Chapter 154 Like A Criminal
Kira's POV
Adrian rounded the corner like a storm about to break.
His eyes locked on me immediately…gold-flecked, blazing with a mix of fury and something rawer that made my stomach twist.
The air thickened with his alpha presence, heavy and crackling. Servants scattered out of his path without a word, heads down. Victoria’s arm around my shoulders tightened for a second before she wisely stepped back.
He didn’t say anything.
Not one word.
In two long strides he was on me. Before I could even open my mouth, Adrian bent, hooked an arm behind my knees and another around my back, and lifted me clean off the ground.
He tossed me over his shoulder like I weighed nothing, my stomach pressing against the hard muscle there, my legs dangling uselessly down his chest.
“Adrian!” I yelped, pounding my fists against his broad back. “Put me down! I can explain—”
He didn’t listen. Didn’t even grunt. Just turned on his heel and started walking, his grip firm and unyielding on the back of my thighs. Every step jolted through me. I kept hitting his back, twisting, trying to push myself up. “This is ridiculous! Let me go right now!”
Victoria trailed behind for a few steps, looking torn between amusement and worry, but one sharp look from Adrian and she melted back into the corridor.
He carried me all the way through the wing, up the stairs, past staring guards who suddenly found the ceiling very interesting. My face burned with embarrassment and anger.
By the time he kicked open the door to our room and stepped inside, I was fuming.
Adrian dropped me onto the massive bed without ceremony. I bounced once, hair flying everywhere, and scrambled to sit up. He stood at the foot of the bed, chest rising and falling, running a rough hand through his dark hair.
“Why can’t you just listen?” he growled, voice low and strained. “For once, stay in one damn place like I asked, Kira.”
I opened my mouth, ready to stutter out some excuse, but then it hit me… I was supposed to be the one angry at him. Not the other way around. Right?
I tilted my chin up defiantly, glaring straight into those intense eyes. “I don’t owe you an explanation, Adrian.”
His jaw tightened. In a flash he was on the bed, moving with that terrifying speed, caging me in.
One big hand wrapped around my wrist…not hard enough to hurt, but firm enough that I felt the possessive heat of him.
Rough, yes, but there was something almost sweet in the way he held me, like he was terrified I’d slip away again.
“You owe me your safety, Kira. So many things are happening right now…threats I haven’t even told you about yet. The last thing I need is to lose you because you decided to wander off.”
I felt it then…his pain. Not just anger. Real, deep fear bleeding through the bond that I’ve come to realize that we now share since the day I bit him.
The sincerity in his voice cracked something inside me. My shoulders slumped. “I’m…sorry,” I said in a small voice, looking down at his hand on my wrist.
Adrian exhaled slowly, the tension in his shoulders easing just a fraction.
His grip loosened, thumb brushing over my pulse point in a surprisingly gentle stroke. “I can’t lose you,” he murmured, voice rough. “You don’t have my mark yet, so you don’t understand how scared I was when I couldn’t feel you, couldn’t smell you anywhere in the palace. It was like you vanished. Where did you run off to this time?”
I bit my lip, contemplating. Should I tell him the truth? The creepy tunnel, the voice, the vampire princess, the way reality had flipped on me?
Or would he think I was just making things up, playing games again? He already saw me as reckless.
‘Tell him,’ Leah urged quietly in my head. ‘He’s our biggest ally right now. We need him on our side.’
I exhaled shakily. “I went out to search for Liana. But I got kinda lost in some creepy corridor. I don’t even know if it was real or if I was just hallucinating. One minute I was running through darkness, the next I was in the servant quarters like nothing happened.”
Adrian’s brows furrowed deeply, but he didn’t interrupt. He didn’t laugh or call me crazy.
Instead, he reached out and patted my head…awkward, almost boyish, but strangely comforting.
“It’s okay,” he said gruffly. “Maybe tomorrow I’ll take you around myself. Show you everywhere so you don’t get lost again. Is that okay?”
I nodded, the fight draining out of me as he shifted closer and wrapped his strong arms around me, pulling me against his chest.
For a moment it felt safe. Warm. His scent surrounded me, calming the leftover jitters from whatever had happened earlier.
Then the air changed.
Adrian pinned one of my hands up against the headboard, leaning in so close I could feel his breath on my lips.
The heat between us crackled…electric, heavy, full of unspoken promises.
His body pressed against mine, hard and deliberate. I leaned closer, heart racing, lips parting for the kiss I suddenly wanted more than anything.
Just then, something cold and metallic clicked around my wrist.
I froze. Looked down. Then up at him, utterly bewildered, disappointed, and betrayed all at once.
“You’re fucking cuffing me to the bed?!”
Adrian had the decency to look a little guilty, but his jaw stayed set. “I’m sorry,” he said, voice low. “But I don’t trust you not to venture out again. I have a meeting with the court…something very important. I can’t take you along and I can’t leave you alone to wander freely.”
“Why?” I demanded, yanking at the cuff even though I knew it was pointless. “Are you ashamed of me? Is that why you don’t want to take me along?”
He scoffed, a short, rough sound. “I don’t mind parading you in front of everyone, Princess. But have you met yourself? It’s a serious meeting. I don’t want you making fun of an elder about the length of his beard or something.”
I rolled my eyes hard. “Some of those elders just need to shave off their mustaches and beards. They look ridiculous.”
“See?” he said, gesturing at me like I’d just proven his point.
“Okay, fine. I promise I’ll behave. Just get this off. I promise I won’t go anywhere.”
He was already sliding off the bed, ignoring me. He came around to the side where the cuff was attached to the heavy bedpost and inspected it carefully, making sure it wasn’t digging into my skin. Then he tried to pull me up into a more comfortable position.
I lunged forward and bit his neck…hard.
Adrian groaned, the sound deep and way too pleased for the situation as he held my neck like he was urging me to deepen the bite.
“Next time, only do that when we’re both naked,” he muttered, eyes darkening. “I love when you inflict pain on me.”
I pulled back, exasperated. “That was supposed to teach you a lesson, you maniac! Why do you like it? Bring your balls here…let me kick you there and see if you like it too.”
He smiled…slow, dangerous, and unfairly attractive. “I know you don’t like this position because I’m not fucking you right now. Relax, princess. Victoria will come keep you company as soon as I leave.”
He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to my forehead.
I jerked my head away. “Let me go. I don’t want to be tied to a bed like some naughty child.”
“That’s exactly what you are tonight,” he said, already heading for the door.
“Adrian! Get back here!” I yelled after him, rattling the cuff. “Adrian!”
But the door clicked shut behind him and I was all alone, tied up like a fucking criminal.