Not yet.
I wanted her begging.
“What are you doing?” she asked, voice thick with frustration. “Why did you stop?”
I circled her, eyes locked on hers. “Tell me… how much do you want me? Want this?” I dragged a finger between us, letting the tension coil tighter.
“Desperately,” she breathed. “Can’t you feel it? I ache for you.”
She reached for me, but I slapped her hand away with a cruel smirk. Her gasp thrilled me.
“There are… conditions,” I said.
“Anything,” she whispered, clasping her hands beneath her chin like a supplicant at the altar. “Please, Lord Balthazar… I’m yours. Yours to command. Yours to take.”
Oh, yes. That was more like it.
“You can be my lover,” I murmured, stepping close again, letting my breath fan across her ear. “But I travel. Often. You may take another lover while I’m gone, if your body demands it.”
She blinked. I could see the confusion in her eyes.
“But,” I said, my voice turning to ice and fire, “when I return—when I come to you—you belong to me and me alone. No others. No games. No distractions. You are mine. Your mouth, your heart, your body… all of it.”
My gaze darkened, daring her to object. “And if you defy me, Alina…” I leaned in, pressing my lips to her ear. “There will be hell to pay.”
My words settled over her like a veil. I watched her face shift—desire flickering into shock, uncertainty curling at the edges… and then, something darker. Something untamed.
“I’ll do it,” she whispered, her voice barely audible, tremblinglike her resolve. “Whatever you ask. I’ll keep you a secret. I’ll be yours.”
“Good girl,” I purred, brushing a kiss along the delicate curve of her jaw. “But remember—secrets are delicious… until they turn deadly.”
She lifted her gaze to mine, searching my face as if trying to see through me. To find the monster… or the man.
“Okay,” she breathed again, lips barely parting.
I smiled assuredly, placing my hand on her shoulder. My thumb traced lazy circles against her creamy throat, feeling the rush of blood beneath the surface. We stayed like that for a moment, suspended in silence, our eyes locked in mutual understanding.
She wouldn’t tell. I knew it in my bones.
I leaned in, brushing my lips against hers—a ghost of a kiss, meant to tease, to tempt.
She held still, rigid with restraint.
Then, she bit my lip.
I pulled back with a low, startled laugh, the tingle of pain blooming across my mouth. My eyes searched hers, finding defiance glinting in her stare.
So, she had claws.
I wiped the blood from my lip with my thumb and pressed it against her mouth.
She hissed… then sucked my thumb into her mouth, eyes locked on mine.
A low growl rumbled in my chest.
I kissed her again—deeper this time, tasting defiance and submission in the same breath. Her soft moan vibrated into my mouth as I cradled her face, my hands slipping down her neck to feel the heat thrumming beneath her skin.
My lips traced her jaw, down to the hollow of her throat, then to the curve of her shoulder. Her pulse fluttered beneath my tongue; her breathing turned rapid and shallow.
