Page 80 of The Alien's Cruel Starfrost Domain

“I said, take it.”

His damaged hand shakes violently as he extends it. The ring slides onto his fourth finger, scraping against frozen flesh. A small sound escapes him—not quite a whimper, but close enough tomake my smile sharpen.

“Now.” I lower my voice until he has to strain to hear me. “Get out of my home. If I ever see you in Starfrost Manor again, I’ll take the whole hand. Piece by frozen piece.” I flash my teeth in a predatory grin. “And I might not stop there. Understand?”

He lets out a sound that might be assent.

I release his throat and step back, watching him sag against the wall. “I trust I won’t need to explain this to Prince Jonyk myself?”

He shakes his head frantically, his face a sickly gray-white.

“Go.”

At the single word, the baron pushes himself away

Outside the kitchen, the sounds of his retching echo through the corridor, accompanied by the soft patter of frozen vomit hitting the floor.

I allow myself a small, satisfied smile. The message has been received.

Next time, I won't be so merciful.

Half a click later, violence still sings in my blood as I stalk through the upper halls. The scent of Svalkat’s fear clings to my skin, and frost trails in my wake, crackling across the floor with each step. My body hums with unleashed power, with the dark satisfaction of putting the baron in his place.

Lost in the heady rush of dominance, I don’t register the soft footsteps behind me until a floorboard creaks in the gallery. Instinct takes over—the predator in me still too close to the surface—and I whirl, slamming the intruder against the wall with lethal precision.

Only then, with my forearm pressed to her throat and my knee wedged between her thighs, do I realize it’s Lara I’ve trapped. The recognition hits like lightning through my veins, but I don’t release her. Can’t release her. Not when her pulse flutters against my arm like a captured bird, not when the heat of her blazes against my frost-chilled skin.

Instead, I press closer, fitting my body to hers until there’s no space between us. The darkness that drove me to maim Svalkat transmutes into something equally dangerous but far more primal.

Mine, everything in me growls.She is mine.

Her eyes are wide, glinting in the night. Her pupils have dilated to allow in every bit of light possible, and I suspect she still cannot see me very well. But I can see her perfectly—every flash of emotion across her face, every rapid rise and fall of her chest.

“Where are you going, princess?” The words emerge as a growl, rough with the violence still coursing through me. “What are you doing here?”

She freezes against me, and every predatory instinct I possess flares to life. I’ve rarely demanded answers from her, never actually forced her to respond. But tonight, with Svalkat’s blood still frozen on my hands and possession burning through my veins, I can’t maintain that restraint.

The scent of her fear mingles with something else—something that makes my blood surge hotter. Her breath comes in small pants, stirring the air between us. When her tongue darts out to wet her lips, I have to bite back a groan.

“I asked what you were doing,” I say, ice threading through my tone. “Don’t make me repeat myself again.”

She inhales sharply, and I imagine I can taste her on that breath, sweet and warm and alive. Everything in me wants to devour her, to mark her, to make her truly mine in ways that have nothing to do with ownership and everything to do with the way her body trembles against mine.

My cock hardens, and this time I don’t try to hide it. Instead, I press it against the soft curve of her belly, letting her feel exactly what she does to me. A small sound escapes her—not quite a whimper, not quite a moan.

“I remembered a duster I left upstairs this afternoon,” she finally gasps out. “I was going to get it.”

Lies. But tonight, I find I don’t care about her deceptions. Not when she’s warm and pliant against me, notwhen I can feel every curve of her body molding to mine. I’ve spent too long denying this hunger, and after the satisfaction of breaking Svalkat, my control hangs by a thread.

“I think the duster can wait,” I breathe into her ear. Unable to resist, I trace the delicate shell with my tongue. She shivers, and another small sound escapes her. The urge to follow that line down her neck, to taste every inch of her skin, nearly overwhelms me.

“Don’t,” she whispers, but her body arches into mine.

I pause, my lips hovering above her pulse point. “Don’t what?”

“I—I…”

“That’s what I thought.”

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