Page 21 of Masked Fate

He rubs it across her lips, smirking at me.

“Get in my room, pet. I’m not done with you,” he rumbles, but he’s still watching me with an intensity that should scare me.

The woman does as she’s told, and Soren comes over to me, not bothering to tuck away that monster dick of his.

He collars my throat with his rough hand, lowering his face. “You’re ruining my good mood and my hard cock. Get back to bed,now.”

Yes, he’s magnificent.

And he’s beautiful.

But he’s also cruel.

To me, anyway.

“You still look pretty hard to me,” I manage to get out. “Harder than you were before, actually.”

Yeah, I finally realize that even though he hates me, his body wants me.

No amount of magic is going to stop that—spell be damned.

It must be confusing as fuck for him, but right now, I can’t seem to muster up any sympathy.

I’ve never been more tempted to pull this necklace off and let him share in my fucking misery.

My finger runs across it, touching the cold, black stone.

He smirks and touches my cheek with the same hand that was only seconds ago stroking that fae’s hair. “I know I have areputation for fucking a lot of females, but I do have standards.”

With that parting comment, he walks away.

And I lose a little more of myself.

***

“I can’t believe he did that,” Astrid growls the next morning. She’s lying next to me in my bed while we share a platter of fruit, cheese, and bread, debriefing everything that happened last night. I’ve never done this before, but I think it’s something all women should do after a good night out. Or a bad one, as it were.

“I shouldn’t have followed him.” I groan, covering my face with my hands. “I’ve chosen to hide this bond from him, and I need to just leave him alone now.”

“Or tell him the truth,” she replies, chewing thoughtfully. “He deserves to know, Pandora.”

I pause as my fingers reach out for a green grape. “Have you had any visions about what happens?”

She shakes her head. “No, and you know the future is always changing. It all depends on the paths you choose. When you figured out he was your mate, you should have let fate progress naturally. You using your magic to stop it is going to have a price. I just don’t know what that’s going to be yet.”

“I think I’m already paying the price.”

“I’m sorry…”

“I thought my chest was going to explode last night. I can’t keep doing this to myself,” I murmur, finally popping the grape into my mouth.

She’s right.

I should have let it happen, and if he hated me, he hated me. It wouldn’t have changed anything. He still hates me. It’s just been dragged out longer now, plus I’ve been lying to him.

I’ve messed up, and I don’t know how to fix it.

We didn’t have to complete the mating bond if he didn’t want to, but at least he would have known the truth.

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