I’ve seen him be casually lethal, and given what Kellan told me before I left, he has a very good reason to direct that brutality toward me. I should be more careful.
“So, if I run, you’ll chase me down and fuck me?” I ask.
He nods, breaking the tension between us.
“You’d have to catch me first.”
Just like that, the challenge is back, and he looks like he’s ready to spring up and tackle me now.
“I know this fort like the back of my hand. Iwillcatch you. And I won’t just give you a tumble, Harlow. I’ll fuck you into the ground, until I’m completely spent. I know you don’t have any respect for our customs, but I thought you had more sense than to not take my word for it on this.”
I scoot back on the bed and glower at him. “I just think it’s convenient that your rules make it impossible for me to escape you even for a few minutes.”
He cocks his head and studies me. “Now, why would you want to do that?”
“Because I didn’t leave one prison to live in another,” I snap.
I don’t even know where the words came from. It’s like they punched up from somewhere beneath my ribs. Since I met Henry, I’ve teased him for being wild, but now I feel like the cornered animal. At least in Lunameade I could wander the city alone at night. Here, Henry lurks over my every move.
Henry’s aura flares and a muscle in his jaw clenches. He looks away and composes himself. He can wipe the slate of his face clean so easily. His aura flares when he lies or is agitated, but it settles quickly. I’d love to know how he does it.
“I’ll allow you a short sojourn to the art gallery,” he says finally. “But then we must return to this room and appear to be doing what newlyweds do.”
“Plan creative ways to murder their spouse?” I suggest.
His lips twitch. “Look how comfortable you are threatening me. I think they call this intimacy.”
I slide off the bed and walk toward the washroom and my room on the other side, but I stop in my tracks when I see a scarlet dress hanging in Henry’s closet, along with matching lingerie.
I turn slowly to face him, pointing at the dress. “What the fuck is that?”
He smiles serenely. “It’s what you’ll be wearing today, lovely. Tradition for new Mountain Haven husbands to begin their caretaking duties with an orgasm at the wedding ceremony and choosing their wife’s wardrobe for the first two weeks of marriage.”
Crossing my arms, I look at the dress again. The scarlet silk is delicate but beautiful, and the silhouette is simple but sexy. I know without even trying it on that it will be devastating. Especially with the way the sheer lace bustier cups will peek out from the plunging neckline and the draped back will show the delicate lace design. It’s a dress that you can’t look at without thinking about how easily you could take it off.
“It’s red.”
“So they tell me,” Henry says. “Red is a common color for new brides seeking Kennymyra’s blessings for a pleasurable marriage.” He’s quiet for a moment. “Do you not like wearing red?”
“I like red fine, but I usually only wear it when I want men to pounce on me. Considering how frequently it’s worked for me in the past, you might not want me to wear it out of this room.”
Henry gives me a look that could wither even the heartiest Drained Wood tree. “Just put the fucking dress on, Harlow. Play the part and I’ll take you to the gallery so you can stop being such a Divine-damn pain in my ass.”
It’s so tempting to fight him, but allowing him this meaningless victory won’t hurt anything but my pride. Even so, there’s no way he will be able to look at me in that dress and not think about last night, and that alone might be enough to throw him off.
“Please, Harlow?”
I gasp in mock shock. “The beast has manners.”
Henry flops back on the bed with a growl of frustration, and I dash into the washroom, laughing.
28
HARLOW
The large, dark wood double doors to the art gallery stretch all the way to the ceiling. They’re much plainer than the doors in my family’s manor—than those in all of the great houses in Lunameade.
It makes sense. The fort is set with several fallback strongholds, just like the city, but the threat of a Drained attack here is ever-present. They don’t need pretty doors. They need something that will hold against an onslaught of beasts.
