Page 45 of Bonded to the Fallen Shadow King

Blood boiling uncomfortably, I shoved the door open, not caring that it slammed against the wall. My temples ached, or maybe it was the alcohol. Who knew at this point?

All I could focus on was Thalen withher.The edges of my vision turned red.

What was wrong with this fecking world? Silus had told me to stay away from Briar, and this airhead secreted her away to my favorite place?

Were they both in on it? Silus to push me, and Thalen to steal her heart away from me?

My heart twisted at the betrayal. I might wind up sending both of my supposed friends back to their original kingdoms, Sylvan and Terran.

If I couldn’t have her, they couldn’t either.

No one could, anddefinitelyno one could touch her other thanme.

I jabbed a finger in Thalen’s direction to demand an explanation of his intentions. I needed to understand why, out of all of them, he would target Briar and dare to woo her here in the observatory.

My sanctum.

“Tha… leeen…” I closed my mouth, trying to make it work. Feck it all! It sounded as if I couldn’t speak. I was the damn prince, soon to be the king.

The bottle slipped from my hand and crashed to the floor, the rich dark liquid splashing everywhere. Some of it soaked the cuffs of my black trousers. But the only thing that mattered was how close the windbag was to Briar.

Feet unsteady, I tried to move gracefully across the shaking floor, and my wings flared, bristling outward.

Thalen smirked. The scaffing bastard beamed, like he wassoproud of himself.

All control snapped as something in my chest yanked me toward him. He had to pay.

With a roar, I charged at him.

Thalen spread his arms wide and lifted the squat glass of dark liquor. He took a sip and darted away at the last second. His silver feathered wings unfurled, and he caught the air, leaving me to smash into the couch face first.

Yelping, Briar placed her drink on the table and squatted next to me. When her hands touched my arm, jolts I’d never experienced before shot through me, stronger than they had the last time we’d touched.

“I wondered when you were going to get here, you big brooding bellend. I would offer you a drink, but it seems you’ve had five or six. Maybe even seven.” Thalen chuckled behind me.

Briar snorted but then tried to cover it up by clearing her throat. “Are you okay?”

Grunting, I struggled upright, my wings flapping.

“Can you put those away?” Her voice shook with laughter, though she tried to hide it. “It’s not helping you stand.”

“Chaos, let him be. It’s funnier this way,” Thalen quipped.

My face heated, and I wanted to bury it in the couch. Clearly I looked pathetic, but the fact that Thalen had a nickname for Briar made me force myself upright.

“Do you have your balance now?” she asked, turning me toward her.

I didn’t even consider fighting her. I needed to see her face more than I needed to breathe. When my eyes met her gorgeous jade ones, my heart seemed to stop.

Feck. I looked downward. Her cornflower blue dress was all soft and loose around her curves. It would be so easy to slide my hand between her thighs and—feck! I had to stop my mind from where it was going.

All the blood in my body surged somewhere other than my brain and the bulge grew in my pants once more.

It was so hard to think. All I wanted to do was bury myself between her—

Thalen’s snicker jolted me back to reality.

He landed beside me and took a flamboyant bow. “I knew you’d show up eventually. My job here is done. Have fun, you two. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

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