He wanted to kill his ancestor. Desperately. But that was also impossible. So, he would do whatever he needed to ensure his realm’s survival.
After dinner, he portaled into his room...and stilled. Her aura was everywhere.Her.
Slowly, he turned, only to find Isla sitting on the edge of his bed as if ripped from one of his daydreams.
She was wearing an otherworldly fabric that glistened like a dusting of stars. It was thin as spider silk and just as transparent. She might as well be wearing nothing at all.
“This is what they gave me to wear to the duel,” she said, noticing his study. The dress would tear the moment she moved. Cronan clearly meant to humiliate her. Her head tilted. “I think it’s a little too modest.”
He blinked a few times to try and clear his mind. He kept his hand on his bedpost, knuckles whitening as he clung to it like it was an anchor in this sea of intensity that threatened to sweep him off his feet.
“What are you doing here?” His voice was breathless. Almost pained.
She lifted a shoulder. “You kill me tomorrow,” she said. She didn’t even try to pretend she would win. “I want to spend my last few hours of life with you.”
“Why?” he asked. He needed to know. Needed to understand the emotions that turned people into fools so that he wouldn’t become one of them.
“Because you’re my husband, and I love you,” she said. “Even if you end up stabbing me through the heart tomorrow.”
“Do you hear yourself?” Grim asked. His chest was rising and falling too quickly. “Don’t you know how ridiculous that sounds?”
She smiled. “Love usually is.”
She stood before him, and he could see her—all of her—clearly now. The fabric hid little, and she did not shrink beneath his study. No, she closed the space between them like she had done it a thousand times before.
“I can leave, or I can stay. It’s your choice.” She peered at him, waiting for his decision. When he said nothing, she nodded. She swept past him, out the door.
Good. A night together would only complicate things tomorrow. He watched her go.
Before she stepped foot out of his room, he snatched her wrist, pulling her back. He had portaled so quickly, the world had blurred. She paused, looking over her shoulder at him.
Perfection was a person. And she was standing right in front of him.
She raised a brow at him in challenge. They stared each other down. He had promised himself that he would be better, that he wouldn’t fold beneath temptation. He had watched her stab him in the heart in a loop. He had reminded himself of his countless centuries of self-control.
But fuck him, this was one battle he was willing to lose.
He tugged her inside, slamming the door shut behind her. It was against that door that he pressed into her, unleashed, his eyes sweeping down her body, studying her hungrily.
The starlit dress was so delicate, it would tear beneath his touch, rip beneath his teeth. He knew that it needed to be intact for her execution, but he was tempted to shred it to ribbons.
Instead, hand trembling with restraint, he gently trailed his fingers up her thigh, knuckles brushing against the dangerously thin fabric, until he found that slit. And then he was smoothing across warm, soft skin. His heart was racing. The world could end right now and he wouldn’t even notice, his entire focus was on the path up the inside of her leg. Higher.Higher. She shivered beneath his touch, her breathing slow and heavy. She gazed up at him expectantly. In her eyes, he could see all of his wants reflected. In her aura, he could taste the depths of her desire.
And when his fingers finally reached her center, he couldfeelthat she wanted this just as much as he did.
He cursed, his fingers sliding over the silk. She groaned, moving against his fingers. He leaned low to get a good look at her.
She craned her head up, so their faces were just inches apart.
“Please,” she begged, right against his mouth.
“So polite,” he murmured, his blood roaring with need. “Tell me, do you only say please and thank you when I’m giving you something?”
His fingers slipped beneath the fabric, and they both cursed. She squeezed her eyes shut for just a moment. When she opened them, they were fierce, blazing green. It was clear who held the power here. And she knew it. “Give me everything and find out.”
In that moment, he knew he would.
She was his ruin. She wasn’t even touching him, and he was already close to losing himself completely.
