Page 15 of Bloodstained
I should have fought him, hit and scratched and caused him pain. But I was frozen in place, my throat so tight I couldn't get a word out.
I licked my lips, and his gaze flicked down, tracking the motion.
“You disgust me,” I said on a hushed tone, those words the first ones I’d spoken to him in days.
He smirked. “You’re a beautiful liar.” His fingers reached out, brushing against my arm, and despite myself, I gasped at the sensation as heat bloomed deep within me.
“You’re trembling,” he continued, his voice a dark whisper as he grabbed the blanket and dragged it from me to toss across the room. “But not just from fear, is it?”
My nails dug into my palms. I had to break free from this moment, fromhim. “You’re insane if you think I’d ever want this…you.” My voice trembled. I hated that I couldn’t hold my tongue.
Although his expression was stoic, I saw amusement flickering across his inhuman features. “But youdowant it, Clara. I can smell how aroused you are right now.” He leaned in, so close I could feel his breath against my cheek, cool and oddly sweet. “But at the end of this, the only thing that matters is that you accept your fate.”
I exhaled sharply, my pulse roaring in my ears. My body was betraying me, responding in ways that made no sense, ways that horrified me.Right? It terrified me that I was turned on by him?
And when this rush of strength and rage filled me, I reached out and shoved against his chest, expecting him to be immovable, but he took a slow, measured step back. Ivan allowed it.
He studied me for a long moment, the weight of his gaze unbearable. Then, finally, he said, “I want you, Clara. In every way a man can have a woman.”
The words stole the breath from my lungs, setting my entire body ablaze. My fingers curled into the fabric of the shift, my heart slamming against my ribs. “You’re not a man.”
He smirked but didn’t respond.
“I don’t belong to you.” I forced the words out, hating how they sounded unconvinced.
His smirk turned into a full-blown smile, dark and knowing.
My stomach twisted, and I turned my head, unable to bear the intensity of his gaze any longer. My throat was dry, my mind spiraling with a thousand thoughts, all of them leading to the same inevitable conclusion.
The life I once knew was over, but what did that truly mean? The most frightening thing of all was that Ivan would take his time, knowing I’d break eventually, and he’d get what he wanted.
I turned my head, catching sight of the mirror to my side. My breath hitched.
I stared at Ivan’s imposing frame. And God...his reflection had me covering my mouth with my hand as pure terror rippled through me. His reflection showed sharp bones covered by skin that was almost translucent in the dim firelight. And when he cocked his head to the side and caught my gaze with his in the mirror, his black eyes were hollow.
And his mouth…his mouth couldn't close fully because his teeth were jagged, grotesquely large, something created toconsume. He grinned, showing me those horrendous fangs, and I felt a tear slide down my cheek.
I lowered my focus to his hands, ones that were clawed, unnatural, and monstrous. And although he hadn’t moved yet in the mirror, he seemed like he was closer to me, his body pressing to mine like some optical illusion.
I turned back to face him, but he was still steps away from me despite what the reflection showed.
“What do you see,puiul meu?” he murmured.
“A monster,” I whispered.
I didn't want to admit—not to myself nor out loud—that the biggest part of mewantedhim.
CHAPTER NINE
CLARA
The word still echoed in my ears long after they had left my lips.
Monster.
I should have felt safer for saying it out loud, like naming the thing that haunted me would strip away its power. But all my whispering did was thicken the air between us.
The word—the truth—seemed to seep into the walls themselves, swallowed and repeated back in silence.
