Page 54 of The Devil In Blue
“Stop.”
“Destroy me, Rune. They all said you would.”
“Stop.”
“If you must hurt me to feel something then do it. I’ve learned how sweet pain can be. It’s man’s greatest tool as well as mine. It distracts me from the madness nipping at my heels. Madness feels nothing and too much all at once and it haunts me, so hurt me, Rune. Do me that kindness. Be like all the rest.”
Rune shook his head, brows creased like he could not find words to respond. But he did, eventually.
“Perhaps I should hurt you,” he said, squeezing my throat a bit harder. “Perhaps I should finally be rid of the thorn in my side. I nearly burned the world for you, Briar. Only to find that you don’t even know who I am,” he said through his teeth.
I watched him, drowning in his eyes as the air was choked out of me. I didn’t need it. I’d always told myself that the moment death licked my neck I would revel in the idea that it was finally noticing me. Finally paying attention.
But then he released me. The rush of oxygen to my brain made me see stars. I lost track of where I was for a split second and the king allowed me no time to process before his lips were crushing mine.
Lucien had never kissed me.
His lips never touched mine or any other part of my body for that matter. I wasn’t sure I’d ever been kissed, but when Rune’s lips were on me, the whole room faded behind a foggy veil. My ears were ringing and my heart was sputtering so wildly I thought I might choke on the vibration.
The hand on the back of my neck held me firm and forced me to crane my head back as Rune ravaged my mouth. His tongue parted my lips and delved inside and I let him invade me. Even when his hand left my throat, I could hardly breathe.
But… something about it felt so terrifyingly good.
I knew Lucien and Lucien only. I knew his clammy hands and his disconnected stares and fleeting feelings of being used and discarded.
This was entirely different. My body felt everything. Even if my mind couldn’t recognize it, I felt like my body did.
My palms pressed to Rune’s bare chest and I moaned. I didn’t mean to. The sound egged him on and he pulled me closer. Heat rose inside me like my skirts had caught fire. I was disappearing.
Fearing that kiss would crack me open for good and I would never be able to fuse myself back together, I tried to pull away. Rune wrapped me in his arms, his strength a prison I wanted desperately to escape and stay inside at the same time. I pulled harder, my fingers curling so my nails were biting into his skin. He groaned and slammed me against the wall, deepening the kiss. I trembled, terrified of the way he was making me feel. Of the way I loved his smell. His power. The taste of him on my tongue. The heat of him on my skin.
I needed to leave. I needed to breathe. To scream.
I shoved against him again and he pushed forward, his knee sliding between my legs. Fire slithered up my thighs and gathered in my core.
It wasn’t right.
I’d been taught to be modest. Guarded. Silent.
But I was feeling so vulnerable in that moment. Vulnerable and willing.
Craving a man so cruel was a shameful thought and yet my body was enjoying his harsh touch.
Madness truly was a monster and it was biting into me so hard that if I didn’t stop things, I was going to disintegrate under the weight.
So I sucked Rune’s bottom lip between my teeth and I bit down. He pulled in a sharp breath and growled, but it wasn’t until I tasted blood that he pulled away. Blazing hot eyes tore into me when I looked up at him. Blood wept down his chin. I had bitten him harder than I thought. I could taste the sickening copper tones on my tongue as I panted for breath.
Lucien would have locked me in my room.
Father Eli would have done worse. Much worse.
But Rune just stared at me, breathing heavily as he lifted a hand to swipe at the blood with his thumb.
I needed to flee. Something burned between my thighs and it was disgraceful. Horrifying.
Wonderful.
I ducked under Rune’s arm and headed for the door. The blanket had slipped off my shoulders and I felt the cold chill of the palace air on my skin.
