“Let go,” I said, hating the tremor in my voice.
He cocked his head, eyes narrowed. “You’ve spent months undermining me, and now you stand there as if you’re the injured party.”
I glared at him, refusing to look away. “Everything I did was in response to you, Ryker. Maybe if you hadn’t been such a tyrant, I wouldn’t have needed to go behind your back.”
His grip slackened, just enough for me to suck in air.
“And there it is.” His breath was hot against my cheek. “You can’t stand it, can you?” Ryker’s mouth brushed mine, thechallenge in his words threading through every word. “It kills you that we’re bound, that you crave me. That fate chained you to the monster in the shadows.”
His hand pressed harder, thumb grazing my pulse, and I could feel the lethal potential in his touch.
But I didn’t back down.
“Fate made a mistake,” I said, a bitter laugh scraping my throat. “Maybe the gods enjoy watching us suffer.”
His lips grazed the shell of my ear, a threat disguised as a caress. “This is what it always comes down to, Temptress. You running. Me chasing. You pretending you aren’t mine. Fighting what you are, what we are, like it’s a toxin in your veins.”
His grip tightened again, just for the satisfaction of feeling me struggle. My pulse thudded against his palm, and he pushed me back until my spine hit the stone wall. The cold bit into my skin, but Ryker’s heat smothered everything else.
“You can’t escape this, Temptress. You never could.” His hand slid down my throat as he made his way to the valley between my breasts. “You think you’re strong? Well, you aren’t. All you are is a scared little girl too afraid to accept what it means to be mine.”
A red haze descended over my vision as rage flooded my body. “Scared? You believe I’m scared of you?”
I shoved his chest again, and this time he took a step back. “It isn’t fear that makes me want to run. It’s hatred. I loathe you for what you are, for what you’ve done to me. I would burn this palace down just to watch you suffocate on the smoke.”
My chest was heaving, and my hands trembled at my sides.
“I hate you so much, I can’t stand the fucking sight of you.”
Ryker reclaimed the step he had surrendered, his body leaning into mine. I could feel the hard outline of his erection pressing against my center, and gods help me, I whimpered.
His eyes glittered, wolfish and wild. “Liar.”
I bared my teeth. “You want the truth? Well, here it is: I will never be yours, not completely.”
Ryker’s palm returned to my throat, squeezing just enough to make it difficult to breathe.
“Go ahead. Squeeze harder. See if I care.” My nails raked his skin, drawing blood.
“You’d rather die than admit you belong to me?” His lips twisted into a cruel smile. “After everything we’ve been through?”
The truth burned in my veins, too potent to contain.
“You slaughtered my people. You struck down anyone who got in your path. The only thing I feel for you is abhorrence.”
“And you care so much about the Wraith Borne?” He arched a brow in challenge.
“I cared about my parents!”
Angry tears filled my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.
“I care about the fact that you murdered my mother! And I don’t just mean by leading the assault against the rebels. You killed her with your own two hands.”
“She tried to kill my brother!”
His words echoed around us, sharp and final.
Ryker didn’t look away. Didn’t so much as blink.
