Page 19 of A Kingdom of Destruction

Aven spat at him. “Are you too busy wondering about my body to act like a decent person?”

“Why don’t we call it an even exchange, then? I’ll get you a blanket for your bed, because I know it can be chilly at night, and you’ll tell me your name. And more about your father’s kingdom.”

“I don’t need your pity blankets.” She pinned a cold grin on her face. “If you’re royalty, then you should already know my name. Perhaps I need proof of your status rather than taking your word.”

“It all comes down to what you’d rather have more. Are you willing to work with me for a chance at getting out of this cell, or at least making your conditions a bit more comfortable, or will you stand on stubbornness and ego and insist your pit is the better choice? Are you willing to risk that I’m not telling you the truth?” He winked at her.

Aven stared at him and made sure he saw how much she hated him. Made sure he understood every nasty thought blossoming in her head. Her stomach clenched again, her insides churning together until they were knotted.

“Well, what do you say? Aven?” Roran offered up her name with a sneer, and hearing it fall from his lips broke something inside her.

He already knew.

Of course he did. He was toying with her.

Eyes stinging, she lunged at the bars, her fingers grazing off of his before Roran took a massive step back.

“What do you want from me?” she burst out. “Tell me!”

“I couldn’t have made it clearer if I spelled it out for you. If you know how to read.” He kept his voice painfully droll. “I’ve heard there are mortals out there who aren’t able to scratch out the letters for their name. Although in your position,Aven, I’m sure you are a woman of many talents.”

“The next words out of your mouth will be a different sort of proposition. Won’t it, Roran?” Aven forced her face to soften, her smile to fall much easier and her eyes to lighten. She forced her hold on the bars to loosen and cocked her hip to the side. “Or do you like your prey unwilling? I guess it’s something I’ll have to learn about you.”

His nostrils flared as if he noted the change in her disposition on an entirely different level, and heat thawed the ice in his eyes. Sensing the difference in her.

Only, Aven’s ploy had the opposite effect on her.

Seeing the slow smile peel his lips apart, the way his eyes flickered over her curves and back up to her face, she noted the faint spots of color darkening his cheeks from alabaster to peach. To her horror, warmth pooled between her legs.

Damn her. Damn her straight to the burning pits of hell.

She couldnothave lusty desires for her captor no matter how devilishly attractive she found him.

One of them was bluffing. Or maybe neither of them were, the baseness of this physical pull between them too palpable for her.

“Like I’d need to sully myself with you,” he came back with at last. “Reeking of vomit and languishing in your own filth.”

“Oh, come on. You can shower me yourself, if it will make a difference,” she purred.

Something glittered in his eyes, and both of them were saved from their next statements, which might have damned them, by the sound of approaching footsteps.

“My Lord?” The guard stood at attention and directed his attention to Roran. “The orders have come down from above. I’m to take the Princess to a private chamber. The Crown Prince wants her in a private suite.”

Roran reared back from the bars, where their fingers had been inches away from touching again, and glared at the guard. “What kind of nonsense is this?”

“His Highness ordered us to take the prisoner to a private chamber and?—”

“I heard you the first time,” Roran growled. His face twisted in a grimace. “Damned Cillian.”

Aven gawked between Roran and the guard, but the former stood aside while the latter reached out with a wave of his hand and unlocked the door to her tomb. It swung open on surprisingly clean hinges.

“Come, Princess.” The guard held out a hand for her.

Her chest tightened. They’d use their magic on her again, to bind her, to stop her from moving. Oh, the pain…

By this point, Roran had enough time to compose himself. He took another step out of the way and crossed his arms over his chest to watch her, even his posture taunting. “Perhaps Princess Aven prefers her cell to any sort of new accommodations.”

Yeah, right.

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