Page 72 of A War of Embers

The hell it’s not. Gripping several of the maps in my hand, I hold them up so he can see. “What if I shred this? Hmm? You seem awfully fond of your insufficient maps of Tellus.”

Rowan bares his teeth. “Do it.”

Well shit. Not the reaction I'm hoping for. “Why do you even have these maps anyway? Wanting to start a war?” I taunt.

“That’s none of your business.”

“Nothing here in Aïdes is my business, Rowan. I don’t belong here.”

“You wouldn’t know where you belong, Keres. You barely make a logical decision to try before attempting to end your life. You were miserable in Tellus, so be it. You aren’t in Tellus anymore.”

His monster is a piece of shit, trapping me here for his enjoyment. “Do you want to watch me spiral, is that it? Was trying to kill Lady Cirilla not a bold enough statement for you?” I drop the maps and raise my fist in the air, the top of my hand sprouting his bargaining tattoo. “You wanted me to show you, I think I’ve succeeded in proving it multiple times over.”

Abruptly Rowan pauses in stalking me in circles around his private study. “You were trying to kill Lady Cirilla in the Wraithlands? That’s who you were after?”

“Of course it was,” I snarl. “I’m not going to hurt someone innocent to prove myself. I can’t kill her, so she was an easy choice to go after. It would have proved to you I was serious without actually inflicting any damage.” I mean, Lady Cirilla would get her undergarments in a wad about it, but she’s alive to have them in a wad so it feels like a moot point.

“You weren’t going after my people.”

“Seriously?” I wish I had another object to throw at him. “Rowan, I’m trying to protect innocent lives from going through what I am. Why in the world would I go after your people? That’s the opposite of what I want to do.” Going after Nox, however, feels like a good way to work out some anger. But no, the guard is as safe from me as Alyvia is.

“In the Wraithlands–”

“We don’t need to talk about it. I failed.” He doesn’t have to rub salt in the wound. Going after Lady Cirilla was risky at best, treacherous at worst. She didn’t even know I was stalking her to be leery. She was the perfect target I let slip through my fingers by being too unaware of my surroundings. Of what the Haze really meant. Something clicks in my mind as my brows furrow in confusion. “The Haze dictates who participates.”

Rowan seems to stop breathing.

Narrowing my eyes at him, I glare. “It chose me.”

“Well you weren’t wearing the protective scarf,” Rowan snaps in irritation. “The lack of protection means the Haze can affect you.”

“You took off your scarf and it affected you too.”

“I wasn’t prepared for you to suffer the consequences of being foolish on your own.”

Something tells me he’s lying. I don’t understand why he would be lying though. Taking two steps forward, I jab my finger into his chest. “You knew.” As the words come out, I feel the truth in them. “You knew if you removed your scarf the Haze would choose you.”

A feral glint enters Rowan’s black eyes. “Let me be very clear, little monster,” his deep voice rumbles. “The Haze chooses who participates, but it also only chooses to unite those who share an attraction to each other. You wanted me, I wanted to fuck you, so it happened.”

Because he let it! “You could have let me–”

Rowan steps into me, until we’re chest to chest, glaring down his nose from his tall frame. “You don’t touch anyone but me. You want to fuck, we fuck. That’s how this is going to work.”

Momentarily stunned speechless, I merely stare at him. “Are you insane?” The words come out barely a whisper.

“You may have not noticed, little monster, but you belong to me. I branded you so. The entire population of Aïdes is aware. And so is Tellus if they ever come this way trying to reclaim your souls as theirs. They’ll have to get through me.” His big hands come up and cup my face, far gentler than the menacing look he’s staring at me with. “Do you understand now? You belong to the most deadly monster in existence and you have no idea the trap you’ve dug yourself into. You shouldn’t have crossed the sea if you thought you’d find your freedom here.”

“But you said you’d help me,” I rasp, feeling like everything is starting to crumble around me. “We made a deal.”

Triumph gleams in Rowan’s dark eyes. “I lied.” He bends down, his fingers digging slightly into my skin as he unabashedly kisses me like he has every right to. As if he owns me. And I find myself too lost in the void of lust and desire suddenly pumping through my veins to rationalize with him.

Somehow we seem to end up at each other’s throat before trying to strip each other of our clothes. I don’t know what this says about me as a person that this idealistic asshole seems to have a sway over my mind and body, but as his tongue delves into my mouth, I can’t find enough reason to care.

Rowan strips me of my senses until all I can feel is him surrounding me. One hand leaves my face to clutch the globe of my ass, curving my body into his in a silent demand. Everything else fades away as he devours me. The world around us stops, narrowing down until the two of us are the only ones in existence.

A moan tears out of my throat as he feasts on me. In this moment I truly understand what Rowan means when he says I belong to him. The way he ravages my mouth, the tight, bruising grip he has on my neck and ass feels as though he’s branding me in the only way he can.

His lips trail from mine to my cheek, our tattoos clashing as they rub against each other. “Do you want to be fucked, little monster?” he growls in my ear.

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