Page 4 of Knot Heirs: Serenity's Reign

Serenity's hands betrayed her, sliding from pushing against his chest to gripping his shoulders. The action ignited a flare of anger—not at Darius, but at herself. She was letting him win, letting her body answer to him when she should be fighting, resisting, holding on to her last shreds of independence. “I hate you,”she breathed, trying to inject the words with venom, but even her voice faltered, cracking under the weight of desire. Spiraling, she tilted her head to give him better access, feeling the burn of humiliation as she bared her throat. His soft laugh was a predator's victory, a sound that wrapped around her and squeezed. She was even more furious with herself for wanting to hear it.

"No, you don't," he said, each word a taunt that chipped away at her defenses. His teeth grazed her pulse point, and every nerve ending in her body lit up like fireflies. "You hate that you want me."

The truth of his words stung more than any insult. Her body responded to his touch with embarrassing eagerness, warmth pooling low in her belly, her inner thighs dampening with arousal she couldn't control.

"This doesn't change anything," she gasped as his hands slid down to grip her thighs. But even to her own ears, the words sounded hollow, a pathetic declaration in the face of what was happening. Her body had its own agenda, contradicting her mouth as he lifted her effortlessly against the wall. Shefelt herself being swept up, her frame small and malleable against his raw strength. Her legs wrapped around his waist instinctively, seeking support, contact, more. Internally, she was at war—logic battling against the primal instincts that surged to the surface whenever he was near.I can’t let it end like this,she thought desperately. “Tomorrow I’ll still?—“

"Tomorrow doesn't exist yet," Darius interrupted, cutting off her protest with a rumbling certainty that vibrated against her skin. The tone was one of absolute authority, dismissing her attempts to frame the situation as anything other than what it was. "Right now, there's only this." The moment, the heat, the pure, unfiltered need—he spoke as if these things were indisputable facts, as unchangeable as the pull of gravity.

Serenity felt her resistance slipping through her fingers like sand. The press of his body against hers was insistent, a branding she couldn't escape even if she wanted to. And the truth was, she didn't want to—not really, not enough to stop what was happening. He'd always known that too; it was part of the infuriating lure that set him apart. Her doubt, her hesitation, all disintegrated as he anchored her in the here and now, erasing any thoughts of what lay beyond. He was right. She hated that he was right, but the undeniable reality of it thrummed through her like a second heartbeat.

She felt the spark of defiance sputter one last time.I hate this,she thought, not sure if it applied to the situation, to him, or to her own lack of resolve. But the admission was nothing against the tidal wave of sensation that threatened to drown her. The friction between them was all-consuming, her body responding with a kind of desperation that left no doubt as to what she craved. The wall was solid at her back, but everything else was liquid, fluid, impossible to pin down or control.

His lips moved over hers again, relentless, demanding, and this time Serenity's resolve crumbled completely. She didn’tfight it, didn’t bite back, didn’t struggle against the sheer force of his dominance. Her fingers tangled with urgency in his dark hair, pulling him impossibly closer, her body betraying every denial she had tried to uphold. The years of independence she'd clung to—years spent believing she needed no one, especially not an Alpha like him—crumbled beneath the tidal wave of primal need. She despised the power he wielded over her, how easily he could reduce her to nothing but pulse and breath and want. But even as she yielded to the passion of his kiss, her mind churned with activity, seeking any foothold in the chaos of their entanglement. She was Vale's daughter, after all—a legacy that demanded she never fully surrender, that she always watch for the angle, always look for the upper hand.

Her thoughts raced even as her body gave in. He might own the moment, the heat of their struggle, but the entire game was still in play. If she let herself be blinded by lust, if she let herself forget who she was, what she'd been raised to be, she would lose everything. He couldn't possibly understand what it meant to be torn between a past she was just discovering and a future she was being forced into. Yet as if sensing the whirlwind behind her eyes, Darius pulled back just enough to catch her gaze. His gray eyes were penetrating, cutting through her defenses with a precision that was almost painful. She couldn't stand how clearly he saw her, as though all her masks and walls were transparent beneath his scrutiny.

"Stop thinking," he commanded, an edge of impatience coloring his voice as his grip tightened on her. She could feel his frustration that she was still fighting him, still calculating, still unable to let go. "For once in your life, just feel." His words were both an imperative and a provocation, demanding she surrender not just her body but her mind. His hands held her harder, as if sheer force of will could make her release the control she clung to so fiercely.

He didn't understand that thinking was all she had. To give that up, even for him, was a risk she wasn't prepared to take. Not when the stakes were so high. Not when everything she'd known was shifting under her feet, and the only constant was her ability to keep thinking, keep calculating, keep ahead. But the truth was, she didn't know how to stop. Even in his arms, even when every nerve in her screamed to just let go, the wheels of her mind kept turning, refusing to yield to instinct alone. But there it was—the spark of doubt she'd been trying to ignore. What if his way was the only way to survive this? What if the only path to winning was to abandon everything that had once kept her safe? What if, just this once, she had to feel her way through?

Caught between his demand and her own stubbornness, Serenity felt the pull of an uncertain future tugging harder than ever. The vulnerability of the question terrified her more than Darius himself. She couldn't afford that kind of weakness—not when the entire underworld was watching, waiting to see what Marcus Vale's daughter would do next. This was more than just a personal decision. There were territories to claim, alliances to forge, revenge to enact. She couldn't afford to just feel, couldn't afford to lose herself and forget what this was really about. But as Darius's presence loomed over her, she felt the old certainties slipping away, leaving her raw and exposed and closer to the edge than she'd ever been before.

