But she didn’t budge.
I bit the inside of my cheek, grounding myself with the sharp tang of copper that flooded the back of my throat as well as the pulsating anguish that assaulted my palm. Pain was a reminder that I remained human—a lever I often pulled whenever I felt myself slipping far too close to the edge. Rohen fucking Levitte seemed to push me there even when unconscious.
As I ground my teeth together, I stepped away from her cell, backingup until the backs of my knees met the wooden bench. Lowering myself onto it, I folded my legs over each other, crossing my arms over my silken scarlet shirt.
Tracing my lips with my tongue, I lifted my gaze as my brows furrowed above it. With my glare in place, I exhaled heavily, attentively watching her sleeping frame with no plan on leaving until she woke up.
“Fine, if you want to play this game, littlesiren,I will happily oblige. But just know, when you wake up, I will be the furthest thing from fucking kind.” Combing my hands through my hair, I settled my elbows against my knees. “Whoever,whateveryou are, Rohen Levitte, I will figure it out and carve it from your fucking bones. I will drive you to the brink of insanity. And most of all, I will do it all with a fucking smile.”
CHAPTER 10
Bound at Sea
ROHEN
Groaning, my fingers twitched beneath me, brushing against what felt like damp wood. A coldness welcomed me. The scent of mildew followed, assaulting my nostrils with its pungency. Above, rain drummed incessantly, becoming a metronome that summoned me from the depths of my subconscious. With a throbbing headache, I forced myself upright, taking in my surroundings as an impending doom settled in my stomach.
A small sliver of light came in through a porthole higher up. Nothing but lifelessness greeted me, damp wood surrounding me on all sides. Crimson was the only color painting the walls, marking them with the unimaginable lives lost in the cell where my fate now resided. The gaps between its steel bars would have been the only way for me to examine the space beyond, but the lack of light prevented me from catching even the slightest glimpse. The chains swung overhead with the fluidity of the tide, clattering against one another with the craving of confinement.
Crawling forward, the floor's frigidity threatened to strip the skin from my knees.A shiver rocked my frame, my teeth chattering as I pulled myself upright. With my palms coiled around the metal bars, Itugged as hard as I could, but not even the slightest creak followed. Instead, wood groaned from the blackness beyond. I stopped immediately as a flame ignited, illuminating the face I feared I’d see when I woke up.
The orange highlights it cast over his skin highlighted the scar I’d spotted. His crimson glower seemed to brew with the same fire, gleaming with a challenge and searing hatred. Even knowing Jaskor had spited me, I couldn’t help but devour Caspian’s expansiveness with my gaze. Having discarded the light linen shirt he’d worn, a deep scarlet one replaced it, only adding to the appeal he managed to emanate—an appeal I knew I shouldn’t have found alluring.
“Glad to seemylittle siren is alive and well,” he crooned, setting the candle down beside him on the bench with a slowness that had my attention landing on his wrapped palm. “It took you a wholesevendays to wake up, though. Seems you’re just as fragile as I expected.”
Seven days?
What the fuck? Was my dream with Ellira… real?
“Go fuck yourself,” I hissed.
“Oh, I already did.” Pushing himself up, he walked toward me. “After I stitched myself up. You know, had you been just two inches over, you would’ve punctured a lung.”
Pursing my lips, I feigned a pout. “What an inconvenience.”
“Isn’t it?” He dropped to a squat and leaned in, his lips twisting into a cruel grin. “It’s a shame that, even as the cunt Malrik prefers to dip his prick into, he never thought to teach you how to wield a blade properly.”
Seething, I gathered a mouthful of saliva and spat in his face. “The soldier whose dick I cut off would painfully state otherwise.”
“Aw, were you in that much dire need of a new toy?” He ran a hand down his face, an amused chuckle leaving him and echoing off the walls of my containment. “If you wanted toplay,you could’ve simply asked. I mean, hell, you already matched one of my kinks.”
He brought his fingers to his lips, lapping up my saliva as if it were the fountain of life. Twirling his tongue around each digit, he workedwith meticulous care. It was as if he were cleaning up something far more intimate; it was an unspoken promise of all the pleasure I instinctively knew he could provide. With his divulgence, lust danced in his irises, something that would’ve consumed any other woman.
I was far from his usual meal.
Crawling toward him, my fists closed around the bars as my knuckles whitened with every attempt to contain my building wrath. Leveraging the steel frame, I pulled myself forward, grabbing hold of the collar of Caspian’s shirt. With our noses inches from each other, nearly brushing even with the steel separating us, my lips lifted into a hate-filled snarl.
“I willkillyou as soon as the opportunity presents itself.”
He smirked, his swoon-worthy smile lines making their increasingly annoying appearance. “Is that a promise, little siren?”
“It’s a fuckingvow.”
His chest rumbled with yet another chuckle. “Good, keep that fire. You’re going to need it for what I have planned for you.”
“What the hell is that supposed to?—”
His hand cupped over mine, the callousness of his skin a near-match to his demeanor. As soon as the connection happened, something within me stirred, awakening from a deep slumber and igniting in a way I’d never experienced before. It was as if he were the match to my kindling, encouraging me to detonate in ways I’d only ever dreamed of.
