Chapter 16-Amrin
Sten slowed his pace and faced me.
His eyes glowed an impossible blue and once again I was struck by how intense his stare was.
I had never been the object of one man’s attention like this.
Not once in my entire life.
Not by men back home.
Not by the few and far between awkward dates arranged by my mother who spent most of dinner pretending not to notice my body before trying to grope me in parking lots afterward.
Not by the lonely mistakes I’d made in my twenties when I wanted affection badly enough to settle for crumbs of attention.
No one had ever looked at me like I was precious.
Desired.
Chosen.
But Sten?
Sten looked at me like I was the answer to a question he’d been asking the universe for years.
His black hair fell messily around his face, softening the sharp severity of his features just enough to make him look almost approachable. Almost.
Because there was nothing truly approachable about this man—this Monster.
Sten.
Not with those four horns curving from his head like a dark celestial crown.
Not with those glowing cobalt eyes that looked capable of swallowing entire galaxies whole.
Not with the sheer overwhelming presence that rolled off him in waves.
He muted himself.
I knew he did.
Somehow.
Like he deliberately wrapped chains around his power to keep the world from seeing exactly what he was capable of.
And maybe that should have frightened me.
Instead, it fascinated me.
Drew me closer.
“Luna?” he said softly when I swayed.
The nickname wrapped around my body like velvet and heat.
Then the burning started.
Sharp.
Sudden.
My chest seized hard enough to steal the breath from my lungs.
“Ah—”
Pain exploded beneath my ribs.
No.
Not pain exactly.
Something stranger.
Hotter.
Like lightning had suddenly struck directly through my sternum.
Black dots burst behind my vision as I clutched my chest with one hand, gasping while heat spread downward through my body in violent waves.
What the fuck was this?
Tears blurred my eyesight instantly.
I could hear Sten moving toward me.
Fast.
Too fast for something that size to move so silently.
Then strong arms caught me before my knees hit the floor.
“Luna.”
His voice sounded deeper now.
Rougher.
Possessive panic threading beneath every syllable.
I blinked hard trying to focus on him through the haze clouding my vision.
The heat spread lower.
My stomach.
My hips.
Then deeper.
Straight between my thighs.
“Oh fuck,” I whimpered aloud.
The sensation intensified instantly.
Pins and needles erupted beneath my skin while my entire body suddenly felt too sensitive.
My nipples tightened painfully beneath my sweater.
My thighs trembled around a deep aching pulse of need I didn’t remotely understand.
Electricity cracked through the air around us.
Blue sparks burst wildly from my fingertips.
Like my magic had suddenly awakened after sleeping too long.
I jerked instinctively, terrified I might hurt him.
But Sten only held me tighter.
Mine.
The thought hit me hard and fast.
Not because he said it.
Because I felt it.
Something inside me was responding to him.
Recognizing him.
Wanting him.
I heard a door slam. Someone else’s eyes on us.
“What is it?” I heard Professor Kenna ask distantly.
Everything sounded muffled.
Far away.
Like the entire world was fading except for him.
Sten’s arms.
Sten’s scent.
Sten’s glowing eyes fixed entirely on me.
“Mine,” he growled.
The word vibrated through me physically.
Gods.
The heat between my thighs intensified sharply at the sound.
“Menon—Sten, you must be sure.”
“I am sure. She is mine.”
Mine.
There was that word again.
The possessiveness in his voice should have scared me.
Instead, something needy inside me practically purred at hearing it.
Then suddenly we were moving.
Fast.
Sten swept me fully into his arms like I weighed nothing, cradling me tightly against his chest as he strode down the corridor.
No.
Not strode.
Something stranger.
The shadows themselves seemed to curl around us.
I blinked hard against the burning haze clouding my mind and swore I saw darkness physically respond to him—as though the shadows beneath the windows and corners of Runevald bent toward Sten willingly.
Like they knew him.
Like they belonged to him.
And somehow?
That felt right.
It should have terrified me.
Instead, all I could think about was how good his body felt against mine.
Hard muscle.
Heat.
The deep rumbling growl vibrating constantly through his chest.
And gods—his scent.
It was growing stronger.
Lavender.
Spice.
Smoke.
Midnight.
The smell wrapped around me until every breath tasted like him.
I whimpered his name softly against his throat.
Actually whimpered.
Humiliation should have followed.
It didn’t.
Because I needed something desperately now.
Something only he seemed capable of giving me.
“I got you,” he whispered against my hair.
And I believed him immediately.
That was the terrifying part.
