Page 69 of Savage Crown

I should have shut it down. Should have given her something easy to brush off. But instead, I let her get too close. I let her sink into my head, and now she’s all I can think about.

Her fire. Her anger. The way her breath hitched when she thought I might have wanted Lartina.

The way she looked at me like I belonged to her.

It’s infuriating.

So I do something even more infuriating.

I go looking for her.

I find her exactly where I knew she’d be—alone, pacing the lower halls like a caged animal, her arms crossed, shoulders tense as steel.

She doesn’t hear me at first.

I take my time, stepping into the dim torchlight. Watching.

I want her to feel it.

I want her to know I’m here.

She stiffens but doesn’t turn.

“Can’t sleep?” I say, voice casual. Mocking.

She exhales through her nose, slow and measured. “Neither can you.”

The silence is sharp, thick with all the things we shouldn’t be saying but keep circling anyway.

When she finally turns, her eyes burn.

Not just with anger. With something else.

Something I don’t want to name.

She wants to fight.

Good.

Because so do I.

I step closer, slow and deliberate. “You’re still thinking about it.”

Her mouth presses into a thin line. “Thinking about what?”

I smirk. “Don’t play dumb, little thief. We both know you’re terrible at it.”

Her hands curl into fists. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe I’m just trying to wrap my head around the fact that I watched Lartina throw herself all over you, and you didn’t exactly stop her.”

There it is.

I take another step, lowering my voice. “You’re jealous.”

Her eyes flash. “I am not?—”

“—Jealous,” I finish for her. “Admit it, Seraphina. You hated watching her touch me.”

She scoffs, rolling her eyes. “Don’t flatter yourself, Rylan. I couldn’t care less who you let put their hands all over you.”

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