“Have fun, kids!” Bryx called. “Try not to kill each other! Or do—actually that would be very entertaining!”
“Put me down!” I demanded, but Kaelren ignored me, shouldering through the door and into the cool night air.
He carried me into the narrow alley between the massive trees, where the bioluminescent lights from the tavern barely reached. Only when we were shrouded in darkness did he set me down—not gently, but not roughly either. Just with enough force that I stumbled back against the rough bark of a tree.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I shoved at his chest, but he didn’t budge.
“He was touching you.” Each word came out like gravel, like violence barely contained.
“So?” I shoved again, harder. “People touch when they dance!”
“Not like that.” He stepped closer, and I could see his marks blazing even in the dim light, black veins crawling up his neck, across his jaw. “Not with hands that wanted to own. To claim. To take what isn’t theirs.”
“I can decide who touches me!”
“Can you?” He was closer now, so close I could feel the heat radiating off him, could smell corruption and pine and something wild underneath. “Because from where I was sitting, watching his hands slide down yourbody, watching him pull you against him, watching him whisper things that made you smile—it looked like you were deciding to let him have you.”
“And what if I was?” I challenged, anger and alcohol making me reckless. “What if I wanted someone who actually wants me back instead of—”
“Instead of what?” His hands slammed into the tree on either side of my head, caging me in. “Instead of me? The one who can barely breathe when you’re near? The one who dreams about tasting you every fucking night? The one who wanted to rip that man’s throat out with my bare hands for daring to touch what’s mine?”
“I’m not yours!”
“Aren’t you?” He leaned in, his face inches from mine, and I could see the wildness in his eyes, the barely-leashed violence. “Then why does your pulse spike every time I get close? Why do your marks respond to mine even when you’re trying to ignore me? Why did you kiss me in that shared dream like I was everything you needed?”
“That was just—”
“Don’t.” His voice dropped to something dangerous, something raw. “Don’t lie to me. Not about this. I watched you dance with him. Watched him touch you. Watched you let him, and do you know what I felt?”
“What?” The word came out breathless.
“Murderous.” He shifted closer, his body almost flush against mine now. “Possessive. Feral. I wanted to kill him. Wanted to make it hurt. Wanted to carve my name into every inch of skin he touched so everyone would know—”
“Know what?”
“That you belong with me.” His forehead dropped against mine, his exhales ragged. “That you’ve been meant for me since the moment you looked at me with fire instead of fear. Since you challenged me. Since you—”
“Stop.” But I wasn’t pushing him away. My hands had somehow ended up fisted in his shirt, holding him close instead of shoving him back.
“I can’t.” His hands left the tree, sliding down to grip my waist, fingers digging in hard enough to bruise. “I’ve tried. Gods, I’ve tried. But watchinghim touch you, seeing his hands where mine should be—”
“Your hands?” I challenged, even as my body betrayed me, arching slightly into his grip.
“Yes.” One hand slid up my side, achingly slow, burning everywhere it touched. “My hands. My mouth. My—” He made a frustrated sound. “You have no idea what you do to me. How badly I want to—”
“What?” My marks were flaring hot at my collarbones now. “What do you want to do, Kaelren?”
His hand came up to cup my face, thumb brushing across my lower lip. “Everything. Things that would terrify you. Things I shouldn’t even think about doing to someone like you.”
“Someone like me?”
“Someone good.” His pupils had swallowed his irises completely. “Someone who deserves better than a monster who wants to mark every inch of her skin, who wants to make sure no one else ever touches her, who wants to—”
I grabbed his face and kissed him.
For a heartbeat, he froze, shocked. Then he made a sound—something between a growl and a groan—and kissed me back with a hunger that stole my breath. His fingers tangled in my hair, gripping tight, angling my head so he could deepen the kiss. The other arm wrapped around my waist, hauling me against him, and I could feel every hard line of his body, the way his marks pulsed against mine, the corruption spreading between us like wildfire.
This wasn’t like the dream. This was real. Raw. Desperate.
