Chapter 5

Nova's Pov

His grin widened at my challenge, predatory and full of dark promise. He pulled his hand from between my legs, fingers glistening, and brought them to his mouth, licking them clean while holding my gaze. The sight made my core clench around nothing, aching for more.

“You taste like sin,” he rasped. “And I’m going to devour every inch of you.”

Before I could fire back, he gripped the silk of my dress and tore it clean down the middle with one sharp tug. The fabric parted like water, cool air hitting my bare skin. I gasped, exposed under him—breasts heaving, nipples tight from his earlier attention, lace panties the only scrap left between us.

He shrugged out of his shirt in a fluid motion, revealing a chest carved from marble, scarred in patterns that looked like they told stories of battles won. His tattoos pulsed faintly, as if alive under the lantern light. Then his pants followed, kicked aside, and gods—he was huge. Thick and hard, the base already swelling slightly, veins pulsing with need. The tip glistened, and my mouth went dry at the sight.

“See something you like, little dancer?” His voice was a low rumble, eyes swirling wilder now, gold overtaking the obsidian like a solar storm.

I reached for him, wrapping my fingers around his length—or trying to. He was too thick to close my hand fully. I stroked once, slow and firm, thumb circling the head. He hissed through his teeth, hips bucking into my grip.

“Fuck,” he groaned. “You’re going to kill me before I even get inside you.”

“Then hurry up,” I shot back, voice breathy but defiant. “Or are you all talk?”

He knocked my hand away gently, then hooked his fingers in my panties and ripped them off. The sting of lace against skin only heightened the throb between my thighs. He settled between my legs, knee nudging them wider, the heat of him pressing against my entrance—teasing, sliding through my slick folds without entering.

“Say you want this,” he demanded, voice rough with restraint. His aura wrapped around me tighter, electric and ancient, making every nerve sing.

“I want you,” I admitted, nails digging into his shoulders. “Now.”

He thrust in with one powerful stroke, burying himself to the hilt.

I cried out, back arching off the bed. The stretch was intense—bordering on pain but drowning in pleasure. He filled me completely, every ridge and vein dragging against my walls in a way that made stars explode behind my eyes.

“Gods, you’re tight,” he growled, forehead pressing to mine. “So fucking perfect.”

He stayed still for a heartbeat, letting me adjust, but his hips trembled with the effort. Then he started moving—slow at first, deep rolls that hit every sensitive spot inside me. I wrapped my legs around his waist, heels digging into his back, urging him faster.

“Harder,” I gasped, meeting his thrusts with my own. “Don’t hold back.”

He didn’t. His pace quickened, pounding into me with primal force, the bed creaking under us. Sweat slicked our skin, bodies sliding together in a rhythm that felt instinctual, like we were made for this. His mouth found my breast again, sucking hard on one nipple while his hand pinched the other, sending jolts straight to my core.

I raked my nails down his back, hard enough to leave marks. He snarled in approval, thrusting deeper, the angle shifting to grind against my clit with every stroke.

“You feel that?” he panted against my neck. “That’s me claiming you. Every inch.”

His teeth grazed my skin—sharp, teasing the spot where neck met shoulder. The promise of a bite made my pulse spike, heat coiling tighter in my belly.

“Yes,” I moaned. “More. Bite me. Make it hurt.”

His eyes locked on mine, glowing now—full of that swirling starlight, brighter than before. “You don’t know what you’re asking, little one.”

“I do.” I clenched around him deliberately, drawing a guttural groan from his throat. “Do it.”

He slammed into me harder, pace brutal and unrelenting. The pressure built fast, my body winding tighter with every thrust. His hand slipped between us, fingers finding my clit again, rubbing in frantic circles.

“Come for me again,” he commanded. “Milk me while I knot you.”

The words sent me over the edge. Pleasure shattered through me, waves crashing harder than before, my walls pulsing around him in endless spasms. I screamed his name—or what I thought was his name, stranger though he was—body shaking uncontrollably.

He followed right after, thrusting deep one last time. A roar tore from his chest as he swelled inside me—the base of his cock expanding, knotting us together in a lock that stretched me impossibly fuller. Hot spurts filled me, prolonging my orgasm, every pulse of him triggering another aftershock in me.

And then his teeth sank into my shoulder.

The bite was fire and ecstasy—sharp pain blooming into blinding pleasure. Something snapped into place inside me, like a bond awakening, flooding my senses with his scent, his power, his everything. Crystal howled in my mind, triumphant and wild.

We stayed locked like that, his knot throbbing inside me, bodies trembling in the afterglow. He licked the bite mark gently, soothing the sting, his breath ragged against my skin.

“You’re mine now,” he whispered, voice hoarse. “Whether you like it or not.”

I laughed weakly, still catching my breath, the knot keeping us joined in intimate captivity. “We’ll see about that, stranger.”

But deep down, as the mate bond hummed to life between us, I knew he was right.

And that terrified me more than anything.