Page 107 of Threaded
“Why did you run away from me at the ball last night?”
She blinked, her full attention fixated on him, the light of her magic pulsing stronger as it seeped into the brilliance of her irises. “Isthatwhat you’re so upset about?”
“No. Far from it. But I need to know the answer.” He held her gaze, as wariness flickered over her expression. “Tell me where you went, and I’ll tell you why I’mtrulyupset.” His shadows squeezed her wrists, waist, and ankles harder at the word. She bared her teeth at him in response, just enough to crinkle the smoothness of her delicate, straight nose.
They stared at each other for several heartbeats, locked in a battle of wills. Finally, she broke first.
“Fine. If you’re sodetermined.” She paused, suddenly filled with a strange hesitation. “Donnet’s words … they got to me. I could … could hear what they were whispering about me. About you. About us. Dancing there, together. And I … I couldn’t do it. I needed out, needed some space. So, I found some.” Her gaze hardened once again as it clashed back with Andrian’s. He knew his expression was slightly stunned, but he could hardly focus on controlling it; he was just glad she was speaking. “How nice of you to come check on me, by the way.”
He knew she was trying to bait him. And if he was being honest, he would admit he almost fell for it. On any other day, he would’ve given in, played along with her little game of cat and mouse she appeared to love so much. He knew she wanted to pretend to be the alpha with him, the one in charge, all up until the moment she was caught and pinned in a corner, eyes wide and filled with lust.
Not today, though.
More of his magic seeped out from the darkness in his soul as he stalked closer to where he kept her rooted to the ground. It wasn’t until he was standing over her, the sweet smell of her sweat drifting up to meet him, that he spoke.
“Yes, myapologiesfor that. I would’ve run after you, like a good little Armature, if only I hadn’t been dealing with my fatherthreatening your lifebecause I had chosenyou, andonlyyou, before the entire continent. So please,Your Majesty, forgive me for the oversight. I’ll try to be better next time.”
Her jaw went slack, her eyes wide as they stared up at him.
A sick, twisted part of him was instantly aroused by her look of vulnerable confusion. She had never looked so … open before.
“Your father … threatened?Me?”
Andrian narrowed his gaze but loosened his hold on her, ever so slightly. “It wasn’t the first time, either, princess. He threatened you the day I was Marked, the same day you were born into the world with your single thread of magic. He told me that if I ever let myself get Selected, he would make sure you never sat the throne. And now that I’ve proven myself too weak for even that, he has renewed his threat, except now it’s that if I ever complete the bond with you, he’ll not only end your life, but make me serve as your executioner.”
He knew his voice had slipped into a gray-toned monotony; it was the only way he could force those words past his lips. But while he spoke, he’d taken a step closer to her, so he now stood close enough to her to feel her go utterly still. Even her breath caught in her throat, and her eyes shone with a mix of anger, frustration, and a new emotion that bothered him just as much as it had the first time he’d seen it in the library.
Fear. Fear ofhim.
He wanted to wipe it off her features, but … he knew this was for the best. He knew she had to know what she was up against. She needed to be afraid of what would come for her here in this city, this palace, withhim.
Andrian had woken that morning prepared to give her a reason to be fearful.
But he’d also been prepared to give her a reason to fight past it. To come out stronger than those who threatened her. Something deep inside him told him that if anyone could conquer that fear, it was Mariah Salis.
“But you know what,nio?” He leaned into her, slipping one hand behind her neck and the other to the small of her back, her toned body soft and warm as he pressed her to him. A silent thrill lanced through him when she did not fight him or draw away. “That isnevergoing to happen. Because you are fuckingstrong, and more importantly, because the bond is something you will never have to worry about from me.”
Andrian felt her tense in his arms, her muscles twitching as she prepared to shove him away. “Goddess, you are such a di—”
Before she could finish her sentence, he tightened his grip around her, securing her to him with his arms and his shadows, and whirled, spinning them in place so her back was now pressed against the ancient stone wall behind them, pushing her up into the worn surface as he caged her body with his own.
“I’m not done,nio. All that brings me to whatelseis wrong today,” he continued, the feeling of her body pressedjust rightagainst his enough to threaten his sanity. He let a bit of that madness seep into his voice as he spoke again.
“I do not want you to bond with Trefor. I grew up with him, spent the last twenty-one years of my life training beside him as a brother, but just thethoughtof him being near you like that makes me want to slowly peel the skin from his fucking bones.”
“Andrian … what the actualfuckis wrong with you. Let me go—”
“No.” The darkness that laced his voice, his soul, was all-consuming. He leaned in closer to her, pressing her further into the ancient stone, lowering his head so he could whisper against the soft shell of her ear. He could feel her pulse racing wildly, her breath panting against his cheek.
“Forget what I said the other day in the library. I’ve changed my mind. Just because I can’t have you, doesn’t mean the others—oranyother—can.” He pulled back slightly, looking down into the emerald of her eyes, burning like a forest fire. Her lips pursed into an angry snarl as she glared up at him.
“You have noGoddess-damnedright to say that to me, Andrian. I am not yours. I have a duty to my kingdom. A duty I never wanted, but have been saddled with anyway, and I’m trying to make the most of it. So, if you don’tmind, I would very much like to walk away now and forget that this conversation—thatyou—ever happened.”
Distantly, Andrian knew he should’ve felt hurt by her words.
But because he was a sick, twisted fuck, all he felt was his dick pulse at the venom in her words, his impulse to press himself into her even harder, to claim her so she knew she was his without him having to speak those words. She seethed, and her eyes narrowed to slits, but he knew she felt it too. Felt him. Felt that incomprehensible spark leap between them, charging in the air, lightning and storm clouds all wrapped tightly beneath their skin. He leaned back down to her ear, his voice a molten rumble.
“You know what,nio? Fuck the kingdom. Fuck the Goddess. Fuck my family, too. I can’t—won’t—risk your life with some antiquated old ritual, but I won’t share you either.” Faster than a viper, he snaked a hand up and sank it into her hair. He yanked her head back, forcing her defiant stare to his once more. He snarled at her again, putting all his twisted longing into his next few words.