at the new nickname. Her name—from his lips. She wanted to hear him say it over and over.

“Now all you have to do is replace me with off,” he instructed, back to being serious as he removed his hand.

She immediately mourned the loss of his touch and broke into a breathless laugh. “It does change the message quite a lot, doesn’t it?”

He didn’t look amused. “You don’t have to say it like I did, but you need Jace to know you won’t back down.”

“I want to say it.” Taking a deep breath, she cleared her mind. Then forced out the phrase. “Fuck off.”

Adrian stared at her, and for a second, she thought he’d been offended for real. Maybe she’d been too harsh—

He broke out in a chuckle, a soft one that filled the room, but it irritated her nonetheless. Her previous exclamation hadn’t made him laugh, but that did?

“Say it like you did the first time,” he said, lips turned into a breathtaking smile.

“How did I say it the first time?”

“Like you meant it.”

Oh.

Okay.

Pushing down another wave of insecurity, she summoned her best version of dark-witch energy and tried to remember how the phrase sounded when he’d said them. The confidence he reigned in so effortlessly.

“Fuck off.”

On the second try, it came out firm, less of a plea and more like a command. The difference sounded clear to her, but the sight of Adrian’s look of approval eclipsed her own pride.

“There it is,” he praised. “Good girl.”

Her insides turned into a puddle. Great. So much for keeping her cool. How could she go from mean to melted with two words?

“Let’s get back to the party, shall we?” he asked.

“Yeah.” She nodded, grateful he didn’t seem to notice how his words had left her dazed.

She stood, and he pulled the shirt back over his head, the fabric stretching over his form in a way that only incapacitated her more. A part of her felt bad for how pushy she’d been, but she couldn’t regret helping him. Or their conversation. Or getting close to him in general.

She felt a million times lighter, actually. Looking away, she mumbled, “Thanks for letting me patch you up.”

One side of his mouth quirked up. “I didn’t really have a choice, did I?”

Raising her chin, she brushed off the swarm of butterflies in her belly and walked back into the living room, where the video game’s music had been on a loop for longer than usual. The screen had been paused on the results of the last match, and Nia and Caspian were curled up together on one end of the couch, whispering about something she was sure she didn’t want to hear.

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