“Wong choice.” Rune tsked as his claws slowly snip the laces of her bodice one by one. “I forgive you for stabbing me, songbird, but not for the agony I endured when you left me. It’s my turn to torture you now.”
She trembled, her breath catching quietly.
But instead of fear, Alora looked at him with challenge.
“I won’t scream,” she swore. “No matter what you do to me.”
“Oh? Shall we test that?”
His claws snipped the straps of her bodice, bearing her breasts to the cold air. A growl rumbled in his throat as her nipples pebbled. Her lips parted. He heard the flutter in her heart, the sharp catch between inhale and exhale. It thrilled him. Fear and want were kin, after all.
He prowled behind her, close enough for his breath to stir her hair. She dangled in the dark like a constellation he’d caught. The sound of her heartbeat was a drum in his chest, but fire shone in her eyes.
“Still not afraid,” Rune mused. “Even now.”
She lifted her chin, eyes flashing so defiantly it made him smile. “You vowed to never harm me, so what can you possibly do? Spank me?”
Rune snatched her throat and hauled her close.“Oh,”he rumbled. “I like that idea.”
Alora’s eyes widened, warmth flooding her cheeks.
Regardless of how hard he heard her heart pounding, she didn’t say no or stop. One could argue she had no choice in the matter, but the truth was he would have let her go if she demanded it. If she was truly afraid. But Rune couldsmellher lust, he could sense the excitement in her veins as she waited for what he would do.
Rune chuckled, releasing his grasp. “Then I will take your silence as permission.”
He snipped the last lace of her bodice and Alora’s dress slid off her shoulders, pooling at her feet. Leaving her in a camisole and damp undergarments that made his nostrils flare with her scent. His entire body went rigid, something primal churning in his veins.
She was absolutely still.
Her shaky breaths carried in the quiet as shadows wrapped around her eyes. Then he circled her slowly, visually mapping every inch of her. The moonlight filtered through the curtains,brushing over her skin like reverence made light. A feast he intended to devour to the fullest.
Coming to stand at her back, her breath hitched as his shadows licked up her thighs.
He murmured in her ear. “Where shall I begin?”
His shadows caressed her as though they remembered her skin. They slid over her shoulders, down her arms, coiling around her waist, learning her all over again. She shivered, but her jaw stayed clenched.
“Defiant little flame.”
Rune let the shadows tighten enough for her to gasp. Enough for her to remember that every part of her belonged to his will if he wished it. But he softened their touch, the cool tendrils tracing her ribs like whispers of ink.
“I can’t help but want to ruin you,” he confessed.
She lifted her chin, daring him to continue, even as her breath betrayed her.
The shadows wrapped around her nipples and pinched.
Alora gasped, her thighs pressing together tightly.
“I want to mark you…” He gazed his fangs on her racing pulse. “So thoroughly that all whoever lays eyes on you will know never to touch you.”
And he did.
His fangs sank into her flesh, biting enough to sting. She panted, whimpering.
“So sensitive,” he hummed.
Yet Alora did not pull away. She turned her head, exposing the other side of her neck as if daring him to continue. He nipped her again before making his shadows to lift her higher, binding her arms above her head.
