Page 26 of Midnight Star

“I was going to say that I wasn’t thinking. That it shouldn’t have happened.”

He just shakes his head and pulls me closer.

“Do you think I don’t feel it?” he murmurs in my ear, and then his wings are wrapped around me again, trapping me in his presence. “The way you tremble when I touch you? The way your breath catches when I get too close? The way you?—”

“That’s enough,” I snap, yanking myself free.

For a moment, he just watches me, a flicker ofsomething dangerous in his eyes. One that makes my lungs tighten at the reminder that this isn’t why he brought me here. A reminder that Iwillend up on that bed again, like I always do.

“Go,” he finally says, and his wings flare, despite his voice returning to its usual smooth, controlled tone. “Take your painting and materials with you.”

I blink, startled by the sudden shift.

“That’s it?” I ask. “You’re just letting me leave?”

Then he moves.

But not toward me.

To the table with my artwork.

“I wanted to show you the improvement I made to your painting.” He gathers the materials into a satchel, leveling his gaze with mine. “And to remind you that you belong to me. Which, as you may have noticed, I successfully did.”

My nails dig into my palms. “I don’t belong to anyone.”

“Yes. You do.” There’s a warning in his tone that makes my breathing slow, reminding me that no matter how much autonomy I try to have, he’s the one in control here.

As we stare each other down, memories of that kiss slam into me again.

I try to shove them away, but they linger. Taunting me. Tempting me.

“Was there something else you expected?” His voice is a dare now, edged with something darker. “Something else youwanted?”

I glance at the bed.

The moment I do, his smirk curves into something lethal.

If I give in again, there won’t be any turning back.

Which means I need to snap out of it.

Now.

“It’s dinnertime,” I remind him, the words slipping out before I can stop them. “Don’t you need to feed?”

His smirk doesn’t fade. If anything, it deepens.

Whatever spell he’s weaving around me, I need him tostop,before I find myself over there with him offering far more than my blood.

But he simply places the satchel onto the table and motions to it. “Take it and leave,” he says, which is enough permission I need to hurry over to it, pick it up, and all but run to the door. Because if I don’t get out of here now, I’m definitely going to do something I’ll regret.

When the door opens, Aethelthryth is standing there, her sharp gaze flicking from me to Aerix.

“Bring Victoria,” Aerix commands her. “I still need my dinner.”

I don’t look back.

I don’t have to.

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