He had known. All this time, he knew.
A sick, hollow sound rattled in my chest. I wanted to lunge at him. Tear into him. Or maybe collapse into a heap on the stone floor.
Instead, I just stood there, spine rigid. My hands fisted at my sides.
He watched me, heat and hate swirling together in those bottomless eyes. Shadows eddied beneath his skin.
“She tried to kill my brother!”
What did that even mean?
Neither of us moved as the truth hung heavy between us.
The silence pressed in, thick and cruel.
Then Ryker’s mouth crashed against mine, bruising and brutal and desperate.
Fuck him.
Fuck this bond.
But I couldn’t stop myself. I kissed him back.
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Ryker
Our tongues danced, our teeth clashed, and the taste of her defiance couldn’t be sweeter.
Cadence clung to my shoulders, her nails splitting my skin, as she ground her hips against mine. Her movements were jerky, wild, like she would die if we stopped.
That told me everything I needed to know.
She was a liar. She craved this, craved me.
Her teeth sank into my bottom lip, drawing blood, and I grinned into the kiss.
If my mate wanted a fight, then I’d give her one.
I grabbed a fistful of her dress and tore it in two. A violent snarl filled the chamber as I tore the fabric apart, the threads giving way beneath my savage touch.
Cadence gasped, but didn’t flinch. She shoved at my chest, and I shoved her back, harder. Her mouth parted, and the moan she tried to swallow only made my cock swell.
She kissed me as if she hated me. Like she couldn’t stop.
I spun her around and pinned her to the wall. Her naked spine arched, heat radiating from her skin.
My palm flattened between her shoulder blades, holding her in place.
I reached behind me, ripping my tunic over my head and tossing the black garment to the floor. My pants quickly followed before I tangled my hand in her silky hair, yanking her back and forcing her to look at me.
I shoved inside her, rough and unforgiving, my cock buried so deep that I felt the tremor vibrating through her spine.
Cadence’s palms slapped the wall, bracing herself as if she could withstand me.
How cute.
The tight heat of her body clutched me, greedy and desperate.
