Page 135 of As Above, So Below

“No?” he counters with his signature teasing smirk. “Did they pull you from the temple? Make you wander through the city at night alone?”

I loose a bitter, disbelieving scoff. “They hunted me, you ass.”

Ryc laughs, his eyes gleaming with amusement. “I could have you thrown in a cell for the way you speak to me,” he teases, his voice low. “You’re brave to insult a Sovereign King to his face.”

Unable to keep the smile from my face, I scoff a dry laugh. “If you’re going to imprison me, I’d like to add a few more points. One, you’re beautiful until you—”

Ryc roars with laughter, throwing his head back, and falling backward. Taking the opportunity to pull myself from him, I seek the edge of the bed. He reaches out, drawing me back in and rolling me onto my side. In less time than it takes for my heart to beat, I’m locked pressed against him once again.

“Oh no,” he says, shaking his head. “We need to discuss how we work—howthisworks. But first, please tell me more about how you think I’m beautiful.”

I groan and roll my eyes. “You’re further proving my point.” I push against him, but his arm doesn’t budge. “As for how we work, there is nowe.You are contracted to serveme.”

Whether panic-induced or elated, my heart leaps into my throat. This is not how I imagined starting my morning. In fact, waking to find myself sharing the Sovereign King’s bed is not how I imaginedanymorning. I press my hands against his chest, a weak attempt to retain space between us.

Good gods, the feel of his bare chest under my hands has me questioning if the vampire venom had any actual effect upon me. I shove the devolving thoughts aside and steel myself.

“Is there no we?” he asks, challenging me with his stare.

“No,” I answer firmly. But I want him as flustered as I am. “Perhaps there could have been,” his brows raise, a smile parting his lips as he waits for me to continue, “if you had just been Ryc.”

With a low rumbling chuckle, he leans close, whispering, “Am I not just Ryc?”

His thumb begins to trace lazy circles on the small of my back, above my tailbone, and every sense in my body hones in on the sensation. His touch clears my mind of anything else. He’s made it so thatheis the only thing I can focus on.

A smirk tilts his lips. He knows it, too.

The fae is more demon thanI am.

“No,” I say again, but this time my voice wavers, giving away my melting resolve. “You’re not,” I add, willing strength I don’t have into the words.

I need to leave.

I need to leave before I find myself entangled with a fae in ways I shouldn’t be—in ways I want. Ryc is an indulgence, and I am a selfish creature of the hells. He plays a dangerous game. On instinct alone, my hand rises from his chest to cup his face.

“I warned you it was getting harder to stay away from you,” he says, his voice low.

He searches my face, as if he’s taking in every detail of the moment. And for all I know, he is. Just as I’d laid and admired him before he woke.

Last night—it cannot happen again. Despite how right it felt. Going down this road, making this decision, it would do neither of us any favors. I would have a vulnerability Netharis could use against me, and he would become Netharis’ next target.

We’re doomed.

It’s safer for both of us to simply keep ourselves separate. But after last night, I fear I’m too late for that. Complicating things further is the last thing I need. I need, no,cravesimplicity, quiet, safety.

“Fight harder,” I whisper, desperately battling against myself.

“No.” His whisper races down my spine.

Confused, disoriented, and consumed by a yearning that’s laid in wait for centuries, I force myself to listen to logic and nudge my innate gently.

Everything about this is a mistake.

Shadows swirl tightly around me, and Ryc vanishes, my innate ferrying me away from making yet another bad decision. I cover my face with my hands as I roll onto my back in my very empty bed. Slamming shadows over that gods damned window in my mind, I heave a sigh.

The courtyard lies between us.

It’s not enough distance.