Chapter 6 #6
His body pressed fully against mine while one of my hands grabbed his collar hard enough to pull him even closer. The kiss deepened instantly after that, all heat and frustration and weeks of almost-touching finally collapsing into something dangerous.
The room felt too warm. Or maybe that was just him.My demon made a rough sound low in his throat when I pulled at his hair again, and the reaction alone nearly ruined me. Then his hands slid lower, gripping my thighs hard enough to lift me effortlessly against him.
The movement startled a breathless sound out of me. His eyes darkened instantly at the noise.
“Oh,” he said softly. “You like that.”
“That sounded smug.”
“You’re sitting in my hands right now.”
God.
I hated him.
Unfortunately I needed him painfully now.
My legs tightened instinctively around his waist while his grip stayed firm against my thighs, holding me perfectly against him like the position belonged there naturally.
And the tension between us became significantly worse.Because now every tiny movement mattered.
Every breath. Every shift is closer. Every rough kiss.
His forehead pressed briefly against mine while both of us tried and failed to breathe normally.
“This,” he murmured quietly, “is significantly harder than I imagined.”
“You’re literally a demon prince.”
“Yes.”
“You’re supposed to have self-control.”
“That was before I dreamt about you climbing into my lap painfully for weeks .”
I laughed once against his mouth before kissing him again. Bad decision. Because this time he lost the remaining thread of patience completely. His grip tightened sharply while he walked us backward toward the massive bed near the center of the room without breaking the kiss once.
The back of my knees hit the mattress first before he leaned over me, one hand planted beside my head while the other still held tightly against my waist. The position should have felt intimidating.
Instead it felt electric. Because the look in his eyes right now wasn’t cold.
It wasn't cruel. It was hunger. Focused entirely on me.
“You have no idea,” he said softly while staring directly into my eyes, “how difficult it has been pretending I didn’t want this every second.”
Something about the honesty in his voice hit harder than the actual touching.
Because I remembered: the apartment. the hoodies.
the strawberries. the quiet domestic moments.
He’d wanted me through all of it. God. I grabbed the front of his shirt again before pulling him down into another kiss hard enough to interrupt his thoughts completely.
Good. His composure deserved to suffer too. The kiss turned messy while his hand slid beneath the loosened fabric at my waist, fingertips brushing against bare skin for the first time tonight.
The contact sent heat rushing through me instantly.
And judging by the sharp inhale he took against my mouth,it affected him too.
Then without thinking, I shifted closer against him.
Tiny movement.Still, his entire body tensed afterwards.
His forehead dropped briefly against mine while one rough breath escaped him.
“…Eva.”
The warning in his voice only made my pulse worse.
“What,” I whispered innocently.
“That was not innocent.”
“That sounds like an assumption.”
His eyes lifted back to mine. Dangerous again. Completely wrecked. And for the first time all night, restraint no longer seemed like an option.
The silver firelight flickered softly across the room while his body stayed pressed over mine, one hand gripping my waist hard enough to keep every breath between us uneven.Neither of us was thinking clearly anymore.
That much became painfully obvious the second I moved against him again.
Roughly now,his entire body reacted instantly.
A rough sound escaped him low in his throat before his forehead dropped briefly against my shoulder like he was trying to survive his own self-control collapsing in real time.
I tilted my head slightly, fingers sliding through the dark hair at the back of his neck. “You’re losing composure again.”
“You are actively causing the problem.”
“That sounds like blame.”
“It is to blame.”
Then his hands tightened against my thighs again before pulling me closer against him with enough force to make my pulse jump. The friction alone nearly destroyed every remaining coherent thought in my head. God. The room felt too hot. Or maybe that was just him.
Because now every movement between us carried unbearable tension. Slow pressure. Sharp breathing. His mouth against my throat while his hands held me firmly enough that I could feel how badly he was struggling not to completely lose control.
His lips brushed beneath my jaw again before he murmured quietly against my skin:
“You have no idea what you do to me.”
The roughness in his voice sent heat straight through me instantly.
“Sounds dramatic.”
“You are grinding against me while saying that.”
