Page 33 of The Damned (Coven of Bones #3)

I shrugged, keeping my seat even though I wanted nothing more than to close the distance between us, pin Margot to the wall, and kiss her until she couldn’t breathe. Knowing that what I felt was genuine had changed everything for me. There was no denying our inevitability now.

“I disagree,” I said, quirking my head to the side as I ran my tongue over my bottom teeth.

“Fuck you,” she said, gathering the steel in her veins. She shook her head once, striding past me in an effort to reach the door. I reached out with my wing, blocking her path and then grasping her forearm, yanking her to a halt at my side. “Let go of me,” she snarled.

Placing the rope in her hand, I kept my wing in her way as I raised my arms over the back of the chair, leaning into it and putting them in place so that she could tie me to the legs.

Her eyes bounced over my form, lingering on my chest as I arched back into the seatback, making my intentions clear.

If she wanted her partner bound and unable to participate, if she needed that to find her pleasure, then I would gladly allow her to tie me up for an eternity if it meant I got to feel her skin against mine.

The desperation she’d filled me with knew no bounds, sinking deeper within me with every minute that passed. I wondered how I hadn’t seen it.

I had somehow fallen head over heels for this woman I’d thought I hated.

“No,” she said, shaking her head.

“What’s wrong, songbird? You were so ready to take what you wanted from him.

I am here, and I’m perfectly willing to let you have your way with me,” I said, smirking as I peered up at her.

She fumbled for a response, her eyes darting around the room as if she couldn’t bear to meet my gaze.

I knew she was confused, but I also knew it was too soon for me to explain the shift in my behavior.

Margot wasn’t ready for me to tell her how I felt.

“He isn’t you,” she said finally, shaking her head again.

The notion that she would prefer anyone else to me was laughable, and I grinned at her as I spat the words that weren’t fair, that would push her too far, too quickly.

I knew it, but I found myself saying them anyway.

I wanted to make her come undone; I wanted to tear her apart until all she could see was me in the same way she’d infiltrated my mind, embedding herself in my skin like a blessing and a disease that I would never be rid of.

“Careful. That sounds dangerously close to an admission that I scare you, Margot,” I said in challenge, grinning when she twisted the rope in her hands and finally stepped up behind me.

Her fingers brushed against my wings as she worked quickly, tying my arms to the legs of the chair with quick, deft movements that made me wonder how many times she’d done this.

How often she’d had to do this to survive her upbringing in that fucking Coven that would have made her face her greatest fears all in the name of magic and power.

“How do you carry your head so easily? It must be fucking heavy with the size of your goddamn ego,” she said, stepping around to stand in front of me. I tested the bindings, tugging at the ropes gently with small enough motions that she didn’t notice them.

“It’s only a big head if it’s inaccurate, so why don’t you let me show you the truth in my arrogance?

” I asked, dropping the words lower. Margot shifted on her feet, and I knew it was due to the fact that she was far from unaffected by the magic of the Second Circle.

Beyond that, she was far from unaffected by me.

Put the two together, and the little siren didn’t stand a chance of controlling herself no matter what her intentions may be.

“I don’t want to avoid using you for this because I’m attracted to you,” she said, her nostrils flaring with her anger as she took a step closer.

When I sat, she was only a few inches taller than me, putting us impossibly close as I spread my thighs to allow her to step into the trap of them.

“I was using him because he gave me consent . I understand that may not matter to you, but it does to me.”

I grinned at her, finding the fault in her argument. Whatever this was, she’d twisted it up in her head so fully that she couldn’t find a way out anymore. “I fail to see where I am unwilling to let you do whatever you want with me, little siren,” I murmured, watching as her face dropped.

“You’re already under my spell. You cannot give consent anymore,” she argued.

Her eyes probed my face as my smile dropped, studying me for the horror she seemed to think was sure to come.

“Don’t,” I said, finding it increasingly difficult to navigate the nuances of this conversation without revealing the truth of what Amelia had told me.

“If this was all a spell, you would not feel the effects of it, too, but I think we both know you do. I think we both know that whatever this is between us is mutual now, and that means it is more than just me hearing your song.” I wished I hadn’t allowed her to tie me up after all.

I wanted to reach for her, to draw her into an embrace that was far more about comfort than anything sexual.

That fucking bastard had made her think she was a monster, without ever sharing the truth of it with her.

Even if I hadn’t been immune to her song, you could not create something from nothing. Magic didn’t work that way. There had to be a kernel of attraction for her magic to sink into me, putting its hooks into me so fully that I would never be able to get free.

If I had been able to fall under her spell, she would have had my consent with that alone. It likely wouldn’t have been the case for everyone, but it would have been enough for me.

She didn’t answer, choosing to ignore my words and the implication of them.

She wasn’t ready to own up to her own attraction.

The only thing I could do was to convince Amelia to teach her the nature of Red magic, to teach her the limitations and rules around desire that made what she believed impossible in actuality.

Instead of arguing, I leaned into her narrative, letting her maintain her control over it.

She needed it, and I’d let her keep it for now if it meant she stayed within my reach.

“If this is all a spell,” I said, trailing off until Margot raised her eyes to mine fully.

She squared her shoulders, waiting for the judgment she felt certain would come.

“Then it is no wonder I’m held captive. There is no one breathing who could look at you, who could know you, and not willingly fall prey to you.

If this is a spell, then all I can do is hope that you never release me from it, my songbird. ”