Before I could say anything, Alic pulled up. “We’re here.”
It felt like she was slipping through my fingers again, not just her body, but her heart as well. She thought I couldn’t handle herrage just because I loved her sweetness. That because I’d tasted her sweetness, I couldn’t take the bite.
She was wrong.
I didn’t want just the version of her that was soft and needy; I wanted the side of her that was harsh and demanding. I wanted to be someone she could rely on when times got tough. Someone she could trust to hold her together when she unraveled.
Alic got out to open her door, and time felt like it was bleeding away.
I grabbed her wrist, yanking her back into my chest and crashing my mouth onto hers like I owned it. Because Idid. She was mine even if she didn't say it.
“Then give it your all,” I growled against her lips. “Scare me. Break me. Bleed me. But when I’m still standing beside you at the end, you’ll know there are no excuses left. Deal?”
Alic glared at me through the door, but I held on tight. She wasnotgoing to get away from me again.Never. Mine. My mate. My wolf growled inside my head, both of us on the same side of this battle.
Her breath trembled against my cheek, but her voice was lethal. “Fine. But you be honest too. If you can't take it, can't live with both sides of me, then you back away clean. No bad blood. No guilt.”
It felt like ancient magic rippled through the air, binding us to this promise. I nodded solemnly. Final.
Alic’s throat cleared, his hand held out for her to show he was still waiting. Her eyes dropped to where mine was still clutching her wrist.
“We gonna do this inside?” she asked dryly.
I let her go, and she slipped from my grasp, stepping into Alic’s waiting hand like it had been rehearsed. He steadied her, protecting her as he always did.
As I watched them walk ahead, it hit me.
She already had a shadow. A knight. A best friend. A business confidant. But what she didn’t have was an equalizer.
Someone who could remind her that softness wasn't weakness. Someone who embraced her bloodthirsty side wholeheartedly. The beast inside her could dance with the beast in me, yet both could thrive.
I followed, heart pounding, my wolf pacing inside me.
Let her show me all she’s got because I wasn’t going anywhere.
Not even if it meant bleeding.
Not even if it meant burning.
Not even if it meantbreaking.
She was mine, and I was hers.
28
ANIYAH
The pulsing warmth low on my back was impossible to ignore, an ever-present thrum, a siren’s whisper reminding me of the unfinished, tangled mess I had with the five men in my life. It didn’t hurt anymore, not physically, but the way it called to me, the way it licked through my veins with need every time one of them got close, made me feel like I was walking around with a live wire pressed to my spine.
It wasn’t just hunger and lust. It was longing. Rightness. Every time I brushed my fingers against one of them, leaned too close, or let them touch me, it felt like I was slipping into something inevitable, natural, like breathing.
It scared the hell out of me because I liked it. I liked it too much, and that... annoyed me.
I didn’t want to crave them. I didn’t want this ache to rise every time Maso growled low in his throat, sending a ripple down my skin like a damn echo of pleasure. I didn’t want to hear him say how good it felt to let his full self out with me, how I made him feel safe enough to lose control. I didn’t want to imagine whatother sides they’d show me. What other pieces of themselves they’d give if I just let them in.
I had some pretty awesome tricks up my sleeve, dammit. Moves that would leave their heads spinning if I let loose. Thinking about having all of them in one room, the six of us letting go and just doing what felt good…. What would it be like to have the others under Ras’ power? Could he only release it when I came, or was it when anyone came? Did Maso like to be chained up, or could I try tying him up in a silk rope? Feeling both Van’s pleasure-filled side with Alic’s rough heat? Lucus’ commanding tone telling me what to do to them? All of it excited me so much my thighs clenched.
A quiet voice kept whispering behind my eyes, beneath my skin.
