“You're a tyrant,” I hiss at him.
He grins at me, the insufferable bastard, as he shrugs nonchalantly. “Call me what you will, but I am your king, and youwillobey me.”
Anger hotter than any I’ve ever felt before rises up in me, and I don't know what overtakes me then, but I suddenly jump up out of the bed and go sprinting past him toward the door.
It's insane. Really, I don't have a clue where I am, or how to get out of here. If what he tells me is true, and I'm in another realm, I wouldn't even know how to go about getting back to my own realm, but I'm not operating in my right mind right now. I'm going on instincts, and my instincts are telling me to flee as far away from him as I can get.
Of course, my fingers barely touch the doorknob before I'm hauled back against his hard chest. My head barely comes up to his pecs, and his big arms wrap around me, followed closely by his wings until I'm encased in nothing but him.
He tilts my head back and forces me to meet his gaze. I feel that lethargy starting to overtake and jerk my head out of his grasp as I realize what he’s been doing to me.
“Don’t you dare!” I hiss at him. “Don’t you dare fuck me into a trance with those hypnotic eyes of yours, you snake!”
Instead of being angry that I tried to run and with the way I just insulted him, his chest rumbles with laughter that I feel reverberate clean through my own body.
“Oh, Amelia.” His voice is filled with amusement. “My sweet child, don’t you know you can never escape me?”
* * *
Julian
I knewmy Amelia was a sassy little thing, but my chest swells with pride to see how brave she is. Yeah, it was stupid of her to think she could run from me, but the fact that she's a fighter and doesn't give up pleases me. She’s no weakling.
And she’s smart too. She’s already figured out how I’ve been making her fall asleep, and she called me on it.
“I won’t lull you to sleep with my powers anymore,” I vow to her. “You have my word.”
She huffs as she continues to glare daggers at me.
“You'll make a perfect queen,” I tell her as pleasure courses through me at the feeling of her tiny form pressed against my chest has me instantly hardening. I can't help myself and bend my head down to inhale the sweet scent of her hair. She smells like roses—intoxicatingly seductive yet innocent.
My wings tighten involuntarily around her, pulling her even closer to me. She fights against my hold, but my arms band tighter around her, and she finally sags against me in defeat.
When she does, I spin her in my arms so that she's facing me, and I tip her chin up to look into her angry hazel eyes.
“Beautiful…so beautiful…” I murmur as I watch the green and golden hues of her eyes swirl in her frustration. I could stare at her eyes all day, but her lips garner my attention, and my eyes flick down to their puffy pinkness.
I'm dying to taste them. I've denied myself for so long, and there's only so much a man can take—even if I’m not a mortal man.
I tip my head down until my lips are less than a centimeter from hers. They're so close I can feel her breath fanning against mine.
She trembles in my arms at my nearness, and my entire body thrums with everything I feel for her.
It would be so easy to take her right now.
“Tell me, pretty little Amelia,” I ask, my lips skating across hers with each word I breathe, “have these lips ever been kissed?”
“Yes,” she spits out at me defiantly as she tries to pull back from me.
I'm having none of that, though. I tighten my arms around her as I chuckle, “Little liar. I know they're pure. You forget I watched over you all your life. I made sure no one got close to you.” I did, too. I obsessed over her once she grew into her body and mortal men began to take notice of her. It took constant vigilance to keep them off her.
Her breath hitches, and her eyes flick up to me questioningly. “Really? All my life?” she asks.
I stroke my thumb over her cheek as I feel another tremble go through her. “Yes”, I admit. I have nothing to hide from her. She’s mine whether she realizes it yet or not, and she'll just have to get used to that.
“Why?” she asks me, her little brow furrowed.
I don’t answer her. My gaze homes in on her lips, and I lick my own before I lower my head to kiss her.