Page 11 of Bound in Violet Ink

Kane only seems enthralled, greed staining his silver eyes.

Blood pounds in my neck when he reaches out to touch my throat with his rough hand.

His fingers rest on the pulse hammering beneath my skin, and he smiles , just barely, like it answers a question for him.

“And I admit, selfishly, that I want to mold you to me—” his fingertips move to the nape of my neck, gripping my hair, tightening as possession glints in his eyes like metal catching sunlight “—Have you ever been with a man?”

“No,” I say, resolute.

Something flares in him. Not surprise. Not mockery. Just something dark , reverent. Like he’s just been handed something priceless. “Then all of you will mold to me.”

Wetting my lips, my dignity demands I at least try to fight whatever madness infects me. “That’s bold of you.”

“So was sending all those letters in violet ink, covered in your heat.”

My knees don’t buckle, but they want to. My lungs fight for breath. And all I can do is stare at him and feel —all the warmth, the fear, the treacherous ache coiled low in my belly. “What if I say no?”

This is not about romance. It’s about possession . About identity. About the terrifying possibility that some part of me wants to belong to someone, especially if it means his care for me is his priority, if for anything else, because their very instincts will demand it.

“You cannot say I didn’t tell you to stop, because now it’s too late.

I know what your hair feels like between my fingers, and how you smell when it’s only our scent in the room.

” His gaze is feral, even if the rest of him seems controlled.

“Even if you leave, I’ll skin anyone who ever tries to touch you.

The precious High Lord has no idea what he’s just done. ”

A brittle laugh escapes over a cotton tongue. “You can’t just say that and expect me to play along. I don’t want to live that life anymore.”

“I don't expect you to play anything, ” he says, close enough that I can feel the heat of his body, smell the iron tang of blood still clinging to him.

“But you need to understand what you are to me. I wish I could pretend you were nothing,” he says, voice so low it feels like it scrapes my skin raw.

“I'd have an easier time letting you go, because coming to my world will be nothing short of catastrophic for your reality.”

The sheer absurdity of how my body bends to every word that comes from his imperfectly perfect lips gives me the most hesitation. Even if there wasn’t some clear hormonal shift at play, I’m too aware of my damaged heart. “I’m not in my right mind.”

“Obviously,” he retorts, a tempered ache bleeding through his gaze.

“And neither am I… but here we are. And we do have a problem. You leave out this door without being covered in me, or my bite in your neck, and they’ll rip you apart, especially with your scent of arousal that you can’t hide, as yes, I can smell that.

If I claim you, they’ll think twice before touching you, and that will get you out of here alive. ”

By the gods, does my body demand I listen to him.

In fact, it’s as if I’m feverish.

Shivers quake through me like nothing ever has before. “I said no,” I reiterate, every nerve in my body burning with defiance at those words.

Logic and this fever heat mix like oil and water, the desire for Kane mounting with each moment. All I want to do is consume, and have him consume me.

“What do you actually want from me?” I grind out. “I may have been locked in the tower for most of my life, but I’m past the naivety of a young girl. There’s always a catch.”

There’s a pause, and within it, I can almost sense he might actually wish to guard this part of him. His grip on my hair tightens as he says, “I have suffered and sacrificed my entire life. The selfish side of me wants to enjoy the affection that this bond will offer.”

Our bond. This thing that apparently exists without my permission, just like the rest of my life. I recognize the absurdity here, I know he’s not wrong—having his scent all over me would act as the perfect shroud. “Why would those people out there kill me if Silas hasn’t properly disowned me?”

“He has already done so by sending you here.”

That cuts much deeper than I ever care to admit, my gaze dropping down to stare at his chest. At skin and muscles that belong to a stranger, and yet I can’t deny that I’m pulled to him by more than just curiosity. “I don’t really have an option, do I?”

“You do, just with one caveat,” he drawls out, slightly pulling my head back to hint at the power he could exert over me.

That display of dominance doesn’t last as that intensity dissipates, something gentle burning away at the ferocity.

“I’ll give you the forests you asked for, and all the creatures to befriend, and tear down the walls that confine you, little flower.

You will never return to anyone, but know if you don’t come to me, I won’t be able to leave you be. ”

The tension in my body loosens as I slightly lean forward, a slave to his words and promises. He’s mine to enjoy, to touch and taste as I wish. If he’s somehow my mate, then… maybe…

His eyes flash wide with concern, and he repositions us so I’m behind him as the door unlocks, the man from earlier entering. “ They’ve arrived.”

Kane slowly looks down at me, perhaps with even a trace of concern.