CHAPTER 8: FIRE AGAINST FIRE

CHAPTER 8: FIRE AGAINST FIRE

SELENE'S POV

A gust of wind whips through the room, sharp and sudden, carrying with it a dark blur that moves faster than my eyes can follow. One heartbeat I’m standing still, the next I’m crushed up against him—his heat searing into me, my palms splayed against the hard planes of his bare chest. His hands, large and claiming, are gripping me firmly, one sliding brazenly down to seize my ass as if it belongs to him.

My breath hitches. My mind splinters.

Okay… what the actual fuck is happening right now?

I push against him instinctively, my fingers curling against muscle that feels impossibly strong. I try to wriggle free, but my body betrays me, trembling under the press of his touch. My gaze locks with his, and those eyes—those blazing, impossible eyes—burn me from the inside out. Every second I hold his stare makes it harder to remember why I need to escape.

Dear heavens, what in all creation have I stumbled into?

“Please…” My voice trembles, cracking under its own weight. “You seriously have to stop this. My sister is around, she’ll be back any moment, and I—this is ridiculous. Just stop this, stop—what the hell are you, anyway? How did you just… disappear and then appear out of nowhere?”

He doesn’t answer with words.

Instead, he smirks. That infuriating, smug curve of his mouth deepens, his eyes gleaming with something dangerous. Then I notice it—the way his gaze drags downward, lingering shamelessly on my lips. He licks his own slowly, the motion deliberate, wetting them until they glisten soft pink and fresh.

As though he’s imagining tasting me.

As though he wants to suck the breath straight out of me.

Bless me, heaven above.

The sight alone twists something in my core. The simple act of his tongue tracing his mouth makes me ache to feel him against mine. My eyelids flutter against my will, heavy with heat, my body betraying me with desire that rushes through like fire.

What the hell is this man doing to me? And how the fuck is he doing it?

I dig my nails against his chest, desperate to pull away, to reclaim sense. But his grip is unyielding. He holds me fast against him, his body a wall of sculpted muscle pressed hard into mine. The shape of his arousal juts against my stomach, thick and undeniable, sending shockwaves of heat spiraling down my legs. My thighs clench, knees buckling with an ache I haven’t felt in years.

Good heavens. What is the meaning of this?

I could excuse it. Tell myself it’s my heat, the curse that has plagued me for years, forever flaring out of my control. But no—that explanation doesn’t fit. This isn’t my heat. This isn’t something I’ve ever known.

This… is him.

It’s his presence, his raw and maddening energy. It’s the way every cell in my body screams for him, demands more of him. My insides burn with the need to let go, to surrender, to let him take me—again, and again, and again—until I am nothing but the shattered mess he left in this bed last night.

Fuck.

The memory slams into me, vivid and unstoppable. I groan low, unbidden, as his hands slip beneath the oversized shirt draped on my body, rough palms sliding over my bare skin. His fingers knead my ass, strong and possessive, then wander lower, brushing those feverishly sensitive places between my legs.

“F-fuck…”

My breath tears ragged from me. I forget Lyra. Forget she could walk in at any moment. Forget Morganna. Forget the world. The only thing that exists is the overwhelming tide of sensation crashing through me, drowning out every thought.

Oh God. What is happening to me?

I’m trembling. My voice breaks, spilling from me in jagged, incoherent gasps I can’t control. His fingers are merciless, working their way deeper, teasing me, stroking places that make my legs quake and my body arch helplessly into him. His other hand grips my ass tighter, squeezing, spreading me, kneading bare flesh until I can’t even breathe.

“Oh… fuck…”

My wolf calls to me, distant but insistent, a whisper of warning threading through the haze:

*Selene, will you open your eyes? You’re falling too deep.*

But reason is gone.

I’m gone.

His mouth finds the curve of my neck, and the last thread of resistance snaps. His lips trace fire along my skin, soft kisses that tease, then linger, then press harder until shivers consume me. He breathes me in, tasting me, and my body convulses with a hunger I can’t fight.

“God…” My moan escapes sharp, biting down against my lip to keep from crying out. My arms move without command, wrapping tight around his neck. I cling to him, nails raking down his back, grounding myself in the storm he’s become inside me. His fingers never stop their ruthless rhythm, driving me closer, breaking me apart with every stroke.

My head tilts back, eyes rolling, lashes fluttering as sparks explode behind my lids. My spine arches, my back bowing helplessly under the weight of sensation ripping through me.

Fuck, I can’t—

I can’t stop.

He breathes against my ear, lips brushing the sensitive spot beneath it, and I shudder violently. His voice lowers, a sinful whisper wrapping around me like silk soaked in poison.

“I remember,” he murmurs, wicked heat dripping from every word. “The way you felt last night. How tight you were. How sweet you sounded. Your pussy clenching around me so desperately, begging me to take you again… and again…”

“Stop,” I gasp weakly, but my nails dig deeper into him, contradicting myself.

He chuckles low, knowing, his breath hot in my ear. “God, weren’t you just the sweetest little thing when I broke you? You drove me fucking insane. The way your voice cracked when you came undone for me…”

My mind blanks, detonated by the filth pouring into me, by the faster, sharper pace of his fingers pressing against my soaked heat. The dangerous pull of him tangles tighter, dragging me under.

I try to fight, claw for sanity, but it’s useless.

He’s everywhere.

And it’s so goddamn hard to resist.