Page 222 of Disillusioned
He suddenly jerked, bounding the chair back and shaking his head.
“My god,” she snapped. “Don’tdothat!”
He lifted his good leg, brushing it against Lilac’s outer thigh.
“Oh. Right.” Lilac pulled the weapon from her opposite leg. It was still silent; Garin was hungry enough to drink, but not to kill. Supposedly. “Good idea.”
She held the material of his trousers taut, adjusting her grip near his crotch and making him groan, low in his throat. She carefully slid the blade of her dagger into the hole in his pants and began to apply pressure to slice the fabric away from herself and his leg. As she did, all she could think about was the hilt pressed against her wet center; without looking up at him in case he was thinking the same, she pressed harder, sawing slightly until the material gave way. She placed her blade aside, gripped both sides, and yanked with all her might, exposing his thigh nearly up to his groin.
Lilac then retrieved the forceps once more and held them above his leg. Her hands were shaking, and it wasn’t just because she was afraid of hurting him further. “Garin, you know I cannot concentrate with you staring at me like that.”
When she scorched him with a warning glare of her own, he snorted.
She shoved the thin nose of the prongs into the hole in Garin’s thigh.
There was a bone-curdling cry that came from behind his muzzle. He bucked again, followed by a muffled,real, “Take it off!”
She yanked the tool from him. “Myrddin said I shouldn’t. I’m not taking it off until I pry the ammunition from you. Your mouth is far too dangerous.”
There was a scrape against the threshold of her mind—one of his taloned fingers, prodding her chin up and digging into her flesh.Take. The muzzle. Off.
“You’re going to bite me.”
Heheld her gaze firmly.I will not.
Lilac’s sharp laughter cracked off her high ceiling. “Did you see what you tried to do back in the infirmary?”
You are on your bleed,he thought matter-of-factly.Your scent is everywhere, it is as if I’m drenched in you. I promise to remain perfectly merciful, as long as I am in these chains.
She groaned inwardly. She could already feel his power creeping over her, this time a throb at her lower back. She circled him, glaring, noticing some of the chains she’d thrown had fallen to the floor; she scooped them up and fumbled with the clasps one by one. The muzzle fell into his lap, where she quickly snatched it off. Lilac tossed the horrid contraption and the chains onto the edge of her bed. Within reach.
“What do you want?” she demanded.
“First of all, you look devastatingly beautiful.” Condensation slicked his face; the curl of hair that usually hung over his forehead stuck to it now. His lips curved into a polite, closed-mouth smile—admiration edged in a sly look that indicated he’d rather do nothing more than reach out and touch her. That he despised that he couldn’t. “Second, I just wanted to guide those precious little hands of yours.”
“You wanted me to remove your muzzle for this? You couldn’t have said it through this talentyou’ve been hiding from me?”
“I haven’t been hiding anything from you. I discovered it sitting there, at your vanity. Didn’t know you could hear my thoughts until your body began reacting.” He shrugged. “Then again, its reacted to everything lately, hasn’t it? Just think of what my bite might do.”
“You sat there and imagined the things you’d say to me,” Lilac replied, ignoring her burning ears. “How pathetic.”
“You’d be surprised. I do it quite often. There are a lot of things I’d say to you but can’t.”
She shoved the stake at him. “Tell me what to do or I’m putting that contraption back on.”
Garin’s pupils grew, his grin salacious as he cocked his head toward the bed. “There is a tool there. The long, thin piece of metal. You’llcarefullyinsert it into the wound. You’ll hit the bullet, and that’s how you’ll know how far to insert the forceps so you’re not prodding around in there and shoving it deeper.”
Lilac nodded, retrieving the long tool with the tiny hook at the end.
“Maybe the one in my arm first? It’s not nearly as painful.”
It wasn’t a demand; he’d been careful about his words so that it wasn’t an order. She did as requested, positioning herself above him once more. A shudder passed through him as she brought her face near and examined his bicep; it did seem a lot more shallow.
“You’ve done this before,” she said, hoping to distract herself from the pressure of his eyes on her.
“Why do you say that?”
“You know what to do. And the pain to expect.”
