Page 51 of Claimed In Darkness

"You already know," she says.

I let my fingers skim over the curve of her shoulder, tracing the line of her collarbone.

The mark I burned into her is still there, hidden beneath the silk and shadows, but I know it aches.

She feels it deep in her bones.

The proof that she belongs to me.

My thumb brushes the artery at her throat.

She shudders. And there it is.

The crack.

The slip.

The thing I’ve been waiting for.

"Say it," I say softly, leaning closer to her.

Her breath is ragged, uneven, a war in every syllable.

"You poisoned me," she grits out, voice laced with hate. "I need the antidote."

I should feel victorious.

I should feel satisfied.

But I couldn’t. Her answer’s lacking. It’s not what I want to hear.

I know that’s only half the truth.

Her lashes flicker, and lips part, and I see the sharp inhale she tries to control.

There’s something else beneath her skin.

Something she doesn’t want to acknowledge.

Something she’s fighting with all her being.

"That’s not the only reason," I murmur, my voice sinking lower, softer, more dangerous.

She moves then, suddenly, violently.

Her hands press against my chest, shoving hard enough to make me take a single step back.

But not hard enough to push me away completely.

"You are the most insufferable bastard I’ve ever met," she hisses.

"Likewise," I say, because it’s true.

Her hands remain on me, fingers curled into the fabric of my tunic, like she forgot she was supposed to be shoving me away.

I drop my voice to something slow, deliberate.

"You should have run."

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