ra's

r pressing down on me. The ghost of Gideon's fury still clung to the ai

aded straight for the guest wing. From th

of the guest room when a hand clamped

it had been in the dining hall, his deep gray

nning me around. The sudden force of his grip

in his grasp. "Exac

of glass. "Do you really think you can f

u," I said, my voi

dragged me down the long hall, his long strides forcing me to stumble a

porcelain vase of dragon's-blood roses teetered, then crashed to the marble floor,

ed on me, his fury so intense that it f

sweeping forward to envelop me in a suffocating cocoon of shadow. A thick, powerful dragon tail slithered

ooting out to grip my chin

t life, I had convinced myself that this suffocating physical dominance was

was glaringly obvious. This was just his insatiable ne

welled in my chest, souri

low, cruel whisper that chilled the room. "Have

the council chambers on his skin mixing with the

le-patterned silk gown on your back. Even the very air yo

d each word slowly, delibe

my lungs. The bitter ache magnified into a sharp, agonizing pain that bl

re no

was how my husband truly saw me. I was just a pathetic creature survivin

All the lingering hesitation I had harbored swelled into a suffocating knot in my th

d its absolute peak, somethi

hest vanished. In its place, a strange, weightless sensatio

my soul to Gideon Carlisle for ten l

of warmth and longing in my eyes died out compl

round his wrist. With a steady, deliberate motion born of pur

te calm s

as a strange, new thing-a tone o

im as if he w

then we have nothing left

Car

sudden shock. It was a name used by his soldiers, his servants, and his subjects.

osened in his bewilderment. His face transformed into a mask of pure sho

stepped back, slipping ou

," I said, my voi

e shattered porcelain and crushed roses. I could feel his hot, incredulo

stepped inside, and locked

n the floor. I pulled my knees to my chest. A single tear slipped down my cheek-a

my own heart, and the overwhelming, peacef