I trusted Sten more after two weeks than I trusted most people I’d known my entire life.
More than my sisters.
More than the Coven.
Maybe even more than myself.
I buried my face against his chest as the world blurred around us.
Trees.
Stone towers.
Moonlight.
Everything smeared into streaks of shadow and silver.
I thought I felt him pull darkness around us like a living cloak.
And instead of fear—relief hit me.
Because the darkness around Sten never felt cold.
It felt safe.
Like hiding beneath heavy blankets during thunderstorms.
Like belonging somewhere hidden from the rest of the world.
By the time we reached his quarters I was trembling so hard I could barely breathe properly.
The ache between my thighs had become unbearable.
Need pulsed through my bloodstream in hot violent waves while magic crackled wildly around my fingertips.
I didn’t understand what was happening to me.
Only that every instinct screamed for him.
Sten laid me down on his bed carefully.
Then he followed me immediately.
His mouth crashed against mine hard enough to steal the breath from my lungs.
And gods—relief.
Immediate overwhelming relief.
The burning inside me softened the second he kissed me.
Like my body recognized him as the cure to something ancient and starving.
I moaned helplessly into his mouth.
This.
This felt right.
Not logical.
Not sane.
Just right.
I reached for him desperately, needing him closer.
Need stronger than embarrassment.
Stronger than fear.
But Sten caught himself above me instead, massive body hovering over mine while his breathing turned rough and uneven.
Beautiful.
Gods.
He looked beautiful like this.
Dangerous blue skin glowing beneath moonlight spilling through his windows. Horns silhouetted against shadows.
Eyes burning impossibly bright while power rolled visibly from him in waves.
Not human.
Not even close.
Sten was a Monster—that was true.
But he was my Monster.
Mine.
The thought came instantly.
Terrifyingly naturally.
“You must be sure, Luna,” he said roughly. “Once I do this, it cannot be undone.”
I barely understood him.
Electricity flashed between our bodies in tiny blue arcs.
His dark hair shifted like wind moved through it though the room stood completely still.
Magic.
Real magic.
And somehow my body responded to it instinctively.
Power stirred painfully beneath my skin like something long asleep finally waking up.
“What will it be, Luna?” he growled softly. “Will you let me have you? Will you accept my claim?”
The words wrapped around me like hands.
My entire body tightened.
Because no one had ever asked me that way before.
Not like I mattered.
Not like consent itself was sacred.
I flexed beneath him unconsciously, desperate for friction.
For contact.
For him.
“Yes,” I breathed.
I wanted him.
All of him.
And maybe that should have frightened me more considering how little I actually understood about Sten or what he was.
But every instinct inside me had already chosen.
Now.
I wanted him now.
“Words,” he growled. “Tell me.”
“Yes, Sten,” I whispered desperately. “You can have me. I-I accept your claim.”
Something dark and possessive flashed across his face.
Then he kissed me again.
Hard.
Demanding.
His tongue plunged deep into my mouth while his huge body settled over mine fully at last, and every inch of me lit up in response.
I tugged frantically at his shirt.
Needed skin.
Needed heat.
Needed more.
Sten understood immediately.
Of course he did.
Between rough kisses and gasping breaths and deep inhuman growls, our clothes disappeared piece by piece until his heated blue skin pressed fully against mine.
The contact nearly made me cry.
Warm.
Gods.
He was so warm.
I looked downward helplessly, fascinated by the contrast between us.
My pale soft body beneath his massive cerulean frame.
His thick cock heavy between my thighs before he’d even entered me.
I could feel him there already.
Big.
Hot.
Intimidating.
Exciting.
“Fuck, Luna,” he groaned roughly, palming my breasts reverently before lowering his mouth to lick slowly across one aching nipple.
Pleasure shot straight through me.
I arched helplessly.
He looked at me like he couldn’t stop.
Like he physically needed to see every inch of me.
And maybe that should have made me self-conscious.
Instead—it made me feel beautiful.
For the first time in my life, I wasn’t thinking about my stomach or thighs or softness or whether I looked flattering from certain angles.
Sten erased all of that with one look.
Because he wanted me exactly like this.
Soft.
Curvy.
Open beneath him.
And for the first time in my life I felt truly desired.
The realization nearly overwhelmed me.
Then he spread my legs wider.
And stared.
Actually stared at my pussy like it fascinated him.
Like it was something gorgeous instead of embarrassing.
My entire face burned.
“No man has ever touched you here?” he asked roughly.
I shook my head immediately, unable to speak.