Page 66 of No One’s Daughter

I struggled against his hold.

But it was useless.

He was so much stronger than me.

​So I did the only thing I could think of.

I stopped struggling, stopped fighting his impossible strength, lifted my head and pressed my lips to his.

It wasn’t soft or sweet. It was deliberate, calculating and the only move I had left.

​And it worked.

For a fraction of a second, he froze, and that was all I needed.

My knee drove up hard between us.

Straight into his groin.

He swore and his grip loosened just enough.

I twisted free, flipping us in one sharp movement, my body moving on instinct more than thought.

I was on top now.

My full weight pressed down against his chest, my knee digging into his throat, holding him there.

My breath came out fast, uneven, my heart hammering in a way that felt too loud, too alive.

Behind me, the storm surged. Wind whipped through the open space, rain lashing harder now, almost violent in its intensity as the air crackled.

Charged with me at the centre of it.

​He slowly lifted his eyes to mine, and I felt the subtle shift of his throat as he swallowed beneath the pressure of my knee. My chest heaved from the exertion, lungs burning, but in that moment, it felt like the rest of the world fell away and my heart stopped beating.

For the first time since I’d met him, he looked at me with something that wasn’t disdain or disappointment.

But it was gone in an instant and his lips spread into a slow, almost coy smile. I realised then he’d lured me into a false sense of power. And before I could react, his hand snapped to my wrist, the other bracing my hip, and in one fluid, devastatingly efficient movement, he flipped us once more.

The ground hit me hard.

Cold.

Wet.

I was once again pinned beneath him, mud seeping through my clothes, the breath knocked from my lungs.

​“Very good, Princess,” he said, voice low. “ You nearly had me.”

​Rage flared, hot and immediate.

​I spat at him.

​I fucking hated his guts.

​My spit landed right on his top lip, and his tongue darted out in an instant, licking it up. He then broke out into a full, unrestrained, loud laugh so rich it caught me completely off guard as he pushed himself off me and stepped back.

I lay there for a moment, staring up at him. His huge, daunting frame was outlined as lightning split the sky behind him, illuminating the sharp and brutal lines of his body.