With his body pressed so insistently to hers, enveloping her in a reality she both feared and craved, Serenity admitted defeat—not to Darius, but to the confusion that threatened to overwhelm her.

"I can't afford to just feel," Serenity whispered, vulnerability breaking through despite her best efforts. "Not with you. Not with what's at stake."

A glimmer passed through his eyes—never softness, never sympathy, but for a breathless second, she glimpsed a rarerecognition. It was a moment where adversaries laid down their arms, saw each other with a startling clarity that cut through the tangle of seduction and secrets. It was almost enough to unravel her completely, almost enough to make her forget everything except the two of them, raw and real and stripped of all pretenses. For one heart-stopping instant, Serenity thought she saw something like doubt flicker in his expression, as if Darius himself was unsure how much of himself he could afford to lose in this unpredictable war between them.

But the moment passed in a heartbeat, swallowed by the tidal wave of need that crashed over them. His mouth captured hers with renewed ferocity, and the sheer force of it obliterated all thought, all strategy, leaving her gasping in its wake. She was a fool to ever think she could maintain the upper hand, a fool to ever pretend this connection was anything but inevitable. He drew her back into the whirlwind with every relentless stroke, pulling her down with him until everything else ceased to exist. She was floating, drowning, giving in to the current she could no longer fight—and damn if it didn't feel like freedom.

Thought became impossible, each moment burning brighter and hotter than the last.

His hands traced possessive paths down the curves of her sides, moving with a determination that brooked no argument. She was helpless to resist the way his touch molded her to him, as if every inch of her belonged there, pressed against his body. Darius’s mouth traveled with agonizing precision down the column of her throat, leaving a trail of heat in its wake. The closer he got, the further her defenses slipped. Her mind screamed at her to snap out of it, to think, to hold on to something solid, but the primal scent of Alpha pheromones clouded her senses, making it impossible to think straight. She felt it all around her like an invisible chain, pulling tighter with every breath she took. Her Omega instincts strained towardhim, traitorous in their eagerness, betraying her determination to stay in control and keep a level head. Damn him and damn herself for needing him like this.

With each touch, each breath, Serenity felt her resolve disintegrating. The sensation was overwhelming, her lungs filling with the potent mix of their unique chemistry. Darius must have known how it affected her, must have realized how it obliterated every thought that wasn't him. Yet even through the haze of his dominance, a small voice urged her to fight back, to not fall so easily into the trap of desire that he seemed to set effortlessly.

She was a fool to let it get this far, a fool to underestimate how much she wanted this, wanted him. She tried to remind herself of who she was—Vale’s daughter, never one to surrender completely, always one step ahead. But the way he anchored her to the moment, the way he made everything else fall away, was enough to make her doubt every strategy.

Desperation tinged her thoughts as she tried to reconcile the fierce independence she prided herself on with the undeniable urge to submit to this pull, this magnetic force that was Darius Castellano. How could she fight when her entire being was screaming to give in?

"This doesn't mean anything," Serenity gasped, her golden eyes fluttering closed as his teeth grazed the sensitive spot where her neck met her shoulder. "Just biological compatibility."

He laughed against her skin, the sound dark and knowing, vibrating with a confidence that infuriated her. His lips curled into a smile she could feel more than see. "Keep telling yourself that, little Vale." The name triggered a flood of memories, each one more inescapable than the last. She remembered the moment he'd discovered her true identity—how his eyes had narrowed with sharp calculation instead of shock. The transition had been instant, a master strategist recalibrating his game. Inthe blink of an eye, she had gone from being a casual fling to a vital piece on his chessboard. Everything changed that night, an unspoken acknowledgment that nothing between them could ever be simple or straightforward.

She thought she'd ended it then and there, furious at being exposed, at being used. But here they were. She was a fool to believe she could keep herself disentangled, a fool to think she could ever break free. And as his touch roamed possessively over her, as that intoxicating scent filled her lungs, she knew she was just as trapped as ever.

"You've always wanted to control me," she accused, her voice half-breathless and half-angry as she arched into his touch. The contradiction between her words and actions was maddening. "First as an Omega, then as a Vale." Did she even believe herself anymore? The truth twisted between them, slippery and hard to grasp, but the one thing she did know was that he never played a losing hand. Never. He had wanted to own her from the beginning, and she'd walked willingly, right into his trap. Her body responded with traitorous eagerness, pushing back against years of stubborn self-reliance.

His fingers tangled in her long brown hair, pulling back with just enough force to expose the vulnerable column of her throat. Her pulse raced beneath his grip, an admission of need that left her raw and shaken. He knew exactly how far it would unravel her, knew exactly how it would strip her of every last defense. "And you've always denied what you want, Serenity," he accused back, his breath hot against her skin. "What you need."

A shiver ran through her at the low, knowing timbre of his voice, and she hated how right he was. Six months of clandestine meetings, each time swearing it would be the last. Six months of pretending his domineering presence didn't call to something primal within her.

"I don't need a keeper," she hissed, raking her nails down his muscled back. She felt his shuddery breath against her skin, a small victory in a war she was losing.

"No," he agreed, surprising her by letting her believe she had the upper hand. His piercing gray eyes locked with hers. "You need an equal." It was more than a suggestion; it was a promise. One that slipped through every defense she'd erected since the night she discovered her father's empire and all that it meant. The night everything had changed.

Something dangerous unfurled in her chest at his words—not the simple heat of desire, but something that threatened the careful walls she'd built since discovering her father's empire. Something that felt dangerously like hope. He couldn't say something like that and expect her to believe it, not after everything she'd gone through, not after everything she knew about him. Not when the idea of him as her equal was even more terrifying than him as her captor.

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