Page 53 of Claimed By the Fae Lord

“Fuck. You.”

“Tell me!” he demanded.

“I’m a fucking pariah, Liam! No male would deign to show me an ounce of attention after what my parents did. Ever since they paid your family to get out of the contract, not one has ever looked my way. After what they did to Nox and his father? Most wouldn’t be caught dead even speaking to me. Or haven’t you heard? I’m damaged goods. Can’t be trusted, much less fucked.”

Unable to hold them back, tears spilled over and down my face. “I’m no one’sflower. Frost whore is what they call me. A two-facedmukanawho only cares about herself,” I tacked on, quoting him verbatim from that gods-awful day.

Liam flinched, ever so slightly, and for a moment I thought he might apologize. But I was a fool. Always a fool when it came to him.

“I thought we were in a better place, Liam. That we could at least be cordial. But it seems like all you can do is belittle me at every turn. I don’t understand why you even bothered to save me. If I’m such a black-hearted opportunist, you should have left me to my fate. I doubt it would hurt half as much as this."

Liam inhaled, and his gaze dropped to my lips before rising back to meet my eyes. The air between us crackled and sparked, a single touch would ignite the room into flames.

"Get out," I seethed. "I don't want to see your face again. I’ll find somewhere else to go. I’ll sail to the other side of the world if I have to."

White hot fury radiated from Liam’s pores like heat from a fire, and yet, there was something else lurking beneath the surface, something more frightening than his ire.

His berserker.

The atmosphere around us began to shift. The anger and frustration that had fueled our heated exchange now blurred with a growing undercurrent of desire.

"Raina," he whispered, his voice rough with a raw emotion.

"Why, Liam? I understand most fae treat sex like it’s nothing. And I understood that you were no longer mine but that night of the ball … how could you?" My voice was barely audible as I struggled to contain the swell of emotions threatening to overwhelm me.

I’d never told anyone, had never planned to mention the incident that occurred just weeks after he’d hurled that box at me. I’d purposefully done my best to bury the traumatic memory.

It had stayed buried until recently, until it decided to rear its head over and over like it was a corporeal specter that wanted to break me.

"Because I'm a fucking idiot," Liam admitted, his face hovering just above mine. "Though, I didn’t even realize you were inside at first. I thought you ran off, tired of watching my antics.”

“And once you caught my scent?”

Liam took a deep breath. “I wanted you to hurt as much as I was hurting despite believing it would have no effect on you at all. You never looked like any of it bothered you. I lost my damned mind over it."

I hadn’t expected the admission and more tears fell. It made me feel weak and I detested it because I knew I wasn’t.

He pressed his mouth into a flat line as his eyes trailed the wet lines streaking down my face. The moment stretched forever.

I licked the salty wetness from my lips, freezing when his pupils dilated further and those captivating irises began to glow.

With a feral growl, Liam closed the remaining distance between us. Our lips clashed in a heated kiss, tongues tangling and exploring as he devoured me hungrily.

All rational thought vanished. We clung to each other like we’d found salvation, giving into the lust that had been simmering beneath the surface for far too long.

Liam's grip on my waist tightened, and I braced myself for the storm of emotion that was about to engulf us both. His lips devoured mine with a wild, libidinous fervor that left me breathless and aching for more.

His fingers dug into my hips as he hoisted me up and pinned me against the wall. My legs instinctively wrapped around his waist, our bodies fitting together like two pieces of a long-lost puzzle.

Liam tore at my shirt with a ferocity that left my chest exposed, vulnerable to the cool air lashing at my skin. My body trembled.

Teeth clamped onto my breast and I whimpered from the sting. Then his tongue laved and soothed the bruising skin as strong hands fisted the fabric of the back of my pants and tore them down the middle.

I fumbled with his belt and he knocked my hands away. I plunged them into his hair while he freed his hardened length.

“Hurry,” I demanded.

His breath was hot and ragged as he positioned himself at my entrance, and my breath hitched in anticipation. In one swift, powerful thrust, he buried himself deep inside, tearing a moan from my throat.

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