Page 156 of A Bond in Blood

No, to my dismay he kept his eyes on me. Even when they began to swell shut. Even when I was sure he could no longer see through them.

Yet, I didn’t stop it. I took glee from it. Breathing in the triumph of watching the men before me take out their rage on the one who had intended to harm me.

Bjorn fell to the ground, spitting out black blood and I lifted my hand.

“Send him away,” I said loudly.

Ulrich lifted his kin’s head, forcing the man to look at me.

“I am bound to do as she wishes,” he stated. “If only she would allow me to kill you on the spot.”

I did not understand why the words ignited a fire of need inside of me, but Gods, my blood felt aflame.

Bjorn sneered at me while his long canines peeked through the blood. “I bet you are delicious,” he laughed. “I bet when the time comes, and he is fully without control, that he willfeastupon your soul.”

My breaths slowed.

Ulrich punched the man again, but he did not stop.

“I bet he will bow at her feet like the caged pet that he is.”

Another hit.

“And Iknowhe will destroy you without a moment of regret.”

Olen’s fist threw the final blow, knocking Bjorn unconscious.

The room was silent. Tense. Waiting.

I met Ulrich’s eyes, finding his skin going translucent under his mask. His hands convulsed at his sides.

I stepped forward, wrapping my palms around his blood-covered wrists.

“Ulrich,” I whispered, trying to pull him from the thoughts tormenting his mind. “Ulrich,” I repeated.

His eyes snapped to mine.

Pure black.

A void staring back at me.

There was athud,and footsteps retreated, but I did not pull my focus from the man before me. I held firm, gripping his wrists.

His shoulders lifted with his breaths and then slowly, his skin returned to its normal appearance. His eyes cleared and the green gaze that constantly held me in a trance stared back at me.

“I did not kill him,” he muttered.

My palms tightened around his wrist. “Thank you.”

The music picked up around us and the bodies began to move. Nervously at first but slowly, the sensual beating of the drums cleansed the room of the violence we’d all witnessed.

I led Ulrich back to the throne, helping him sit and then placed myself right onto his lap. I allowed his palm to wrap around the front of me, appearing before his court like the being they believed he controlled.

Yet I knew the truth while I watched them all and his fingers tapped against my lower stomach; I was the one in control.

The bodies continued to dance, and I remained on Ulrich’s lap, gripping his thigh to steady myself.

“Should we retire?” he whispered into my ear.

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