“Here, myspying,” I said, my heart in my throat as I held out my hand. Collin’s brows knitted together as he reached out. A shiver wrecked me as his hand brushed against mine.
I dumped the supplements into his palm. His eyes flew from the supplements to me.
“Does anyone else know you’re not taking these?” Collin asked, his sapphire eyes wide.
“Does it matter?”
“Does anyone else know?” Collin demanded, closing the space between us as he bore down on me, his warm breath caressing my face.
“Strange that now that I stopped taking them, I’m optimal.”
“It isn’t pleasant what happens to those who don’t follow the Illum.”
“You mean don’t followyou,” I spat, our breath mixing. My heart slammed into my ribs. Something twisted deep in my core, but I ignored it. “You know what’s unpleasant? Being drugged into a shell of yourself against your will.” I shot past him, ripping away from his magnetic field as I stormed toward the living area.
I heard his footsteps not far behind me.
“I am doing what’s best,” Collin growled, that polished exterior cracking as I heard the supplements scatter across the floor. I spun to face him.
“The best for who, Collin?” I yelled back, marching up to him and poking his massive chest. “The best for you? The best for the people in the damn clouds? What about the people down there? What about me?”
“What about you?” Collin bit out, grabbing my hand from where, I hadn’t realized, I was touching him, wild storms raging in his eyes. “Tell me, what’s best for you, Emeline?”
I froze as his eyes dipped to my lips. My pulse skittered across my skin, leaving a wildfire in its wake beneath his gaze. He stepped closer until his muscular chest grazed mine. I should step away from him. I shouldn’t want him near me.
My feet remained rooted.
“I—” I began breathlessly as he dragged his eyes back to mine. I couldn’t step out of that pull of his.
“You,” Collin murmured, lowering his face until the tip of his nose grazed mine. “You are unlike anything I have ever known.” His voice was a deep whisper. “You’re maddening, consuming, unwilling to follow any of their rules. I have a role to play and yet I spend my time thinking about you.”
If I leaned forward an inch, our lips would meet. His heart thundered against my chest, as untamed as his eyes.
His eyes held mine, a need there I had never seen.
“Thinking about how to make sure I’m obedient?” I rasped.
His lips found my ear. “You have only ever listened once. Rule Ten.” He breathed in the scent of my hair, and I shuddered, warmth pooling traitorously low. The feel of his lips in the Sphere slammed into me.
Beneath the storm that raged through my veins, I remembered.
Rule Ten: You are not permitted under any circumstances to tell your Mate no regarding public appearances, attire, or desires. If your Mate asks, you are to oblige him.
“Would you say no to me this time, Emeline?” Collin asked, dragging his mouth away from my ear until it hovered above mine. His eyes searched me desperately. Looking for something. “If I told you to kiss me,” he said, his lips brushing against mine with each word. The touch featherlight, a mere whisper of what could happen. “Knowing every terrible thing I am capable of. Would you tell me no?”
I couldn’t breathe around how his eyes held mine. My core tightened. I would tell him no. I didn’t want this. An Illum.
But my body betrayed me as his arm swept behind my lower back, pressing me against him, and I welcomed it. Arched into him. My hips flush against his, my hands finding his chest, his heart thundering beneath my touch. I told myself it was to push him away.
“Tell me no,” Collin breathed, his lips lingered before mine. Was he begging?
My eyes fluttered closed, my breaths too shallow. “I can’t.”
Collin went unnaturally still. “Can’t, or you don’t want to?”
I leaned in.
“Oh,” a small voice squeaked. I whipped my head to find Nora in a cream robe behind Collin with her cake stand.
