Chapter 47 Rage At Dawn
Adrian’s POV
I hit the hallway at a dead sprint, heart slamming against my ribs like it wanted out.
From behind the bedroom door came voices.
Hers to be precise.
Kira’s voice, loud, pissed, shaking with something that sounded a hell of a lot like tears.
Every drop of blood in my body turned to fire.
I didn’t slow down.
I crashed into the door shoulder-first. The heavy oak exploded off its hinges like cheap plywood, splinters flying everywhere. The whole frame ripped out of the wall and slammed flat onto the marble floor with me on top of it.
Kira screamed.
I saw red.
There was a man towering over her, one hand stretched out like he was stabbing her.
Is this the bastard that’s wearing my goddamn face?
Derek took the wheel so fast the world went black at the edges.
Could it be that it was really dark magic I perceived last night around the border?
What if whoever this is followed Liana home, attached itself to her to mask its scent and infiltrate the palace?
What if it’s been in here for hours touching my mate?
I lunged.
My fist connected with his jaw and we both went down hard. I heard bone crack, didn’t care whose.
“What are you doing?!” Kira screamed from the corner she ran to the moment I threw the door open, voice cracking.
I didn’t answer. I was too busy pounding the imposter’s face into the floor. Blood sprayed, hot and wet across my knuckles.
“Your Majesty! Your Majesty, it’s me, Thomas!” the guy under me yelled, hands up trying to block.
I couldn’t see straight. Derek was roaring so loud in my head I couldn’t even hear my own thoughts.
Imposter. Killer. Touching her. Mine.
Another punch. Another. My fists were slippery now.
“Stop! Adrian, you’re killing him!” Kira’s voice cut through the red haze like a knife.
Her hand touched my bare shoulder, small, warm, shaking.
The second her skin met mine, control slammed back into me like a truck.
I froze mid-swing.
Thomas was under me, nose busted, blood pouring, one eye already swelling shut.
Real red blood. Not black. Not shifter trick blood.
Real. Which means it’s really Thomas.
Shit.
I jerked back so fast I almost fell on my ass, chest heaving, looking around the room like I’d just woken up in the middle of a war zone.
Thomas coughed, sat up slowly, wiping his face with the back of his hand. “Your Majesty…it’s me,” he rasped, then smirked through the blood. “Nice to see you too.”
He was already healing, so I didn’t bother apologizing. Instead, I started approaching my mate.
Kira was standing in the middle of the room now in her little silk pajamas, knees apart like she was ready to kung-fu my ass, fists up between us like those tiny hands could actually stop me.
“Stay away from me!” she barked, trying to sound tough, but her voice wobbled.
I stopped dead. “Kira…are you okay?”
“That depends,” she snapped, eyes huge, “on whether you’re done beating the crap out of people or not! You’re standing here buck-ass naked looking like you’re about to start World War Infinity! What the hell, Adrian? All I wanted was a phone!”
Phone? Who the hell does she want to call with it?
Thomas groaned, climbing to his feet. “Your Majesty,” he said, sarcastic as hell, “I’m fine by the way, thanks for asking.”
I shot him a glare that could’ve melted steel and he stepped back.
Half the palace guards were crowded outside the ruined door… I could hear twenty heartbeats going nuts. I mind-linked them fast.. ‘Back to posts. False alarm. Move.’
“Why are you in our room, Thomas?” I growled at him.
Thomas spat blood. “The princess sent for me, your majesty.”
Kira’s cheeks went red. “Can you at least cover up before the interrogation?!” she yelled, staring at the ceiling like her life depended on it.
I glanced down. Yeah. Still naked. Awesome.
I turned to Thomas, voice low. “Call Sheila. Now. Tell her to get her witchy ass out of that cave and into the palace. Today. I don’t understand why the royal sorceress would choose to live outside the kingdom!”
Thomas raised a brow. “What happened?”
“Someone walked in here wearing my face,” I said quietly, so Kira won’t hear about it.
His face went pale under the blood. “Dark magic.”
“Go,” I growled. “And send trackers through every inch of this palace. I want that thing found.”
He nodded once and limped out.
The second we were alone, Kira threw her arms out again as though she wanted us to spar, still refusing to look down.
“Why’d you call Thomas at barely six in the morning?” I asked, stepping closer.
