The Darkest Torment (Lords of the Underworld 12)

I’m alive! Laughing giddily, she jolted upright. Puck perched beside her, watching her with a blank expression, and in a rush of sudden gratitude, she threw her arms around his neck to hug him. He’d saved her, despite the risk to himself—oh, no! The risk! Would William punish him?

No, no. Of course not. Puck had saved her, and that’s what William—her friend—had wanted.

And since this was basically a marriage of convenience, she and Puck could even move into the fortress. Or she could return without her husband in tow. Nothing had to change!

She tried to pull away, but his arms wrapped around her and held on tight. Too sexual! her mind screamed. Too much, too fast. She wrenched backward, cutting off all contact as her heart hammered a staccato rhythm. He frowned at her.

“I’m sorry,” she muttered.

He said nothing, continued peering at her as sunlight washed over him. Maybe it was the bond but...he was somehow even more beautiful to her than before. The color of his skin seemed deeper, richer, and the silken strands of his hair gleamed. Even the razors braided throughout were lovely, the silver metal mesmerizing to her. She could make out every individual lash framing his gorgeous eyes. The sharpness of his nose gave his face an arresting strength only magnified by the hard slash of his lips.

He reached out and after a moment’s hesitation, brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear. His fingers left a trail of fire in their wake, and she found herself leaning into his touch.

“You are exquisite,” he said.

A blush burned her cheeks. “Thank you. And you—”

“Are not.” His tone was a little harsher now. “I know.”

“No. Don’t put words—”

“Gillian!” William’s roar echoed off the walls. He burst through the door a split second later, shards of wood raining in every direction. He had a dagger in each hand and the promise of death in his neon red eyes.

His dark hair billowed around his face, lifted by a wind she couldn’t feel, and for a moment, she would have sworn lightning coursed under the surface of his skin. But the most shocking part of his transformation? The shadows stretching over his shoulders. William had wings!

He focused on Puck. “You’re going to die—but not until you’ve begged for mercy for centuries to come. She’s mine, and I protect what’s mine.”

Her mind snagged on one word. Die. “No,” she said with a shake of her head.

“Actually, she’s mine.” Puck stood slowly, completely unafraid, and Gillian’s mouth dried. “I would never harm my girl.”

The lightning returned to William’s skin. He stepped forward, lifting a dagger, ready to throw it.

Stretching out her arms to ward him off, Gillian leaped to her feet, making sure to shield Puck. “William. You can’t hurt him.”

His smile held different shades of evil. “Oh, poppet. I assure you I can.”

“You don’t understand. He saved me. He’s...he’s my husband.” The word tasted foreign on her tongue. “Hurting him hurts me. I think. Right?”

Puck nodded at her.

A mix of shock and fury played over William’s beloved features. “The bond,” he said, tone now hollow. “You agreed to it.”

Tears filled her eyes as she nodded. Things were going to change. “I didn’t want to die, and you said you wouldn’t bond with me. I heard you.” But now that her head was clear, her body free of pain, she wasn’t sure she’d made the right decision.

She might have ruined everything.

William might never forgive her for this. And Puck...he might want to kill Torin, her friend. In her pain, she had forgotten his vengeance against the warrior.

“You have no idea what you’ve done,” he told her quietly. “He’s using you for something.”

“I know.” They were using each other.

“You know? Do you know you belong to him, and that the ties can never be broken?”

Yes, and it suddenly flayed her. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Puck placed a possessive hand on her shoulder, and it felt...right. But it also felt wrong. She did her best to hide her dueling feelings from the two men.

William pressed one of the daggers flat against his heart and took a step backward, as if pushed. For the first time in their association, all pretense and civility were stripped from him. She saw desire, such intense desire, and wanted to sob and hug him and run from him and sob some more.

“I can lock him up,” he told her, “keep him safe and keep him away from you.”