“For fuck’s sake,” Shaelith snapped. “At least take it to a corner.”
Varyth finally broke away, his chest heaving. Without a word, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward the darkest corner of the cell.
The shadows claimed us, offering the barest semblance of privacy as Varyth pinned me against the stone wall.
“You think I can let this happen?” he breathed against my neck. “You think I can watch you walk away with him and not lose my fucking mind?”
I swallowed hard, trying to find my voice beneath the weight of his touch. “Darian needs?—”
“I don’t care.” His forehead tipped against mine, his breath uneven. “I need you to be safe. I need you to bemine.”
My hands came up to frame his face, thumbs brushing across his cheekbones, trying to anchor him, and maybe myself.
“I am yours,” I whispered fiercely. “A night in his chambers won’t change that.”
“You don’t understand what he is. What he’ll do to you.”
“I made my choice,” I said against his lips. “I can’t take it back.”
Varyth’s fingers tightened in my hair. “Then I’ll kill him. The moment we get out of here, I’ll tear his fucking heart out.”
I placed my palm against his chest, his heart thundered beneath my touch.
I searched for words, but they crumbled beneath the weight of his gaze.
What could I possibly say?
That I wasn’t afraid? That would be a lie.
That everything would be fine? Another lie.
That I knew what I was doing? The biggest lie of all.
Instead, my hands slid into his hair, pulling his mouth down to mine.
The surprised sound that rumbled in his chest melted into a groan as he responded, his arms banding around me, crushing me against him as if he could somehow fold me into himself, keep me there, safe from everything that waited beyond this moment.
I wrapped myself around him, trying to convey everything I couldn’t say. That I was his. That I would always be his. That nothing Ashterion could do would change that.
Varyth’s hands trailed up my back to tangle in my hair, pulling just enough to tilt my head, to deepen the kiss until I couldn’t remember how to breathe. My body arched against his, seeking more, needing him closer.
Every point where our bodies touched burned—my hands in his hair, his chest against mine, his thigh pressing between my legs. The world narrowed to his mouth, his hands, the desperate sounds rumbling in his chest.
His fingers dug into my hips with bruising force, lifting me against the wall as my legs wrapped instinctively around his waist. The rough stone scraped against my back through the thin fabric of my shirt, but I barely noticed it through the haze of sensation that was Varyth’s touch.
“Mine,” he growled against my throat, it vibrated through my skin, through muscle and bone, settling deep in my core. His teeth scraped against my pulse point, sending lightning racing down my spine. “Say it.”
“Yours,” I gasped as his hips pressed forward, pinning me harder against the wall. My head fell back, exposing more of my throat to his hungry mouth. “Gods, Varyth?—”
His growl was animal, feral, the sound of something wild breaking free from its cage. One hand slid beneath my thigh, hiking me higher against the wall as he crushed the hard length of his body against mine.
“You have no idea,” he breathed against my neck, sending shivers racing across my skin. “What it’s taking not to fuck you right here, right now.”
My breath caught in my throat, heat flooding through me at the raw need in his words. His admission sent liquid fire coursing through my veins.
“Varyth,” I gasped, clutching his shoulders with desperate fingers.
“I want to tear these clothes off you.” His mouth was hot against my ear, voice pitched low enough that only I could hear. “I want to mark every inch of your skin until there’s no doubt who you belong to.”