She backed up until her shoulders hit the wall. “Put clothes on and then we’ll talk like normal humans, Your Majesty!”
She snatched a towel off the chair, eyes squeezed shut, and tried to wrap it around me.
Her hand missed the towel completely and grabbed my dick instead.
Full-on, warm little hand wrapped right around it.
The traitor jumped like it had a mind of its own, the veins pulsing to life in an instant.
Kira screamed, let go like she’d been burned, and stumbled back.
I grabbed her wrist and yanked her right back in. My cock pressed hard against her thigh through the thin silk.
“It’s a dick, mate,” I said, smirking. “Why are you scared? Too big for you?”
She hissed, eyes blazing. “Big? Please. I’ve seen bigger.”
Derek lost his damn mind at that. What does she mean by that? Isn’t she supposed to be my ‘virgin bride?’ Whose dick has she seen for moon’s sake?
“So you’re saying you’re not even a little attracted to it?” I growled.
“Yes,” she shot back.
Wrong answer.
I forced her hand back around me, made her squeeze. A groan slipped out before I could stop it.
“You mean you’ve seen bigger than this?”
She tried to yank away. I didn’t let her.
“Let go of me,” she snarled. “I don’t want it. I don’t want you. Go to hell.”
The words hit like a punch to the gut. I smiled, slow and dangerous. “We’ll fix that.”
Before she could blink, I had her up in my arms, thrown over my shoulder, then onto the bed. Silk ropes from the canopy snapped around her wrists faster than she could fight. Another yank and her ankles were tied to the posts, legs spread wide.
“What are you doing?! This is rape! I did not consent!” she screamed, thrashing hard.
I ripped her pajamas clean off. One tear and she was naked, chest heaving, eyes shooting fire.
She tried to twist her thighs together. Couldn’t.
“There’s nothing you can do to make me want you, Adrian. Go screw your mistresses!”
I crawled over her slowly, eyes locked on hers.
“We’ll see.”
I took one nipple in my mouth, sucked hard, rolled the other between my fingers until she gasped.
Then the second one. Then her neck, slow bites, licking the spot I wanted to mark so bad my fangs ached.
My hand slid down, found her clit.
“Don’t touch me there!” she yelled, bucking.
I pulled my hand back, showed her the wetness glistening on my fingers.
“Already dripping for the guy you don’t want. Cute.”
“It’s biology,” she spat. “Not that deep, your majesty.”
“Not that deep, huh?” I grinned. “Let’s find out how deep you really are.”
I dropped to my knees between her legs.
“No, no, stop…” she started.
I licked her slow, just the tip of my tongue on her clit.
Then I went all in, sucking, flicking, devouring her like I was starving.
She cursed me, called me every name under the sun. But the curses started breaking into moans.
I kept her right on the edge, every time her thighs shook and her back arched, I stopped.
She growled in frustration like she wanted me to continue, but couldn’t bring herself to say it.
I slid two fingers inside her, curled them, pumped slowly.
“Oh God—” she choked.
“Stop or don’t stop?” I asked, pulling them out.
She swallowed hard, her eyes rolling back. “Stop, you asshole! Get away from me.”
I stopped.
She actually whined, although she wanted me to stop.
“Learn to say what you mean, princess,” I growled and went back to work, mouth, fingers, over and over, bringing her to the brink and yanking it away every time she got close.
She was a mess, cursing, moaning, begging, cursing again.
Finally she broke, just raw, desperate moans, hips chasing my mouth.
I pulled away and crashed my lips onto hers so she could taste herself. She fought for half a second until I bit her lower lip. Then she kissed me back like she’d die without it.
Her thighs kept brushing my cock, trying to pull me closer despite her defiance. I angled away every time, teeth clenched so hard my jaw hurt.
‘Don’t lose control, Adrian. Don’t.’ I kept chanting these words in my head as I tortured her.
But the truth? I was punishing myself worse than her.
“Are you sure you don’t want me?” I asked as I let the head of my cock drag up her soaked slit, just barely brushing her entrance.
She gasped, trembling at the pleasure and arched hard, trying to take me in but I pulled back.
She looked up at me, furious, needy, then smiled, sweet and poisonous.
“Is that all, Your Majesty?”
I clenched my teeth so hard but… I just… I just lost it then.