Seracouldn’tsomuchas twitch. The arms holding her were strong, too strong to be Cole. And yet, she knew his voice. Knew that overt scent of mandarin and leather that she had once found pleasant but now turned her stomach.
He drew his nose along her neck, sniffing deeply. “Mmm, kitten, you’re saturated in sex.”
She closed her eyes as revulsion speared through her trembling muscles. What were the options? She couldn’t scream. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t…
“AndNorth.”The grip holding her tightened, shooting pain up her arm. “You smell like you’ve been fucking Kieran North.” He spit on the ground. “Fuck. Is that why you didn’t bring me my charm? Cause you’re whoring yourself out to that prick?”
Think.
He dragged her and Sera bucked against his hold, kicked and squirmed, but it was useless. This was not the first time Cole had tried to overpower her, but she’d always been able to free herself until he cooled down. Fae were stronger than humans, but notlike this. His hold was like concrete and for all her fighting he didn’t so much as flinch.
Still covering her mouth, he hauled her where he wished. Through the house. Down a set of stairs. Until they reached the ground floor, in some sort of cellar near the kitchen made of thick, gray stone. Only Kieran’s valet stayed overnight and his room was no where near this part of the estate. The patrols were all outside unless… unless they were already dealt with. Thenno onewould hear her this far down.
Cole threw her forward and blocked the only exit.
“Now. Let’s have a nice, civilized chat.”
Trapped. Panic threatened to overwhelm her, spearing her muscles with electric fear. Though Sera refused to cower, her body begged to curl into the corner and hide. But there was no hiding from him now. She was at his mercy.
She stood as proudly as she could under the circumstances.
Cole sighed, his eyes more hollow than she remembered. Had he lost sleep? Good. She hoped he never had a peaceful night’s rest again.
“I mean, I figured you’d be whoring yourself out to North, why else would he give you this kind of protection and keep you in his fucking house?” He sneered, as if still working out the revulsion. His leg tapped while he talked, body otherwise still.
Was he nervous? Wraith was after him, that would terrify anyone with sense. His clothes were dirty, too. The garish colors blemished by grime. He was a cornered animal and that made him more dangerous than normal, but also more reckless. She had to hope he made a mistake.
“But damn. Is there no loyalty left?” She sensed the words were not just for her. How many of his collection had turned on him the moment they could? She could only think of a handful who would stick with him. The rest would have watched him burn or lit the match themselves.
“Whatever. Fine. It just makes this that much easier,” he continued, eyes focusing on her.
“What do you want?” Sera asserted, and she was proud that her voice didn’t waiver. The thought of using her body to get out of this had occurred to her, she knew enough about Cole to know what really heated his blood, but then… the thought was so repugnant she couldn’t bring herself to try. Not even to pretend.
“Oh, not gonna try and charm me with your cunt? Where’s the sex kitten that mewled in my lap whenever that glint of fear entered her eyes? And yeah, I see it. You’re terrified.” He shivered, and Sera feared the implications. “But we can’t, unfortunately, least of all because you’re tainted by North but I’m out of options.”
Sera swallowed, bracing like she had a hope of stopping him if he should strike her.
He scoffed and waved his hands dismissively. “Don’t worry, I’m not here to kill you. Couldn’t risk North’s damned Sense and have him on alert. But it was a struggle. Taming that impulse. I suppose I can always change my mind, but you’ve manage to take away my choices.”
He had no weapon, but there was something about the way he moved that made her instinctively know that he was more dangerous than ever. She couldn’t have overpowered him physically before, but she could always out-play him. He’d done something to make himself impossibly strong. She doubted that quick thinking would be enough and, frankly, she didn’t want to risk it if he was willing to let her walk away from this.
“Or I could just pop upstairs and kill North while he sleeps,” Cole mused, watching her.
“No—” She snapped her mouth shut.
Too late.
Cole’s focus narrowed on her, pinpointing her weakness instantly.
“No? What, do you have feelings for him? Clearly you don’t give a shit about me and what we had, or you’d not be fucking him.”
She forced her face into neutral. Forced the fear and love and panic to wash from her features.
“Holy shit, you’re in love with him aren’t you?”
Don’t answer.Don’t respond.He’s fishing for a reaction.
“North doesn’t feel emotions. He’s been that boring, apathetic prick since we were kids. Unless you somehow managed to… wait,” Cole drew his fingers through his hair, lips spreading into a manic grin, “North would never be swayed by a hot piece of ass, never break his oh-so-high-and-mighty control for sex. I’m a fucking idiot, of course he wouldn’t exchange sex for protection, he’s notme. He loves you. There is no other explanation for him offering protectionandfucking you on the side? North is way too noble.”
