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Removing his lips from my neck, he pulled back just enough to meet my gaze. He growled in that predatory way of his. “I claim you. I will always claim you,mate. No matter if you fucking remember what we are or not. There is no escaping what you are to me. You are mine, Kitten. And Ido notshare what ismine.”
I scoffed.His?After everything he’d put me through, he had the audacity to believe that he had a right toclaimme?
Anger, potent and raw, pumped into my veins, boiling my blood. “I donotbelong to you,” I spewed venomously at him, shoving against his steel-derived chest.
His expression turned primal—like a wolf that had just killed a rabbit and had no intentions of sharing it with the rest of the pack.
He caught my wrists as he growled at me. “Oh yes, you most certainly do.”
No better than an animal myself, I spat at him. He turned his head to the side and it struck his cheek.
I wasn’t proud of myself, but it feltsodamn good.
I wanted to hurt him, to fight with him, to shove his phantom right off this balcony and dust my hands off after I did it. Let the bastard sink into the dark, murky depths of the sea—where he belonged, right next to his crates, chock-full of secrets and lies.
He jerked me closer to him, shackling my gaze to his. One brow raised. “Is this your way ofclaimingme, mate? Should I pry your mouth open and return the favor?”
“Fuck you,” I hissed, firing my knee at his most treasuredgoods.
Guarding himself, he blocked it with the heavy muscle of his outer thigh. Pain shot through my knee.
“The last time you tried to knee me there, you ended up on your back. We can perform this little dance again, but I assure you the end results will be the same.” His words lacked their usual dark charm, but they still made an impact. Momentarily, I was taken back to the decrepit city of Norwood, to the nightI thoughtI had first met him. The domineering male who stood in the kitchen, cooking, shirtless. He had been so at ease with everything—with a complete stranger passed out upstairs. But Iwasn’t a stranger to him, was I? And he had hid that knowledge from me. Just like he had hidden everything.
I snarled in frustration.
He let my wrists go and brushed away the saliva from his cheek. He inspected it, sucking on his teeth before his eyes shot to mine. “Thiswreaks of him.”
“Well, I guess so. I did drink his ichor after all,” I snipped, a shimmer of divinity seeping into my words, like the goddess part of me was proud to rub it in. “And as you clearly know, that’s notallwe did.”
Von growled as he flicked the spittle to the ground and then snatched my face with his wet fingers. He squished my cheeks, making my lips pucker. “I’ll have my shadows chain you to my bed as I fuck the idea of youeversleeping with another male again right out of you. No matter how long it takes, I’ll carve myself into you so thoroughly you’ll be stutteringmy namefor months.” He tossed my head to the side like he was done with me.
I stood there, confused, angry and . . . aroused.
Somewhere, a part of me—a very stupid part that should know better—still wanted him.
. . . I must be going insane.
How could I want the man who had tormented me? Who’d caused me so much pain and suffering? I didn’t understand it. Couldn’t understand it. I felt like I was being torn in two.
I looked up at Von, in all his menacing, hate-filled, towering glory. Corded in muscle, veins, and tattoos. Wrapped in leather and shadows and rage. Aurelius’s ichor was an aphrodisiac, but Vonwasthe aphrodisiac—every bit of him. And he was right, I didn’t need his ichor to feel that intense lust for him—the kind that drove me wild with need.Thatcame naturally.
He swished his pointer finger from side to side, gesturing between my legs. “When you weep withmyseed, I’ll mop it upwith a cloth and then I’ll ram it so far down the God of Life’s throat that he will choke on the taste of you and me. And then I’ll find a way to end his immortal life for thinking he could take what ismine.”
Just like that, the spell that had so quickly washed over me was shattered . . .
It all came back to Von’s hatred for Aurelius. That was what this was about. It was never about us—thereneverwas an us.
I met his hardened obsidian gaze, preparing myself to ask the question I needed to ask, knowing very well that hearing the truth might completely destroy me. That’s if the lying bastard bothered to give it to me.
I raised my head as I took a step forward, courage and potent anger driving my movement. “Is that all I am to you? Atoolto get back at him?”
“At first?” He paused. “Yes.”
I made a sour face as I swallowed that bitter, bitter truth.
He continued, “When I first saw you in his arms, I knew you were a weakness to him. I knew that I could use you to sow discord amongst his court, and so that’s exactly what I did. But a part of me also felt sorry for you, knowing what you would be forced to endure as his wife, and so I found a way to hurt him, but also benefit you.”
Endure as his wife? What in the Spirit Realm did that mean? Was Von just planting more lies? I was tempted to point out that while Von had left me to suffer in my past life, Aurelius had been the one picking up my broken pieces and caring for me, but then why should I bother to even explain that to Von? It wasn’t like I owed him anything.
