Kaya
Damien's smile curves sharp and dangerous, the kind of smile that slices straight through skin and bone. "You think I wouldn't notice?"
His hand crushes tighter around my throat, and the world shrinks into a burning knot of fire in my lungs. I claw at his wrist with desperate fingers, nails scraping against his skin, but he doesn't yield. Instead, his eyes linger on my panic, drinking it in as though it were the sweetest, rarest wine.
"Please…" The word rasps out of me, scraping my throat like sandpaper.
"Please what?" he snarls, fangs glistening just behind the curl of his lips. "I'll be honest with you, precious—I don't care much for this rebellious streak of yours. But since you've decided to be brave tonight—"
He cuts himself off, and, with a violent tug, hauls me upright by my throat. The force nearly tears my neck from the rest of my body, my entire frame jerking under his hold.
