"No." Satisfaction flashed in his gaze. "And why is that?"
The shadows slid higher still, and a sound escaped her that she couldn't suppress.
"Why didn't their touches affect you the way mine does?" he pressed. "Tell me."
She held out for another moment. Another breath.
Then the shadows found a particularly sensitive spot, and the truth spilled out in a gasp.
"Because it wasn't you."
LIX.
DANTE & BRYNN
Brynn
That was all it took for his mouth to find hers.
This wasn't anything like the restrained touches they'd shared in the days after the breakthrough, when every brush of skin had felt like testing a live flame. This was a claim. Primal and unyielding, all the wanting he'd been leashing finally unleashed.
She kissed him back with a desperation that should have embarrassed her. Weeks of tension, of longing, of fighting the pull between them while her anger burned and his secrets festered. All of it surging into this fierce collision of mouths and teeth and need.
His tongue swept against hers, tasting her, claiming her, and heat pooled between her thighs so fast it made her dizzy.
"Finally," she gasped against his lips, not meaning to say it aloud.
He swallowed the word whole. Made it his.
His shadows swirled around them both, wrapping possessively around her waist, sliding up her arms, cool silk touching every inch of exposed skin while his hands stayed braced against the wall oneither side of her head. The dual sensation, darkness touching her everywhere while he touched her nowhere, sent shivers racing down her spine.
One tendril traced along the neckline of her dress, dipping beneath the fabric to stroke the swell of her breast. Her breath caught.
"You're mine," he growled against her mouth, teeth grazing her lower lip hard enough to sting. "Say it."
"Make me."
The sound that rumbled through his chest was barely human. Predatory and satisfied and hungry all at once. It vibrated through her where their bodies pressed together, and she felt an answering clench low in her belly.
One hand tangled in her hair, tilting her head back to expose her throat. The other gripped her waist hard enough to bruise, dragging her body flush against his.
She could feel him through their clothes. Hard. Wanting. The thick ridge of his cock pressed against her stomach, and hells, she wanted to touch it.
The kiss turned consuming. Teeth and tongue and the dark, dangerous taste of him flooding her senses. She was drowning in it. Wanted to drown in it. Wanted to feel him everywhere.
"I've wanted this," he murmured against her throat, his mouth trailing fire down the column of her neck, "since the moment you talked back to me."
"Then stop talking," she managed, her voice embarrassingly breathless, "and take what you want."
His control cracked. She saw it happen. That iron restraint she'd been fighting against for weeks, finally giving way.
His shadows wrapped around her thighs, lifting her effortlessly until her legs wrapped around his waist. The movement pressed his cock directly against her core, and they both groaned at the contact.
Even through layers of fabric, she could feel him, hard and thick and straining toward her. Her hips rolled instinctively, grinding against him, and the friction made her moan.
"Dangerous words, thief," he warned, voice dropping to that low, rough tone that made her pulse pound. His hips rocked forward, pressing harder against her, and pleasure sparked through her nerve endings.
"Good thing I'm not afraid of danger, Reaper."
