Chapter 23: The Devil’s Gambit

"Maren," Riven snarled, his voice a guttural, demonic vibration that shook the glass on my vanity. "Out."

Maren didn’t hesitate. She immediately bowed her head, clutching Mael closer to her chest as she moved swiftly toward the door.

"Wait, put him down!" I panicked, taking a desperate step forward. "Maren, give me my baby! Nobody is separating me from my baby!"

I glared at Riven, expecting him to back down. For three weeks, he had catered to my stubbornness. He had allowed me to snap at him, to draw lines in the sand, to dictate my boundaries. I expected him to give Maren the nod to leave the pup in his crib.

Instead, a low, terrifying growl ripped through the center of Riven's chest.

It wasn’t loud, but it vibrated straight through the room and straight into my bones. My wolf whimpered instantly, curling up small inside me like a scolded pup. The fight drained out of my limbs so fast it left me dizzy.

My mouth clamped shut. My knees actually buckled a fraction of an inch. I couldn't speak. I couldn't move. My stubbornness, my only defense mechanism, was entirely paralyzed by the sheer, suffocating weight of his authority.

"Take the pup with you, Maren," Riven commanded, his golden eyes never leaving my face. "We need to be alone."

"Yes, my King."

The heavy ironwood door was pulled shut with a definitive click. Maren was gone. Mael was gone.

I was completely alone with the god of the Lycan world.

The silence that fell over the room was so heavy it felt like water filling my lungs. I was backed completely against the stone wall, the rough brick biting through the thin wool of my tunic. Riven stood on the other side of the chamber, near the splintered doorframe.

He didn't move. He didn't speak. He just kept his eyes locked on me.

His dark, blown-out pupils slowly, deliberately raked down the length of my body. He took in my trembling shoulders, the rapid, frantic rise and fall of my chest, the way my hands were curled into tight fists at my sides. The thin fabric of my dress clinging to my body from the heat of everything that had happened tonight.

It was a consuming, violating stare. It stripped me down to the bone. I felt completely naked.

I hated it. I hated him. I hated him for sitting on that iron throne and turning his face to the wall while Kaelen tore my dignity to shreds. I hated him for letting them legally seal my fate.

But worst of all? I hated my own body.

Because underneath the terror, underneath the burning, bitter betrayal… my cunt was heavily, shamefully throbbing.

My nipples tightened painfully against the rough wool of my tunic. A slick, wet heat was already pooling between my thighs, betraying every ounce of logic in my brain. My wolf was cowering in fear, but she was also practically purring, desperate for the massive, terrifying mate  in front of us to cross the room and devour us whole. I was feeling everything at once, a cocktail of fear mixed with pure, unadulterated lust.

My hands curled into fists at my sides. I wasn’t going to let him do this. Not again. Not after what he let them do to me in that hall.

"If you're here to take me," I finally spoke up, my voice trembling but coated in absolute venom. I lifted my chin, challenging him. "If you came up here to drag me back to Frostbane and hand me over to Kaelen... you better get ready for a fight."

Riven remained perfectly still, though a dark, dangerous energy began to radiate off his skin.

"You're going to have to chain me like a rabid bitch, Riven," I spat, my chest heaving, "Because I am a stubborn bitch, and I am not going anywhere with you! I will not go back to him!"

Riven slowly crossed his massive arms over his chest. The thick muscles in his forearms rippled beneath his tanned, scarred skin.

"And what exactly is your plan?" Riven’s voice was dangerously soft. He tilted his head slightly, like he was studying a wild animal that had just bared its teeth. "How do you plan to escape my grip when I finally put my hands on you?"

The mental image of his massive, calloused hands gripping my hips sent a violent shockwave of lust straight down to my toes. I squeezed my thighs together, desperately trying to ground myself.

"If I have to hit you right in your fucking face," I hissed, taking a defiant half-step forward away from the wall, "I will do it. I will break your nose, I will grab my pup, and I will get the hell out of this hellhole."

Riven didn't blink. He didn't flinch at the threat.

Instead, he uncrossed his arms.

He took a slow, deliberate stride toward me. The heavy thud of his boots on the floorboards sounded like a ticking clock counting down my final seconds of freedom. He moved with the lazy, terrifying grace of a panther stalking a trapped deer. He took another step. And another.

My fake bravery instantly evaporated. I scrambled backward, but my shoulder blades immediately hit the cold stone wall. There was nowhere left to run.

Riven didn't stop until the toes of his heavy boots were practically brushing mine.

He was so close his body heat was a physical weight pressing into my skin. The overwhelming scent of him drowned out the oxygen in the room. I had to crane my neck all the way back just to look at his face.

He leaned down, his massive chest brushing against mine. My breath hitched, a soft, helpless gasp escaping my lips as the friction sent a jolt of liquid fire straight to my cunt. I could feel his breath on my skin. Fuck! I hated what my body was doing to me.

"I'm right here," Riven whispered, his breath hot against my jaw, his lips mere millimeters from the shell of my ear. "Right in your face!"

My heart hammered frantically against my ribs. I couldn't breathe. I was completely consumed by him.

"Go ahead, hit me!" he murmured, his voice dripping hard, "But you better hit me hard, Liora. Because when I take my revenge... I will not be so kind."