After ten years of no contact, of her forgetting I ever existed.
All it took was a few words, and there it was.
My name on her lips.
A violent shock rips through me. My teeth gnash. My heart’s bleeding.
Anger rises just as fast, consuming me.
She doesn’t get to do this. To say my name as if she cares.
She’s fucking with my sanity.
Wait, why do I even give a fuck if she remembers me?
I don’t.
“Duncan…” Her tears dry, but her face remains crumpled.
She reaches up to my mask, her hand shaking.
I snap my fingers around her wrist. Lean an inch closer, lowering my face to hers.
“Don’t say my name.” I don’t shout. Don’t need to. The warning in my tone and the harsh grip are enough. “Ever.”
Elowyn whimpers, but otherwise remains quiet.
Fucking better.
AnotherDuncan,and there’s no telling what I would’ve done. Laid her down on the pedestal, spread her legs, and fucked her. Either that, or any number of things I’ve been fantasizing about for over a decade.
Things that would’ve put an end to my carefully calculated plan.
But she doesn’t say another word.
And goddammit. Even if she did, I vow that my will is stronger than my desire.
Because a quick, brutal fuck would end with her hating me instead of forming an attachment.
The whole idea is making her dependent on me.
For that to happen, I need to stick to the plan.
I take a small step back. A pathetic attempt to steel myself against her pleading stare and the need to shove my cock deep inside her.
Except how is this supposed to work when I can’t let her go?
My hand is still a manacle around her wrist. Her pulse flutters beneath my thumb, making my teeth grind. Making me want her.
This weakness is unacceptable.
The way I can’t stop admiring Elowyn’s elegant neck, her pink nipples hardened beneath her dress, is just as bad. The soft curves of her body are driving me wild.
Enough.
As if bitten, I tear myself from her.
I don’t mean for her to stumble, to almost trip off the pedestal.
