Chapter 29
Chapter twenty-nine
Luna
The first rays of morning sunlight filter through my open curtains, pulling me from sleep. My muscles protest with a delicious soreness that brings back memories of last night.
Of him.
I sit up, wincing from the dull throb both between my thighs and deep in my abdomen. The man wasn’t lying. He ravaged my body, leaving it bruised and aching.
After that first orgasm, when he choked me, the relief that I wasn’t dead was so overwhelming that I barely registered him telling me how perfect I was.
I know about erotic asphyxiation, but I’ve never experienced it before.
It’s frightening, not to mention dangerous.
But it’s heart-stopping too. The orgasm I had was so powerful, it felt like my soul left my body, and all I could do in response was sob.
After he laid me back on the table, he brought me to orgasm again with his mouth, then once more with his cock, before carrying me upstairs to my bedroom. He kicked out the babies, Shadow trotting away with a half-hearted growl, before he went down on me again while his body recovered.
What he did to me should be illegal. As I shift and a deeper ache in my ass makes itself known, I think it might be.
Anal sex is not my preference, though I tried it in college a handful of times when I drank too much at frat parties. But I don’t remember my ass hurting this much the next day. Then again, “well-endowed” does not adequately describe my watcher.
The sheet falls away, revealing bruises all over my body, from both his hands and mouth. Hickeys cover my breasts, and a ghostly echo of his touch lingers where his strong fingers left their perfect imprints on my hips. I trace them with my fingertips, a shiver running through me.
Red welts wrap around my wrists, raw and tender to the touch.
But there’s something liberating, almost freeing, about being tied up.
Strange as that sounds. I don’t have to think.
Just feel. And the feeling of him inside me, stretching me, claiming me, was like losing and finding myself all at once.
Shadow lifts his head from his bed in the corner, his amber eyes watching me. He knows what I did. What I let my watcher do to me.
The betrayal I felt at his calm acceptance of my masked watcher resurfaces, but I can’t be mad at him.
My watcher didn’t hurt me. Not really. He could have killed me, but all he did was fulfill his promise to make me come harder and more times than I thought possible.
I didn’t know my body was capable of that kind of pleasure.
Or pain. I shift again, an ache rippling through me.
“You knew he wasn’t a threat, didn’t you?”
Shadow yawns, stretching his massive body before padding over to rest his head on my lap, as if offering comfort or perhaps forgiveness for doubting his judgment.
“Is that why you didn’t wake me? Because you knew I’d want what he did to me?” He only blinks at me. “If he murders me one day, I’m blaming you.”
But I temper my words by hugging him around the neck. I trust my wolf as much as I trust Maren. If he thinks I’m safe, I must be, right?
“But he’s a killer, Shadow.”
I rest my forehead on the top of his, and he nudges my shoulder with his nose, his way of expressing affection.
My thoughts drift back to the wolf mask hiding my watcher’s features. To his mouth, the only part of his face I could see, curving into that dangerous smile. And his voice—God, that voice—scraping against my ears. Nobody’s voice dips that low and rough without effort.
I didn’t ask him again who he was or if he’d take his mask off. I want to know, but I guess we exist in this strange space where intimacy doesn’t require introduction. But what stings more than I care to admit was his refusal to kiss me.
I’ve never had sex without kissing, even with strangers, which I suppose he is.
His denial of that intimacy sits wrong in my chest. As wrong as his refusal to get naked.
He kept all his clothes on, even after we came upstairs to my bedroom.
He just shoved his pants down far enough to free his cock and left everything else buttoned and zipped.
It felt humiliating at first, insulting, like I wasn’t even worth the effort of removing his clothes. Then I remembered the hint of black ink that had peeked above his collar that night on my porch. I bet he’s covered in tattoos, marks he can’t let me see, so I can’t identify him.
It still leaves me hollow inside, an ache that echoes in my chest when I think about it. I love kissing. I love the feel of another person’s mouth on mine, the way breath mingles and becomes something shared.
I release Shadow, and my fingers drift to my hips again, tracing the tender spots where his grip branded me. I should be terrified right now, calling Karen and reinforcing my security system, not sitting here caressing the marks he left on my body like they’re precious gifts.
My hand freezes against my skin. The security system. How did he bypass it?
