Page 22 of Claimed In Darkness

“That was unnecessary,” she hisses under her breath.

I smirk, running my thumb over the mark seared into her skin.

“No,” I murmur. “It was necessary.”

She shudders, her breath hitching. She hates how easily I affect her.

She hates herself more for not pulling away.

I lean down, letting my lips brush just over the shell of her ear.

“You play the role well,” I whisper. “But I wonder?—”

I slide my fingers along her spine, just lightly enough to make her breath catch.

“—are you pretending at all?”

Her fingers tremble, just for a second.

I feel it.

The war inside her.

The hate. The fury.

The hunger.

Perhaps she aims to kill me.

I want her to try.

She turns to me, eyes filled with murder and something worse.

“I will gut you the second I get the chance,” she breathes.

I grin.

“I’m counting on it. It’s what makes life worth living, sweetness.”

9

NAIRA

The moment we step back into his chambers, I collapse.

I don’t hit the floor—his fucking hands are on me before I even register the fall.

I abhor that he’s strong enough to hold me up, that he’s watching me like he already knew this would happen.

The poison.

It seeps into my veins, curling through my body like a creeping fire, scorching slow and deep. My muscles lock, my throat tightens, my skin feels too hot and too cold all at once.

I gasp, trying to rip myself from his grip.

But Zephiran just holds me closer.

He drags me toward the bed, his movements too easy, too controlled, and I know—this was planned.

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