An odd sensation crept up my shoulders. He was so smug—I hated that. But he was right. There was something deep within me that felt at ease and oddly out of sync with my mind.
“Why did you force me to come here?” I sneered.
He moved closer to me, shattering my pretense of irritability.
“Because you intrigue me,” he murmured, pulling me closer to him.
“Give me a reason to stay, or I’m gone,” I seethed through grinding teeth, but I didn’t move away.
“Right, I have to feed you intel—all of the Aurkai are interested in you,” he said, slipping his arm around my waist.
He pulled at my hip, and pressed his chest against my back, his hips locking against mine, forcing me to move to the hypnotic beat.
“Why?” I asked, my brain getting foggier by the second.
“You are special.”
His voice was rich and sweet like honey; thick enough to hide the poison laced in his words.
“What do you mean by that?” I hissed.
He was pressed against me intimately. How did we get like this? I didn’t want to move, but at the same time, I wanted him to stop.
Damn him.
He was far too practiced at whatever it was, and I bit my lip as his breath hit my neck.
No amount of hatred and distrust would change the fact that he was attractive, and I was human.
I took a breath, pulling away from him, but he spun me around, my back hitting the wall instead.
The music was gone, as were all the people.
It was Malakai and me, and he was right in front of me, both hands with palms flat against the wall on either side of my head. Alarmed, I couldn’t move, staring into his narrowed pale green eyes.
“I knew it,” he murmured, eyeing me curiously.
Electricity snapped through my nerves as I tried to figure out what had happened.
“Knew what?” I asked.
“Caelan and Roslyn never had a chance at chaining you down,” he said.
My brows furrowed.
“You are tense,” Malakai murmured, his breath hot against my cheek.
I was tense. What was he doing to me? I burned at his proximity, my mind foggy. He was nearing me, and panic gripped me like a vice—but he stopped.
He pulled away from me, his expression one I’d never seen on him before—fear.
“That's enough.”
I knew that voice, but not like this—this voice was cold, commanding and threatening.
Malakai removed his hands from the wall and turned around.
My heart pounded wildly against my chest as I saw Blake’s iron gaze.
