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Aoife doesn’t rise to his anger.She simply watches as the walls inch closer.

Ruairi steps toward the rope and then stops himself.He’s weighing his choices, trying to decide whether it’s better to wait or act.

She’s already won.Ruairi just hasn’t realized it yet.

I stay in the shadows, watching the way she moves, the way she controls the room, the way she’s turned the tables on her brother.When she finally steps away from the pit, I back up, slipping into the shadows as I make my way down from the balcony.

The castle is a maze of stone corridors and forgotten passageways, but I know them well.I move quickly, my footsteps soundless against the worn floor as I follow the winding path that will bring me to her.

By the time I reach her level, she’s already walking away.She’s calm.Unshaken.As if she didn’t just tighten the walls around her own brother like a vice.

Stepping out from a darkened hallway, I cut off her path.

Aoife stops short, her breath hitching for just a fraction of a second before she schools her expression.Her gaze lifts to meet mine.“You’re back.”

“And you have some fucking explaining to do.”

Aoife

My pulse kicks up,but I force my expression to stay neutral.Eamon steps closer, the dim light catching the sharp angles of his face.His jaw is tight.His eyes dark and unreadable.I don’t know how long he’s been here or how much he’s seen, but I know one thing for certain.

I’ve been caught.

Keeping my voice steady, I say, “I can explain.”

He doesn’t say anything, just stares at me, his silence heavier than anger.I force myself to keep my breathing even as I continue.

“Ruairi refused to listen.Refused to back down, so I did what needed to be done,” I say carefully.“I had to do this to show him that I’m not someone he can ignore.”

Eamon exhales sharply, dragging a hand through his hair.“And you couldn’t have told me first?”His voice is low and controlled, but there’s something simmering underneath it.

Anger.Frustration.And something else.Something darker.

His gaze drags over me, slow and deliberate.Not just assessing—possessive.

Heat coils low in my stomach.

I see it now.It’s not just anger.It’s a different kind of hunger.

“You usedmymen,” he says, his voice like gravel as he steps closer, forcing me back toward the stone wall behind me.“You brought him tomycastle.And you did it all without saying a fucking word.”

“You were out of touch, and it needed to be done.”My breath comes faster now, my body hyper-aware of how close he is.“I handled it.”

He lets out a dark chuckle.“Oh, I know you handled it.I stood there and watched you close the walls in on him.”His fingers lift to my jaw, tilting my chin up, forcing me to meet his gaze.“I should be furious with you, Aoife.”

I swallow hard.“You are.”

His grip tightens just enough to make me gasp.“Not nearly as much as I should be.”

Then his mouth crashes against mine.

I gasp into the kiss, my fingers clutching at his shirt as he presses me harder into the wall, his body flush against mine.His hand slides down, gripping my thigh, hiking it up against his hip.

“Inside,” he mutters against my lips, pulling away just long enough to drag me toward one of the rooms.

I barely have time to register which one before the door slams shut behind us.Then he’s on me again.His hands shove beneath my dress, fingers digging into my bare thighs, lifting me with ease as he presses me against the heavy wooden door.His mouth is all heat and hunger, devouring me, claiming me.

“You like this, don’t you?”he murmurs, his voice dark and dangerous.His teeth graze my throat before he bites down.I arch against him, a whimper slipping from my lips.