Page 44 of Dark & Dreadful Brutes

“Anyone’s but the cult’s. I don’t condone anyone killing each other for love, of all things. If the cultists feel threatened, they should take mates themselves to make their magic stronger.”

“Why are they so strong that the mated couples haven’t been able to wipe them out?”

“Many of the mated couples have children. Few of them are willing to leave their fortress of a city to fight—and fewer are willing to kill their old friends and families. There can’t be many left, but they are persistent, and they hide well.”

“And it won’t end until the cultists are gone?”

“Even then, I’m sure they have members hidden among my army.” He closed his eyes for a long moment, and I saw the lines in his face. I saw the weight of his stress, and of his throne.

Suddenly, I understood his anger and grumpiness just a little bit.

He’d been holding an entire kingdom together through grit and willpower for centuries, fighting a war he didn’t want on both fronts.

“Would killing your sister end it? She’s the leader, right?” I asked.

“She is, but she’s careful to avoid any fights she knows she can’t win. Eventually, she’ll grow desperate enough to face me, and I’ll have the chance to end her.”

“Your warriors respect you though, right? If you took a mate, would they side with you?”

He grimaced. “It’s unlikely.”

“But you don’t know.”

“I don’t. Most would be loyal to me if the truth comes out, but some wouldn’t.”

That was better than nothing, I supposed.

“So what do we do?” I finally hauled myself out of the bathing pool too. I was a lot less graceful about it than Ravv was, but managed to end up on my ass, with my feet hanging in the water.

“You made that much harder than it needed to be,” Ravv drawled, leaning back as he stared at me. Despite his words, there was heat in his eyes, and they were lingering on my thighs. My dress had ridden up, and it barely covered me.

“Not all of us are warrior fae kings,” I drawled back.

“Thank the veil for that.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “I’m serious. What are we going to do about us?”

“You’re going to tell me what you did with Toveo, to start.”

“That is still not your business,” I said bluntly.

His eyes narrowed at me. “You belong to me. That makes it my business.”

“Did you not hear anything you just said? It’s not even possible for us to be together. And once again, you don’t own me.”

His eyes were still narrowed at me. “Tell me, Lae.”

I should never have let my old nickname slip. No one had called me that since…

Well, since all the happy shit in my past that I preferred to pretend had never happened.

I still wasn’t going to give in. There was no way I could let him win. “Make me.”

His eyes burned into me for a long, long moment.

My gaze jerked down when I felt ice wrapping around my wrists and my thighs, trapping me where I was. I pulled against them, but they were thick and unyielding.

Panic started to rise in my chest as he stood smoothly and strode over to me. Ravv’s massive hand landed on my shoulder, and when I looked down again, I found his knees on either side of me.

---