I reach for my phone on the nightstand. It rings only once.
“Luna.” His voice is smooth and cultured. “To what do I owe the pleasure of an early morning call?”
“Damien, hi.” The words catch in my throat. “I’m sorry to bother you so early, but I’m a little worried about the security system. I’m not sure I armed it correctly last night. Can one of your guys check it when they come back today?”
There’s a brief pause. “Is everything okay? Did something happen?”
“No, no.” My gaze drifts to the marks on my body. “Everything’s fine. I… I don’t know if I paid close enough attention when you showed me how to arm it.”
“I’ll come by and check it for you.”
His immediate willingness to help stirs a warmth that curls beneath my ribs. My fingers tighten around the phone. “I probably should have just asked one of the techs when he got here, but—“
“No, that’s okay. I told you to call me anytime.” His tone remains even, like I haven’t dragged him from sleep at the crack of dawn. “I’m in Denver getting ready for a meeting at nine, but I can stop by around noon. Would that work?”
“That would be perfect. Thank you.”
“Anything for you, Luna. See you soon.”
After we hang up, I slide to the edge of the mattress.
My legs tremble when I try to stand, and I have to brace myself on the nightstand.
When I’m steady, I grab my robe and wrap it around myself before heading to the bathroom.
I look in the mirror, and I’m shocked at the purple fingerprints circling my throat like a twisted necklace.
Shit! That’s going to be a bitch to cover.
My breath catches as memories of him choking me come rushing back. A ripple of desire runs through my body, settling like molten lava between my thighs.
I guess I’m into breath play. Who knew?
No one has ever touched me the way he did, like he was worshiping at an altar. Like my body held secrets he’d waited lifetimes to discover. As if he’d been starving for years, and I was the first real meal he’d tasted.
I step into the shower, letting hot water wash away his scent from my skin. When I’m done, I wipe condensation from the mirror and look closer at myself. My reflection stops me cold. The woman staring back at me looks different. Bruised, branded, exactly like what he promised he’d do to me.
I’ve never been the type of woman who wants to be “claimed” by a man. I’ve built my life around independence and self-reliance. My work at the sanctuary defines me—healing creatures who can’t help themselves and advocating for those who have no voice.
Yet here I am, reveling in the marks left by a man who breaks into houses, leaves dead bodies as “gifts,” and makes me feel more alive than I ever thought possible.
I dress in jeans and another turtleneck that covers the evidence of last night. I have work to do today. Animals to care for and a sanctuary to run. I can’t spend the day lost in these dark, sensual memories.
My phone vibrates with an incoming text as I reach the bottom of the stairs.
Maren
Deer just dropped off. Hit on Rte 16. Stable but needs assessment. When are you coming over?
Me
Be there in 10
Work. Reality. Just what I need.
I feed Shadow and the girls while avoiding the large table that dominates the other side of the kitchen. My gaze keeps sliding toward it anyway. Less than six hours ago, I was spread across its surface. I’ll never be able to eat at it again without thinking of him.
I head out the front door with Shadow at my heels, my eyes drifting toward the treeline. Is he out there now? The thought sends a thrill through me that’s equal parts excitement and apprehension.
I should resist this, whatever this is between us. I should fight against this pull toward a man who represents everything I should fear.
But my body hums with want, despite how wrong I know it is.
For the first time in my carefully controlled life, I want to surrender to this wild, unexplainable connection. I want to fall deeper into this rabbit hole and discover where it leads. I want him, not despite the danger he represents, but perhaps because of it.
Is this what it feels like to be truly awake? To be shaken out of the comfortable numbness I’ve been living in?
As I reach the front door of the sanctuary building, electricity crawls up my spine. I turn to face the woods. The breeze rustles the leaves overhead, and a hawk squawks somewhere in the distance. The air is growing heavy, thick with the scent of impending rain.
“I know you’re there,” I call out, surprising myself with my boldness.
Silence answers me, but I don’t need confirmation. I know he’s watching. My racing heart confirms it, drowning out everything except the weight of unseen eyes.
“There you are!” Maren says as I push through the double doors to the main treatment area. “I was starting to worry.”
“Sorry. I had a late night.” The words scrape against my throat, my voice still hoarse from last night’s… activities.