A Shadow in the Ember (Flesh and Fire, #1)

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

“The only joke here is that you thought you’d live to see the night through.” I paused. “And that you so eagerly stepped into a trap.” Anger crowded out the shock, mottling and twisting his features. Men and their fragile egos. They were so easy to manipulate.

“You lie so prettily,”

He gathered my hair, pulling the strands away from my shoulders. “Tip your head back.” Glancing down at the soapy water, my breath caught. The tips of my breasts were clearly visible, and as close as he was, as tall as he would be even on his knees, I knew they were also visible to him. The Primal of Death. Who was about to wash my hair.

learned a while ago that if you can’t deal with something, you find a way to do so,” I said. “You have to.”

“So, keep that in mind the next time you doubt the realness of my interest,” he warned. “Because I won’t have you up against a wall. I will have you on your back, under me, and neither of us will remember our fucking names.” He pressed a kiss to my pounding pulse. “Are we clear, liessa?”

“Don’t look at her. If you do, you will not like what happens next.” Letting go of Taric’s wrist, he folded his hand around the god’s throat, forcing his head away from me. “And I know exactly what I have.”

“You underestimate me if you think I can’t do worse to you.” The Primal smiled then, and my skin iced over. “I can smell her blood on your lips. There is nothing that I will not do to you because of that.”