Chapter 4 #2
Adonis had left without a word, his urgency speaking volumes. Aeolus trusted him—trusted all of them—to do what was necessary. They were Stavros. They hunted together, protected together. And now, they would bring her sister home.
But until then, his only focus was Candy.
She stood across the room, her gaze distant, worry written in every line of her face. Aeolus could see it—the way she clenched her fingers, the tension in her shoulders, the way she was holding herself together with sheer will.
She needed a distraction.
She needed him.
He pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it aside before turning to her, his blue eyes dark, hungry. “Come here.”
Candy blinked, startled out of her thoughts. Her gaze flicked to the steaming bath, then back to him. “Aeolus, I don’t think—”
“You think too much,” he murmured, closing the space between them in one slow, deliberate step. His fingers trailed down her arm, leaving goosebumps in their wake. “Let me take care of you.”
Her breath hitched.
She searched his face, her hazel eyes filled with something vulnerable, something raw. “I don’t know how to stop worrying,” she admitted.
Aeolus cupped her face, tilting it up to meet his. “Then let me make you forget for a little while.”
A flicker of hesitation crossed her face before she exhaled, slowly nodding.
That was all he needed.
He stepped back, his gaze never leaving her as his fingers moved to the hem of her shirt.
She swallowed but didn’t look away as he lifted it—slowly, deliberately, savoring the sight of every inch of smooth, brown skin he uncovered.
Aeolus’s jaw clenched, his wolf growling with hunger.
She was perfect.
His fingers skimmed over her curves, tracing down her sides as he pushed her shorts down next, letting them pool at her feet. The sight of her—bare, vulnerable, trusting him—made something dark and primal coil in his chest.
His blue eyes locked onto hers, his voice thick. “Get in.”
Candy shivered, but it wasn’t from the cold. Without a word, she stepped into the tub, sinking into the warmth with a sigh.
Aeolus watched her, every muscle in his body taut as he followed her in, lowering himself behind her. The hot water did nothing to cool the fire raging in his blood.
His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her back against his chest, his lips brushing the sensitive spot beneath her ear.
“Relax,” he whispered.
But as his hands began to roam, as his lips found her skin, as his hunger turned into something deeper, something claiming, he knew—
Neither of them would be getting much rest tonight.
* * *
Candy melted against him, a soft moan escaping her lips as Aeolus’s hands roamed over her body.
The heat of the water enveloped them, but it was his touch that scorched her skin.
His calloused fingers trailed over the curves of her breasts, her stomach, dipping lower until she was trembling with need.
“Aeolus,” she breathed, arching into him.
A rumbling growl vibrated against her back as his mouth found the sensitive spot where her neck met her shoulder. His teeth grazed her skin, sending a shiver of delicious anticipation down her spine.
“I’ve got you,” he murmured, his voice a deep, primal rasp.
She turned her head, seeking his lips, and he granted her wish with a searing kiss that stole her breath. His tongue delved into her mouth, claiming her, branding her with his taste. Candy fisted her hands in his hair, holding him close as she returned the heated embrace with equal fervor.
Aeolus’s hands continued their sensual exploration, lighting her nerves on fire everywhere he touched. When his fingers delved between her thighs, stroking her slick folds, she cried out against his mouth. Her nails raked down his chest as pleasure pulsed through her core.
Breaking the kiss, Aeolus nipped along her jawline. “That’s it, malista,” he purred, the endearment rolling off his tongue. “Let go for me.”
His thumb circled her swollen bud, drawing desperate whimpers from her lips. Candy rocked against his hand, chasing that delicious friction. She was drowning in the sensations he stoked within her—the glide of his skin, the scent of their mingled arousal, the scorching lap of the water.
But it still wasn’t enough.
“Aeolus, please,” she gasped, not caring how wrecked she sounded. She needed him, all of him.
With a low, possessive snarl, he gripped her hips and spun her around, pinning her against the tiled wall. His eyes burned with primal hunger as he drank in the sight of her—hair plastered to her skin, lips swollen from his kisses, chest heaving with each ragged breath.
“Look at you,” he growled, dragging his gaze over every inch of her trembling form. “So responsive. So needy for me.”
Candy could only whimper in response, her core throbbing with emptiness now that his fingers were gone. She rolled her hips, silently begging him to fill that aching void.
Aeolus tsked, curling one large hand around the back of her neck to hold her still. “Patience, love. I’ll give you what you need.”
