Page 75 of His Dark Delights
Without warning, the butcher shot forward. And I was too close to the bar. His hands snuck through. One collared around my throat and the other hooked behindthe back of my head. His strength made it easy for him to squish my face into the bar, and he pressed his lips to my ear.
I bodily trembled, both with fear and unbidden arousal. His pure male scent invaded my nose, and the heat of his body washed over me through the bars.
“You could kill me right now,” I whispered into the brittle air.
“I could,” he seethed.
“Then kill me if you deem it to be the right thing to do. But know that you will never have my subservience, you will never have my obeisance, and I will never bow to you. Not to a king who wears a crown stained with the blood of my kind.”
He vented a breath, hot on my neck. I shivered against him, and he noted that reaction. I felt his wicked mouth kick into a grin against my cheek.
“Is the Queen your mother, then?”
“Yes.” My voice wavered, and my heart skipped.
“She’s the one who left you with your father,” he puffed out, astounded. His grip on my neck loosened. “A fae princess. The Fates seemed determined to entangle our lives.”
“I suppose they did.” I angled my head, pressing my lips into the scruff along his jaw.
“You bow to no one, Lilliana, and you never will again.” Soren caught my lips at the end of his promise. He captured my mouth swiftly, firmly, adoringly. He kissed me through the bars like it was the only thing he could have done at that moment—and the only thing he’d yearned to do for weeks.
I’d craved the taste of his lips since our last kiss. Soren’s unique, erotic flavor swept over my tongue.Every part of me wanted to cave to the desire igniting between us.
“I thought you were coming to kill me.” I gasped into his mouth.
Soren pulled back, eyes as large as dinner plates and utterly baffled. “Kill you? Gods, Lilly, I could never. I would have burned the whole fae wild into ash to get you back.”
“Why? Why didn’t you kill me?”
“You know why. After everything we shared, I couldn’t lose you. You’re mine.” His eyes dropped to the necklace at my throat. “And you’re still wearing my mother’s necklace.”
Peeling myself away from his grip and the bars, I clasped my hand protectively over the moonstone. Warmth pulsed through my fingers and echoed in my heart.
“Hate is as good a motivator as any.”
“It’s not hate that drives me anymore,” he replied.
I choked on the air in my lungs. The back of my eyes burned, and I blinked away the brimming sensation.
“Revenge drove you to this war. Your fight injured you and landed you in my bed. It’s the one thing that you’ve solely devoted yourself to—your grand purpose.”
“I have a new purpose. One I’m more dedicated to than anything before.” There was conviction in his voice and burning ardor in his eyes.
The flush on my cheeks deepened, as did the uncertainty swirling in my chest.
“But I am fae, and I look fae. How does that make you feel?” I whispered.
“I’ve never seen anything or anyone as beautiful as you, Lilliana.” He dragged in a brittle inhale.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “It hurt having my essence unlocked. The transformation was excruciating—”
“Lilly…”
“—but not as painful as when you broke my heart,” I sucked in the sob threatening to breach my lips. However, I waved my hand, and the bars warped, curving out of my way.
Soren’s brows arched as he watched the plant life bend to the will of my power. He stumbled back as I strolled into his cell. Then his eyes flashed up to mine.
“You broke my heart more than once and expected me to believe that you came here for me? I’m supposed to believe that you’d give up your war for me when I am the embodiment of those you hate?”
