Page 60 of Incoronate
“Learning to recognize the sensation of being coerced and how to fight back against it is the only chance you stand when the next call comes.” He took another measured step closer. “And there is no better place to practice than here. In a controlled environment. With supervision.”
I gestured vaguely toward the empty doorway Gabriel had disappeared through. “Define supervision, Dominic. Because it looks to me like oursupervisionjust walked out the door a couple of minutes ago.”
A corner of his mouth lifted. “You wound me, angel.”
I rolled my eyes, even as my pulse refused to slow. “I’m serious, Dominic.”
“So am I.” The teasing edge bled out of his voice as he stopped just shy of me. “They will not stop when you ask them to, angel. They will not care if you are frightened or if it hurts, and they will force you to do the one thing we both know you don’t want to do.” His dark eyes held mine. “Your only hope is to train your mind to resist. To learn how to fight back even when every instinct is screaming at you to give in.”
“And being compelled by a Revenant is supposed to do that?” I asked, taking an involuntary step back. My gaze darted over Dominic’s shoulder to Trace for, I don’t know, backup? A way out? Permission to do this?
“It’s a different kind of compulsion,” answered Trace from across the room, his arms still crossed over his strong chest. “But it makes sense that fighting it will help strengthen your mind and teach you to recognize the feeling before it takes over.”
Despite his voice coming out smooth and even, I could still hear the strain beneath it. See the stiffness in the way he was holding himself. He didn’t like this. Probably because he knew it would be Dominic doing the compelling. Dominic drinking my blood and using the bond between us to override my will while he watched it all unfold.
But he was still standing there. Still agreeing to it.
Because he knew I needed to do this.
“Okay,” I breathed out, even though every nerve in my body was screaming to run. “What do I do?”
Dominic’s smile widened, slow and wolfish. “First, you stop backing away from me.” He took another purposeful step toward me, erasing what little distance had been left between us. His presence pushed in all around me, dark and dizzying and caging me in without even laying a hand on me.
My traitorous heart hammered against my ribs and I immediately bit down on my bottom lip, trying to ground myself. The taste of copper hit my tongue a second later, but I didn’t stop biting.
A low sound rumbled from his chest, something between a growl and a purr that made my stomach clench.
“I wouldn’t do that, love,” he murmured, his eyes dropping to my mouth. “Not unless you’re hoping to derail the lesson entirely.”
The heat in his gaze was almost tangible, curling around me like the slow, deliberate pull of silk. I quickly released my bottom lip, my breath already coming out shallow.
“Good girl,” he said, his voice dropping to that low, velvety tone that made my knees weak and my resolve weaker.
Heat instantly rushed up my neck and flooded my cheeks. His head cocked to the side as his gaze roved over my features, brushing over every inch of where he affected me. Which was basically everywhere.
“Are you nervous, angel?” he asked, knowing damn well that I was.
“Terrified.”
“Good.” His hand came up slowly, fingers threading through a strand of my hair before tucking it behind my ear. But he didn’t pull away. Instead, his touch lingered against my cheek, cool and electric against my flushed skin. “Fear sharpens the mind. Makes you more aware. More present.” His thumb traced along my jaw in a featherlight caress, tilting my face up toward his until I had no choice but to meet his molten gaze. “You will need every bit of that awareness when I am inside your head, trying to bend your will to mine.”
A shiver ran through me that had absolutely nothing to do with fear.
Because were we even still talking about the same thing anymore?
“Our bloodbond will make the compulsion stronger,” he continued, his other hand coming to rest at my waist. “More absolute. Drinking from you forges the connection back open. Lets me reach into you in a way I cannot when you are merely standing in front of me.” His eyes locked on mine. “But nearly impossible isn’t the same as impossible. You just have to want it badly enough.”
“Want what?” I whispered, staring at his lips and the way they shaped the words as they came out.
“To fight me,” he said simply. “To hold onto yourself even when I’m telling you to let go.”
My breath caught as he leaned in, his lips brushing against my ear. “And when you feel yourself slipping, when my voice is the only thing you can hear and you’re about to give in completely...” He pulled back just enough to meet my eyes. “That is when you reach for Romeo. Find him through the bond and use it to anchor yourself back to who you are.”
“Which bond? The anchor bond or our soulmate bond?”
“Whichever is easier at first,” answered Dominic, like it didn’t matter either way. “But the goal is to learn to lean into theanchorbond as the tether goes both ways. The more you use it, the stronger the link will get.”
I glanced at Trace, who was watching us closely, his blue eyes burning with something fierce and unbreakable. There was an unspoken promise in his gaze, like a vow that whatever happened next, no matter how far this went, he would be right there to pull me back.