The blunt head of his arousal nudged her slick entrance, and they both groaned at the tantalizing promise of that first thrust. Candy clutched at the tiles, bracing herself as he slowly pushed forward, the delicious burn of the stretch stoking her desire ever higher.
Soon he was sheathed to the hilt, their bodies sealed together as one. He stilled for a heartbeat, his forehead pressed to hers as they simply breathed each other in. Then his hips snapped forward in a punishing rhythm, driving her against the unforgiving wall again and again.
“Yes!” she cried out, meeting each powerful surge with greedy abandon. “Aeolus, oh gods!”
This was what she craved—his possession, his dominance, his body claiming hers with each punishing stroke. Candy surrendered to it, to him, letting the pleasure crest over her in dizzying waves.
Aeolus’s grip on her neck tightened, holding her in place as he ravaged her. “You’re mine,” he snarled against her lips. “Mine to take, to pleasure, to ruin utterly.”
Those feral words, paired with the scorching slide of his cock, shattered what little control she had left. Candy flew apart on a broken scream, her inner muscles convulsing around his thick length as her climax shuddered through her.
Aeolus groaned as Candy’s release milked his shaft, her slick walls rippling around him in exquisite spasms. He plunged deeper, chasing his own euphoria with wild, erratic thrusts.
“That’s it, mate,” he growled through gritted teeth. “Take everything I give you.”
Her whimpers filled his ears, sweet music begging him onward. With a guttural roar, he found his peak, emptying himself in hot spurts that painted her inner walls. Only when the last tremor faded did he slowly withdraw, his breath sawing in and out.
Candy sagged bonelessly against the tiles, utterly spent. Aeolus caught her before she could slide down, gathering her pliant form into his arms. He carried her to the bed and gently laid her down, brushing the sweat-soaked curls from her brow.
“Rest now,” he murmured, pressing a tender kiss to her forehead. As she drifted into a sated sleep, he curled himself around her protectively, holding her close through the night.
In the morning, they would continue their fight. But for this moment, he simply basked in the contentment of having his heart’s desire, his destiny, by his side at last.
* * *
Adonis moved through the night like a beast loosed from its cage.
The city blurred around him, a smear of shadows and concrete as his wolf surged beneath his skin. He didn’t feel the cold. Didn’t register the wind clawing at him or the pounding of his bare feet against the ground.
There was only one thing in his head.
Her.
His mate.
Her voice still echoed in his ears from the phone call—confident, cutting, sirensweet. That voice hadn’t just settled under his skin.
It had claimed him.
And now?
He needed her in his sight. In his arms. Beneath his teeth.
His golden wolf burst through the last block in a flash of fur and fury, and then—there.
A rundown building sat like a bruise against the street, forgotten and half-collapsed.
He didn’t hesitate.
He shifted mid-stride—bones snapping, fur vanishing, body snapping back to human with a roar of magic.
Naked. Wild. Perfectly unbothered.
He kicked in the rusted door and stalked inside, power radiating off him in waves.
The air was thick with tension. Dust. Blood.
And then he saw her.
Betsy.
Sitting on a battered wooden chair like she owned the damn universe. One leg crossed over the other, her long braids pulled back into a tight twist, hazel eyes gleaming beneath the flickering overhead bulb.
Power curled off her like perfume—dark, dangerous, beautiful.
And at her feet?
A vampire. Chained, gagged, bleeding, and twitching like he’d seen a ghost.
Adonis barely spared the leech a glance.
His entire world had narrowed to her.
Her scent hit him like a wrecking ball—warm sugar and wildness, spiced heat and temptation. His blood roared. His wolf howled.
His mate.
And she just arched a brow like she’d been waiting on him for hours.
“Took you long enough,” she said, her voice a velvet blade.
And that was it.
The last thread of control Adonis had been hanging onto snapped.
In a flash, he was across the room.
He didn’t ask. Didn’t speak.
Just grabbed her face in his hands and kissed her like he planned to ruin her.
Betsy gasped—more surprised than scared—but he was already devouring her, his mouth claiming hers with brutal, desperate hunger. His tongue swept inside, tasting her like she was the only source of air he’d ever need.
MINE.
The word thundered through his blood, his soul, his bones.
His grip on her was possessive, his thumbs pressing into her jaw, his body lowering until her back hit the chair. He didn’t pull away—didn’t give her a breath.
And she didn’t want one.
Because Betsy kissed him back.
Hard.
Fingers digging into his bare shoulders, nails dragging down the muscles of his arms like she knew what kind of male he was.
A Stavros wolf.
Deadly. Dominant. Hers.