Page 84 of The King has Fallen

I spluttered, searching for the right response, but Melek, eyes glinting, just leaned in until our noses almost brushed. “Do you want to know what I have observed?”

“This should be stunning,” I muttered sullenly, folding my arms over the towel so his chest wouldn’t brush mine.

His eyes narrowed. “I observe a woman whoprovokeswith the mouth of a soldier, yet shies from the act even at the height of arousal. I see a woman who would slit the throat of a man without a backwards glance, yet offers crumbs to a rodent andyearns to befriend it. I see a woman who will fearlessly spit in the face of the most powerful General on the continent, yet win his friends with flirtation and cutting humor.”

I snorted. “I’m still waiting for the part where I have no integrity and deserve your derision.”

He stared back at me, stern and… disturbed? “That is precisely the problem, Yilan,” he said, his voice suddenly deep, calm,unhappy. “I’m still waiting for that too.”

It was the last thing I’d expected from him and it stunned me to silence.

We stared at each other and the hair on my arms stood up as I realized how close he was. How large. How strong.

He could snap me like a twig if I didn’t keep out of his grasp.

And yet he stood here, challenging me with words, waiting for an answer, not bringing his brute strength to bear.

My breath was shallow and quick. My mouth dry. I licked my lips and my heart jumped when his eyes dropped to my mouth and grew tortured for a moment.

“You are an enigma,” he said hoarsely. “You are a Fetch. I do not understand you, and yet…”

I couldn’t breathe, because I knew. “Yet?”

His brows pressed down, pinching over his strong nose and he searched my eyes. He opened his mouth as if he’d reply—but then only muttered,“Shit.”

Without warning, he took my face in his hands and kissed me, a low, tormented groan rolling in his massive chest as he gathered me in.

28. Under the Dark

SOUNDTRACK:I’ll Make You Love Meby Kat Leon and Sam Tinnesz

~ MELEK ~

I didn’t have the thought. I never made the decision.

One moment I loomed over her, arguing my point even as my heart ached—she couldn’t feel the bond? She’d described how they formed one, but did Fetch even sense bonds or did they merely stumble into them?—and then I stopped being angry and then something in her eyes softened and then her face was in my hands and…

She stiffened and gave a little gasp when my mouth landed on hers, but I hadn’t even had time to plead with God to keep her there when her body eased and her back bowed, her little handsdropping the towel as her arms snaked around my waist and she arched against me…huggingme.

Kissingme.

And… dear God, hermouth.

Those wide lips, so given to sly smiles and wicked delight, suddenly soft under mine.

That tongue, so quick to lash or reprimand, now velvet and slick.

My hands slid into her hair, taking grip, holding her there as a jolt of need rocked through me and I shuddered with it. Every inch of me trembled. Mysoulsang.

Mate.

Soulbond.

The One.

Holding her in my kiss, I tilted my head and fought a battle with myself—with a tongue that wanted to delve and tease, yet also yearned to speak the words.

Mate.

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