LOGINChapter Forty FiveAriaThe heat in the room was a physical weight, thick with the scent of salt, musk, and the sheer, adult desperation that had been building since the balcony. Zane didn't wait for a response from me, not like I would have been able to give him one.In the blink of an eye, he swept me into his arms, my legs instinctively hooking around his waist as he carried me the short distance to the bed.He laid me back against the pillows, his eyes dark with a hunger that felt like it could consume the very air. Without a word, his hands found the hem of my lace nightdress.He peeled it up and over my head, casting the ruined suggestion of a garment onto the floor. I lay there, completely exposed under the amber glow of the lights, my skin flushed and my nipples tight from the lingering chill of the night air.Zane’s breath hitched as his gaze washed over me. He stayed there for a long moment, simply admiring the view, the marks he’d left on my thighs, and the way my breasts r
Chapter Forty FourAriaThe transition from the open balcony to the dimly lit corridor was like stepping into a furnace. Like that wasn't tantalizing enough, it happened quickly too. One minute I was sucking Zane’’s cock and this close to pushing him into the verge of the best release ever, and the next, Zane had spun me around to give me a taste of my own medicine.The cool night air was gone, replaced by the suffocating, heavy scent of our shared arousal. Zane didn't let me go, he claimed me right there on the threshold. His large, calloused hand fisted in my hair, pulling my head back so I was forced to look up at the shadows on the ceiling, while his other arm wrapped around my waist like a steel band."Walk, my little doll" he growled into my ear, his breath hitching against my skin.He didn't button his trousers and he didn't let me fix my dress either. We moved through the torch lit hallway like two people possessed, the rhythm of our footsteps echoing against the stone. Every
Chapter Forty Three AriaThe night air was a biting contrast to the heat currently simmering under my skin. I tried to get a hold on myself, but no matter how hard I tried, it just didn't work.He wasn't even here yet and I could already feel my pussy throbbing and dripping for his touch. I stood in the shadows of the general balcony, the moonlight catching the silver lace of my nightdress. It was barely a garment. Hell, it was more of a suggestion, clinging to the curves of my hips and leaving the tops of my breasts exposed to the cool, midnight breeze.I'd picked this dress out intentionally, and maybe if I played my cards right, I was going to win the bet I made with Adeline in no time.I checked the time, forcing myself to not focus on the buzz on my skin. It had been eleven minutes since I’d left him, and he was a minute late.As if reading my thoughts, the heavy oak doors creaked open, and Zane stepped out. Even in the dim light, he looked like a god of war, his shirt unbuttone
Chapter Forty TwoAriaZane found me before I could retreat to our chambers. I had barely stepped into the private corridor when his voice came from behind me.“What aren’t you telling me?” His voice was low and layered, and even though it sent hives straight to my pussy, I forced myself to remain composed.I didn’t turn immediately.Of course he would ask that, of course he would notice.I took a deep breath before I faced him slowly.“What makes you think I’m hiding something?” I let the words out.Zane didn’t look angry. Hell, he dudbt even react. All he did was raise an eyebrow. He looked focused“You were too calm,” he said. “Adeline didn’t surprise you, almost as if you expected it. did you?”“Is that supposed to make a difference?” I llifted a brow. “Should she have?”“She was circling,” he replied. “And you were already waiting.”“Maybe.” His eyes narrowed slightly at my response“What aren’t you telling me, Aria?” he muttered slightly and I caught the amusement in his eyes.T
Chapter Forty OneAriaI shouldn't have said yes. Deep down, I'd known Adeline was setting a trap for me, but somehow I'd walked into it with my own two legs.The word had slipped out too easily, and too quickly. It was pride disguised as confidence, and heat disguised as control.By the time I returned to my chambers, the silence had done what anger could not. It had cooled me.Adeline did want Zane, but that wasn't all. She wanted spectacle, she wanted whispers to turn into wagers, she wanted eyes on us and she wanted me scrambling, competing and even proving myself, just so I would humiliate myself at the end of the day.If I played along, I would look insecure. If I withdrew, I would look intimidated.The trap wasn't just about his bed. Everyone who was anyone knew she was still pained that Zane didn't choose her. The entire deal was about optics, a chance to get back into his bed by all means, and I had nearly handed her the stage.No.If there was going to be a spectacle, I woul
Chapter FortyAriaThe palace had a way of pretending nothing had happened. Sunlight poured through tall windows, servants moved with rehearsed grace, and guards stood as they always did, alert, disciplined,and loyal to structure if not to truth.But the air had changed.It had been a day since the forged directive, a day since public accusation, a day since the council announced they would “require time” to investigate.Time. Time was a weapon, and even though I seemed like I was keeping my cool, I feared the said weapon was against me.Zane had been gone since dawn. He hadn’t given me details, only that it concerned the hybrids that had attacked weeks ago. He was hunting them, quietly, relentlessly, and without me.He hadn’t said it outright, but I felt it in the way he redirected questions. In the way his jaw tightened when I offered to help.This was his battlefield, and I was being kept from it. So I walked instead, through the long eastern corridor, past carved pillars and polis
Chapter TwelveAriaI didn't know why I climbed down from the bed, and I certainly didn't know why I inched closer to Zane with every step.Gosh, I could see his lips move, but I couldn't hear a single thing he was saying.My brain was just focused on his lips.I knew he asked a question, but what
Chapter ElevenZaneI didn’t know what was sexier.Aria’s little pouty lips or the sound of my name leaving her mouth when she convulsed in her sleep. Perhaps it was watching her fall apart even without me touching her.Her climax broke out of her seam like a ripple in the sea that crashed into me
Chapter TenAriaZane leaned against the bathroom door with an easy smirk etched on his lips.His annoyingly striking facial features stared at me mockingly. His mop of long, wet black hair fell over his brooding, viridian eyes that bored holes into my body and dripped water down the center of his
Chapter EightZaneAria Nightwind had never been anything but a prospective daughter-in-law to me. Make no mistake, she was beautiful.Beautiful in all the ways a blooming rose could be. But I willed myself not to spare her a second glance.I made sure I observed her with indifference then, just en







