She flinched, clutching the strap of the bag tighter. “I can’t stay. The Council rep made it clear what’s at stake. I’m ruining everything for you. If I disappear, the pressure stops. You can go back to the life you built before I showed up.”
She thought she was protecting me, but it couldn’t be further from the truth.
I stepped forward, crowding her against the wall. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“You don’t understand,” she whispered, shaking her head. “I heard what the Council rep said. They’ll remove you if you keep me here. I won’t let you lose everything because of me.”
My control snapped. I braced one hand on the wall beside her head. My other hand cupped her cheek, my thumb brushing away a tear she hadn’t realized had fallen.
“You think I give a damn about my position if it means losing you?” My voice was raw, the demon riding every word. “You’re my fated mate, Isolde. That bond isn’t something I can walk away from. I’m done pretending I can keep my distance when every instinct I have is screaming to keep you close. Don’t you get it? My life isn’t worth anything without you in it.”
Her breath hitched, her emerald eyes wide and shimmering with more tears. “But what if my aura?—”
“Your allure can’t trap me because I’m already ensnared.” I leaned in until our foreheads nearly touched, my shadows curling gently around her wrists. “The only one here at risk of being caught is you, my little spark.”
She trembled, but she didn’t pull away. “If you’re not worried about my aura flares, why do you call me that?”
I wasn’t used to being vulnerable, but Isolde deserved my honesty. “Because you represent the first real light and warmth I’ve allowed myself to feel since I crawled out of my self-made hell two centuries ago.”
“Sounds like there’s quite a story there,” she murmured.
“One I’ll share with you.” I tugged her close. “Later.”
“I’d like that.”
The mate bond flared between us, her aura sparking softly against my skin before it softened into that velvety glow I was quickly becoming addicted to.
Dipping my head, I gave her one last chance to stop me. But she didn’t. So I kissed her.
The moment our lips met, the bond ignited. It was hungry, centuries of waiting pouring into every brush of my mouth against hers. She gasped into the kiss, her hands fisting in my shirt as if she was afraid I’d disappear.
I lifted her easily, her legs wrapping around my waist on instinct as I carried her to my suite. When I kicked the door shut behind us, she dropped her bag to the floor with a thunk. I set her down with more care than my demon wanted, but I refused to rush this. She was my mate. She deserved to be worshipped, not taken.
The adrenaline rush from almost losing her hadn’t waned, and my demon was no longer willing to wait. He wanted to remind Isolde who she belonged to in a way that would brand her forever.
My lips crashed down on hers, and I explored the depths of her mouth with my tongue, swallowing her gasps. I only broke the kiss long enough to look down at her and rasp, “Tell me to stop, and I will. Any time.”
She shook her head, her fingers sliding into my hair. “Don’t stop. Please.”
That was exactly what I hoped to hear.
I spread her out on the mattress and used my shadows first—coiling tendrils that wrapped around her wrists and pinned them lightly above her head. To show her I was in control. That every touch was mine to give.
“You’re not forcing me.” I kissed my way down the delicate column of her neck. “Feel that? I’m choosing you because you were meant to be mine.”
She arched beneath me, a soft moan escaping as my shadows teased along her sides, brushing the sensitive skin beneath the hem of her sweater. Her aura responded, wrapping around me with a velvety caress.
I stripped her slowly, savoring every inch of pale skin revealed. When she was bare beneath me, trembling and flushed, I let my own clothes dissolve into smoke, my demon form hovering just beneath the surface and urging me to claim her.
I used my shadows to tease her with light touches along her inner thighs, a gentle coil around one breast, and finally a velvet stroke against her core. She gasped, her hips lifting and green eyes dark with need. “Kastiel, please.”
“Shh, little spark. Let me show you how good it can feel when you stop fighting.”
I lowered my head, my tongue stroking through her drenched folds as my shadows continued their gentle assault. She came apart quickly, crying out my name as her aura flared in a beautiful, velvety wave that washed over me like warm silk.
Gliding my palms up her torso to tweak her nipples, I settled between her legs until my cock pressed against her glistening pussy lips. “I’m not going to brand you until you’re ready, but I’m going to fuck this perfect pussy that was made to take me.”
Her cheeks turned the prettiest shade of pink before she confessed, “Um, I should probably mention I’ve never done this before.”
