Page 108 of Fated In Blood

She couldneverbe more.

“What you heard was true.” Her gaze turned watery, bottom lip trembling.

“Remember, we made a deal, Silver. One where feelings aren’t part of the bargain. Feeding and fucking, that’s all you’ll get from me, and I never promised anything more. I’m not capable of anything more.” My entire chest twisted at the lie, but nothing would come of romantic entanglements.

Love was only one more weakness Tyrell would weaponize against us.

“Then fuck off. I’ll find someone else to feed from.” Her eyes glinted with vengeance. “That blond Viking tasted pretty fucking good. Maybe I’ll go find him.” She yanked away, sucking in a quick breath when I caught her by the arm and dragged her back, her heels cutting furrows in the soft ground.

“Malachi is off-limits for about a thousand reasons.” I rubbed my thumb over the pulse pounding in her wrist, measuring the lust hazing her eyes. She was succumbing so quickly to Malachi’sblood, I had about a minute to get us both out of here before everything went wrong.

I owed Blakeeverything.

He’d thrown his lot in with me the night my sire died. The least I could do was give him something in return. No matter how much he protested they were mates, I’d seen the way he came alive whenever Silver was around, the spark that flared to life in his dead eyes.

If not mates, there wassomethingbetween them.

She’d wormed her way beneath every thick, crusty layer of my friend’s impenetrable armor, and Blake deserved more from this life than cruelty. He deserved something good.

I’d drop her in his lap, writhing with need and let him and Silver finally have what they’d been denied.

“As for Blake…the Silverwood’s ruined his life.”

“Let me go, Riordan,” she hissed. “I don’t want to hear how my family hurt him. They hurt me, too, something neither of you seem to acknowledge.” She fought to get free, but I jerked her closer. She moaned, then rubbed against me, her stiffened nipples scraping my chest.

Fuck. Malachi’s blood was working too fast.

“Stop being stubborn and listen to me. Your father wrecked Blake, but you can give him back what he lost. Just…Blake’s a good male. He will take care of you in all the ways I cannot. Stay away from Malachi, but Blake…if you want to feed…if you want to fuck, find him when we get back to Crimson House. He’s the one you want, Silver, not me. I’m no good for you.”

“Blake Marten? Who gave me to Malachi like I’m some kind of pawn? He can go fuck himself, right along with you, Your Majesty.” She swayed, pupils so huge there wasn’t a shred of blue left in her eyes.

“Let me take you home to Blake. That’s what’s best for you. You don’t want my sort of darkness, Evie, I’d just ruin you.”We were in the middle of nowhere, hundreds of miles from the Silverwood compound, but that didn’t mean we were safe. Tyrell could be closing in on us right now.

“Maybe I want to be ruined.” She gripped my shirt and ran her tongue over her bottom lip, leaving it shining and wet and fuck me, but I wanted nothing more than to suck that plumpness into my mouth andbite.

“Maybe I want you to fuckingdestroyme, Riordan.”

Goddamn it. My cock was so hard it hurt, my balls already tingled in anticipation of being buried deep inside her warm, wet heat.

“I can’t give you what you really need,” I reminded her coolly. “What you want. You and me? There’s no happily ever after for us, no grand romantic gestures. You fulfill your end of the bargain, then we go our separate ways. Better for everyone.”

Shecouldn’thave feelings for me. If she did, I had to rip them out by the roots, right now. “You weren’t expecting more out of our arrangement, were you?” I tipped my head, watching her coldly, that pulse beating rapidly against my fingers. She lifted her eyes to mine and my breath caught.

Yes. She was.

And worse?

So was I.

I wanted to take her down in the dirt and claim her, sinking my teeth into her throat and marking her as mine. A wild, crazy fantasy that had nothing to do with fifty years of careful planning and everything to do with this goddamned blood bond that was fucking with my head.

I had to be cruel now, had to stop this before things got out of hand.

“I have nothing to give you except my blood and my cock.” My smile felt brittle. “There is no room in my life for allies whoI can’t trust, so I need to know right now—do you plan to fulfill your part of the bargain?”

“Of course I’ll keep my word,” she snapped. “Ialwayskeep my word. I would have helped you, you know,” she whispered, all the fight draining out of her. “If you’d only asked, Riordan, I would have helped you kill Tyrell. We could have been more than allies, but you had to go and be an asshole about things.”

“You’re right.” Her body softened when I pulled her into my arms, pressing her against me tight enough to feel her heart beating against mine as I dropped my hand and rubbed her through her jeans. Her juices soaked into my fingers, a low, needy moan slipping between her lips before I plunged my fingers between those plump lips.

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