Page 57 of Crown of Light and Ashes
I grasp her throat with one hand, not squeezing, just asserting complete control over her very breath. "I'll speak whatever fucking name I please. Aslan. ASLAN. Does it hurt to hear it? To remember how he died choking on his own blood while I watched the light fade from his eyes? How he whispered your name with his last breath?"
Her response is instant and savage; she spits directly in myface with perfect aim. "I will kill you for that," she promises, each word like shards of ice. "I will make you suffer as he suffered. I will make you beg."
I wipe the spittle away with deliberate slowness, then smile, a genuine expression of pure pleasure at her magnificent defiance. "There she is. The real Nesilhan Alari. Not the diplomat's daughter. Not the reluctant bride. The assassin. The killer who dreams of my blood on her hands." I lean until our noses nearly touch. "You're absolutely exquisite when you stop pretending to be anything other than what you are."
Confusion flickers across her face, warring with the fury. "What are you—"
I silence her with a kiss so brutal it draws blood from us both. She bites down hard on my lower lip in retaliation, and I laugh against her mouth, the coppery taste mixing between us like a dark communion.
"Still fighting," I approve, pressing my body against hers until she can feel every inch of my arousal. "Even now, even like this."
My shadows force her to her knees before me with inexorable strength. She glares up from her position, defiance blazing in every line of her body despite her submission.
"Is this what you want?" she demands, her voice rough with emotion. "To force me to submit? To prove your power over me?"
"What I want," I say, untying my trousers with deliberate slowness while holding her gaze, "is truth. The third truth, specifically. Why did you save my life from the assassin when letting me die would have solved all your problems and freed you from this marriage?"
Through our bond, I feel her genuine confusion warring with something deeper she won't acknowledge. "The blood bond," she offers weakly. "If you died violently, I would suffer the same fate."
"A convenient explanation," I reply, freeing my already achinglyhard cock from my clothing, "but not the complete truth. We both know the bond wouldn't have killed you, only caused you pain. Try again."
Her breathing quickens visibly as her eyes fix on my arousal despite herself. "I don't know," she admits finally, frustration and confusion evident in her voice. "I just... reacted. I didn't think."
"Interesting," I murmur, stroking myself inches from her face while watching her pupils dilate. "So the trained assassin, the woman who plans everything down to the smallest detail, just happened to save her enemy's life without thinking?" I tilt her chin up with my free hand, forcing her to meet my eyes. "I need more than that from you,hatun."
"I can't…" she begins, frustration making her voice crack slightly. "I need time. The third truth is... complicated."
"Very well," I concede, my hand sliding into her silky hair with surprising gentleness. "You have until tomorrow for that one. But in exchange, you'll give me something else right now."
"What?" she asks, her eyes fixed on my cock with a mixture of hatred and something much more dangerous.
"I want you to show me what you feel when I touch you," I reply, tightening my grip in her hair just enough to make her gasp. "I want you to stop pretending that your body doesn't respond to me even as your mind rejects everything I represent."
"I hate you," she insists, but her pupils have dilated, her breathing shallow and rapid.
"I know," I smile, pressing the head of my cock against her lips with deliberate slowness. "But hatred and desire aren't mutually exclusive, are they, little assassin? Your body betrays you even now. I can smell your arousal."
I stroke her cheek with my thumb, the gesture almost tender despite the circumstances. "Open your mouth for me, Nesilhan. Not because I force you, but because we both know you want to taste me."
She remains frozen, her golden eyes locked with mine, a war clearly raging within her beautiful, deadly soul. Fury and desire battle across her features—each fighting for dominance while her chest rises and falls with rapid breaths. I can feel the hunger radiating from her through our bond, at odds with the hatred that still burns bright and magnificent.
My shadows release her completely, leaving her free to move, to flee, to attack. "You can leave," I offer, my voice a dangerous purr. "Walk out that door right now. I won't stop you or pursue you. But we both know you won't."
For a long moment, she simply kneels there, proud, deadly Nesilhan caught between her body's traitorous need and her mind's desperate resistance. Her fingers curl into fists against her thighs. A muscle twitches in her jaw. I feel the exact moment something breaks inside her, not surrender, but a deliberate choice to embrace her own darkness.
"Why are you doing this to me?" she whispers, her voice barely audible but carrying the weight of genuine anguish.
"Because I want all of you," I answer with brutal honesty. "Not just your body, but your acknowledgment of what lies between us. The truth you won't even admit to yourself."
With deliberate slowness that makes my cock throb with anticipation, she parts her lips and takes me into her mouth, her golden eyes never leaving mine—defiant even in this moment of submission.
The sensation is absolutely exquisite—scalding hot, perfectly wet, divinely tight. I groan deep in my chest, fingers tightening in her hair as she takes me deeper with practiced skill that makes jealousy burn through me like acid.
"Where did you learn this particular talent?" I ask as she swirls her tongue around the sensitive head with devastating precision. "Who taught you to use that clever mouth for more than just lies andthreats…" I break off with a sharp intake of breath as she hollows her cheeks, sucking hard enough to make my vision blur. "Actually, don't answer that. I'd hate to have to stop this exquisite torture to go resurrect someone just so I could kill them more slowly."
Her eyes flash dangerously at the threat, but instead of stopping, she doubles her efforts with renewed determination, taking me deeper until I feel the back of her throat. My shadows respond to the overwhelming pleasure, pulsing and writhing around us both like living things that react to my emotional state rather than conscious control.
"Fuck," I hiss as she grazes her teeth lightly along my length—a dangerous reminder that she could hurt me if she chose, that she holds my most vulnerable part between those perfect teeth. The threat only heightens my arousal, making my cock throb against her tongue.
