Fi wriggled to break Antal’s grip, dizzy on ice and ozone as she fisted his shirt collar and its obnoxious buttons, fingers tangling the hair between his antlers. Despite his lean build, this daeyari was a menace, immovable with all his steel-taut weight turned against her—and fuck, if that didn’t stoke her useless pulse faster.
Antal forfeited no ground. He bitharder, fangs dragging flesh until a soft ache bloomed. A warning or a tease, such a narrow line to tread. When Fi writhed, he dug his hip into hers to hold her still. Pinned her lashing arm against the wall. A firmer hand braced her head, stopping her from ripping her own throat open with her struggle.
The rake of claws through Fi’s hair threatened an unbecoming sound on her lips. His growl, low in warning, shuddered down her spine.
At last, she was terrified.
Terrified of how gently he held her. Terrified of the heat pooling low in her belly, absurdly inappropriate in such a compromising position. A whisper of doubt that, maybe, being devoured wouldn’t be the horrific end she’d envisioned.
She gasped when Antal’s fangs lifted off her, a dull throb in their absence.
Void have mercy, shelikedit. Fi liked the press of his teeth, the hard lines of him holding her down.
And Antal? What should she make of his low, swaying tail? The way he lingered too close, breath warm on her neck, fingers knotted in her hair. He held her against the wall, still claiming the high ground. In the slow caress of his exhale, Fi heard a speechless taunt.
“Had enough?” his slitted eyes said. “Admit it. Concede.”
“You see?” she breathed. “I’m not afraid of you.”
What a gorgeous flicker of incredulity across his face. Ficould eat it for breakfast. He shifted, still not backing away, untangling his claws from her hair. His thumb traced the arc of an artery down her neck.
“Your heart is racing,” he said again.
Swifter than before. Verging on hyperventilation, in fact, the whole Plane shifting beneath her.
“Is it?” Fi said, light. “I hadn’t noticed.”
“You’d lie about something so petty?”
“A lie? I’mbluffing, you melodramatic wall cactus.”
Antal scowled. Whether at her tone or the name, hard to disentangle. “What difference does it make?”
“All the difference.” Why was he still soclose? Fi scrambled for her barbs, her only defense against his taunts, against the unyielding heat of him flush against her. “Being afraid is natural. Survival instinct. I can be afraid, but that won’t stop me bluffing out my ass when I need to get something done. It won’t stop me looking you in the eye to call you a brooding house cat.” She scoffed. “Honestly. It’s like you’ve never met a proper smuggler.”
Antal considered her too long. The drift of smoldering eyes across Fi’s face sparked another shudder. The flare of his nostrilsshouldhave terrified her, a predator scenting prey. That trace of his tongue across his teeth, clearly contemplating how she’d taste if he split her open.
“I suppose I haven’t,” he said at last.
He stepped away.
Fi fought to keep her chin up, not succumbing to the relief that threatened to slump her against the wall. With distance came breathing room, but not a return to where they’d stood before. This time, neither of them had backed down, a new field to spar upon.
She ran a hand over her neck. Tender skin, but when she examined her fingers… not a drop of blood.
“You’re an unusually brazen human, Fionamara.”
Antal watched her like a panther searching for a limp. No telling, anymore, what he’d do if he spotted one. Still too close, mere feet away across her kitchen, his scent of ice and ozone sharp enough to taste.
“Some call it stubborn,” she returned.
“Stubborn is a word for it…” His words came out too rough. Too long of a pause as his tongue brushed his mouth again, tail an agitated flick. “Was there a point to this?”
A point. What in the wide black Void was her point in pushing a daeyari? Other than pride, of course. A distraction from perennial helplessness.
Fi could use a distraction now. Anything to escape the thought of teeth on her neck, how upsettinglygoodthis monster felt against her. They had a common enemy. Nothing more. She’d be stupid to show a sliver of vulnerable flesh to a creature like this.
“The point is, I won’t run from you. And I won’t run from Verne.” Fi refused to be that flighty girl who always ran.
