Chapter 36
When I wake, my body has grown stiff from being coiled into a tight ball, and the silk sheets that once felt like butter against my skin, now feel like a blanket of ice.
I toss them back, immediately getting hit with a wintry breeze that cuts straight to my bones as I glance over to see the glass doors leading out to the balcony wide open.
Thane is standing in only his sweats, overlooking the garden with his hands clasped tightly behind his back.
It must be the middle of the night.
I glance around for a blanket or something to wrap myself in, but there are only the cold covers I just peeled off. I spit a curse as I abandon the bed and head for the balcony, assaulted by vicious slaps of glacial wind.
“Thane, what are you doing?” I step out onto the stone balcony, and my feet feel like they’re wearing blocks of ice.
When he doesn’t reply or even look at me, I reach for his arm, but just as my fingertips brush against his skin, he whips around with a hiss. I stagger back, seeing his eyes dilated and fangs extended, but he catches my wrist and pulls me into him, running his hand down the side of my face.
“You’re driving me mad, Grey.” His voice is rough, and another kind of chill runs straight through me.
“It’s not me. It’s the bond,” I try to tell him, as I fight against his tight hold.
Thane’s gaze drops to my chest, where my nipples are on full display despite being covered by the silk nightgown. Without warning, he darts into the bedroom, pinning me against the wall next to his bed with one hand on my waist and the other knotted in my hair.
“It’s not the bond. It’s you.” He tilts his head down, breathing me in.
“It’s your scent. And your mismatched eyes.
” He pulls away and runs his thumb across my bottom lip, heating it with his touch.
“It’s your wicked tongue and defiant attitude.
” His hand falls to my side, where his thumb grazes the side of my breast, making my nipples ache.
“And it’s your sinful body that’s driving me to insanity. ”
“It’s just the lust coming from the mark. I feel it too, but we have to fight it.” His hands grip my waist, and I wrap my hands around them, intending to pry them off, but instead my hands linger as my will slips away.
“I don’t want to fight it,” he breathes into the curve of my neck. “I want to run my tongue down the center of you and devour you until your legs shake.”
An inferno consumes me within a split second as his words fill my mind with dark fantasies.
“Thane,” I whisper, as my fingernails dig into him. It’s both a warning and a plea, my mind and body battling against one another.
His fangs scrape against my skin, taunting me.
“I’ve tasted your blood, but it’s not enough.
” He steps closer, pressing his body to mine, so I can feel how hard he is.
“I want to know how your lips taste when you moan.” His lips brush against the side of my face, sending a shudder through my body.
“I want to know how your tongue tastes when it’s tangled with mine.
” His hand that was on my waist, reaches back and grabs a handful of my ass, drawing a gasp from me.
“And I want to know how you taste when your body is writhing from pleasure only I can bring.”
Any last bit of restraint I had goes up in flames, and I wrap my hands around the back of his neck, pulling his mouth to mine.
Fiery heat chases away the cold as his tongue slips between my lips, sending my lower half pulsing with need.
His kisses taste like dirty thoughts and bad decisions, tempting me into a trap I know I won’t be able to escape.
As if to make that point clear, Thane’s fangs pierce my bottom lip.
The delicious pain only lasts a second before he sucks it away, leaving me aching for more.
While my right hand clutches his hair, I let my left one drift to his jaw so that I can run my thumb along its sharp edge, appreciating the work of art this man is.
Suddenly, Thane picks me up, and I instinctively wrap my legs around him, pulling him closer as my pulse races.
While my tongue fights for dominance, his hands find their way beneath my silk nightgown, clutching my ass like it’s the only thing keeping him from losing control of the beast within.
His hard cock presses against my aching pussy as he pushes me harder against the wall, closing any distance left between us.
Everything about this moment is overwhelming, but no part of me wants it to stop.
Wild passion engulfs the two of us, and it feels like I’m burning alive as my body begs for more of him.
A pleading moan spills from my lips, and Thane answers with one of his own, making my heart soar.
I’m so caught up in the heat of the moment, I don’t even notice that he’s walked us over to the bed until my ass sinks into the mattress.
