Taming the Thorny Rose novel · Chapter 5 of 24

Chapter 5: Whose Bolts

I fought him for three full seconds.

I got a knee up and an elbow into his ribs, and I felt something give under my hand.

It didn't even slow him.

He turned me and pressed me face-first against the crate.

He pinned both my wrists behind me in one hand, and his other hand flattened between my shoulder blades.

"Stop," he said.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

"Let go."

"When you stop trying to kill me."

"I'll never stop trying to kill you."

"Then we'll be here a while," said Aldric, in a voice that was very nearly amused.

Even through my wedding gown I could feel the length of him, hard and cold against my back.

His breath moved the hair at my neck.

My pulse hammered in my throat, and I knew he could hear it.

I hated that.

"You poisoned yourself," I said into the wood.

"You should be flat on your back."

"I should," he agreed.

"I'm older than your poison.

"Do you want to know why I came down here?"

"To stop me."

"To show you."

He let go of my wrists.

I spun around with my fists up, but he had already stepped back.

He was ghost-pale, and a thin line of sweat ran down his temple.

He raised both hands to show they were empty.

"Those bolts are not mine," he said.

"They are not your Guild's.

"They belong to my uncle."

"They've got our mark."

"Yes.

"He had them made to look like it.

"He bought real bolts from your armory and has been selling them to both sides for a year.

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