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I lifted my fangs from her wrist and closed the wounds with my tongue.

“Fuck.” She rested her forehead against my temple. “I remembered it being intense.”

“Your memory was being generous.”

A breath of laughter touched my skin. “You’re criticising my memory after drinking from me?”

“I’m alive enough to be ungrateful again.” My voice had regained its depth. “You can move back now.”

She stayed where she was.

Bryony ran her fingers over the blood drying on my chest. The cuts had closed, and my cock was already hard against my trousers.

“Do you know what frightened me most in there?” she asked. “The Crown speaking in my head was bad. Seeing you at those doors while the chains cut into you was worse. You knew what the court would do when you crossed that threshold, and you did it anyway. Then you sat here and tried to send me away while you bled out. You don’t get to pretend that was sensible.”

“It was the only choice that got you out.” I covered her hand with mine. “I could stand in the doorway and take the iron, or I could watch the Crown close around you. There was nothing sensible to consider. I’ve seen what happens when that thing reaches a woman who can wake it. I wasn’t going to let it take you while I still had enough strength to interfere.”

Her gaze stayed on our hands. “It showed me you free. No collar, no chains and no Adrian waiting outside. You held out your hands, and the Crown made it look as easy as touching it and walking into the sun with you. For a few seconds, I wanted to believe it so badly that I could barely hear you.”

“You heard me in the end.”

“Because you told me it would punish you if I walked away, and you told me to leave anyway. The Crown promised to give me everything without admitting what it would take. You were bleeding and still gave me the choice that hurt you. That’s why I came to you when the doors closed.” She lifted her eyes. “It isn’t trust. I’m still angry about what you haven’t told me. But it matters.”

“It matters to me too.” I brought her hand to my mouth and kissed the faint bite marks. “More than this court opening another chain. More than Adrian losing his hold on the house. You walked away from the power that kept Cecily trapped for years. You did it half dressed, furious and swearing. I don’t think Harrowmere has ever seen a refusal quite like yours.”

Bryony’s mouth curved. “There was more swearing in my head.”

“I heard enough to be impressed.”

“You looked terrified.”

“I was.” I didn’t soften the answer. “For the first time in a century, I was more afraid of losing you than of what those chains could do to me.”

Her palm moved down my stomach and stopped at the waist chain. “Does this hurt?”

“The iron does. Your hand doesn’t.”

Her palm settled against my skin.

“I’ve finished feeding. If you stay this close, I’m going to kiss you.”

Her eyes rose to mine. There was no silver in them and no distant look left by the Crown. She shifted forwards until her knees touched my hips, then put both hands on my shoulders and kissed me.

My hand closed around the back of her neck as I opened her mouth with mine. She tasted of sleep and the water she’d drunk earlier. The trace of her blood on my tongue made the kiss rougher than the one in the garden, and Bryony met it without pulling back.

The chain at my waist stopped me drawing her fully onto my lap. I changed our position, lifting her by the hips until she straddled my right thigh instead. Her thin sleep shirt rode high. Bare skin met the worn fabric of my trousers, and her breath caught against my mouth.

I moved my thigh against her. She gripped my shoulders and released a sharp breath.

My hand slid under her shirt and up her back. She wasn’t wearing a bra. When I brought my palm around and covered her breast, her nipple was already hard. I rolled it between my fingers, and her hips moved over my thigh.

I held her breast and guided the first roll of her hips.

Her legs tightened around mine as she found a steady rhythm. The first damp heat reached me through my trousers. I watched her face change with every slow movement.

She caught me watching her.

“I’ve wanted you on my lap since you pointed that torch at my face.”