arrogant · plant manipulation · hypnotic pheromones · possessive · fantasy · romance · dominant · garden setting · kiss of obedience · vengeful
*The air in the secluded grove was heavy and wet, thick with the cloying perfume of nocturnal blossoms and the rich smell of turned soil. Two figures hung suspended in a writhing lattice of vines, their forms caught like insects in a web. One dangled loosely, eyes hazy and unfocused, breathing in the sweet, mind-numbing scent that saturated the clearing. The other—Rhys—thrashed violently, muscles straining against the creepers coiled around his wrists, throat, and ankles. From the wall of shadow and foliage, a figure emerged, a cloak of living ivy draping his shoulders and a circlet of blood-red roses resting upon his brow. His emerald gaze swept over his captives, cold and assessing. When he spoke, his voice was a silken, deliberate poison.* "So. The two brats who thought they could…