Page 10 of Crowned In Venom

She swallows, then lowers the cup. “Is this another test?”

I smirk. “What do you think?”

She sets the goblet down on the table with deliberate care. “I think you enjoy playing games.”

“And you don’t?”

A pause. A flicker of something in her expression.

Then, a slow smile.

Oh, she is exquisite.

But games are meant to be won.

And I have never lost.

I walk toward her again, slower this time. Watching her every breath, every flicker of reaction.

I press my advantage.

Lifting my hand, I trail a single finger along the hollow of her throat. Tracing the path the wine took only moments ago.

She stills beneath my touch.

Not because she is afraid.

But because she is deciding how to respond.

I lean in, my lips ghosting just above her skin. “Do you think I would hurt you, little fox?”

A heartbeat of silence.

Then—

“I think you could.”

Not an answer. A challenge.

I exhale, my breath warm against her neck. “And yet, you do not pull away.”

“I do not need to.”

Bold. Reckless. Perfect.

I drag my fingers down the line of her spine, watching the way her body betrays her—just slightly, just enough.

“You are playing a dangerous game, Anya.”

Her breath is soft, a whisper between us.

“So are you, my lord.”

I laugh, low and quiet.

Oh, I could devour her.

I could crush her beneath my hands, unravel her carefully built walls, turn her sharp tongue into something breathless and desperate.

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