Page 47 of Savage Crown

His gaze flickers, dragging over me slowly. Not lustful—assessing.

Like he sees more than I want him to.

"Neither should you," he says simply.

I inhale through my nose, trying to steady myself.

Trying to remember who he is.

Trying to remember who I am.

"You kissed me," I say finally, the words like a dagger unsheathed.

A long silence.

Then—soft, dangerous.

"You kissed me back."

My fingers tighten around the dagger.

I want to argue. I want to deny it.

But we both know the truth.

We are standing on the precipice of something neither of us can control.

Something that will burn us both.

I lift my chin, swallowing the war inside me. "It won’t happen again."

A beat of silence.

Then—Rylan smirks.

Slow. Dark. Unforgiving.

"Liar."

His voice is silk and steel, soft and sharp enough to cut.

And, gods help me, I hate him for it.

Or I loathe myself because he’s right.

19

RYLAN

There are many ways to kill a man.

A blade to the throat is the simplest. Poison, slower but more insidious.

And then there is doubt.

Doubt can rot a man from the inside out, a slow, creeping decay, unraveling everything he thought was certain.

I tell myself I’m immune to it.

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