MATURE FANTASY** 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 lands are invad...
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The dream began with me wearing the dress I wore when I ascended. All around me, the room was shimmering, casting various light patterns in my peripherals. I stood in the center of a chamber filled with Bavadrins and Lysians. They were celebrating together as friends at my ascension. It brought me so much joy seeing it that I found myself needing to find Erik to show him that we could be more than enemies, to show him that my kind and his could share in the joy.
Scanning the crowds, I could not find him, so I moved, searching for him. Eventually, I found myself running past all the faces that surrounded me, but I was lost. No matter where I went, I was not getting anywhere. It was as if I were trapped in that room. So, I ran harder, my legs moving faster till the faces all blurred together. It felt as though I was running for eternity.
Finally, familiar deep blue eyes caught my attention, and I halted before them. My hair flung around me in a wild mess from the sudden change in motion.
"Where are you running off to?" Erik asked, his voice deadly soft.
"I was looking for you," I answered simply.
The way his eyes viewed me was as if they burrowed into my soul, rendering me speechless. Before me stood a king, dangerously powerful and focused so entirely on me it was difficult for me to draw breath.
A small smile graced his full lips, and he brought his hand up to my neck, moving my wild hair back over my shoulder. When finished, he did not withdraw his hand. Instead, he touched my jaw, his fingers brushing past my neck so that his fingertips had access to the base of my skull. My skin burned wherever he touched it, sending my pulse climbing. His movements forced my head up so that I could not look away from him.
"Erik, what are you doing?" I asked, suddenly finding myself breathless.
The people in the room began shimmering out of existence until all that was left were the two of us.
With a ghost of a smirk on his lips, he stepped closer. Nearly all the space between us was stolen in one move.
"Erik," I warned, though I was not sure what I was trying to warn against. Would I use my conjuring to bring him to his knees and steal the breath from his lungs? No, I didn't want to do that.
I found myself both frightened and intrigued by the situation. The mixture of those feelings was competing for control.
He leaned in, the space between us dwindling. "Tell me to release you, and I will." The words were a whisper.
The presence of him surrounded me, holding me captive and I couldn't formulate a response.
His hungry gaze dipped to my lips.
My mouth went completely dry, and it felt as though my heart catapulted into my throat. Then, when I didn't move, didn't make a sound, he leaned even closer.
I felt his hand on my thigh, his voice calling my name. Yet it couldn't have been him.
My eyes opened even though I thought they were already open.
