Page 35 of Shadows of Ruin

My breathing deepened, heavy as I ran my fingers along the blade at my thigh. Oh yes, I could do this.

I’d hurt him just like he hurt me, and so many others.

Kade’s eyes dropped to where I brushed the dagger, and he smiled.

He fuckingsmiled.

I launched myself forward, flinging myself at his chest while whipping my dagger from its sheath.

Kade stumbled, his momentum pulling us both to the ground. A thought briefly flickered through my brain that he’d purposefully let us fall. Like he believed I had no chance to take him by surprise. But it didn’t stop my fight.

I wrapped my legs around his center and forcefully thrust the palm of my hand upward, hitting the underside of his nose.

Blood gushed from his nostrils. A perfect shot.

Kade snarled as he tried to control the bleeding with one hand while blocking me with the other.

I embraced the relentless need to cause this man pain. His healing abilities immediately sprang into action though, and the blood slowed to a trickle faster than I would have hoped.

“Lana—” he grunted, blocking another one of my punches with ease.

He didn’t fight back. Instead, he merely protected himself, which only fueled my blinding rage.

“If you don’t stop, you’re going to hurt yourself,” Kade said, shoving aside my fist headed for his jaw like it was easy.

“Fight back!” I shouted at him. “Fight me, you coward!”

Kade had the audacity to laugh. “Oh, Little Rebel. Haven’t you learned by now? Violence doesn’t deter me. Now, are you going to let me talk or are we going to continue this lesson in fighting?”

“If violence is what you want,” I muttered, mostly to myself, “violence is what you’ll get.”

I wrestled my legs free, repositioning myself and my unsheathed dagger. As I settled on top of him, I gasped at how hard he was beneath me. Our fight clearly a turn-on as I felt his impossibly thick length through our clothes. Despite myself and my desire to cause him pain, my eyes flicked to his.

A breath caught in my throat, and I forced my fingers to grasp the handle of my dagger more firmly. All of the shifting in his lap and hisexcitementsent an electric shock up my spine. I would not be distracted just because my body liked the feeling of him beneath me.

Without any further hesitation, I brought my head closer to his face.

I pressed my knife into Kade’s neck, but not so hard that it drew blood. My erratic breathing only increased as his shadows wrapped around my waist, holding me in place, not fighting me.

He lay firmly in my grasp. All it would take was one moveand he would be incapacitated, certainly enough so I could flee.

Yet I hesitated. My breath came in ragged pants as I so desperately attempted to summon the courage to end this battle of wills.

“Finally going to let me explain myself?” he asked, his voice rough.

I growled under my breath. I hated that he didn’t fight back. I wanted him to make this easier. Ineededhim to show me the man I hated. To fight. Letting me take what I wanted made the possibility that he spoke the truth far too real.

He cocked his eyebrow, patiently watching me as his shadows continued to slither around my waist.

I huffed out a breath. I still held power here. “Right, because I’m feeling extremely trusting while your death shadows hold me hostage.”

Kade blinked once, then his shadows loosened from around me instantly. I didn’t move my knife. In fact, I pushed harder until I saw a pinprick of blood pool at the tip of the blade.

His eyes darkened, but not with that black swirling ink. Not in anger. No, this time they darkened for the same reason my thighs clamped harder around his waist. A sound from the back of his throat almost distracted me from what I wanted.

Almost.

“Tell me what happened. And know this is the only chance you’ll get.” I didn’t let up on the grip of my dagger. Kade didn’t attempt to move it away either.

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