Page 116 of As Above, So Below

A small smile plays on his lips. “Afraid to damn my soul? I’m flattered.”

“No, I don’t care about yoursoul,” I snarl the words and he chuckles. “I am not going tobindmyself to a mortal positioned toclaimme in the name of some archaic faerie throne, Ryc.”

His laughter grows, fueling my budding irritation.

In a swift motion he tilts my chin, lifting my face to his, his lips hovering over mine. I freeze, my muscles winding in tight. One slight shift, the tiniest push of my toes, and I could taste him. My toes curl in my boots in an attempt to thwart the idea.

His eyes dance with amusement as he drags them from my lips to meet my wide-eyed stare. “You will know should I ever seek to claim you, little demon.”

Gods, the low, velvet rumble of his voice is going to unravel me.

Heart thundering between my ribs, I cling to logic with slipping fingers and yank my face away, stepping back. His teasing smile grows, enraging me. At the same time, a shiver of anticipation and excitement sparks its way down my spine. My mind becomes flooded with the demonicneedto dominate this fae. It burrows into my skin, sinking deep into my bones where it festers and grows.

“I’ve waited three centuries for you, I can wait longer still,” he says with a lazy smirk.

Shaking my head, my feet skirt back another few steps. “Do you understand what you’re asking for? Acontract. You willserveme until death.”

And as a creature being hunted by the god of death, his death is all but guaranteed.

“I need you to trust me. If this is the only way I can earn your trusttonight, I’ll sign.” He pauses, a brow arching. “Unless I’m mistaken and you do not feel what I do.”

As my breathing shallows, the sound of my own heart in my ears deafens me. Swallowing hard against the lump in my throat, I shake my head. A feeble attempt to lie.

He smirks as if he knows better.

The distance I’d placed between us dissolves in a few steps, and with a gentleness I didn’t expect, he pulls me into him by my waist.

“Offer me,” he says quietly.

“Why are you so insistent?” I demand, pressing my hands againsthis chest to push him away, but his arms lock me in place.

“Why are you so reluctant?” he counters, grinning.

His gods damned eyes are going to be the death of me.

This fae, thisSovereign King, is laying himself at my feet. The darkest parts of myself swell and grow, my blood singing with the prospect of claiming this mortal asmine. How easy it would be to seduce, beguile, and charm everything I could ever want from him. The power he could grant me over mortals, the reach and influence I would have—Netharis would jump at the opportunity.

I might even enjoy it.

No, there is nomight.

Iwouldenjoy him.

With a desperate haste, I shove the thoughts away.

“That night on the field, I meant what I said,” he says, and despite my silent pleading, he continues to give me the stare that threatens to drive me into madness. “You belong here, with me.”

“Why?”

“I think you already know why, little demon,” he says, placing a hand over mine and dragging it over his heart. Through his shirt, and under muscle and bone, the steady beat of his heart becomes clear. “You have driven me to the precipice of madness.”

Against logic, against everything that makes any semblance of sense, my innate vibrates and midnight black shadows billow between us. His thought-stealing arms release me and I suck in a sharp breath, retreating further. As the shadows vanish, a contract unfurls itself.

A contract.

Hiscontract.

With a smirk and an arched brow, Ryc’s eyes lock with mine and do not leave. Lifting a thumb to his mouth, he pierces the fleshy pad with a fang. He presses it against the parchment without hesitation, without words, staring into the depth of my soul as he does.