His mouth tore lower, from the hollow of my throat to the slope of my shoulder, leaving a trail of heat and bruises in his wake. Each kiss was a claim, each bite a punishment. I could map his path across my skin, every place his mouth had been burned into my memory like brands. Like I'd carry the ghost of his touch even after the marks faded.
I shivered violently when his teeth sank against the muscle at the curve of my shoulder. Not deep enough to pierce, but enough to make me jolt, my breath breaking out in a ragged cry that echoed in the vast chamber. The sound was raw, uncontrolled.He growled against my skin, the sound primal, guttural, vibrating straight through my bones until I felt it in my teeth. "I can't stand it," he snarled, lips dragging hotly over the sting he'd left behind. "I can't stand the reminder that another wolf dared touch what's mine."The possessiveness in his voice was absolute. Final. As though my body had been his propertyHe pulled back just enough to look at me, his eyes dark and burning, his lips red and swollen from the kiss. There was something wild in his gaze, something that looked both triumphant and tortured. Like he hated what he was doing as much as he couldn't stop himself from doing it."You hate it, don't you?" His voice was hoarse, cruel in its certainty. His fingers pinched my nipple sharply, making me jolt, a strangled sound tearing from my throat. "Hate how your body betrays you. Hate how I can make you burn with nothing but my hand."I shook my head, though I didn't know if I was denying him or myself. The truth was too complicated, too twisted to untangle in this moment. Too shameful to admit even inside my own head.What did I want? I didn't know anymore. I couldn't separate my desires from my fears, couldn't tell where self-preservation ended and treacherous wanting began. The line had blurred until it didn't exist at all.My lips parte
His mouth tore lower, from the hollow of my throat to the slope of my shoulder, leaving a trail of heat and bruises in his wake. Each kiss was a claim, each bite a punishment. I could map his path across my skin, every place his mouth had been burned into my memory like brands. Like I'd carry the ghost of his touch even after the marks faded.I shivered violently when his teeth sank against the muscle at the curve of my shoulder. Not deep enough to pierce, but enough to make me jolt, my breath breaking out in a ragged cry that echoed in the vast chamber. The sound was raw, uncontrolled.He growled against my skin, the sound primal, guttural, vibrating straight through my bones until I felt it in my teeth. "I can't stand it," he snarled, lips dragging hotly over the sting he'd left behind. "I can't stand the reminder that another wolf dared touch what's mine."The possessiveness in his voice was absolute. Final. As though my body had been his property
His mouth crushed mine again and again, every kiss more violent, more consuming than the last. The heat of him smothered me, the weight of his body forcing me deeper into the mattress, into his world where there was no air, no escape, only him.Each press of his lips felt like a sentence being carved into my skin, a declaration I couldn't refuse. My lungs burned from lack of oxygen, my head spinning, but he didn't relent. Didn't give me space to recover. His kiss was punishment and possession all at once, and I was drowning in it. Drowning and unable to remember why I'd ever wanted air in the first place.Kael's lips tore from mine to scorch a path down the column of my throat, each bite of his mouth both a wound and a brand. His teeth grazed the delicate skin just beneath my jaw, and I couldn't stop the broken sound that escaped my lips—half gasp, half plea. He devoured it instantly, growling low, vibrating against my skin.The sound rumbled t
My palms sank into his sheets, my body bouncing once before his shadow loomed over me. His eyes glowed in the dim light, feral and golden, like a predator cornering its prey. The mattress dipped under his weight as he braced his hands on either side of me, caging me in once more. Blocking out the light. Blocking out everything but him."I told myself I wouldn't," he ground out, voice jagged as if it had been dragged across stone. His chest heaved, broad shoulders rising and falling like a beast barely tethered. "But you—" His gaze raked over me, scorching every inch of skin, burning through my dress like it wasn't even there, "—you make me lose every ounce of control I have from last night."I scrambled back on instinct, my hands clawing at the sheets, trying to find purchase, trying to put distance between us. But the mattress betrayed me, swallowing my movements, the soft surface giving me nothing to push against. My elbows sank into the furs, slo
The door slammed shut behind us, the sound echoing through the chamber like the closing of a cell. Like the final blow of a judge's gavel. The finality of it made my stomach drop.I spun back just in time to see his eyes burning, molten with rage and something else I couldn't name. Something that made my pulse stutter and my skin prickle with awareness. Something dark and hungry that looked at me like I was prey. He didn't give me a second to breathe before shoving me back against the nearest wall. The stone was cold against my spine, but his body, so close, radiated heat that seared straight through me."This," he growled, his face so close I could feel the snarl vibrate across my lips, "is what you do when I allow you to taste freedom? You stand at another man's door with his scent wrapped around you like a mark?"My eyes went wide. His scent? What was he talking about? I'd only held the cloak for a few minutes, barely long enough to—
Once the maid was dragged away by the guards, it were only the three of us left alone in silence when suddenly Kael's voice cracked like a whip, slicing through the silence of the hall."What the hell are you doing here?"My whole body froze, blood turning to ice as his shadow fell over me. The fury in his eyes made my breath catch.I had rehearsed nothing for this moment. I hadn't thought I'd need to. All I had wanted was to quietly slip Karl's cloak back into his hands, ask him some questions and walk away without drawing Kael's notice. But of course, nothing in this cursed place ever went as I wished. Every step I took seemed to lead me deeper into a nightmare I couldn't wake from, and this—this was just another twisted turn in a maze I'd never asked to enter."I…" My throat dried, the word barely a whisper. I forced my spine straighter, clutching the fabric in my hands tighter as if it might shield me. As if wool and threa