Tension winds around us, tighter and tighter and having nothing to do with sex. No, there’s the threat of violence on the air. “That’s enough,” I say, echoing Malachi’s words.
“Would you kill me to get her to yourself?” Wolf hasn’t stopped touching me, but all his attention is on the other vampire. I might as well be a cup of tea he’s using to keep his hands busy. “Would you betray our history forher?”
Malachi hasn’t moved. It doesn’t seem like he’s even breathing. “Would you?”
Just like that, the tension bleeds out of Wolf and he grins. “Time will tell, won’t it?”
My desire has gone up in smoke, leaving only ashes in its wake. Bond or not, I am a fucking person and they’re talking over my head like I’m a toy they’re not inclined to share. “Let me go.” I grab Wolf’s wrists and pry his hands off my breasts. He lets me, which is just as well. I’m not sure what I’d do if he kept touching me while I’m this angry. “I’m done.”
“Mina—”
“No.” I struggle to my feet and point at Malachi. “I don’t want to talk to you, either. I’m going to take a shower and then I’m going to bed. Alone.” I make it one step before my anger gets the best of me. “I don’t know if you need to fight or fuck your way to the end of this conversation, but you obviously don’t need me here for it. Goodnight.”
Neither of them say a word as I stalk out of the room. Of course they don’t. I’m not required for this pissing match. I’m not required foranythingimportant.
Except, oh yeah, I’m the reason we were able to break the blood ward keeping Malachi trapped in that house for decades.
And my damned womb is going to be the thing that unseats my father and allows them to finally stop being hunted by him and his people.
None of that matters, though. Bond or not, I’m still not convinced they see me as more than a tool for their endgame. Even Malachi betrays that when he gets like this, snarling and snapping over me like I’m a piece of meat in his possession.
No one gives a shit whatIwant.
20
Istalk into the room that I’ve claimed as my own. Most nights, Malachi shares it. Wolf’s here more than half of the time, too. Not Rylan. Never Rylan. He alone doesn’t seem to have a use for me, which should irritate me, but right now it’s almost a relief.
Almost as if my thoughts summoned him, the curtains billow out from the window and then he’s there, a dark silhouette against the full moon in the shadows of the room. The shadows clothe him well enough, but I know he’s naked. He always is after shifting back to human.
I stop short, planting my feet against the nearly overwhelming need to go to him. To run my hands up his bare chest and rub as much of my skin against his as I can manage. To take him into my body and ride until we’re both sweaty and sated.
It’s the bond. Iknowit’s the bond.
The feeling in my chest isn’t a tug any longer. It’s a riptide, and I’m losing ground. I stagger forward a step. “What are you doing here?”
“I…couldn’t stay away.” He sounds like he’s speaking through gritted teeth. “I tried.”
My body takes me another step closer to him. It’s like something else resides within my skin. A force I can’t fight; I don’t even know how to try. I grab the footboard of the bed. “Leave. I don’t…” The surge in my chest gets stronger. “I can’t control this.”
“I can’t leave. It won’t let me.” He says the words with such finality. As if pronouncing a death sentence.
It’s only then that I notice how his body shakes. He’s fighting this as much as I am. My fingers release the footboard without my permission and I stumble another few steps closer. “Ihatethis.”
Rylan catches my elbows, and even that touch is enough to dim the pressing magic a little. I exhale shakily. “I’m sorry.”
“Stop saying that.” He tightens his grip. “Stop fucking apologizing to me.”
I shouldn’t find his anger reassuring. It shouldn’t feel like a bridge forming between us, a shared experience that neither of us want. I can’t help it. I rest my forehead against his chest and close my eyes. “I guess there are limits to this, too. Can’t fly too far from me. Can’t go too long without…this.”
“Tell me to stop and I’ll find a way.”
I open my eyes and drag in a breath. “It will hurt both of us if you do.”
“Still,” he speaks through gritted teeth. “Wolf can cause injuries serious enough that regenerating will take up all my strength. It’ll buy time.”
I blink. “Would you rather we do that?” I’m not sure how I feel about the idea that he might prefer to be maimed than to have sex with me, but I’m not exactly frothing at the mouth to fuck him, either. Still…
Rylan’s muscles clench beneath my palms. I don’t even remember putting my hands on his chest. He curses. “No, I don’t want that. I resent the hell out of this bond—out ofyou—but that doesn’t change the fact that I want you. Fucking you is no hardship, Mina.”