A shiver of anticipation racks my body even as his warning hangs between us. This is the most untamed he’s been, the most uncontrollable. Not in the dungeon, in the middle of battle has he been this wrecked.
Strangely, I enjoy it. Knowing he is this way because of me, because I have the power to do this to him. I can break his control, his mask, pull out those baser instinct. I can see who he is at his core. No one else gets this vulnerability, this rawness. I get to see the monster, the darkness, that calls to mine, that makes me feel at once normal and desired.
It’s heady, this power, over someone like him. And I want to be that person. The only one he begs for, kneels for.Me.
I know freedom is close, but this feels different. This isn’t just escape, this is giving into the bond and instincts, the need to have him take more than just my emotions. This is him choosing me, and mechoosinghim.
And if I happen to get away? Then the bond no longer matters. I’m free once more.
I can handle that.Mostly.
“Try to catch me,” I whisper before my feet push off.
Chapter
Sixteen
MAX
I’m weightless as I run, feet barely touching the ground. All thoughts leave me as my body reacts, the speed I’ve always had propelling me through the woods as I use my hands to find my way.
The heir howls, an animalistic noise that causes me to laugh. It’s darkness and harmony, something I’ve long craved.
I make it a few paces, body curving around trees before I find the path, a breaking in the forest vegetation. The heir slams into my back, throwing me to the ground, legs tangled together as I claw at the dirt to get away.
He rolls me to my back and I slap him, nails raking into his cheek. Pain erupts across my face and I shout out, skin peeling, blood dripping over my lips.
But it’s worth it. He snarls, grabbing my wrists into one hand, pinning them over my head, his hips digging into mine to keep me immoveable.
A delicious curl of pleasure unfurls, battling against the adrenaline, the fear as my knees part willingly for him.
He lowers his face into mine, breathing heavily. “You shouldn’t have run.”
“You expected me to listen?”
“I expected you to stay,” he growls. “I expected you to chooseme.”
“I did, in that forest,” I respond, truthful words tumbling out. Wiggling, I try to push him off, but he shoves closer to my core, cutting off all rational thought. Pain and pleasure mesh together and he curses, both of us fighting the need growing between us. “I needed you to truly choose me. Not what I could do. What I am.Me.”
He’s taken, never chosen. I’m a weapon to be used, a plot to exploit, nothing more.
“I’ve chosen you since the moment your eyes tempted me,” he retorts, words angry. A black claw cuts away at the lace outfit, shredding it in two from under him. “Since you broke every rule, I had. All my plans, gone. My control, shattered. Because ofyou. You broke everything—me. With these eyes, that fucking mouth, the way you loved me.” His words lash against my face, breaking my resolve, twisting my heart. “Everything I’ve done is because I’vechosenyou, Max.”
He rips the clothes away from me, kicking away his underwear without waiting for my response. We struggle and one hand gets free.
Grabbing my dagger, I hold it to his throat. I feel the pressure against my neck, the blade daring me to cut us both.
He laughs, pressing against the edge as blood wells up. My throat grows wet, my blood escaping from the soul-bond.
“Is this what it’ll take for you to trust me?” Red drips onto my hands, down my clavicle, between my breasts. “Then slice my throat, kitten. Make me bleed. I’ll only bleed for you.”
Pain stings from my neck, mimicking his own. I could end him—us, with one cut. This could be another kind of freedom—not to be a tool for world domination, but peace.
He’s giving me the power, the control, to do it. He’s trusting me to choose a path for us both.
But what would that prove? I was foretold to be born years ago. Ending my life now, even for spite, seems absurd. I’m meant to do more.
He presses closer, and the dagger slips in my grasp, fingers red. For all his control, he’s never allowed anyone to be this close.
