Page 209 of Severed Heir

Hadrian hesitated. “You’ve already met one.” His voice tightened. “My sister—Estella.”

My breath caught.

Estella.

The words she whispered before the ward cut her off—You look just like him.I thought she meant the king. But it was Hadrian. Her brother.

“Hadrian,” I said, trying to steady my voice. “She knew all this time.”

“She was foolish,” he snapped. “Reckless when we were younger during our academy days. But I never imagined she’d keep this from me.”

He turned, sudden and brisk. “A servant will show you to your rooms. I don’t condone intimacy before marriage, so youand Archer will be sleeping separately. That is my blessing, should you wish to wed.”

A bitter laugh escaped me. “That’s your first fatherly command?”

His spine stiffened. “I’m trying to protect you, Severyn. Don’t mistake my rules for anything else. The estate is yours to explore. There are no wards to limit your curiosity.”

My curiosity?

“I’ll give you both a moment,” he added, before sweeping from the room.

Archer’s hand slid to the small of my back. “Are you on his side?” I asked. The words were quieter than I meant, yet they struck just as hard. “How dare he?”

“I’m on your side,” Archer said. “But if you want war, Sev... then start it.”

Something wild cracked through me. The urge to defy. To take back control. “Then take me,” I whispered hands against his chest.

His gaze sharpened. “Here?”

“Yes.”

He paused then stepped in, close enough to steal my breath. One hand slipped beneath the folds of my dress, trailing up my thigh. “This rebellious side of you,” he murmured, lips brushing the edge of my ear, “is unbelievably hot.”

A gasp escaped me as his touch climbed higher. But I caught his wrist, breath quick, gaze locked with his.

“You really think we won’t get caught?” I whispered. “This is definitely not modest.”

His grin was pure sin. “Then I guess I’ll have to be quiet.”

“I don’t want to be quiet.”

He closed his eyes. “I’ll respect your wishes about a bond. But let me make this loud and clear, if you decide to change yourmind, I won’t even if you beg, because I know you don’t want that.”

“I’m—second guessing myself.”

“No. No bond until you tell me you want it when you’re not horny.”

He swept my underwear to one side and rubbed his finger against my opening. “Spread your legs,” he whispered, nipping at my ear. “I wish to feel you.”

Shamelessly, I ground myself into his fingers, allowing my knees to fall open. A second finger stroked my entrance before he picked up his rhythm in soothing thrusts. “Be a good little heir and fill the library with your moans,” he growled.

“Maybe—thisiswrong. I mean he’s a Serpent.”

“No. You’ve been conditioned for your whole life to be the good daughter. I’m your dark night, Severyn. Let me corrupt you.”

“Okay,” I moaned.

He twisted my body, and an audible yelp slipped past my clenched jaw as he picked me up and placed me on the table. His other hand trailed the entirety of my breast, circling my puckered nipples from the outside of the gown. He lifted the lace hem, two fingers still buried inside of me before he kissed my thigh, gliding his mouth higher until his lips grazed my heated, wet core and he kissed and sucked until...

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