Oh. Right. I had been. The realization should have embarrassed me. Instead it only made me want to do it again. So I did it again.
His reaction was immediate. His entire body tensed sharply before one hand slid hard into my hair, tilting my head back while he kissed me again like he’d finally stopped caring about behaving at all.
My hands grabbed onto his shoulders instinctively while the tension between us spiraled worse with every breathless movement against each other.
And he pulled back a little but still close enough that our breathing tangled together.
But enough space to stop us both before things completely disappeared beyond recovery.
For one second neither of us spoke. His dark eyes were half-lidded. His breathing had turned uneven. His hands still gripped my waist like letting go would hurt him. Then, quietly, dangerously he said:
“If I continue right now, I am not stopping.”
The words settled hot and heavy through the room. I stared up at him while my heartbeat absolutely betrayed me.
“And that’s bad because…”
Something possessive flashed sharply across his expression.
“Because,” he said, “when I fully make you mine, it will happen correctly.”
His thumb brushed against my waist beneath the loosened fabric of the dress while his gaze stayed locked completely onto mine.
“With my name on you,” he continued quietly. “After the mating ceremony.”
God. The intensity in his voice when he said it , made my entire chest tighten painfully. Not controlling. Certain. Like he already saw a future where I belonged beside him completely and it terrified him how much he wanted it.
The realization softened something inside me before I could stop it. His expression changed after noticing. Of course it did. Then more gently this time, his hand lifted to my face.
“You deserve the choice properly,” he murmured softly. “Not because we lost control for one night.”
And there it was again. The difference. Before, he’d hidden choices from me. Now he kept placing them back in my hands no matter how badly he wanted me. That felt more intimate than half the things we’d just done.
I stared at him quietly for a second before muttering, “You’re being respectful again. It’s truly inconvenient.”
A small laugh escaped him softly. Real this time. Warm enough that it made my stomach twist embarrassingly. Then finally he stepped back slightly before helping me sit upright properly against the edge of the bed.
The room was completely destroyed now. My hair was messy. His coat wrinkled. The dress half loosened around my shoulders. And seeing the damage made heat rise right back into my face again. My demon noticed my changes.
“You’re blushing.”
“No I’m not.”
“You absolutely are.”
“That sounds fictional.”
The corner of his mouth lifted again before he moved behind me quietly. Then carefully,much softer now,he started fastening the loosened clasps along the back of my dress again. The contrast nearly killed me.
Minutes ago his hands were gripping my thighs hard enough to make me dizzy. Now he was fixing my clothes like something precious. The gentleness felt worse. His fingers brushed lightly against my back while silver fire crackled softly through the room around us.
Neither of us spoke for a few seconds. Then quietly behind me, he admitted: “You have made me pathetically possessive."
Our eyes met in the mirror. “That sounds unhealthy.”
“It is deeply unhealthy.”
“That’s fair.”
The final clasp closed softly beneath his fingers before he smoothed one hand down my arm afterward like he couldn’t quite stop touching me yet. Honestly? I understood the feeling. Then he reached beside the bed, picked up my shoes, and crouched in front of me without a word.
I blinked once.
“…What are you doing?”
“You are not walking barefoot through the palace after what just happened in this room.”
“That sentence sounded threatening.”
“It was.”
But despite the calm answer, he still carefully slipped the shoes back onto my feet one by one with slow deliberate movements that made my chest ache unexpectedly. It felt too domestic. Way too domestic.
When he finally met my eyes again, his expression had softened into something quieter. The distance I'd grown used to was gone. All that remained was quiet, painful certainty. Then he held one hand out to me again.
I stared at his hand for one brief second before taking it. They were warm and familiar. And together, we walked back toward the palace chaos waiting outside the bedroom doors.
Chapter 27
Eva POV
The second the doors opened, the entire hallway went dead silent. Every servant outside froze where they stood. One nearly dropped a silver tray before it crashed loudly onto the floor anyway. Another turned too quickly, panicked, and walked straight into the wall beside them.
I barely made it three steps into the hallway before Nina appeared from the opposite corridor carrying a glass of something glowing silver. Then she stopped dead.