The projection still glowed above them, casting their faces in amber and crimson. Red-pulsing failures spread across the ward network like wounds.
Brynn stared up at the display, silent. Her hands shook at her sides.
"You claimed me." Not looking at him. Voice quiet. "In front of them all."
"I did."
Her hands tightened, blood seeping through the bandages again. "I've spent ten years trusting no one. Belonging nowhere. And you just—" Her voice faltered. "You tied yourself to me. In front of everyone."
"You were already mine." He moved closer, unable to stay away. "I just made it official."
"What if I fail?" The words came out barely above a whisper. "What if the gateway won't close, or the wards won't hold, or I can't repair what he's broken? What if I'm not strong enough?"
Her breath hitched.
"You've given me everything. Standing, protection, your name. You. And we might not survive this. I might cost you everything."
His finger slipped beneath her chin, tilting her head up to meet his gaze. Her eyes held weariness, terror, determination. Everything he'd come to recognize as uniquely her.
"Then tonight, I want everything." His thumb traced her lower lip, feeling it quiver under his touch. "No more holding back. You're my companion now. Mine in every way that matters. And I want to make sure you know exactly what that means before we face what's coming."
Her eyes darkened, pupils expanding. Her hands came up to frame his face, palms against his jaw, fingers threading into his hair.
"Then claim me." Her voice dropped to a whisper, rough with want and determination. "Every part of me. Make me yours in the only way we haven't yet. So that if we die tomorrow, at least we'll have had this."
LXIX.
DANTE & BRYNN
Brynn
The words left her mouth before she could stop them. A challenge. An invitation. A plea she couldn't take back.
For a heartbeat, nothing happened.
She watched Dante's eyes darken.
This wasn't like before. Not like the garden, not like the night after the ball when he'd stopped them both at the edge. There was no hesitation in the way he moved toward her now.
His hands found her waist with a grip that brooked no argument. She gasped as strong fingers dug in hard enough to bruise, anchoring her, claiming her. Her legs wrapped around his hips before she could think, heels digging into his lower back, and she ground against him shamelessly. Desperate for friction. Desperate for him.
He pressed her back against the wall. Cold stone bit through her clothes, sharp contrast to the heat rolling off his body. His mouth hovered over hers, close enough she could feel his breath. Warm. Ragged. Laced with everything he'd been holding back.
"I'm going to ruin you." The words vibrated against her pulse.
Her breath stuttered. Her cunt clenched around nothing.
"I'm going to take you apart piece by piece until you forget your own name." His lips brushed the shell of her ear. "Until the only word left in that clever mouth ismine."
She was already wet. Could feel the slick heat gathering between her thighs, soaking through her underwear. Her body readying itself for him before her mind could catch up.
He pressed his hips forward, letting her feel every inch of how hard he was. The thick ridge of his cock ground against her core through their clothes, and she whimpered at the pressure. Not enough. Not nearly enough.
"Feel that?" He pressed harder, rocking against her in a slow, torturous rhythm. "That's what you do to me. Every fucking day. Every time you look at me with those defiant eyes, every time you say my name like it belongs to you."
His hand fisted in her hair, yanking her head back hard enough to sting. The pain shot straight to her cunt.
"It does belong to me," she gasped.
