Page 107 of A Bond in Blood

I covered myself with my arms and scowled. “Give me that towel.”

He flipped it over his shoulder. “Promise you won’t attend the Rite.”

“That’s not a fair bargain,” I protested.

His eyes tracked up and down my body. “I would agree. I’m certainly receiving the better end of this agreement.”

“Ulrich!” I shouted.

He laughed. “I did not force you to bare your body to me. Yet you’re shouting at me as though I were Lokii’s trickster determined to best you.”

His free hand reached around me, hovering just over my skin, but not touching me. “It is tempting, though,” he whispered. “To lock this door and stay in this room with you knowing you are so willing.”

I gulped. “I am not willing.”

“So, you are a tease?” he taunted.

“Do not,” I warned.

“I did not use thatword. You are now the one implying it,” he replied.

The towel hit my face, blocking my vision while the sound of his footsteps retreated.

“Ulrich!” I yelled after him, wrapping the fabric around my body once more. I had almost reached him when the door slammed in my face.

“Enjoy an evening of solitude!” he yelled from the other side.

I gripped the towel, rushing to the hidden door, only to find it also locked. As well as the third exit down to the docks.

I sank onto the bed, cursing his jests and taunting while the music began to thump throughout the palace. Different though, wilder and heavier than it had been so far. More alluring, igniting a need inside of my body.

The hidden door opened, and I jumped to my feet when Adie appeared, pushing a cart of food.

“Your highness,” she whispered, closing the door behind her.

“Let me out, Adie,” I ordered.

The girl glanced back at the door nervously. “I cannot, your highness.”

I stood before her. “What happens at this Rite?”

She gulped.

“Adie?”

“I cannot, your highness.”

“If I eat this meal and drink that wine? Will you tell me?”

Adie glanced at the door again with apprehension. “Your highness.”

“Adie, your boy? Is he at the Rite?”

The handmaid met my eyes.

“Did you want to spend this festival with him?” I asked.

She nodded.

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