Chapter 3: Burning Bond

The door clicked shut behind us. Eli’s quarters felt smaller than they looked. Just a big bed, a desk piled with maps, and weapons hanging on one wall. Moonlight slipped through a high window. My body still buzzed from the chase and fight. Every cut stung, but the bond burned hotter than any wound.

I stayed near the door. “Nice place you got here.”

Eli crossed to a small table and poured two glasses of water. He tossed me one. “Drink. You look like hell.”

I caught it but didn’t sip right away. “Coming from the guy who looks like shit? Funny.”

He took a long drink, watching me over the rim. Water ran down his throat. I looked away fast. The bond didn’t care that we were enemies. It pushed pictures into my head I didn’t want.

“You keep staring like that and we’re going to have problems,” Eli said.

I set the glass down hard. “We already have problems. This mate thing feels like a chain. I didn’t ask for you.”

“Think I did?” He stepped closer. Still halfnaked like me, blood drying on his skin. “I built this pack on control. Now some lone wolf thief shows up and my wolf wants to claim him.”

I laughed once, sharp. “Claim me? Try it.”

Eli set his glass beside mine. The space between us shrank. “Don’t tempt me, Jax.”

We stood there. Breathing the same air. The argument hung thick, but underneath it something else pulled tighter. I could smell him. Smoke and pine and sweat. It made my mouth dry.

“My family was killed,” I said quietly.

Eli’s jaw tightened. “I don’t know your story. But I know the bond doesn’t lie. Fate doesn’t care about old blood.”

“Fate can go fuck itself.”

He moved then. Not fast. Just deliberate. His hand came up and gripped the back of my neck. Not choking. Just holding. “Tell me to stop and I will.”

I should have. Instead I grabbed his hip and pulled him in. Our mouths crashed together. Hard. Angry. Teeth clicked. He tasted like salt and heat. I bit his lip. He growled and pushed me back against the wall. The impact rattled a picture frame.

“Still hate you,” I muttered against his mouth.

“Good.” Eli’s hands roamed down my sides, careful over bruises but firm. “Makes this better.”

Clothes weren’t an issue. We were already bare. His body pressed full length against mine. I felt him hardening. Same as me. The bond sang. Every touch lit nerves I didn’t know I had.

We stumbled toward the bed. I shoved him first. Eli landed on his back and pulled me down on top. We rolled, fighting for control even now. He ended up over me, knees spreading my thighs.

“Bossy,” I said.

“You like it.” He kissed down my neck, found the spot where shoulder met throat, and bit. Not hard enough to mark permanent. Just enough to make me arch.

“Fuck.” My hands dug into his back. Nails drawing new lines. He hissed but didn’t pull away.

Eli worked lower. Mouth on my chest, tongue across one nipple. I cursed again. My cock throbbed between us. He wrapped a hand around it and stroked slow. Teasing.

“Look at you,” he murmured. “Already leaking for me.”

“Shut up and do something about it.”

He did. Eli slid down and took me in his mouth. Hot. Wet. No hesitation. I grabbed his hair, hips jerked. He took it deep, throat working. One hand held my thigh open. The other pressed on my stomach, keeping me in place.

The pleasure built fast. Too fast. I pulled him off before I finished. “Not like that. Want you inside.”

Eli’s eyes darkened. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

He reached for a bottle in the bedside drawer. Lube. Smart. He slicked himself while I watched, breathing rough. Then he pushed my knees up and pressed in slow. Burn and stretch. I breathed through it, hands fisting the sheets.

“Easy,” he whispered. “Breathe, Jax.”

Once he was deep, he paused. We stared at each other. Connected. The bond flared so bright it hurt. Then he moved.

Hard thrusts. Deep. Every one dragged a sound out of me. I met him, hips rolling up. Skin slapped skin. Sweat mixed with old blood. He leaned down and kissed me messy while he fucked me. One hand stroked me in time.

“Harder,” I demanded.

Eli gave it. The bed creaked loud. He changed angle and hit that spot inside. Stars burst behind my eyes. I moaned his name before I could stop myself.

He groaned. “Say it again.”

“Eli. Fuck. Right there.”

We lost rhythm after that. Just need. Primal. He pounded into me. I scratched his back bloody. The bond fed every sensation back doubled. When I came it hit like a wave. Messy across my stomach and his hand. He followed seconds later, burying deep and spilling hot inside me.

We stayed locked together, panting. Eli dropped his forehead to mine. For a minute neither of us spoke.

Finally he pulled out carefully and grabbed a cloth to clean us. Gentle now. Strange after how rough we’d been.

I stared at the ceiling. “That shouldn’t have felt so good.”

Eli lay beside me. Arm across my waist. “But it did.”

We talked then. Low voices in the dark. He asked about my life alone. I told him pieces. He shared how heavy being Alpha felt. No big revelations. Just enough to fill the quiet.

Later we went again. Slower this time. Face to face. Legs wrapped. Eyes open. Less hate, more something I didn’t want to name. After, I drifted toward sleep with his heartbeat under my ear.

But something nagged. The artifact sat on his desk across the room. In the moonlight it glowed faintly. Wrong. Like it watched us.

I filed that away. Tomorrow I’d look closer.

For tonight the bond had won. And I wasn’t sure I minded.