Page 16 of A Bond in Blood

By another miracle gifted by the Gods, I made it back to the bed. I held the razor close while I peeled back the blankets and slipped under the covers once more.

My stomach dropped as my mind accepted I was about to take a life. The only reprieve I had was this wasn’tanylife. This was the monster who had plagued the mortal lands for centuries, possibly even millennia.

He was the villain in every folktale I’d ever heard.

A tyrant.

A murderer.

If anything, I was doing this world a service by ending his reign of terror.

I moved closer to his sleeping body and pulled the razor forward, hands trembling with cowardice.

“For Leif,” I whispered.

My hand came down, moving to slice his neck. To my shock, his palm wrapped around my wrist, and his booming voice flooded through my body.

“The violent creature’s true nature has been revealed,” he sneered.

The grip on my wrist forced the razor to fall and before I knew what was happening, he was flipping me on my back. His body pressed me against the bed, pushing me into the soft mattress.

My hands shook as his grip on me tightened.

His long hair brushed against my face. “If you wanted to play, you could have asked,” he whispered with a laugh.

“Unhand me!” I demanded.

His chest rumbled against mine with his laugh and his grip somehow grew tighter. “You just tried to slit my throat in my own bed. What makes you think I’m going tounhand you?”

“You killed him,” I whispered, holding back my angry tears.

To my surprise, his grip loosened. “You were not his to have.”

“I was never going to be his property! He promised me.”

Ulrich’s body tensed against mine. “Promises mean nothing.”

I wiggled under the weight of him, hating the heat growing across my body with him against me.

“I can’t be worried about my throat being slit while I sleep,” he said calmly.

One hand released me while the other brought both of my wrists above my head. I could barely fathom the size of his palm and how easily he held me still. With his now free hand, a snap echoed across the room.

My eyes searched the darkness, and I yelled out in rage when his hand suddenly clasped over my eyes, blocking my sight.

“The terms of your service,” he chuckled. “No looking upon my face.”

“You’re twisted,” I seethed, wiggling against the hold he had on me.

“Brenna, if you keep moving under me like that then I may change your terms to something more pleasurable.”

I froze and my body went rigid with his warning leaving his lips.

“I won’t be your bedmate.”

“Then stop moving like one,” he demanded.

Shuffling feet filled the room, followed by a bellowing laugh. “Looks like the princess isn’t so prim and proper.”

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