Page 83 of Untamed

Her lips part, but no words come out. For once, she’s caught off guard. Good. I’m not done.

“I’ve seen the way you look at the camera like it’s the only thing in the world that understands you. Like you’ve built this perfect little escape, but you’re still waiting for someone to come in and shatter it. Someone who can handle the real you. Not the version youthinkpeople want.”

Her breath catches, and for a moment, she looks so exposed that I almost regret saying it. Almost.

“Touché, sir,” she finally says in that adorable mutter. “But you don’t?—"

“Don’t know the real you?” I shake my head. “I know more about you than I probably should. And if that scares you, Ember, good. Because it scares the shit out of me too.”

I lean back and smirk. “Now let’s hear what you know about me.” This ought to be good.

“Ahh, my turn.” The emerald glow of her eyes melts me a little. “You’re hot as fuck, and it’s definitely gone to your head.”

I grunt at her but don’t interrupt. I’ll remember that one next time she’s over my lap.

“Not that I blame you, with all those followers offering you their virginity and whatnot, but still.” Her lips twitch. “You’reconfident. Strong. Able to take command. Fearless, even, the way I’d imagine a soldier would be. You’re protective and intense. You come alive when you have someone to look over, a battle to win, a villain to fight. Which, if you think about it…” Her voice trails off, and she grows a little shy. “Is kind of ironic, yet charming.”

I lean back in my seat and steeple my hands. Listening.

“Yet even though you’re dangerous, you’re somehow… familiar. Someone who’s really more like my book boyfriends than they are, and on the one hand, I feel like I know you… but on the other, I feel like I’ve just scratched the surface.” She leans in. “You come across as bold and fearless, but a part of you wants to prove yourself to… someone. Maybe your brothers. Maybe me.” She shrugs. “Maybe yourself.”

A part of me wishes I could pull the mask back down.

Chapter 19

EMBER

Flying alonewith Rodion feels like we’ve crossed some invisible line, hurtling forward faster than the jet’s engines can take us. Something about being cocooned at 40,000 feet with him makes it feel… serious.

I don’t want it to be serious.

Do I?

The great thing about book boyfriends is that you actually call the shots. You can escape into the fantasy and explore moral lines you might never have a chance to do in real life. But when the real-life hero is sitting right across from you… it’s a lot harder to close the book.

Rodion lounges across from me, his sharp gaze watching me. I look down at myself and sigh.

“You have nothing to worry about, little queen,” he says. “They’ll love you.”

“They?” My fingers play with the corner of my book, the paperback an anchor I don’t dare look up from. “You mean your fancy Bratva crowd? Don’t lie to me, Rodion. I don’t fit in your world.”

“You fit wherever I decide you do,” he replies without missing a beat, a calm authority in his voice that makes my stomach clench.

Oh no he doesn’t.

That sparks something in me—a mix of frustration and a heat I don’t want to name. “Well, it’s a good thing I decide where I belong,” I shoot back, finally looking up. “And I don’t need your permission.”

Leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees, his focus now is so intense it’s almost suffocating. “Is that what you’re worried about? That I’m going to control you? That you’re some pawn to me?”

His voice drops lower, rougher. “I don’t play with things I want to keep.”Heat rushes to my face, and I’m grateful for the hum of the engines to drown out my shallow breath.

I decide to redirect. “What about you, Rodion? What’s so important about this gala? Why drag me along?”

His jaw tenses. For a second, I think he won’t answer. “This isn’t just a party. It’s a test,” he says finally, his words clipped. “The kind of test where the wrong move could cost everything.”

“Everything?” I press, my pulse quickening.

Surely noteverything…

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