Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 105679 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 528(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105679 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 528(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
His hand relaxed a little and it was enough to give me an opening.
I bit down. Hard.
He hissed and then chuckled louder, darker… the sound vibrating through his chest and into my spine. “Vicious little thing, aren’t you?”
With a swift movement, Adrian spun me around to face him, one hand still firmly clasped over my mouth while the other gripped my waist with bruising force. His mask still covered half of his face, and in the moonlight, his blue eyes gleamed like a predator’s—calculating, amused, malicious.
“I didn’t know you were a biter.” He licked the corner of his lips. “I find that I quite like it.”
I glared at him with all the hatred I could muster.
“If I remove my hand, will you scream?” he asked, his head tilting slightly. I huffed back a response.
My body went rigid as he slowly removed his hand from my mouth, his fingertips dragging across my lips in an unexpected way that sent a sudden, inexplicable jolt through my body.
His other arm remained firmly around my waist, keeping me pressed against him.
“How dare you grab me like that?” I hissed the moment I could finally speak, my voice trembling despite my attempt at bravado. “Let go of me.”
“And why would I do that?” His breath was warm against my neck, sending unwanted shivers down my spine. “You’ve wandered right where I had been, almost like you were seeking me out. How is that my fault if you’ve put yourself right into my territory?”
I twisted in his grip, trying to break free but he was solid, immovable. “How delusional can you be? This isn’t your territory. Nothing here belongs to you.
“That’s where you’re wrong,” he rasped. “You owe me a dance.”
“Let go of me!” I said again, loudly this time. Loud enough my voice echoed into the silence of the night.
“Careful, little bride,” Adrian warned, his eyes gleaming dangerously behind his black mask. “You don’t want to attract attention out here. What would your fiancé think if he found his precious future bride-to-be, alone in the dark with me? What would your family think?”
I hated him.
I hated him. I hated him. Goddamn it, I hated him.
“Oh how scandalous that would be for the princess,” he mocked. “Your innocence will be questioned.”
I had never been a violent person before, but somehow, for just a single moment, I imagined how his throat would look like. Slit. Bleeding.
Because I wanted to kill him myself.
“Are you sure you want to take such a risk, Serafina?” My name rolled off his tongue, like he was tasting molasses. His hand moved up against my back, his fingers splaying, touching exposed skin. Every part that his warm, rough fingertips touched, tingled. It was at this moment that I wished my dress had been more conservative, covering every inch of my flesh.
“Don’t touch me,” I spat, my voice trembling with helpless fury. “How could you?”
Adrian’s lips curved into an infuriating half-smirk. “I needed to see if you were as docile as you pretend to be.” He leaned closer, his face mere inches from mine, his warm breath feathering against my lips. “I was right. There’s a burning flame, a mysterious chaos beneath that icy wall you have built around you.”
“Get away from me.” I pushed against his chest, but he didn’t budge. His solid strength was truly frightening. “My father will—"
“Your father?” Adrian laughed, the sound devoid of humor. “Is that your first instinct? To run to Daddy? How predictable.”
His fingers caressed my bare skin, almost mockingly. As if he wanted me to know that he could touch me so freely and I could do nothing about it.
Oh, he wanted me to be unpredictable? Fine. I’d give that.
“If you don’t let me go, I’ll scream,” I finally had the courage to threaten.
“And what will people say?”
“I will tell them you attacked me like a psychopath.”
Adrian grinned harder, evil and utterly sinful. “Are you so sure they will believe you?”
“Yes,” I hissed. “Because they know how deranged you are while I have an impeccable, perfect, untainted image.” I was a dignified woman and he was a degenerate.
“Is that right? Impeccable, perfect… untainted image, you say?”
Wild fury flooded through me with such ferocity I didn’t know was possible. “Let me go, Adrian. Last warning or I will scream.”
I was playing with fire. Testing his limits, and my own in the process. A part of me knew I wouldn’t scream. And I think Adrian knew that too.
His arm tightened around me, pulling me so close we were plastered against each other. I could feel his heartbeat thudding against mine. “Then scream, Princess,” he whispered, almost tauntingly, his warm breath feathering against my cold lips. “Scream as loud as you want. Do it.”
It was something in his voice, in his dark command, that made my brain stutter, as if Adrian had taken complete control of my body and senses. My lips parted, a scream bellowing from my throat.