MATURE FANTASY** slow burn* 🔥 He is a predator who thought he captured an ordinary girl... but her mind is sharper than any of his claws.
Ariana lives in the shadow of her monstrous father in a world barely held together by a treaty. Until her l...
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Knuckles rapped against the wooden door to my room, the sound echoing in the quiet space.
Turning from the darkness beyond the open balcony, I faced the entrance. "Come in," I said, my voice steady but my heart pounding in my chest.
A chilled breeze drifted from the balcony into the room, riding on the draft created when the door opened. Goosebumps spread over my arms as I faced the Lysian King.
Erik stepped into the suite, shutting the door behind him, and locking us in. His powerful frame moved with each confident step until he stood in the center while I remained on the edge of the open balcony. Dark blue eyes absorbed the room, likely looking for signs of threat before finally landing fully on me.
As we stood there in silence, my pulse climbed with each passing second. Erik had yet to say a word, and I could only guess at his state of mind. All I had were the facts: I was his prisoner, and I was now cornered in a room with a lethal Lysian.
"Do I frighten you?" He finally broke the silence, his voice low and smooth, yet holding an underlying threat that sent a chill through me.
"Do you wish to frighten me?" It was not an answer.
His eyes darkened before they flickered briefly to my throat. A silent threat.
My hand moved to my neck as a reflex, the vulnerability of the gesture not lost on either of us.
"I did not mean..." Erik seemed momentarily thrown off, his gaze softening slightly. "No, I do not wish to frighten you."
"Right," I said, my tone laced with skepticism. "You enter the room, cornering me without an escape, ask me if I am afraid, and then look at my throat threateningly. How should that be perceived differently?" My hand fell to my side as I squared my shoulders, refusing to back down.
"That's not what I was doing, not what I meant to do," he replied, his voice a mixture of frustration and apology as he glanced around the room before gesturing to a leather chair in the corner. "Mind if I sit?"
"It's your castle," I replied indifferently, though it was the farthest from the truth.
In reality, I felt torn. A part of me resented Erik, fearing the destruction he was capable of, yet another part was intrigued, wanting to understand better. I desired to help him find his sister; I did not have any siblings of my own, but could imagine the pain he felt. If Someone ever took Landin or Willis, then I would not stop till I freed them.
Erik lowered himself into the chair, his gaze never leaving mine. "I looked at your throat because it is a weak point," he stated.
"It's what you would target if you wished to kill me." I clarified, finding no comfort in his response.
"No, it's what someone else may target if they wished you harm. I do not want to hurt you, Ariana." He seemed exasperated. "I want us to be friends."
Someone needed to teach him what it meant to be a friend and the best ways to make them.
