Chapter 11 #2
“The path splits ahead,” he murmured. “Left leads deeper. Right takes us toward the surface.” His gaze flicked to me, a glimmer of concern crossing his face. “You doing okay?”
My chest seized. “I-I’m fine.”
His eyes lingered on me, too knowing, before he finally turned back. “Then keep close to me.”
As we moved on, the heat in my body only burned brighter. My wolf prowled at the edges of my mind, pressing harder, hungrier. All I could think about was how much longer I could keep myself from breaking.
The further we went, the closer the tunnel walls pressed in. The lantern in Varek’s hand swung a slow circle of light, throwing shadows across damp stone and broken beams. Every drop of water echoed like a footstep, every gust of stale air felt like breath on my neck.
The heat hadn’t faded. It coiled low in my belly, climbed up my spine, and crawled under my skin until I couldn’t breathe without feeling it. My mark pulsed with every heartbeat, like it was mocking me, forever reminding me of the bond.
I clenched my fists, fighting it back. I would not melt into him. I would not let this wolf see me undone.
“You always this sure of yourself?” I asked, my voice a little too high, a little too edgy. “Just stomping through the dark like the world bends around you?”
Varek didn’t glance back. “It doesn’t bend. It breaks for me.”
I snorted, forcing a laugh I didn’t feel. “That’s poetic. Do you practice speeches like that when no one’s looking?”
He didn’t bite. “No.”
A part of me wanted him to. I wanted him to snap, to bare his teeth, to give me a reason to lash out. Anything to match the wildness clawing inside me. Anything to bring him closer to me…
“You know,” I said, letting a smirk tug at my mouth, “for someone who claims to know everything, you sure don’t notice when your mate’s about to collapse from exhaustion. Or maybe you just don’t care.”
That made him stop short.
He turned, the lantern’s glow catching the hard lines of his face. His silver eyes burned through me while my pulse thundered in my ears.
“I do care,” he said, his voice like gravel. “More than you realize.”
I rolled my eyes, even as my chest squeezed. “Then show it. Or don’t bother to pretend.”
I turned to step past him, but his arm shot out, blocking me. My back hit the damp wall, the stone cold against my spine. His body loomed close, the heat of him cutting through the chill air.
Then he put the lantern down, painting us both in chiaroscuro.
“You want me to show it?” His voice was even rougher now, like he was dragging his claws across sandpaper.
My breath caught, my wolf prowling under my skin, thrilled at the cage of his body, but my mind refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing me surrender even just the tiniest bit.
So I tilted my chin up, still smirking. “Maybe.”
His gaze raked over me, down to the healing mark on my shoulder, back to my eyes. He was vibrating with restraint, the tension in him tight as a bowstring.
“Careful, little wolf,” he growled softly.
I leaned into the wall, daring, the sass sharp in my voice. “Or what?”
The air was molten between us, thick enough I could taste it. His body boxed me in, pale eyes cutting through the dark, every inch of him coiled like a predator on the edge.
“Or what?” I whispered again, daring him directly.
His jaw clenched and his breath came hot against my lips. For a second, I thought he might step back, leash himself again, but then something in him broke.
He snapped forward and kissed me.
It wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t patient. His mouth crashed into mine, hard, and I gasped against him. My hands were pinned at my sides, pressed into the stone, but the second I wriggled free, I grabbed fistfuls of his shirt and yanked him closer.
The kiss burned. It tasted of blood and smoke, of salt and iron and everything that had brought us here. His teeth grazed my lip, my tongue met his, and for a dizzying heartbeat, I didn’t know if I was kissing him back or trying to devour him.
I broke the kiss first, panting, my head thudding against the cold wall. My chest heaved, my whole body aching with the fire rolling under my skin, and I tried to draw in a breath.
Varek didn’t back off. Suddenly, his big hands were on me, one curled around the back of my neck, the other sliding under the hem of my shirt, rough fingertips skimming the bare skin of my hip right above the pants that were at least three sizes too big.
I arched into him, shameless, desperate. “Varek…”
His name on my tongue was a plea. I didn’t even know what I was begging for. More, or less, or to just let the heat inside me burn itself out until there was nothing left of me but ash and bones.
His mouth dipped to the line of my throat, teeth grazing skin. He growled against me, the sound almost inhuman, and every nerve in my body sparked to life. “You want me to show it?”
I shuddered. “Yes.”
