Page 105 of A Fate in Flames

He followed my retreat because of course he did, closing the distance with a single fluid step.

“And you walked thisfaron your own.”His gaze dropped intentionally to my feet, one dark eyebrow arching upward.“With no shoes on in the dead of night, and I’m supposed to believe you?”A mocking laugh rumbled from his chest.

“Well, yes.Because it is the truth.”I lifted my chin, defiance replacing fear for a fleeting moment.“There isn’t even a small window in my room—”

I stopped abruptly.There was no point in continuing.He either believed me, or he didn’t, and judging by the dangerous glint in his eyes, he most certainly did not.

“I’m sorry.I won’t do it again.Okay?”I raised my hands in surrender and lowered my gaze, no longer able to look into his eyes while I lied.

As I took a step to the side, his hand shot out, grabbing my wrist in a firm grip that stopped me dead in my tracks.

I swallowed hard.

I’d thought I wouldn’t care if I got caught—that I would die gladly, but faced with reality, a fierce will to live burned within me.I needed to survive.I needed to get back home, back to my mother.

“Don’t let me catch you out here alone again, mortal,” he growled.“Or I’ll reveal to you, piece by painful piece, why even immortals fear my wrath.”He inched closer, his breath warm against my ear.“And I promise, you would not enjoy what I would do to you.”

His threat was terrifying, yet something else stirred inside me.

“I—I won’t do it again.”I hated how my voice trembled.

He made a show of inhaling deeply.“You are a curious little thing.Are you that unsatisfied that my threat turns your blood to fire?”

Humiliation burned my cheeks, spreading down my neck.That he could sense my reaction—could smell the change in me—was mortifying beyond words.

“Well, thanks to you I couldn’t be satisfied even if I wanted to.Which Idon’t.”

He released my wrist.

“I can see your lie, right—” he pressed his finger against the pulse hammering in my neck.“—here.” His mouth twitched into a knowing smirk.

My veins were alite with twin flames of anger and desire.The two emotions tangled like fighting serpents beneath my skin, neither willing to surrender.

I narrowed my eyes.“You’re mistaken.”

He wasn’t, but I had no intention of telling him that.

“May I leave now?”

His hand moved to my jaw, long fingers curving around it with a surprising gentleness.His thumb pressed against my bottom lip, the pad slightly rough against the sensitive skin.

“So polite,” he murmured, his eyes fixed on my mouth.“And here I was thinking mortals lacked the ability.”

What an insufferable ass.

He pressed harder against my lip, just shy of painful.His eyes darkened, pupils expanding with hunger.

“Open.”

That one singular word sank into me, curling at my core.The anger and irritation dissolved into something far more dangerous—desire, as sharp as a blade’s edge.

I battled against my own thoughts, but the pull—the unexplainable need to give in was consuming.Still, I forced my mouth to remain tightly closed, hanging on to the last shred of my willpower.

“I said,open.”His voice had grown deeper, each word edged with a dangerous rasp.His free hand came to rest at the small of my back, not pulling me closer but preventing any retreat.

He is the enemy.I hate him.

I want him.