Page 46 of Crowned In Venom

"Should I assume you called me here for a reason?" I ask.

He watches me. Unmoving. Unblinking.

Then—a slow exhale, a smirk that does not reach his eyes.

"I should kill you," he says, voice dark, low. "It would make things simpler."

I tilt my head. "Then why don’t you?"

The question hangs between us.

Unanswered. Unacknowledged.

Because we both know the truth.

He does not want to.

And that infuriates him.

I take another step forward.

The distance between us is razor-thin now.

"If I were behind whatever has you like this," I murmur, voice soft, careful, "I would be long gone by now."

His jaw tightens.

"You assume I wouldn't find you?"

I smile. Slow. Small.

"You assume I wouldn’t let you."

His hand moves before I can register it.

Not to strike. Not to hurt.

But to grip my wrist, tight, unyielding.

His thumb presses against my pulse point. Measuring. Feeling.

And for the first time tonight, I feel it—his hesitation.

His body burns with fury, but his grip?

His grip is restraint.

"Do not play games with me tonight, Anya."

His voice is a growl, a threat edged with something else.

Something too close to desperation.

Something I can use.

I lean in, letting my breath brush his skin. "Who said I was playing?"

A sharp inhale.

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