Page 110 of Cruelly Bitten
“No,” I bit out, my hand wrapping around his throat as I slammed him against the nearest wall—which was a good fifteen feet away. However, phasing allowed me to cross that distance in less than a second.
Michael’s pupils flared, his eyes blowing wide.
“I warned you not to touch her, Michael. I told you what would happen if you disobeyed me.”
My grip tightened around his windpipe, the urge to rip his head off causing my inner predator to grin with malicious excitement.
“She is not yours to punish. Or to fucking touch.” The snarl of words left my mouth on an infuriated hiss of sound, one that chilled the air between us.
A shadow fell over his features, his heart thudding loudly in his chest.
Yes. You sorely misunderstood your predicament,I thought at him.But you understand now, don’t you?
“Ismerelda may have misbehaved today,” I told him. “However, I will speak to her about it privately. Only then will I decide if a punishment is warranted.”
Because, frankly, I was more curious about her actions today than angered by them.
Very unlike how I felt about Michael and his incessant need to interfere where myErositawas concerned.
“Your blatant disregard for my demands is a problem,” I went on as his face began to change color due to the lack of oxygen. “A problem that I’m not sure I can allow to live.”
He grabbed my wrist, his nostrils flaring.
“If I can’t trust you with a simpleno touchingpolicy, then how the fuck am I supposed to trust you to do anything else competently?”
His nails dug into my skin, his other hand coming up to my shoulder in an attempt to shove me away.
I didn’t move.
I was much older, muchstronger, than this worthless excuse for a male.
“You may fancy yourself superior to myErosita, but she’smine. That makes her an extension of who I am. AndIam your fucking Liege.”
He started to squirm, his legs kicking out at mine, his fight instincts beginning to take hold.
Because he seemed to understand that I wasn’t just going to choke him until he passed out and then let him wake up.
No. I fully intended to rip his head clean off.
He hurt my lioness.Twice.
Never again.
I didn’t care if it made me appear weak or obsessed or possessive. I was the fucking king. If I wanted to take a mate, then I would take a fucking mate.
If I wanted to turn Ismerelda, then I would fucking turn her.
And no one—especially notMichael—would influence my choices.
“I forgave your initial insult. I even gave you another chance, yet you deliberately ignored my?—”
My watch buzzed with an incoming call, Mira’s name appearing on a holographic screen beside me.
Fuck.I’d told her to escort Ismerelda to my room. Which meant there could be only one reason Mira was calling now.
“Don’t move,” I told Michael as I released him.
He partly disobeyed me, his knees buckling and sending him to the ground. Fortunately, he remained mostly still after that, his only sounds ones of wheezing and coughing.
