“Because I felt guilty.” The words tasted like ash. “Because touching you felt like betraying—” I couldn’t say the name. Couldn’t force it past my lips when Varyth was looking at me like that, when his hands were burning through my clothes and making my skin sing. “I felt like I was doing something wrong.”
“And now?”
“Now I’mfurious.” I grabbed the front of his shirt, fisting the fabric hard enough to wrinkle. “Because you spent a week avoiding me instead of letting me explain. Because you saw me with Fenric and decided that meant I wanted him. Because you justapologisedfor kissing me like it was a mistake instead of the best fucking thing that’s happened to me in—gods, I don’t even know.”
His eyes went wide. As though I’d just ripped something vital out of his chest and held it up to the light.
But he still didn’t move.
Didn’t reach for me, didn’t speak, just stood there with his hands frozen at my waist and his mouth slightly open like he’d forgotten how words worked.
So naturally, I decided to be an absolute menace about it.
“Unless,” I said, letting my voice drop into something dangerous, something that tasted like smoke and recklessness. “You’d prefer I walk away right now. Maybe I should go find Fenric after all.”
“Don’t you fucking dare." The words came out in a snarl.
And then his hands were in my hair and his mouth was crashing into mine.
I made a sound—half gasp, half moan—and kissed him back with everything I had. Every ounce of frustration and confusion and want I’d been shoving down for the past week came pouringout in the way my hands tangled in his hair, the way I pressed against him hard enough to feel every line of his body against mine.
His hands slid from my waist to my hips, gripping with bruising intensity as he walked me backward until my spine hit the balcony rail. The stone was cold against my back but he was molten against my front, all hard muscle and devastating heat as he deepened the kiss with a growl that vibrated through both of us.
“Fenric?” he managed against my mouth, teeth dragging over my bottom lip.
“Friends,” I gasped, arching into him as his mouth moved to my jaw, my throat, that spot below my ear that made my knees weak. “Just friends.”
“I’ve was ready to kill him,” he murmured against my lips, teeth grazing my bottom lip hard enough to make me gasp. “Every time I saw you smile at him. Every time you touched him.” His mouth moved to my jaw, trailing fire down to my throat. “I was going to make it look like a training accident. Very tragic. Very unfortunate.”
“You’re insane,” I managed, my head falling back to give him better access.
“You make me insane.” His teeth found my pulse point, biting down just hard enough to draw a sound from my throat that should have been illegal. “Seeing you with him. Thinking he had what I—” He broke off with a growl, pressing me back against the stone railing. “I’m glad I can cross that off my to-do list.”
“What, murdering Fenric?”
“Among other things.” His hands slid down to grip my thighs, and then he wasliftingme, settling me on the railing with my legs wrapped around his waist. “Though I may still maim him on principle.”
“Don’t.” I pulled him closer, revelling in the solid weight of him between my legs. “He’s been through enough.”
Varyth’s laugh was dark and feral against my throat. “Oh, I don’t think so. Not nearly enough for making me think—” His hips rocked forward, and the hard length of him pressed against me in a way that made coherent thought impossible. “For making me believe you wanted him instead of me.”
“I never wanted him,” I breathed. “I wantedyou. Even when I was trying not to. Even when I thought I shouldn’t.”
His mouth found mine again, and this kiss was different—slower, deeper. When he finally pulled back, his eyes were molten, pupils blown wide with want.
“I’ve been planning a murder too,” I admitted breathlessly.
He raised an brow. “Have you?”
“Yes. Yours. For being an insufferable, cryptic bastard who speaks in riddles and won’t just say what he fucking means.”
His grin was absolutely lethal. “I want you,” he said, each word deliberate. Clear. “Have wanted you since you first walked into my castle covered in blood and radiating murder. I want to take you to my chambers and worship every inch of you until you forget your own name. I want to hear you scream mine until your voice breaks. Is that clear enough?”
His words shattered something in me.
That tightly wound thing I’d been guarding behind sarcasm and restraint? Gone. Melted under the weight of his words, of the promise laced between every syllable.
Still, I wasn’t ready to surrender. Not yet.
