“You have given me plenty of reasons to,” I retorted.
Lancaster lowered his head, and his lips…Gods, his breath was so warm against my neck. I shivered, arching closer to him as he spun me around time and again.
I was so distracted, I almost missed his next words.
“I have also given you plenty of reasons not to.”
“Not willingly,” I gasped out.
“That is even better in my opinion,” he said. I tilted my head, my hair swinging down my back so my neck was now fully exposed. What would it feel like for him to drag those canines across my skin? To sink those fangs in andtakeall I had to offer.
I wasn’t offering.
He went on, “Sometimes the person one becomes when they are not trying is the truest version of oneself, wouldn’t you agree?”
Those words pressed into my flesh, ready to burrow to my bones.
“I suppose there is a certain truth in freedom,” I replied, swallowing thickly.
“Freedom.” The word was almost a scoff, but one that got stuck in his throat, like he was as affected by his skin against mine as I was.
Lancaster’s palm pressed closer to my spine, curving around my waist. His thumb dragged along my ribs absently, like he didn’t even realize he was doing it, and his eyes…
Gods. They were trained on my wildly thrumming pulse.
“What did you mean? When you said you don’t usually attempt to win over women such as me?” I pushed because if I didn’t say something, the humming in my chest was going to cause me to make foolish, reprehensible decisions. And I never allowed myself to be foolish.
Perhaps I should.
No.
“I meant that you are very different than females I have known before.” For an inexplicable reason, my chest pulled tight at those words. “You are much more fearless and straightforward, especially for?—”
“For a human?” I finished, the bubble his words had been inflating in my chest popping. I dropped my gaze. That was why I never allowed foolishness. I was a breakable, weak human. I had to be careful to frame my existence in this world of warriors and fae.
“No,” Lancaster said, his hand still entwined with mine lifting my chin. “For someone who has been taught her entire lifethat she is weaker than those around her, but who has proven to them all that a human heart can devour the realm with fervor.”
Those words were practically plucked straight from my spirit. What had I been fighting for these recent months? To be seen as more than simply a human. My friends always said I had a warrior heart, and I loved them for that, but I did not want it to mask the very human, vulnerable parts of me. And with one sentence, Lancaster encompassed that want. Displayed who I fought to become so simply, like it was impossible not to see.
There was a warmth in those words. One I thought I could crawl into and build a very comfortable, sheltered, yet exploratory haven.
When his thumb stroked my ribs again, dangerously close to the underside of my breast, I pressed forward, and this time, it might have been voluntarily.
Certainly not entirely.
But there was a chance a little bit of it was.
“What were you fighting with your sister over?” I asked.
“When?” Lancaster asked.
“Just before you asked me to dance.”
“Did I ask?” And I froze because he actuallyjoked.
Recovering myself, I gave him an admonishing look. “Toldme to dance. Do not change the subject.” The song was mounting, the warriors around us speeding with it, but he held me so steadily, I didn’t even notice the tempo increasing.
Lancaster smirked at my tone, but his next words came out with a grimace. “She finally revealed the extent of how her magic changed after the bite in the catacombs. It appears she’s hidden some grave details from me.”
