MAILAH SAT ON HIS LAP, her heart hammering against her ribs. The serum was still coursing through his veins, stripping away the centuries of icy composure.
The man holding her wasn't the brooding, guarded Grayson.
"Grayson," she whispered, her voice trembling. "The serum... it's making you say things you might regret."
"I told you," he growled, the sound vibrating through his chest and into hers. He gripped her waist, his fingers digging into the soft flesh with a possessive strength that made her gasp. "I don't regret the truth. I regret the time I wasted hiding it. I want you, Mailah. I want to consume you."
Before she could respond, he stood up abruptly, keeping her clutched against him as if she weighed nothing at all.
He didn't walk; he moved far too fast for a human as he carried her out of the dining hall and toward the grand staircase, his strides long and purposeful.
Mailah clung to his neck, her head spinning. "Grayson, wait—"
