Chapter 68

Adeline’s POV

The room was too hot, too small for my burning body. My chest heaved with every breath, my skin slick with sweat, the sheets twisted beneath me like they were trying to trap me. My thighs trembled, the ache between them sharper than fire, and yet nothing—nothing—could soothe it. Not my hands, not the toys, not the tears I had already shed into the pillow.

My eyes locked on Mathias as he continued to take off his buttons. One by one, slipping loose under his steady fingers.

I froze, my breath catching in my throat.

Mathias.

He stood at the edge of the bed, collar undone, his shirt hanging open to reveal the pale, flawless skin of his chest. His eyes glowed faintly in the dim lamplight, not with lust, but with a strange kind of resolve. Still, my fevered body read the motion differently. In my state, with my wolf whispering for a man…for him…I thought he meant to climb into the bed. To take me.

“No,” I croaked, pushing myself up on shaking elbows. “Don’t. I…I can’t.”

The s