I smashed my fist into the wall next to her head, denting it. “I told you to shut your mouth.”

She laughed. Fucking laughed. Tipped her head back and let that sarcastic, callous sound into the space between us. “You don’t know me, but I never have been good at doing that. Or what I’m told for that matter.”

“Then I will break you,” I growled. I was in fucking control here, and I would remind everyone involved in this farce of that fact. Assyria needed to submit to my will because if she did not, I couldn’t protect her. I hated that I wanted to do that. I shouldn’t care about the safety of this female. Yet the Reaper had cursed me with this damn bond that made it impossible to want anything else.

“You aren’t the first to try, and you certainly won’t be the last.” She smiled, a feral saccharine one that I wanted to smother with my dick immediately.

An animalistic sound tore from my chest, and my mouth closed over hers. She tasted like red wine, all rich berries and earthy tannins, and my nose filled with the scent of roses. A moan, long and low, slipped from her mouth into mine as she opened for me. Swiping my tongue against hers, I deepened our kiss, pressing her more firmly into the wall. Her fingers dug into my ribs as she clutched my waistcoat.

Then, she shoved.

I stumbled back, chest heaving as my mind cleared enough to glimpse shadows swirling around her arms and a wild look on her face.

“That was a mistake,” I snarled, straightening my clothes.

“The kiss or that I attacked you with my shadows?” she said, narrowing her eyes on me.

“Both,” I growled, reaching for her. I wasn’t done with her; she’d spend the rest of the evening in my chambers, under guard so she couldn’t slip away.

She jerked out of my grip and ducked under my arm before I could touch her. Spinning, a depraved smirk split my face as she backed down the hall, her eyes firmly on me. “Go ahead and run, little imposter. My favorite game is catch.”

The bond, like a wild beast, thrashed with pleasure at the thought of hunting her down and claiming her. She must have felt it too, because her pupils darkened, so large they nearly swallowed all the burgundy surrounding them. Her white teeth sank into her bottom lip, raking over it in a way that was entirely sinful.

And then, she ran.

Nothing could have stopped me from following.

Light like a deer, she raced through the halls, taking one sharp turn after another, trying to put some space between us. But my legs were longer, and I knew these twists and turns better than she did. She scrambled for the handle of a door, twisting it and flinging it open, only to find herself in a stairwell. Throwing a devious glance over her shoulder, she raced up them, hitting the first landing at the same time as my foot smacked against the bottom step.

“When I catch you, little imposter, I am going to punish you.”

A laugh rippled down from above.

Taking the steps two at a time, I sprinted up them, closing the distance faster and faster as she slowed. Her breathing was labored by the time I was only a few steps behind her.

She appeared to accept her defeat and stopped when she reached the landing. I paused, a wicked thrill licking its way up my spine as I imagined exactly what I would do to her. Then, as if I were approaching a wild animal, I crept forward, scouting for a twitch of muscle or slash of eye that would indicate a planned move.

Two steps away, the air around her shifted, and I stared at myself. Blinking, I paused, and that moment of hesitation was enough for her to shove. A smile spread across my mirrored face, and then I was falling, arms pinwheeling as I tried to regain my balance. With a heavy thud, I landed against the stairs. A grunt burst from me. She raced away from me again, the sound of her pounding steps reverberating in my ears.

Exhilaration curled through me. Assyria was wild, clever, and smarter than that mouth of hers. “If I didn’t feel the hate mixing with lust down our bond, I’d have to think you liked this, little imposter,” I growled, snatching at a thread of our bond and yanking her attention to me.

“I am simply trying to get away from the mate I don’t want,” she shot back, her tone breathy even in my mind.

Rubbing the back of my head, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Diving into my magic, I tapped into our shared connection to sense her location. She wasn’t in the stairwell any longer, and in this part of the palace, most of the rooms led to empty offices or storage.

An easy place to trap my prey.

I took my time winding up the next flight of stairs, strolling onto the landing and out again into the hall like I had all the time in the world to find her. The yoke that tied us together was invisible, and yet it led me straight to her. Down one hall, past several half-open doors, as if she had attempted to throw me off her path, I hunted her. Stopping, I listened for the telltale rapid breaths and pounding heart that were nearly impossible to hide after a sprint like the one she’d taken away from me.

I sensed her on the wall to my left, though there was no entry there. So I snuck around another corner and found a closed door waiting for me. Hand on the knob, the bond flared between us, as if it too sensed that Assyria was trapped and soon to be at my mercy. Lust flooded my veins, so thick and heady I couldn’t stop the image of her on her knees, my dick hitting the back of her throat, that surfaced.

Growling, I slammed the door open, finding a storage room, white sheets thrown over furniture, tarnished silver lined in neat rows on one wall, and a set of footprints in the dust. “If you thought you were trapped before, little imposter, just wait until I get my hands on you.”

Taking one step, then another, I crept forward, following the disturbed path to the far side of the room. But Assyria wasn’t there.

I sensed her before I heard her, and I whipped around, catching her arm and yanking her flush against me. The white sheet she had been standing on spilled to the floor, revealing an aged dining table, rings of long-dried wine dotting its surface. In one smooth motion, I had her ass on it, legs pinned between mine, and my face buried in her neck.

“This game isn’t as fun when the bond leads me straight to you,” I growled, yanking off her veil before fisting her hair. I used my grip to tilt her head to the side, baring her pretty throat to me.

“Get your hands off me,” she snarled, shoving at me again. But I was prepared this time, and my shadows sprung to life, mixing with hers and tangling both of us in a web of their making. All sense, all reason, fled with the connection, something about their intertwining pulled a moan from both our chests.

“Put your magic away before I fuck you on this table,” I groused, nearly shaking with how hard I fought the bond’s pull to claim.

“You first,” she said, her voice so raspy it sent heat straight to my groin.

Something between a groan and a growl slipped from my throat as I sucked my magic back into me, and I forced myself to release her and take three healthy steps back. Her eyes were wild, dark, and flaming with more than one emotion. Those bow-shaped lips parted slightly, making her pout nearly irresistible.

“This fucking bond,” I cursed, nails digging into my palm as I continued to restrain myself. I would not surrender to its wants. I was in control.

Seeming to return to herself, she blinked and shifted off the table. “Can we go now? I’d like to return to the ball. I didn’t even have a chance to enjoy myself before you created a thunderstorm.”

“Absolutely not. You’re going back to my chambers and you will remain there until I say you can emerge again.”

She scoffed and stepped forward like she was going to leave me in this storage room. I snatched her arm again, and our skin seared where we touched. Energy crackled between us, and I lost the precarious hold I had over my self control. Shadows burst from me, wrapping around Assyria’s slim body and forcing her back to the table.