Destined for Vengeance ✔️

Chapter 35

"How would you feel if I masked my scent?" she asked.

"You had better not." He tugged his hand free and moved it to her neck, brushing away a few strands of her hair. He had sent a maid to her again that morning, to help get her ready, but this time she hadn't put up all of her hair, allowing some of it to cascade down her back in tangles.

"If you keep doing it, I will have to retaliate."

"That so?"

She nodded, then froze when his lips brushed over her bare neck. Goosebumps rose on her skin and she gasped. Her legs trembled and his arm around her was the only thing keeping her standing.

"Aaron," she said, her voice hardly a whisper.

A tremor went through him. He raised his head from her shoulders and flashed her such a smug grin that her heart jumped.

"What?" she asked.

"You said my name."

Her brows inched down and she breathed a chuckle. "So?"

"That was the first time you have said my name."

"No, that can't b—it was?" She realised it was so, and realised as well that she had given away some of her power by doing so. No more distance. Not that there had been any – physically, at least. She didn't think she'd ever stood so close to any man before. Her hand moved to his chest, slipping underneath his jacket and coming to rest over his heart.

"What are you doing?" he asked, his gaze flitting down to her hand.

"Just checking." His heart was drumming quickly against her palm.

"Checking what? That I am not heartless? I do hope you had figured that one out by now."

She shook her head. "That it's happening to you too."

"That what is happening? You are far too cryptic, little one."

"Little one?" She withdrew her hand. "Really?"

He shrugged, a smirk playing on his lips. "Really. Now explain what you meant."

"No, I won't tell you now."

"You have to. What is happening to me too?" His thumb brushed over the corner of her mouth, his eyes latched onto her lips.

She blushed and fumbled with a button of his jacket. They were smooth and shiny and if she wasn't mistaken, they were coated in real gold. "This feeling."

He smiled and moved closer, his face just a breath away from hers. "You doubted that?"

Her wolf surged forward and before she could think twice, she pressed her lips against his. He responded immediately, his grip on her tightening. His free hand moved to the back of her head, fingers tangling in her hair.

She might have imagined it, but she felt their bond solidifying, like a string wound tight around her heart and his, pulling them together. It was like magic, but better. She had no control over this kind of magic – just like she had no control over her own – but that didn't matter. It wouldn't hurt her.

A door creaked open and they broke apart. A servant entered the room, stopping dead in his tracks when he spotted the crown prince and his mate. His eyes grew wide, his mind exploded into dozens of impulses, and he swept into a bow.

"Apologies, Your Highness," he said, backing up out of the room again, mentally congratulating himself on being the one to witness it, so he would have a fat piece of gossip to tell. He shut the door firmly behind him, the sound reverberating through the large room.