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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.
“And so we begin, my pretty prey,” I murmured before jumping over the edge, enjoying the sight of her gown lifting as she plunged toward the water below.
Chapter Twelve
Knox
Ariashiftedherbodyat the last moment, diving beneath the watery surface. A moment before I broke the surface, I mirrored her pose, penetrating through it seamlessly. I allowed myself to plunge to the bottom of the river, making it there just in time to see her push off the sleek stones and shoot up for the surface. Her toned legs kicked against the water as she rushed toward the shoreline.
I rose to the surface, only allowing my nose above water long enough to draw in a deep breath. Then I sank back underwater to watch her crawling over the silt of the beach. The moment she hit dry land, her eyes returned to the water, searching it for any sign of me. Aria didn’t stick around for me to pop out of the water, though. Instead, she bolted into the forest, and my body heated at the idea of hunting her.
She was about to recklessly run through the perilous forest to gauge her reflexes. Then again, it was also for me to watch her stumbling through the woods as I hunted her down. Aria was fucked. There was no other way she’d escape this forest tonight. She wasn’t stupid enough not to leave her body unguarded.
I’d made sure she wasn’t that neglectful when I’d chased her around the realms. The moment she entered this world, I’d begun ensuring she became hard enough to survive it. Lowering her guard would result in my exposing her mistake. She’d assumed I hadn’t known right where she fucking was, but I’d had her in my sights the entire time.
The way she thought, though, it had left me stunned. I’d assumed her move, but she’d been steps ahead of me without me being the wiser. I’d go to make a move, then step back, because she’d done something so mind-boggling, that I’d wanted to see her achieving it. While I was playing checkers, she’d been playing chess. She fixed the board without me realizing that she’d made a move. However, how she moved the pieces in such a strategic, merciless way was mind-boggling. It left me struggling to figure out her next move before she made it.
Aria’s brain was a work of art, and the thing I liked about her most. It calculated a problem, subtracted the incidentals, isolated the target, and then went to war against her target. The woman was created to wage war, and gods save anyone stupid enough to stand between her and what she wanted. She skillfully outmaneuvered me, which I wasn’t even upset about. She’d read theArt of War, yet it was undeniable that she was the entire book placed into one gorgeously-packaged woman.
Breaking free of the shimmering, moonlit surface, I shot toward the shore, then prowled toward the forest. I didn’t need to run because I could hear the erratic beat of her heart. The fragrance of her adrenaline mixed with the delicious scent of her arousal. The same arousal that would soon drip down my fucking chin.
I strolled into the dark forest, pausing as the sound of her feet crunching over the dry leaves met my ears. A smile curled over my lips as I took off after her, anticipation for what was coming, humming through me. My cock twitched at the thought of being buried deep inside her tight, needy cunt. I fucking loved the way it clenched around me, sucking me further into her haven.
Every step deeper into the woods brought me closer to her, and the veneer I wore around others steadily shed. Out here, we were animals with the urgent need to rut like beasts in the wild. The moment Aria’s inhibition started lowering, I felt the primal instinct rising within her as well.
The sound of her footsteps paused, as if she wasn’t certain what was happening. It sounded like she was spinning in a circle, searching for any hint of me in the area.
Our kind wasn’t meant to be tethered by the constraints of humanity. The Nine Realms were filled with beasts, monsters and those who thought themselves humanoid. None were meant to be clothed or held in constant captivity of their flesh. A beast ruled each realm, be it one who wore flesh or fur—it mattered little.
The hunt was instinctive. My base nature was driving my actions to relentlessly hunting Aria’s sexy, gorgeous ass down and fuck her so roughly that she’d never get me out of her system. Never mind the fact that getting her animalistic nature to kick-in would keep her safer where she was inside the new realm.
If I was right, Ember was riding within her as I hunted Aria down. The moment she felt me, she’d realize what I was doing and lend her host her abilities. Those abilities would keep Aria protected.
The scent of her sweat pulled me in, knowing she was close. Branches caught parts of her gown, leaving scattered remains throughout the woods. Pity, I’d planned to rip it from her flesh before teaching her why allowing any male close to her wasn’t a good idea.
The sound of branches crunching, stopped. Then Aria’s heavy breathing filled the woods, which meant she was running. Pausing behind a cluster of trees, I stared at the woman who’d changed my entire world. Her silver hair was wet and glistened beneath the iridescent moonlight. My gaze raked over every curve, hungering for her as she sucked air in, greedily. The small clearing that she’d paused in to catch her breath allowed the moon to bathe her alluring form in the glow of its light. The dress clung to her body like a second skin, revealing the hardened peaks of her taut, pretty pink nipples.
