“It’s freezing!” she shrieked, as they stumbled toward the expansive gardens.
Solarius pulled her against him, running his hands up and down her arms in an effort to warm her. An emotion bankeddeep in his gaze, one she didn’t recognize, highlighted by a wash of moonlight and shadow. But then the corner of his mouth lifted into a careless smirk and her knees weakened as she softened in his arms.
Narissa’s feet ached from running. The shoes she wore pinched her toes and with each ragged breath, a twinge pierced her lungs. She was quite sure her brand new gown was ripped in three places, as there was a distinct draft cooling the back of her thighs. But sweet shores, she was delirious, wild with obsession for this male who would willingly flee a ballroom with her and race through a house without a second thought.
His hand slid around the back of her neck and his mouth feathered kisses up her jaw to the lobe of her ear. His warm tongue flicked over the earring she wore, and a scrape of a whisper coasted across her cheek. There was a rumble in his chest and his rough voice sent heat pooling between her legs.
“Run.”
Narissa faltered, pulling back to look up at him. A frown marred her brow. “What?”
“Run, Rissa.” He dragged the pads of his fingers along the column of her neck, then further to the valley of her breasts. “If I catch you, you’re mine.”
She scoffed, folding her arms over her chest. “I’m already yours. We’re married, remember?”
He leaned forward, pressing his forehead to hers, his nose lightly brushing against her own.
“You misunderstand me, Rissa love. I intend to make you mine ineveryway. Body. Mind. Soul. All of it. All of you.” His lips met the corner of her mouth, the warmth of his breath fanning across her lips as he spoke. “That’s what you want, is it not? To have me mark you? Brand you? Ruin you?”
Shivers wrecked her then, and it had nothing to do with the permeating cold. His questions thrummed down the bond,seeking the answers in her mind. In her heart. There was a nudge, a press of magic, of connection, and the rough desire in his voice made it impossible to deny him. To refuse him. Because of course that was what she wanted, it was what she had always wanted.
Him.
Solarius.
Always him.
But her defiance, her inexplicable urge to taunt him, reared its ugly head. “Are you serious?”
He flashed a wicked, ravenous grin. “On my mark.”
“Solarius.” She gave him her most stern voice, but her heart slammed against the tight wall of her chest, and her blood pumped with anticipation.
“Three.” He started his countdown.
“Sol.”
“Two.”
Damn it.
Narissa hiked up her long skirts and took off running. She sprinted into the maze of flowers and manicured shrubs, panting as she raced past a gurgling fountain. Slivers of moonlight illuminated half of the path she chose, while the rest of it was doused in the shadows of nightfall. Behind her, she could hear the swift thuds of Solarius’s boots against the solid ground, and she dared a chance look over one shoulder.
He was a few paces back, and the glint in his eyes made him look almost feral.
Her heels skidded across the icy stone, and she rounded a corner, grasping a hedgerow to keep from losing her balance.
“This isn’t fair!” she shouted.
“How do you figure?”
Breaking tides, it sounded like he wasrightbehind her.
“Because!” Her breaths came in aching pains as she dashed beneath an archway where winter roses and vines tumbled like a waterfall. “The bond will lead you right to me!”
“Then run faster.” Solarius’s voice skated past her ear.
A phantom hand grazed her waist, and she shrieked.
