I don’t voice my concerns. Not now. Not when she’s already trembling with fear over what we just did.
Instead, I press a kiss to her forehead. “We should keep what happened tonight between us.”
She nods immediately. And vigorously.
It pisses me off more than it should.
I pinch her cheek—not hard, but enough to make her focus on me. “Why’d you agree so quickly?”
She slaps my hand away. “Because I fear the same thing as you.” She tries to sit up, pulling away from me. “Besides, this is just a one-time thing, so—”
I yank her back down, cutting off her words.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” My voice drops to a growl as I roll on top of her, surrounding her with my body.
She stares up at me, her pulse jumping in her throat. “Darius…”
“One time?” I lean down until our faces are only an inch apart. “You think I’m letting you go after this?”
“We can’t—”
“I’m just getting started, Violet.”
Her eyes go wide, her breath catching.
And before she can protest again, I capture her mouth with mine.
When she sighs into the kiss, her arms winding around my neck, I know I’m headed down a road of no return.
I wakeup on my back, the soft, gray light of dawn filtering through my curtains. For a moment, I’m disoriented by the weight of something next to me. Then, I smell her scent on my sheets, and I remember everything.
Violet.
I turn my head slowly, not wanting to wake her, and just…look.
She’s sprawled across the other side of my bed like she owns it, face down, one arm thrown above her head, the other tucked beneath her cheek. Her dark hair fans across my pillow, wild and tangled from my hands. The sheet has slipped down to her waist, revealing the pale expanse of her back.
And the marks. My marks.
They’re everywhere. Dark bruises on her back where I gripped her tightly. Bite marks—not deep enough to break skin, but visible enough to stake my claim. Scratches from my fingers digging into her hips. Evidence of every desperate moment we shared throughout the night.
She’s mine. All mine. But there is one mark missing.
My hand moves almost involuntarily to the curve where her neck meets her body, where the mating mark should be. The spot where my canines should pierce her skin, sealing ourbond for eternity. Making it impossible for either of us ever to be with anyone else.
The urge to do it—to mark her right now, while she sleeps—is almost overwhelming.
My wolf surges forward, demanding I claim what’s ours. That I make our bond permanent before she can run from us. Before reality can tear us apart.
But I force myself to pull back.
Not like this. Not when she’s asleep and unaware. Not when she’s already terrified of what we’ve done.
The mating mark is sacred. Permanent. Once given, it can never be undone.
Plus, Violet deserves to have a choice in this, even if every instinct I have screams at me to eliminate any possibility of her walking away.
I slip out of bed silently and tuck the covers around her shoulders. She makes a small sound but doesn’t wake up, burrowing deeper into my pillow.
