Page 113 of The Night Prince

I suck in a deep breath, the room blurring around me. I taste mountains and soap and the familiar scent of woodsmoke. It’s like ash in my mouth. “Do not tell me how I settle things, Callum McKennan.” I grip his shoulders to push myself upward, and steady myself. My hair is draped against his chest. “You’re a liar.”

“I have not lied to you.”

“You know the nature of the bond. Don’t pretend otherwise!”

“Aye. I know.”

A growl builds inside me. “You made a mockery of me.”

“You believeyouhave been made a mockery of?”

He doesn’t look like the Callum I know right now. There is nothing gentle or kind in his expression. Despite the intimacyof our position, he looks at me as if I’m a foe he’s facing on the battlefield.

I can barely contain my rage. It rises up my throat and I want to scream. “You hid the truth.”

“Because I did not want it to be true!”

“You had no right!” My body is tense against his, my chest heaving like I’m drowning. “How long have you known the nature of the bond?” His throat is bobbing. “How long?”

“I suspected on the night James bit you.”

The fire inside me blazes and roars. “That long?”

His jawline hardens. “Aye, that long. And I denied it at first. But James told Blake to kiss you, and I couldn’t hide from it any longer. I scented it, I saw the way he reacted to you, and I tried to tell myself I was mistaken. Until I read the pages in Blake’s book the moment I returned to Madadh-allaidh, and I knew it to be true.” His accent gets thicker as he gets more agitated. “What am I supposed to do? Give you my blessing? You’re his m—”

“Do not finish that sentence!” My nightdress and robe stick to my body. The water is warm, and splashes around my stomach. My curves press against his chest, and one of his hands is clamped on my waist—hot and firm as iron. “You’re supposed to tell me so we can fix it!”

“You‘re not a full wolf. You don’t understand.” His hot breath mingles with mine. “There is no fixing it. There is no choice in it.” A muscle throbs in his neck. “The bond is unbreakable, and I do not share. I want all of you, heart, body, and soul. I will take no less.”

“What about whatIwant? Do you care about that?”

“You do not know what you want, Princess. You didn’t know on the night I took you, and I don’t think you’re any closer to answering that question now!”

His heartbeat thunders in my ears with my own, furious, restless. “What’s next, Callum? Are you going to keep me brushed aside, out of the way, kept in a room in your castle while Blake is locked away in—”

“Do not speak to me ofhim.”His eyes blaze and his cheeks flush as he leans closer to me, pulling our bodies flush. “What would you have me do? You are the moon to me, Rory. Every time I set eyes on you, my soul is aflame. The wolf inside me presses against my skin, it howls in my blood, and roars in my ears—and you would not like the things it wants me to do. Every night, I have thought of you. I have imagined myself buried inside of you, sinking my teeth into you, claiming you as mine while cursing my goddess for not giving you to me. I have left my door unlocked, praying you would come while hoping you wouldn’t.”

Something coils, hot, inside me at his words. It aches. It burns. My teeth hurt, and my nails are claws. That wild thing in my ribs thrashes against its cage. A low growl builds, unbidden, in my chest.

Bite. Bite. Bite.

Callum’s nostrils flare. He answers with a growl of his own and his hard wet chest vibrates against my peaked nipples. His fingers dig into my sides.

“Do not test me, Princess,” he says. I know I should get a hold of myself. I know this is wrong and we need to talk. I know the nature of the bond changes things for him, and I’m furious because of it. I can’t stop. I tremble with the force of containingmy emotion. He cups my face with his hands. “Princess, I advise you to get out of this tub and walk away. You don’t want this.”

“You don’t get to tell me what I want. I’m fed up of people telling me what I want.Idecide what I want!”

My chest heaves against his. I want him. Right now. I want him buried inside me while I take my pleasure from him. I want him moaning, gasping, beneath me. I want him to pay for all of this. I want him at my mercy.

His breathing deepens. Conflict flickers across his face as he presses his forehead to mine. “Rory, tell me what you want.”

Chapter Fifty-One

Tell me what you want.

Callum’s hands are firm yet gentle on my cheeks. My nightdress is sopping wet beneath my robe. My core presses against his hard torso. Both of us are breathing deeply.

I use his shoulders to push myself upright. The wet tips of my hair touch his shoulders, and his eyes darken on my chest where my nightdress has become translucent. His face is strained, like he’s battling with himself. I take his hand and put it on my breast. He makes a low sound. He squeezes, then brushes his thumb over my peaked nipple. My back arches in response.

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