Page 37 of Crowned In Venom

And I cannot decide which truth is more dangerous.

Her fingers flex against the railing. I can feel the tension in her, the tight coil of defiance and restraint.

I should step back.

I should remind her that I am not the one being played.

Instead, I reach up, brushing my fingers along the side of her throat.

A whisper of contact.

A slow, dangerous test.

She does not move.

But her breath catches.

And I feel it, the way her pulse quickens beneath my fingertips.

My lips curve. "Careful, little fox."

She exhales sharply, but her voice does not waver. "You mistake curiosity for carelessness, my lord."

"And you mistake patience for mercy."

She finally moves then, a shift of her weight, a deliberate act of regaining control.

I let her.

I let her slip just out of reach, let her step past me with a slow, measured turn of her body.

But I do not miss the way she looks back.

Not with fear.

Not with submission.

With something else entirely.

Something that sends heat curling low in my stomach.

Something that makes me crave the next move in our game.

I watch her disappear into the shadows of the corridor beyond.

And I do not follow.

Not tonight.

Because I am beginning to realize something?—

I do not want to chase her.

I want to let her run.

Because eventually, she will come back to me on her own.

13

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