He pulled me away from the wall, his grip on my neck sliding into my hair. His fingers twisted in the strands, gentle but firm, and he tugged my head back, forcing me to bare my throat to him.
I swallowed hard. “Please—”
His mouth found the mark on my shoulder, and the feel of his tongue dragging over it sent goosebumps shivering over my whole body.
The sensation ripped through me, my wolf howling in bliss as my knees buckled.
My legs almost gave way, but he caught me easily, his big hands pulling me up, holding me against him.
His teeth scraped my mark. I shook, nails digging into his shoulders.
He lifted his head, his eyes meeting mine, bright and wild. “You’re my mate. It’s time that I show you what that truly means.”
He pulled my hair, tilting my head. Then he dipped down and kissed me, slow and deep, his tongue sliding against mine until I moaned into his mouth.
His hand slid higher under my shirt, palm splaying across my stomach. I trembled, every inch of me burning with the need to have him closer, to have him take me, claim me, and make me his in all the ways I needed.
Then his palm found my breast, his thumb circling my nipple until it hardened under his touch. I gasped, my back arching, and his mouth dipped to the line of my throat, his teeth grazing my skin, marking me with every kiss.
“I’ll give you everything,” he growled in my ear. “I’ll give you the world, the stars, the moon, the sun. All of it.”
My hips bucked forward, pressing into him, my wolf singing at the promise in his voice.
I could feel the hard length of him straining through his pants, and every inch of me screamed out for him to take me right there, up against the stone wall, on the stone floor, without mercy.
I slid my hands over his shoulders, trying to volley for control, but he didn’t let me take it.
He yanked my hair harder, and I hissed at the harsh pain on my scalp, but there was a rush of pleasure that followed it.
“I’ll give you everything,” he said again, his voice deeper, gravelly. “But you need to give me one thing.”
I bit down on my lower lip, my chest aching. “Anything.”
His eyes met mine, silver and fierce. “Your surrender.”
My stomach twisted, my wolf howling, but my mind resisted. Surrender? Give in? Let him win?
My voice came out shaky, raw. “I don’t—”
His fingers tightened in my hair. “Submit to me, Mariah. It’s what your body wants. What your wolf needs.”
He was right. I hated how right he was. The bond between us demanded it. The mark on my shoulder ached for it. Every instinct in my body told me to submit to him, to let go, to break apart under his hands, but still my mind fought against it.
My nails dug into his shoulders. “You can fuck me. But I’m not going to surrender.”
A flash of something dangerous flickered in his eyes. “You will.”
A shiver ran down my spine.
“I won’t,” I protested.
His hand raised and he cuffed my cheek with the flat of his palm, not really hard enough to sting, but enough to get my attention.
“The next one is going to sting a little more. I’m your alpha and you will submit to me,” he rumbled.
He slapped my cheek again, this time hard enough to sting a little bit. My pussy clenched down hard. I felt his cock twitch against my thigh. He was enjoying this, making me submit, but so was I.
He grabbed a fistful of my hair and pulled my head to the side. His lips crushed mine, and his tongue invaded my mouth. He kissed me deeply, claiming my mouth. Then he broke away.
“Submit to me.”
I looked up into his eyes. I could see that he was trying to remain in control, but his eyes betrayed his own rampant arousal.
He slid his fingers down the line of my throat, between my breasts and further still until he reached the hem of my shirt.
I tried to buck him off, but I only succeeded in allowing him access to the waistline of my pants.
Since they were too big for me, Varek slipped his hand in with ease.
I tried to push his hand away, but he was too strong, and he cupped my pussy as though he owned it already.
“If you don’t want to submit, I will take you by force. I will fuck you as a wolf does, and make you beg for release.”
I could feel myself growing wet at his words. He was going to make me beg for it, and he was going to love every minute of it, but I was going to enjoy it right along with him.
He kissed my neck and nipped my skin. His hands were rough and callused from years of hard work. Then his fingers brushed over my clit, and I gasped.
“Are you going to beg me to stop?”
“No,” I whispered, my voice hoarse.
“Are you going to beg me to fuck you?”
“Also no,” I said proudly.
He pushed two fingers inside of me, stretching me wide. I cried out, my back arching off the wall, but his hand kept me in place, his fingers working in and out of me. I could feel his palm against my clit, rubbing in slow circles as he thrust into me.
“Do you think you can resist me?” he asked in a low, seductive tone.
“I’ll try,” I whimpered as he pushed his fingers deeper into me.