Just as I move, something closes tight around my legs. A vice, hard and strong. My calves scream in protest as they’re crushed together, my legs clamped so tight I know bruises will bloom later. A scream begins to tear out of me, but I swallow it down before it gets loose. My hands fumble in hopes to free myself, but it's too late, I’m locked in place, just like prey tangled in a snare.
My eyes snap down, and all the breath leaves my lungs at once. There he is, awake and staring straight up at me with those piercing green eyes. A look that feels as if there’s a hot blade sliding under my skin.
Heat flares low in my belly. Betrayal and rage mix with desire, all tangled up in a single heartbeat. My pulse roars in my ears as his grip tightens, dragging me closer.
The second Croía bends over me, the whole fucking world narrows to the heat of her breath and the frantic thunder of her pulse. My cock kicks to life so hard it’s almost painful, throbbing as if it’s begging for her touch, her weight or anything she’ll give.
Her scent is all over me, sweet and sinful. It’s maddening. I drink it in, letting it bury the dull ache in my skull, drowning out everything except her.
With everything she’s got, she’s trying to pull away. I can feel the tremor of her thighs against mine, the small desperate push of her palms on my chest. I’m not ready to let her go, not when she’s this close. Not when every inch she retreats feels as if it’s a punishment I didn’t agree to.
So, I do the only thing I can. I clamp my legs tighter around hers, hard enough to hear her soft gasp hitch in her throat. Her body jolts forward, just enough that she almost brushes against thethick ridge pressing up in my pants.Beagnach.(Almost.)
The silence between us is suffocating, thick with the ragged edge of my own breath. Her eyes lock on mine, wide and uncertain, burning with something that doesn’t look just like fear alone. It’s the way her lips part, the way her fingers curl against my chest as if she doesn’t know whether to push harder or hold on tighter.
One shift, just one and she’ll feel exactly what she does to me. She should run. She should slap me and fight like hell. Instead, she’s frozen, trembling, as though she doesn’t trust her own legs to decide.
The tension coils low in my spine, so I tighten my grip some more. A warning, a promise. Move, I dare her silently, just an inch.
“Let me go,” she mumbles, her voice so soft it nearly dissolves in the stale air between us.
“I could say the same,” I murmur back, my eyes flicking pointedly to my wrists, raw where the cable ties are cutting into my skin. Her whole body stiffens and her face floods with a blush so deep it climbs down her neck. She hides behind her hands, mumbling through her fingers. “I’m so sorry. I can’t even explain what I was thinking.”
God, I like her like this, all fragile and flustered, looking for somewhere to tuck her guilt. Even though I’m the one tied up, she’s the one squirming. I loosen my grip on her legs just enough for her to feel the shift, a pretend mercy. “I forgive you,” I say, my voice low, gentle.
She peeks at me between her fingers, her pretty brows pulling tight in disbelief. “You forgive me?” she echoes, as she lowers her hands entirely, her eyes slicing into me. “You broke into my house, but you forgive me?”
“Yes.” I grin, slowly and deliberately, all teeth and charm. “I forgive you for restraining me. So… you can forgive me for breaking in. Seems fair.”
She scoffs then barks out a laugh. Shaking her head, her disbelief gives way to something sharp and amusing. “That’s not how this works! I tied you up because you broke in, you maniac.”
Tilting my head, I arch a brow. “Mmm, your actions were premeditated, weren’t they? You set a trap. A net. That’s not heat-of-the-moment, that’s planning. Calculated and devious planning.”
Her eyes widen, a soft gasp spilling out as the realization dawns, staining her cheeks pink again. “Oh my God… I did.” She presses her fingers to her lips, as if she’s trying to hold the truth in her mouth.
“You did,” I echo, my grin widening. I lean in as much as the restraints allow. “So. Now we’re both guilty, aren’t we? Two criminals tangled up together. Fair’s fair.”
For a moment, her laugh lingers between us, sharp and dangerous.
The tension thickens as we lock eyes. Neither of us dare to move, as something unspoken coils tighter with every breath. A current humming under my skin as if it’s an electric wire ready to snap. Her blue eyes hold mine so fiercely I feel it in my bones, a demand and a promise all at once. The ache I have for her pulses hot and sharp, my need clawing up my spine until it shakes me to my core.
Eager to be near her, I tighten my grip around her thighs, pulling her closer with the only leverage I have. Goosebumps break across my skin as her warmth inches nearer. The space between us charged the same as a storm about to split the sky.
It all unfolds so excruciatingly slowly, so slow it sends a tremor down my spine.
Then I hear a sound. Barely a whisper. However, I catch it. A soft broken moan falls from Croía’s lips. The noise tears through my restraint like gasoline is on fire. Something primal snaps loose inside me. My arms yank forward with an almighty strength I didn’t know was possible and the cable ties snap against the force, hot pain blooming as plastic bites and splits my skin. Blood trickles down my wrists, but I ignore it.
In the same second, I have my hand fisting in Croía’s silver hair, twisting it tight until her gasp warms my lips. Crashing my mouth against hers, I devour her before she can even catch her breath. I wait for her to fight, to slap me. It never comes. Instead, her lip's part, an invitation, not spoken but implied.
The taste of her hits me all at once, wild blackberries and soft caramel, a delicious mixture of dark and sweet. She trembles,clinging to my shirt tightly. A groan tears free from my throat as I deepen the kiss, my tongue claiming every inch she offers.
The hard length of my cock strains painfully against my jeans. She pulls me closer, tighter, until there’s no air left between us. All I can think of is that I want more. More of her taste, more of her skin, and more of this impossible pull between us that feels like drowning and salvation all at once. Then she sighs into my mouth, and I know I’d rip the entire world apart just to hear that sound again.
As if the force of a storm is reclaiming its power, Croía takes control. Pushing me back with a surprising strength as she swings one leg over and straddles my waist. The kiss never breaks; it only deepens, turning wild and hungry. Her mouth is a demand I gladly surrender to.
My hands find her thighs, sliding up to grip her ass. The feel of her under my palms drives me so wild, I swear I nearly combust, it’s as though every nerve is a live wire, and she’s the spark that’s about to set me alight. She moans into my mouth, the sound ripping apart what little control I have left to shreds.
Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I see it. That familiar black fog, seeping in like ink been poured into water. It coils around us, slowly. My breath catches and my tongue stalls, but Croía doesn’t stop. If anything, she kisses me harder, as if she’s feeding off the darkness.
