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Cyderial knew this.
So the power I had over this man was solely in what he observed in those around him, the challenges he set for himself in my wooing, and in what he really wanted at the end of the day.
A companion who enjoyed his company.
He had waited for me to submit willingly before heat might make my opinion on the matter of sex impossible. I’d acquiesced, and he’d accomplished the first steps of his goal—to give me a taste of what could be had if I were willing.
As if he could read my thoughts, in that very moment, his glittering gaze said as much. “Tell me your secrets, Lorieyn.”
The brush of his wet body against mine was anything but innocent as he urged me to comply.
Because this dangerous and beautiful man was anything but innocent. Manipulation of every possible factor he might exert control over had taken place from the moment he’d heard my song.
I could not assume any interaction between us would ever be organic.
And narrowed my eyes to know all I suspected was blatantly true.
Time stretched noiselessly between us before he broke the silence, a soft smirk on his cruel mouth. “Come now. Tell me what you are ruthlessly adding up.” Thumb brushing over my lower lip, voice honeyed, a hint of danger lurked in his tone. “Do not think to hide your thoughts.”
Certain every last word would have to be expertly chosen or the consequences might be severe, I considered saying nothing at all. But in the end, in that scented steam, I dared test exactly where that line in the sand might be.
Back to the smooth shower wall, still marveling that the water was not ice-cold, as it would have been in the academy, I tried and failed to ignore how his cock hooked my hip and stroked as it clung.
“Cyderial.” I tasted his name on my tongue, rolled it around as if to soften its hard edges. “You want a secret? Last night, you left me here alone, to wake up to an empty dwelling after you forced me to sleep. I’m certain you imagined I would be angry.”
He smirked and made noises that did things to the part of my brain that could not be trusted.
“It was the first time I had been alone, completely cut off from others of my kind, in as long as I can remember,” I said with just enough venom to soften my voice’s natural sweetness.
He hummed. “That must have been strange for you.”
“I hated it.” And that was a secret I could openly admit. “Leaving me alone in this house will change me into something you will not enjoy. Not if you want me more than you want to fuck.”
And every last word was true.
Hands to my hips, offering me his full attention, he said, “You’re thinking of Miranda and her decade of?—”
“Prison.” There was no better descriptor for what her mate did to her.
Candid, Cyderial displayed nothing but pride in my actions. Smirking, he even offered a gentle purr. “Do you imagine in those early days that Miranda felt comfortable enough in her mate’s home to blatantly move objects anywhere she pleased?”
Raising my chin, I straightened my spine. “You put those things in the wrong places. I corrected your misjudgment.”
And, yes, I spent hours doing as I wished no matter how frightened I was. I touched all of his things and did as I wished with them.
Grin growing, his chest began to softly thrum. “It pleases me more than I can say to have you nest in our home. Explore the gifts I have prepared for you. Move whatever you will anywhere you wish.”
“You knew I would go outside and… see stars.”
“Did you like them?” All eagerness, he leaned closer.
I could see how badly he wanted me to give an emphatic yes, to let him know how I had marveled at the unimaginable view his home provided. But, the stars, the whole hidden world above the fog, would have to wait for another day. “They were… almost as pretty as the fog.”
A minute shift in his expression at that word.
Fog.
So I tested his temper further. “I read a few chapters of the book in your study.”
