Page 53 of Wings of Shadow
“Now you are,” I echo, stepping in until there’s nothing but heat between us. My fingers trail up her arm, slow and claiming. “And fate doesn’t give second chances, Clarissa. She brought you here for me. For this.”
I lean down, my lips brushing her ear.
“Tell me you feel it too—this pull. This fire. Tell me your body’s screaming for mine the way mine’s been aching for you since the fucking opera.”
She gasps, and it’s all I need.
“Good,” I growl, backing her into the shadows, a predator cornering his prey. “Because I don’t want your fear. I want your surrender. Every moan, every breath, every broken cry that leaves your mouth tonight—mine.”
My hand curls around her throat, not to hurt, but to hold. To own.
“Kaisner,” she breathes, voice shaking like the last leaf before the fall. “I want to be yours.”
“You’re already mine,” I growl, the words ripped from somewhere primal.
And then I’m kissing her—no, claiming her. My mouth crashes into hers with fevered intensity, all teeth and tongue and hunger, like I could taste the truth off her lips. It’s not soft. It’s not sweet. It’s a warning to the world.
She moans into me, surrendering, melting—and I take. Gods, I take.
My hand slides from her throat to her jaw, angling her head just so I can deepen the kiss, devour her from the inside out. Every flick of my tongue is a promise. Every rough pull of her bottom lip is an apology in blood and heat.
I break the kiss only to drag my mouth down her neck, teeth scraping, breath ragged.
“You feel that?” I murmur against her skin, voice wrecked with restraint. “That’s what it’s like when a monster falls for something he was never meant to have.”
She gasps, and I sense her pulse stutter beneath my lips.
“But you’re mine now,” I growl, biting down—just enough to make her shiver. “And if anyone tries to take you from me, I’ll rip the fucking world in half to get you back.”
Her fingers fist in my shirt like she can’t bear to let go. Good. She won’t have to.
“Say it,” I demand, my hand fisting in her hair, tilting her head back. “Say who you belong to.”
She’s panting, lips parted, eyes glazed with heat and something dangerously close to devotion.
“You,” she whispers. “I belong to you, Kaisner.”
“Damn right you do.”
And this time, when I kiss her, it’s not just a kiss.
It’s a vow.
The taste of her is intoxicating—sweet, warm, with just a hint of defiance. I deepen the kiss, my touch exploring every curve, every breathless shudder. She gives in, surrendering with a fervor that unravels me. She was made for this—for me.
Clarissa doesn’t pull away. She leans into me instead, her body pressing flush against mine, her hands tangling in my hair, nails raking against my scalp with just enough pressure to send a shiver down my spine. My control, already precarious, hangs by a thread.
I break the kiss before I forget myself entirely, before I forget where we are and who might be watching. My forehead rests against hers, both of us breathless, our chests rising and falling in sync.
This is madness. The thought cuts through the haze of desire like a blade. She’s the key to everything I’ve worked for—the blood that will awaken my dragon, the power that will restore my birthright. But as I look into her sapphire eyes, all my careful plans crumble to ash. I can’t use her. Not like this. Not when she looks at me as if I’m something more than the monster I’ve become.
The daemon’s whispers echo in my memory, reminding me of what I came here to accomplish. Take what you need. Claim your power. But her trust burns brighter than any dark magic, and I find myself drowning in emotions I swore I’d never feel again.
“I should walk away,” I murmur against her lips.
Her fingers tighten in my hair. “Then why don’t you?”
I chuckle darkly, the sound low and rough. “You know why.”
