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 thele-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
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