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“I will have you.” He gestured up and down my body with his finger. “I’ve waited years for you, and I will not wait a moment longer.”

“Azriel, no.” I backed away towards the door, his footsteps matching mine as easily as a predator stalking their prey. “We are not married, you cannot. I will not let you.”

“Take off your dress.” There was not a hint of request in his tone. It was a command, clear and sharp, matched by the fierce desire that lashed his features.

I shook my head. “No.” I had been a fool to think that something as simple as a dress would hold Azriel back.

“Take off. That fucking. Dress.” His words were punctuated by every step he took towards me.

The door was still at my back, and if I had run and screamed for help, someone may have come. But then I remembered the letter, the one that would seal my fate and deliver me to the gallows.

“I-I can’t.” I stammered, my breath coming in short gasps. “Azriel, I cannot take it off. The lacing.” I gestured with frantic hands to my back. “I need help with the lacing. I cannot take it off on my own.”

For one hopeful moment, I believed he would relent. His face softened ever so slightly as he took in the black mourning gown. His brows twitched together in a frown. I held my breath, hoping he would see sense.

But then his eyes met mine, fierce and almost feral with lust and sin, and his hand shot out to take my arm.

“Then allow me to assist you.”

11

THE CLAIM

RUNRUNRUNRUNRUN.

The single word screamed inside my skull, my vision blurring as panic took over. I attempted to dig my heels into the ground, trying to find some way to prevent our advance towards the fireplace, but one swift tug of Azriel’s hand sent me stumbling forward.

I could not run, could not escape, no matter how hard I twisted my arm. His grip promised no mercy, and I could not let him do this to me. Iwouldnot let him. Not tonight, when lust and fury were whipping through his veins and I was sure he sought to cause me nothing but pain. Not tonight, when we were not even husband and wife. Had I not tumbled deep enough into sin?

“Let me go!” I cried, lashing out with a foot, trying to kick him but only sending myself tottering painfully onto my ankle. “Azriel! What are you doing? Stop this!”

“I am helping you, beloved, as you requested.”

“I did no such thing!” I gasped as he snatched a knife from the fireplace, throwing out my free hand and clawing my nails down his cheek. “Are you mad? Let me go this instant!”

“Absolutely not.” His eyes were glacial, and terrifying, the firelight catching the glint of the blade, and I turned to flee. With a cruel laugh, he twisted my arm and slammed me back against him, my arm pinned between us. “And where do you think you’re going?”

“Let me go!” I sucked in a breath as he dragged the tip of the knife down my cheek. “You vile brute. I demand you let me go.”

“I rather think you’re not in a position to demand anything, Evie.” He shoved me forward, against the wall beside the fireplace, pressing my cheek into the crumbling plaster. “And I have no intention of letting you go. Not now, when that which I desire most of all is right here before me.” There was pressure against my back, and the sharp hum of a blade against fabric. With a loud rip, he sliced through my bodice and the laces of my stays.

“No!” I writhed against him, a fruitless endeavour as his enormous body kept me pinned in place.

“Do you have any idea how I have suffered?” Another sharp rip, a pinging of fabric as my skirts came undone, the bindings whipping away from my body. “The agony I have endured? Being forced to watch my father take what was mine, day after day. Night after night.”

“I am not yours,” I spat out, angry tears streaming down my cheeks. “I never will be.” My skirts came away, falling into a puddle at my feet. My fingers scraped into the cracked plaster, and air brushed at all the places where my skin was now bared. With a strangled gasp, I was spun around to look up into his face, his eyes two bright beacons in the firelight.

“I am the first man to have you seeing stars, beloved.” He dropped the blade to the floor, and gripped the top of my chemise with his bare hands. “That means something. That means I own something that has never belonged to anyone else.” He ripped the fabric hard, and it gave way easily. “Thereis no point fighting it.” He stepped back, inhaling sharply as he took in my naked body. “My god, Evie, look at you. You are so beautiful.”

My arms flew up, curling protectively around me, my legs clenched together. “Don’t touch me!” My chest was heaving, my legs itching with the urge to run, and put as much distance between us as possible. “Do not come anywhere near me!”

He tore his shirt off over his head, and I seized my chance. I ducked to the floor, stepping out of my fallen petticoats, and rushed at him with the knife.

Azriel glanced down at the blade with a smile, keeping his hands raised. “And here we are again. Your favourite position, beloved.”

“Indeed.” I pressed the tip of the knife into his flesh. “But this time, I will be the victor.”

“Is that so?”