Thane pulls away, his eyes a black vortex of hunger, like he’s this other version of himself now.
One that he’s kept locked away until this very moment.
His hands move up the sides of my body, taking the nightgown with them.
He tosses the silk dress on the floor, and my pulse spikes as his gaze wanders slowly down my body, taking in the bare sight of me.
His eyes finally reach the black lace, concealing the part of me that is dripping with need, and a feral growl rips from his throat.
His eyes snap up to meet mine, and my breath catches, seeing the intensity behind them as he drops to his knees and throws my legs over his shoulders.
“When you come, I want you to scream my name.”
The Alpha in his voice makes my stomach flutter uncontrollably, and as he brands a trail of kisses up the inside of my thigh, I take my time, drinking in the view. I fall back onto the bed when he drags me to the edge like a predator ready to feast on his prey.
Without warning, I feel something sharp against my skin and gasp when I look down to find his claws running down the length of my stomach. The feel of their lethal touch makes my back arch, and for a moment, Thane goes completely still.
“Keep going,” I beg, as the throbbing below intensifies to the point my vision begins to blur.
Thane answers my plea, tearing through the lace with his sharp fangs just like how I had dreamt the first night I stayed in his bed.
“You’re soaking wet,” he growls with a hint of dark satisfaction.
“That’s what you do to me,” I breathe, clutching the icy sheets.
“Good,” he purrs. “Because you make me so hard, I could come without even touching myself.” My hips buck at his confession, my lower half demanding his attention. “Patience, Grey. I want to savor you for as long as I can.”
“I thought you promised to stop torturing me.”
“This is how you make me feel every time I’m around you.” His glowing eyes bore into me from where he’s knelt between my thighs, and I swear it’s the best view I’ve ever seen. “Now lay back like a good girl.”
My head melts into the bed while his tongue scores a path to the part of me aching with overwhelming need.
It feels like I’ve been doused in gasoline and set alight each time his lips meet my skin and pull away, drawing out the pleasure in a way that is almost painful.
It’s like he’s taking all the time in the world to reach his destination, and every inch of me longs for him to hurry.
Eventually, I realize he’s toying with me.
Using this opportunity to remind me that he’s the one in control.
But he’s not my Alpha, and I’m not one to follow orders.
If he wants to play this game, then I’ll play it better.
I sit up on my palms to pull away, but he catches my hips before I get far.
“What are you doing?” he growls, like I just took away his favorite toy.
“You clearly don’t know how to please a woman,” I bait with a smug look I know will provoke him.
He shoots up from his knees and pushes me back into the mattress with his hand wrapped around my throat.
“You’re going to regret ever saying that,” he threatens, crashing his lips into mine. His grip tightens as he lifts me by the neck, claiming my kiss even more brutally.
When he pulls away there’s determination burning behind his eyes, and it sends a white hot current shooting straight down to my toes.
“Open your mouth.”
I do as he says, eagerly submitting in hopes that I’ll be rewarded for it this time, and when he spits into my mouth like a savage, I savor the taste of him on my tongue.
He releases my throat, and I fall back just as I’m dragged to the edge of the bed once again.
This time, there are no teasing kisses as he slides his tongue up the center of me, tasting my want for him.
His arms remain tightly wrapped around my thighs, caging his head between them like he has no desire to be set free.
And I have to admit, I quite like the idea of him being the prisoner for once.
My breath hitches in my throat when his lips begin to suck on my clit, fueling my desperation even more.
I’ve dreamt of this moment so many times, but none of them could have prepared me for the real thing.
Every touch he grants me feels like a gift I should be on my knees thanking him for, and maybe soon, I’ll get the chance to do just that.
His tongue begins to caress the part of my body that has fallen prey to him, teasing me and satisfying me all at the same time.
It’s torture and pleasure, and it’s impossible not to be completely consumed by each delicious stroke of his tongue.
Suddenly, I feel the sharp points of his fangs running down the middle of me.
The fine touch of them makes me writhe, and Thane clutches my thighs to keep me from moving.
While he holds me prisoner, sinful thoughts of his hard cock fill my mind, making me want to see for myself just how much he wants me.