Considering it wasn’t a secret I’d claimed her, it was a given he was very aware that she belonged to me. It both horrified me and left me needing to get her back here, where I could protect her.
Letting her leave that morning hadn’t been easy, and every day since, I’d regretted not capturing her and tying her to my fucking bed where she would’ve been safe. She sure as shit wouldn’t be in a realm hidden from me or cozying up to Zyion fucking Vicious. Hell, the man in the cave who’d watched her pussy drip down my chin didn’t concern me a fraction as much as he did.
No, Zyion hated me for more than the blood that coursed through my veins or which side of the battle I’d stood on. I’d inadvertently killed the woman he’d been intending to wed. She’d been a warrior, who’d led an ambush against the caravan my mother and Lore, who’d been an infant at the time, were traveling in. Eira had wanted to visit the battlefield to see our father, but also had planned to walk through the tent holding the wounded to lift their spirits. Claire Obert had died at the end of my blade, her short life snuffed out to protect my mother and Lore.
“Are you jealous?” she spat out, her eyes burning with fire.
“You honestly think I get jealous? I don’t do jealousy, woman. I get fucking evil. I’m a fucking king, which means I get what I fucking want, when I want it,” I retorted in a raspy hiss of sound. She was getting pissed, which was exactly what I wanted.
Aria pissed off was a sight to behold, but it would also leave her unbalanced. I wanted her off-kilter. Fear would make her run harder, faster. This girl wasn’t going to forget tonight, even if it was only her conscious mind here with me. By the time she returned to her body, my markings would bruise her creamy, unblemished skin. Her pussy wouldn’t just ache. It would be swollen, sore, and I’d ensure it dripped my essence down her pretty thighs.
The beings within us were primal hunters, which fueled the shells they housed. I’d hunted her pretty ass down once before in the human realm, which had forced Lennox to the surface. She’d seen my monster, sampled his ravenous hunger, and fucked him as if she had an endless desire for more of him. The time I’d chased her through water, then down the slate, I’d wanted to throw her down, fuck her soft, sweet body into submission. She hadn’t been willing, even if the mark made it seem as if she was. I’d never force her to fuck me, ever. Aria’s submission when it was given? Fucking undid me.
I was a cruel bastard, but I’d never raped a woman. In order to hunt her in the way I craved, she had to trust me. She had to shed her inhibitions, and she did it beautifully when Ember was near to the surface. Only, I didn’t want to hunt Ember. I wanted Aria.
Aria was my girl, the one who’d fucked my world up. I didn’t deserve her after what I’d done, how I’d treated her. I knew that better than anyone else, but there was no world where she wasn’t mine. I’d rather burn it to the ground and walk aimlessly through the ashes until I became nothing more than a haunted, mindless corpse.
I’d chosen to earn her back, which wouldn’t be an easy thing. Aria wasn’t like other women of the Nine Realms. She was softer in some ways and harder in others. The woman didn’t want flowers and pretty words. She wanted someone who wasn’t afraid to challenge her mind or fuel her fire with knowledge.
Tightening my hold on her throat, I jerked her body against mine, enjoying the hiss of air escaping her lush, pink lips. Rattling low with a primal tone, I studied the way her eyes sharpened, as if she was enjoying the anticipation as much as I was. Aria was bare-bones. She enjoyed shedding her humanity and caving to the baser needs of our bodies. It’s what had drawn me to her in the beginning, the animalistic need simmering just below the surface of the pretty veneer she used to try to hide it.
“Such pretty fucking prey,” I hissed before shoving her from me, watching her stumbling to maintain her balance. “You fucked up, Aria. Did you think I wouldn’t know? Or were you banking on me being oblivious to what you were doing inside that realm?” Anger burned in her stare, daring me to continue. Fucking hell she was so damn gorgeous, it made my stomach physically ache to mark her.
“Know what? I don’t want Zyion, Knox. I want you. If you’d fucking listen to the words coming out of my mouth, you’d know that too!” Frustration caused her features to crinkle, which only made her cuter.
“I hear your lips moving, but the only apology I want comes in the form of you on your fucking knees, worshiping my cock with that bratty fucking mouth of yours,” I continued, uncaring that she was growing more pissed off at my blatant disregard for what she was saying.
While I could smell the bastard on her, I knew she hadn’t fucked him. That was a scent she wouldn’t have been able to hide. We both knew she wanted me. It was there, dancing in her turquoise gaze. Hell, I could smell her pussy readying for me, needing me to fuck her until we were both nothing but brainless beings trying to get deeper beneath one another’s skin.
I could scent her need to run, her anticipation of my hunting her down and claiming every fucking inch of her. And I fucking would once she gave me the challenge of doing so. I’d fucking misuse, consume, and ruin, then I’d watch her rise from the ground stronger than she was before I fucked her into submission.
She took a step back the moment I took one forward. It was harder to keep the smile from spreading over my lips as the library changed, conforming to what I needed. The bookshelves vanished, and we were standing in the middle of a thick, verdant forest of towering trees. A gust of wind caught the silvery strands of her hair, shooting it up around her head like a shimmering halo. The sexy-as-fuck gown she appeared in was too sheer and hugged her lithe, captivating curves tightly.
“What the fuck?” she whimpered as she glanced around.
“You thought you’d walk in here with his scent clinging to your flesh and I’d do what? Just accept it? I warned you I wasn’t interested in sharing you with anyone else, didn’t I? You’re beyond my reach in that realm, but I swear to the fucking gods, you’ll feel me when you return to your body. You’ll feel me everywhere. Your flesh. Your pretty, willing cunt. I won’t stop until you’re bruised, marked, and nothing more than a mewling, crying, coming mess beneath me.” Her silver brows shot up on her forehead at what I’d said, swirling gold eddies churning in her lovely eyes. The moment she turned, eyeing the high cliff the library had churned up from my fantasy, a gasp broke from her fuckable lips.
“Knox, this is insane. I came here to talk to you. I promise, there’s no one else,” she pleaded, ever-so-fucking prettily, before turning back to find me inches from her. She was a good hunter, but I was better. I was faster than she was still. Brutality was something I excelled at, which she was fully aware of. She had been at the receiving end of my rage. “Please, listen to me.”
I traced the delicate curve of her jawline. She was the loveliest creature I’d ever clapped eyes on before. Aria’s beauty wasn’t in her flesh. No. It was in her mind. Even the way she thought, was enchanting. The girl was strategic in everything she did, and while everyone else was playing checkers, she was stacking the chess board ten steps ahead of everyone, including me. She leaned into my touch, which made the next part more enjoyable. Shoving her over the edge, her eyes rounded in horror before a blood-curdling scream ripped from her lungs.