In the Shadow of the Crown

The room smelled of smoke and embers, of something heady and unspoken. The fire crackled low, casting golden light across the velvet-draped bed, the carved stone walls, and the two figures locked in a silent battle of wills.

Raen’s hands still lingered on her waist, his breath warm against her skin. His kiss had stolen the last of her resistance, leaving her pulse thrumming, her thoughts tangled in the heat of his touch.

But it wasn’t enough.          

Not for him.

Not for her.

Eliza’s fingers tightened in his hair as she pulled back just enough to meet his gaze. His golden eyes burned with something primal, something dark and all-consuming.

[What have I done?]

She had let herself fall, no, she had leapt straight into his hands. And now there was no turning back.

Raen’s thumb brushed against her lower lip, his smirk slow and wicked. “Do you regret it yet, little countess?”

Eliza exhaled sharply. “Should I?”

His grip on her waist tightened. “Yes.”

A shiver danced down her spine, but she refused to let him see it. She forced herself to hold his gaze, to meet the storm that brewed within him without fear. “Then why don’t I?”

Raen’s expression shifted something dangerous flickering beneath the surface.

Before she could react, he had her pinned against the nearest pillar, his body pressing against hers with just enough force to steal her breath.

The carved stone was cold against her back. Raen’s heat was suffocating, his presence drowning out everything else.

His lips ghosted over her ear, his voice a low growl. “Because you were always meant to be mine.”

Eliza’s breath hitched. “That sounds an awful lot like a threat.”

Raen chuckled, dark and velvety. “Not a threat, Eliza.” His fingers trailed up her arm, slow and deliberate. “A promise.”

Her pulse thundered.

She should push him away.

She should remind him that she was not something to be possessed.

And yet, when he cupped her jaw and tilted her chin up, she leaned into the touch.

[Damn him.]

Damn herself.

Raen’s lips hovered over hers, teasing, testing. “Say it,” he murmured.

Eliza swallowed. “Say what?”

“That you belong to me.”

She laughed soft, breathless, defiant. “You assume too much, my lord.”

His grip on her waist tightened. “Do I?”

Before she could answer, his mouth was on hers again, this time slower, deeper, each movement deliberate, as if he were unraveling her piece by piece.

And gods help her, she let him.

Her fingers curled into the fabric of his tunic, pulling him closer. Heat coiled low in her stomach, her body betraying her with every shuddering breath.

Raen broke the kiss just long enough to murmur against her lips, “Say it.”

Eliza’s heart pounded. She should refuse. Should bite back, push him away, break this dangerous game before it consumed them both.

But she didn’t.

Instead, she whispered, “Make me.”

A growl rumbled deep in his chest.

And then everything blurred.

Raen lifted her with ease, carrying her across the room as if she weighed nothing. Her back met the velvet sheets, the heat of the fire casting flickering shadows along the stone walls.

His hands roamed lower, his lips claiming the delicate skin of her throat, each touch a silent vow, a new chain wrapped around her.

Eliza gasped, her nails raking against his shoulders. “You...”

Raen cut her off with another kiss fierce, possessive. “Say it,” he growled against her lips.

Eliza shuddered. “You’re insufferable.”

His smirk was all teeth. “And yet you are still beneath me.”

She wanted to fight him. Wanted to claw her way free.

But instead, she pulled him closer.

And let the fire consume her.

***

Somewhere beyond the walls of the estate, the world was shifting.

Storm clouds gathered on the horizon, rolling in with an unnatural weight. The wind howled through the trees, whispering of things long buried - secrets that refused to stay hidden.

Far away, a messenger rode through the night, his cloak billowing behind him like a specter of fate. He carried a letter, sealed in crimson wax, its contents enough to shake the foundations of the kingdom.

A betrothal.@@novelbin@@

A war.

A warning.

And as the storm began to break, the first drops of rain fell against the stone walls of Raen’s estate.

An omen.

Of love.

Of war.

Of ruin.