Page 31 of The Shattered Kingdom
“You won’t,” I taunt. “Pussy.”
Mason squeezes his eyes shut and sucks in a slow, even breath, giving me the perfect opportunity to do what I’ve been trying to accomplish. I dart forward before he realizes what I’m intending, and I shove my bare finger straight down his throat.
Chapter Twelve
ABBY
MASON GAGS, A noise that brings me immense satisfaction.
It’s almost enough to distract me from the colossal mistake I’ve just made. Almost.
Mason curls his fingers around my wrist and yanks my now-limp finger out of his mouth. He doesn’t release my arm, holding it between us instead. I’m not sure if he’s aware of what he’s doing. I’m not sureI’maware of what I’m doing.
I shudder, a full-body shiver working its way up my spine. “It was an accident.” I blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. “That didn’t count.”
It’s too late. I’ve already touched him—placed my bare skin on his.
Mason’s so close that I can make out the dark-green ring at the outer rim of his eye and the few freckles lining the bridge of his nose and cheekbones. When he exhales, his breath warms my skin.
He licks his lips, his tongue running over his bottom lip before he sinks his teeth into the soft flesh. “I told you not to do that.”
“I didn’t,” I lie. “I didn’t touch you.”
Mason finally releases my wrist, and my arm drops limp. Mybody is shivering, the sensation entirely out of my control. I might as well have been struck by lightning with how hard I’m shaking.
I imagined that triggering a bond would be romantic, maybe even overwhelming. When I kissed Samuel, I fantasized about fireworks, sparks, and a minor heart attack. I feel none of those things right now.
My emotions toward Mason haven’t magically changed. I don’t want to confess my undying love or write romantic sonnets or draw his naked portrait. I’m not even sure why or how I know he’s my mate. I just do. I know it to my very bones, and there’s nothing anybody could ever tell me that would convince me otherwise. It’s like I’ve spent my entire life only breathing with half a lung, and now I have two fully functioning ones.
It’s right. I feel right, which I objectively know is very,verywrong.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” Mason says. “I told you the bond with Lilly was—”
I interrupt without thinking. “Stop calling her that.”
There’s more poison in my voice than intended. Mason’s nickname for Lill has always annoyed me, but just slightly. It’s one of those things I frown at and move on from.
Mason closes in on me. He moves like the predator he is, quiet and agile.
“I told you the bond withLillianwas fake,” he corrects himself. “She’s found a way to imitate it, and she’s lying to us all.” I begin to shake my head, but Mason’s following words stop me. “She went out of her way to touch Kie. She forced contact. She knew he’d feel something. She knows what she’s doing, Abby.”
The thought is too painful to consider. Has she been lying to me this entire time? Have I just been some pawn to her and Callie? The coincidence is too great.
Mason is mine. I don’t even want him.
Something falls to the ground. Mason’s gloves.
His throat bobs, and his bare fingers skirt over my face. He continues forward until he’s cradling my skull in his palms, his thumbs brushing over my cheekbones. His earnest expression is too much to bear.
My fingernails bite into my palms, the pain the only thing keeping me grounded.
“I don’t want it,” I admit. “I don’t want to be your mate.”
“I know.”
“I take it back.”
“You can’t.”
