Chapter 55 In the Shadows
~ DONAVYN ~
Bren sucked in as I devoured her in a kiss so deep her head thunked back against the wall. I grabbed at her body, desperate and shaking, pleading with her not to hate me for it.
And she didn’t.
My beautiful, capable, strong mate threw her arms around my neck and took that kiss like she’d wanted it.
I was a man possessed.
Since the moment I’d seen her in that dress, my body pushed me to her, to have her, mark her, remind her—and every other fucker in this castle—who she belonged to.
After listening to half a dozen self-important nobles talk about her like a broodmare whose tail they’d lifted to assess, I was desperate.
Then he’d propositioned her? Outright?
Dragons be damned. The man wasn’t playing games—he would take her if he could.
And everything in me screamed no.
My instincts jangled alarm—I wouldn’t help by hurting her, or scaring her. But then she tipped her head aside, clawed her hands into my hair and took the kiss deeper, and if I hadn’t been keeping utterly silent so as not to invite unwanted intruders, I would have groaned.
To my shock and joy, she met my urgency, my agitation, beat for beat.
When I reached into that over-tight bodice to free her breast, she arched her back, pressing her nipple up and into my mouth the moment it was free.
I sucked and laved, one hand at her back, pulling her to me, the other fumbling at my belt, freeing myself. I gasped, strangling the cries that wanted to break in my throat, because I would not have anyone else see her this way. But I needed her. I needed her now.
When I bent down to furl up her skirts, she widened her stance and clawed at my back.
When I dragged hands up the insides of her legs and pulled those skirts up and away from her like curtains to reveal the stage, she lifted one perfect leg and hooked it over my hip.
But then I was there, pressed against her, staring at her, breath hot and lips hovering over hers, and sanity had to win.
‘Bren, I’m going to crush your dress. They’ll know.’
‘I don’t care.’
‘If I turn you around—’
‘Do it. Yes.’
She dropped her foot as I dropped her skirts, grabbed her shoulders and whipped her around to face the wall.
Pulling her back a step, I bent her forward with one hand, and with the other I pulled her skirts up—already crushed where she’d been sitting on them—flipping them over her back.
Then reached for her, finding her already slick and ready for me.
A tiny, animalistic growl rumbled in my chest as I took her hand in my other and planted it on the wall, sliding my fingers between hers and pinning it there.
Then I reached around with wet fingers to grasp her breast and felt the hard rivet of her nipple under my palm.
When I entered her, the pleasure rushed through me, raising every hair on my body, all the way to my scalp so that I almost forgot where we were.
Bren gasped and her back arched, her head falling back. Her fingers tightened on mine against the wall and I thrust into her with such force I lifted her off her toes.
She made a tiny cry and I buried my face in her neck, pumping into her, pounding, hissing in her ear through my teeth.
‘Mine… you’re mine. No matter what they think or how they cheapen it. Mine, Bren. And I’m yours. To my soul.’
‘Yes!’
“Look at me,” I hissed through my teeth. ‘Look at me!’
Bren turned her head to look at me over her shoulder, and I almost came. Her eyes were half-glazed, mouth open and jaw slack. And she pulsed as I thrust into her again. Then again—so hard my thighs slapped on her and I hissed a curse and hooked a hand under her thigh to hold her higher.
If someone came into this hallway…
If anyone heard us…
‘Don’t stop, Donavyn. You’re mine. You’re the only one I—’
“Oh God!” she whimpered aloud. Her head fell forward as her body squeezed me and she began to shake, pulling me into her climax.
Her knees sagged when she broke, and I let go of her breast to wrap an arm around her middle and hold her up, arched over her, mouth open on her neck, tongue flat to her skin, pounding into her until I shuddered and almost roared like the beast that I was.
Sweating, panting, shaking… I stood there on knees that threatened to fail both of us.
Hands still braced to the wall, Bren’s shoulders heaved with her breath.
What the fuck had I done?
What the fuck had I been thinking?
‘Bren, I’m so sor—’
Shaking her head, she arched against my body like a cat, almost starting me off again.
‘Don’t, Donavyn. I needed you too.’
I huffed against her neck and kissed her again.
‘We need a new plan,’ I sent dryly.
‘What? Why?’
I sighed and straightened, still not ready to pull out of her, but needing to hold her, wrap my arms around her, show her tenderness instead of bestial possession.
‘Because this is harder than I thought. And I don’t want to be the reason we fail.’
To my surprise, she gave a little snort. ‘You sound like me.’
I shook my head. ‘I mean it, Bren. I’m afraid of losing my mind if one of these fuckers turns words into action.’
She sighed heavily and straightened, turning in my arms so I was drawn out of her body, straightening her skirts and tucking her breast back into the bodice.
She had some struggle, so I helped, shaking my head at redness on her skin from my own roughness.
But when she was finally modest, just as I was about to draw my hand away, she flattened hers over it, pinning my palm over the center of her chest.
The bond thrummed.
It glowed.
She stared up at me, an expression on her face I couldn’t read. ‘I love you, Donavyn,’ she sent, then pulled me down into a kiss. ‘We’ll do this, just like we planned. Together.’
I broke the kiss and stared into her eyes, swallowing like a schoolboy after his first time.
‘Have mercy on me, Bren. I’m losing control.’
She shook her head again and stroked my face. ‘No, you’re just scared. And if there’s anything I understand, it’s that.’ Then her chin rose and she smiled up at me. ‘Stop worrying, Donavyn. I never want to visit an alcove without you.’
And that was the part she didn’t understand.
I wasn’t jealous, thinking she’d choose someone over me.
I was terrified of what I was capable of doing to the man who tried to take her away, whether she went willingly or not.