Chapter 4

~ AnnalynPOV~

He didn't stop, he licked, sucked, worshipped. And the moment he wrapped his lips around my swollen clit, I shattered.

Heat burst behind my eyes. My cry echoed off the bathroom walls. My hands fisted in his hair, pulling him closer even as my knees gave out.

He caught me before I fell, lifted me into his arms like I weighed nothing and carried me to the bed.

I didn't resist, because couldn't.

He laid me down gently, then climbed over me, his eyes wild and burning.

"You don't know how long I've waited to taste you."

I blinked, trying to breathe again. "Is it always like this?"

He brushed hair away from my face. "Your first heat is the worst. But it won't stop."

He lowered his mouth to my neck.

"Not until you're claimed."

The word snapped me back into reality.

Claimed?

"No," I said suddenly, pushing against his chest. "Not yet."

Matteo paused.

"I let you touch me, but this..." I looked into his eyes, my own heart pounding. "I'm not ready to be claimed."

To my surprise… he didn't push, he nodded once, jaw tight.

"Then I'll wait, but it won't be easy."

"It's not easy for me either."

He kissed my forehead, tenderly this time. "Sleep, I'll stay here."

"I don't want you in my bed."

He smiled faintly. "Then I'll sleep on the floor."

But I didn't sleep, not even when his breathing slowed and I knew he'd drifted off because my skin was still tingling.

My body wasn't done, and I could feel another presence… watching.

Somewhere in the house, a window creaked open, the scent hit me like lightning. Smoke, ash and steel. Calix! I didn't see him, but I felt him, watching and waiting.

And when I stepped out into the hall, barefoot, trembling, heat still curling low in my belly... He was sitting in the shadows at the end of the corridor. One leg bent, shirt unbuttoned.

A cigarette burning slow between his lips, his eyes found mine.

"You let him touch you." I didn't answer.

He stood, slow and fluid, the glow of the hallway catching the scar along his collarbone. His voice was quiet, controlled.

"I could smell your orgasm from three rooms away."

My cheeks flamed. "Then why didn't you stop it?"

"I wanted to see how far he'd go."

"And?"

He flicked his cigarette out the open window. "Now it's my turn!"

"No!" I hissed at him.

"You let him take you," he said.

I didn't answer, because what could I say? Yes? That I'd let Matteo on his knees between my thighs? That I'd moaned his name while the blood of my first heat ran down my leg? No! Some things, even the truth, can kill you.

Calix took a step forward, and my body reacted before I could think, I backed away but he followed.

"You knew I was watching," he said, voice deep and cold. "You wanted me to."

"That's not true," I said, but my voice broke halfway through.

His mouth curled, but there was no smile behind it.

"Your scent says otherwise."

Another step, then another.

I hit the wall at the far end of the hallway. The same wall where Matteo had kissed me two nights ago. The same damn spot where I first realized… this house was a trap I could never escape from.

"You think letting him touch you makes you safe?" Calix asked, stopping inches away. "It only makes it worse."

"Then go," I whispered. "Leave me alone."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because I can still smell you," he said, "and it's driving me insane."

His hand moved, slow but deliberate, brushing against my shoulder, then my collarbone. His fingers dipped under the strap of my tank top.

"You're still wet."

I swallowed hard. "Don't."

He leaned closer, his lips almost brushing mine. "Don't what? Don't ruin you the way he didn't dare to?"

"I didn't let him..."

"You let him taste you," Calix cut in, his breath hot on my mouth. "But you didn't let him take you."

I flinched. "That's my choice."

His eyes narrowed. "Then choose."

I said nothing, because the truth was...I didn't know what I wanted.

My body wanted everything. My mind wanted freedom, my heart? It was silent, buried beneath layers of confusion and instinct and something darker I didn't have the courage to name.

Calix's hand slid beneath the hem of my shorts, slow and rough. When his fingers brushed the heat between my thighs, I whimpered.

"You're soaked," he growled. "And you're shaking."

"Because I'm angry," I lied.

"No," he whispered. "Because your heat isn't finished."

He pressed a finger inside me...slow, thick, intimate. I gasped, and my head hit the wall.

"Still so tight," he murmured.

"Stop," I whispered, breathless.

"Say it like you mean it, and I will."

But I didn't, because I couldn't.

Because part of me wanted this. Wanted him and he kissed me. Not like Matteo did, Matteo kissed with heat with hunger. Calix kissed like he wanted to ruin me.

His tongue claimed mine. His hand stayed between my thighs, stroking me slow, relentless. I moaned into his mouth, and he swallowed every sound like a man dying of thirst.

He pulled back, forehead pressed against mine, eyes shut.

"I swore I'd never fall into this curse," he whispered. "I watched my father lose his mind to a Luna who left him for another pack. I told myself I'd never love a girl with a heat that doesn't know how to choose."

"Then don't," I said, trembling. "Don't fall for me."

"I'm not falling," he growled.

Then his voice broke. "I already fell."

He turned me around, my hands hit the wall, bracing.

I felt his heat behind me...his hardness pressing into my back through his jeans. One hand on my hip. The other sliding between my legs again. I bit my lip to keep from moaning.

Then he whispered, low and dark, "Say my name."

"Calix," I gasped.

"Louder!"

"Calix...." Suddenly, the lights flickered.

The hallway turned cold, the scent changed, and a new presence filled the air like thunder right before a downpour.

Lucas! Calix stepped back instantly, nostrils flaring.

I turned just in time to see him...Lucas Del Piero...walk in through the front door like he owned the world and everything in it.

His chest was bare, his body streaked with blood and dirt. His eyes burned gold in the low light.

"Is this what I came back to?" he asked, voice calm… too calm.

Calix didn't speak. Lucas's eyes dropped to my bare legs, my parted lips, my flushed skin. Then he looked at Calix's hand, still wet with my arousal.

Something inside him snapped, he moved faster than I could blink. He slammed Calix into the wall, hard enough to crack the paint.

"You touched her?" he growled.

"I was about to," Calix replied, not flinching. "You weren't here."

"I told you I'd return before the claiming."

"And she begged."

"She never begged," I said, breathless.

Lucas turned to me. "Did you want him?"

"No," I said. Then softer, "Not like that."

Lucas's jaw tightened.

"Then you'll want me."

Before I could react, he grabbed me by the waist and threw me over his shoulder.

"Put me down!"

He didn't.

He carried me down the hall like I was weightless.

I hit his back with my fists. "Lucas!"

Still, he said nothing.

Until he kicked open his bedroom door and tossed me onto his bed.

"I'll make you forget every touch before mine," he said. "And after tonight… no one else will dare."