Page 3 of His Last Will

Brodie audibly huffs and releases me, slamming the door behind us.

He watches me carefully, his eyes slowly moving up my body, examining me, until they meet mine. “Come here, Ari.” He lifts his hand, and that’s when I notice the simple velvet box wrapped with a red bow resting on his palm.

I give him a sly smile and decide to sass him a bit to break the sudden tension between us. “Is this for me?”

“Open the box, Arianna,” Brodie says as he places the box in my palm. “Did you think all these years I didn’t know what you want?” He smirks and grabs my wrist, rubbing his thumb against my skin, causing my body to heat with a sudden awareness.

“Ari, you are the opposite of subtle,” he says, his eyes twinkling with unsaid humor.

My cheeks heat, and I feel a sudden wave of embarrassment and rage battle within me. “Are you fucking kidding me, Brod—” Hard lips crash into mine, interrupting the start of my rant.

This kiss is an explosion of stars on a starless night. An irreparable change shifting my center of gravity. A kiss that shatters my entire soul.

A low growl escapes him as he tilts my head up to give himself more control, almost lifting me off the ground with the force behind it.

Like the man himself, his lips are unrelenting and demanding. Taking everything from me, including the oxygen in my lungs. I press myself into him to get as close as humanly possible. I'm lost in the kiss, not willing to separate from him long enough to ask what changed.

Brodie breaks the kiss without loosening his hold on me. I suck in air as he rests his forehead against mine. “Of course, you would be cursing me right before I finally stole our first kiss.” He chuckles darkly. That damn chuckle almost brings me to my knees.

My mind sticks on the word first. First, meaning there will be more.

There better be more because now that I’ve had a taste, I know I will crave more of him.

“My first kiss.” I avert my gaze, and I can’t help the blush that forms on my cheeks. Eighteen years old and this was my first kiss. But I was never going to settle for the dead fish when a lethal prince was always within arm’s reach.

“What did you just say?” His eyes take on a feral gleam.

Brushing my lips over his, I say softly, “My first kiss. It was always yours to take.”

His head falls back, and the sound that leaves him is sinful. “Ari. I’m going to ruin you,” Brodie snarls against my lips.

I kiss down his neck and whisper against his skin, “You already have.”

“Open for me,” he says as he grips my jaw. His tongue moves suggestively along the seam of my lips until I surrender to his demand.

Brodie gives me a rough kiss that’s all tongue, and teeth, and lips.

I whine into his mouth, letting him hear my desire. With sure strokes, he explores my mouth, seemingly savoring my taste the way I am his.

Tearing his lips from mine, he nips at my bottom lip like he can’t stand to see me left unmarked before he puts a little space between us.

He turns his head to the side and eyes the gift box still clutched loosely in my hold. “Open it,” Brodie tells me as he lifts me and moves us to his chair where he drapes me across his lap. After that kiss, I feel like it’s my right to snuggle into him a little bit. And if I grind my ass a little while I do it, well, that’s his problem.

I take the end of the bow on the box and pull until the ribbon falls to my lap.

When I remove the lid, an audible gasp leaves me. Lying on a soft velvet cushion is a black chain with an almost web-like pattern. Thin and delicate, with hundreds of little obsidian crystals interwoven along the frame points. The chain is about half an inch thick—more choker than necklace—with enough length to lie just above my sternum. A diamond spider makes up the pendant at the center. The chain itself is permanent, evident from the black key that lies in the box. Something meant to be put on and never taken off. At least not by the wearer themselves.

It’s breathtakingly beautiful.

Confusion and excitement bubble up inside of me because I think I know what this symbolizes, but I don’t want to get it wrong. “Brodie…I don’t understand, or I mean, I understand, but…” I trail off, not knowing how to ask what this means to him.

Lifting my chin, I look into his eyes. The blue washes out most of the green today. The pattern never stays the same, a constant battle between the hues with no real winner.

His large hand strokes my cheek gently. “Ari, you are mine. Mine. And I am tired of everyone telling me it’s too soon to claim you. I don’t have all the flowery words you probably wished for, but I can promise you will never doubt me. My love, loyalty, and obsession are for you. Us. And the only people who need to understand that are in this room.” A small smile I don’t quite understand reaches his lips when he says the last line, but I’m too overcome with emotion to dwell on it.

If this is a dream, someone sedate me for the rest of my life.

Removing the necklace, he unlocks the pendant, and the spider splits in half. Only I see now that it’s not just one spider; it’s two. One stacked on top of the other, almost completely covering it, both forming the lock itself. The spiders are locked together as long as the necklace is.