MARKED BY MOONLIGHT のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 71 - チャプター 80

~ CAIN ~“You expect me to believe someone just told you he fucked a bitch who wanted members of my pack dead?” I growl, narrowing my eyes at the vampire sitting across from me. “That’s the kind of story a man keeps to himself—unless he’s got a death wish. Lone wolves avoid other wolves, sure, but they avoid vampires even more.”“Unless they’re blowing through town,” the bloodsucker snickers.“Like you?” I ask, one brow raised.“Yeah, like me.” He nods, all smug and self-satisfied.“So what are you hiding?” I push harder, voice low but sharp. “Your acquaintance… is he one of the males who attacked the females in our pack?”I catch the flicker of panic in his eyes. He blinks fast and drops his gaze like a guilty kid caught with blood on his hands.That seals it.The moment we’re done here, I’m dragging his sorry ass to one of the Hollowbane bunkers—the kind of place we use when things need to get handled off-record. Quietly. Painfully. Permanently.I don’t feel bad about it.Secondhand

~ CAIN ~I know Astrid can be manipulated just as easily as the shitfaced vampire slouched across from me, drooling into his glass. She has no idea the wolf who attacked Lyra is already rotting in the ground, and this bloodsucker—Neo–is not far behind.Ronan had kept that piece of information buried, just like the body. It's called strategic silence. It's the best way to operate considering the circumstances. All we have to do is drop a few breadcrumbs of information, false or true, spark a few gossips, and watch as paranoia does the rest for us. If Astrid thinks her secret is at risk of exposure, she’ll panic. And when she panics, she’ll slip. That’s what I’m counting on.With the right pressure and just a little luck, we’ll have her cornered within the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours. Cornered enough to get proof or, at the very least, a confession.I slide the last glass across the table toward Neo.“You need it more than I do,” I murmur. “So go ahead.”His bloodshot eyes l

~ KILLIAN ~ "Fuck, Sunshine. Please, don't tease me," I grunt as I look down at Tess with hooded eyes. I'd assumed she didn’t have a lot of experience, and I’m probably right, but damn—her tongue feels good. Many nights I’ve gone to sleep imagining her just like this. Twining my fingers in her hair, I instruct, "Wrap those pretty lips around my cock and look at me." She hesitates and I yank on the strands in my grasp, bringing her back to the moment. "First you touch me and then I touch you. Give me this." Just like that, her lips surround me, hot and wet as she sucks me into her mouth. Holy shit. I rock on my heels, locking my knees in place. The last thing I need is to lose my balance and fuck things up. I can’t believe this is finally happening. When she doesn’t look at me, I give her hair another firm pull. She doesn’t understand that this is about more than sex. We need to increase our bond and connect on a deeper level. "Sunshine," I grate through my teeth, "look at me."

~ TESS ~ I’ve never felt this kind of connection with anyone. Like this, I’m completely open to him. There are no secrets, no barriers between us. He sees past the mask I wear to the woman I keep hidden deep inside. One look, one meeting of our eyes, and he knows everything. Even knowing that, I don’t break the connection. He studies me as he keeps going, licking at my seam. The presence I felt earlier returns, like a shadow in the back of my mind. Ours. Tiny prickles dance across my skin—starting at my torso, branching into my arms and legs. It feels like feathers gliding along the inside of me, tracing over every contour and crevice. Heat swirls low in my belly, a strange haze of red coating my vision. I let go of the chair and place my arms over my head. Resting back, I let my thighs fall apart. “Hell yes,” Killan rasps, licking at my sex. “Open up and let it happen, Sunshine. You’re so soft here, made just for me.” Two fingers tease my entrance, swirling just outside m

~ KILLIAN ~ Shit. I shouldn’t be thinking like this. Shoving my negative thoughts aside, I shake my head and stride from Tess’s bedroom. Tess finally has a real home now—with me. And I’ll make damn sure she never goes without again. I might not be filthy rich, but I’ve saved enough to give her everything she needs. She won’t have to deal with leaky roofs, peeling wallpaper, or rugs that reek of mold and decay. Not ever again. I stop cold when I make it to the living room. The place looks like a crime scene. A couch cushion lies ripped open, its yellowing foam spilling across the floor. Dried and fresh blood is a smeared streak across the carpet, a cruel reminder of what had happened here earlier. The metallic tang of it still lingers in the air, and my wolf stirs, low and restless at the smell. Tess could have died here. A growl curls up my throat as my hands clench tighter around the duffel’s straps. Right here—on this floor, in this collapsing excuse of a h