“You think that you’d have a choice, Adara.” He pulled me into him until my chest slammed against his and his face lowered to mine. I stared up into his dark gaze as his jaw clenched. “If I decided to punish you, then there would be nothing you could do to stop me.”
“You’re cruel.”
He laughed, and the sound ran along my skin like a kiss from a lover. “You have no clue how cruel I can be, princess. All you’ve tasted is the pleasure at which my body can bring. You wouldn’t dare to learn my malice.”
I tried to swallow down the harsh breath, but it wouldn’t come. Panic. Pure unpolluted terror ran through my veins as I feared what Evren would do to me.
“Please, Evren.”
His hand cemented against me, and his face softened as he searched mine. “I have never known fear like what you just evoked in me. I have searched these woods to find you, and I would have done so endlessly.”
He lifted his hands and ran them through my hair as he pulled me toward him. “I’m angry with you because I shouldn’t feel anything for you, princess. But I would have taken on the world to get you back.”
“I can’t go back to that palace, Evren.” I shook my head even as my heart hammered from his words. “I won’t let them take from me again.”
“I know. I fucking know.” He tilted my head back, and his gaze dropped to my lips. “But I can’t protect you unless you let me. You have to fucking let me.”
I was at war with myself as I searched his face. I wanted him to kiss me, to make everything disappear except the two of us, but there was another part of me that held on to the distrust I had for him.
“Captain?” Jorah’s voice called through the trees, and Evren sighed against my lips before he looked in his direction.
“Here!” he yelled back. “I have her.”
Jorah came into view, and his own anger with me shone in his eyes as he took me in. “Are you all right, Starblessed?”
“Yes.” I nodded my head even though I wasn’t sure that I was.
“I found her with a nymph,” Evren answered, and I looked back to the trees where Osiris had just retreated. I saw no signs of her, but I could still feel her watching me. “We need to get out of these woods.”
“Agreed.” Jorah came to our side, and I finally noticed the other three guards behind him. All of them looked exhausted, and I knew I had been the cause. “We should ride at once.”