Page 56 of Thane's Demon
Show her she is wanted.
Show her she is ours.’
It urged, voice low and hungry.
And I did.
I pushed her back against the shelves with more force than I intended, my hands gripping her waist like I was terrified she would vanish if I loosened my hold. Then I kissed her, not withcaution or fear, but with every ounce of hunger I had kept locked inside me. Her soft gasp against my mouth nearly undid me. The way she clutched my shirt, pulling me closer, begging without words for more, made my control crumble further. She tasted like hope and danger and something my demon purred over with deep, possessive satisfaction.
‘Ours.
Finally.
Our forever.’
It rumbled with need.
When I pulled back, it was only because breathing became a necessity. I rested my forehead against hers and let myself feel the truth of the moment. The truth that this, her lips on mine, her trembling breath against my cheek, her heartbeat pounding for me, was something I had wished for far longer than I dared to admit. Something denied and forbidden, yet now real enough to make my chest ache.
“You have no idea just how long I have wanted to do that.How much I have craved to,”I told her, my voice low and raw.
Her eyes softened, wide and luminous as she whispered her confession in return, a small, trembling, “Me too,” that nearly brought me to my knees. That was the moment I knew I would never be able to stop. That one kiss had rewritten every instinct inside me, reshaping every line I had tried to hold.
But the danger had not yet passed. In fact, I had a haunting feeling that it was only the beginning.
I took her hand and led her out of the alcove, my fingers closing around hers with a firmness that felt like an oath.
“Come with me…now,” I told her, unable to hold back the commanding tone, and in return, she looked up at me with an almost dazed expression.
“Where?”
“Somewhere safe,” I said, my jaw tense as the need to protect her was riding me hard. “You can’t stay here,” I added more forcefully.
“But my father…” I could feel her fear beginning to rise again and all I wanted to do was make it disappear. So, I grinned. An expression that was still foreign to me but was becoming more frequent since she had come into my life.
“Screw the rules… You’re coming with me,” I said, causing a little light of excitement to shine in her eyes as if fed by the idea of defiance.
The moment we stepped into the main hall of the library, my senses sharpened. The air shifted. Something was wrong. The scent of someone I knew who shouldn’t have been here. Someone I recognized from the club.
We walked out into the quiet courtyard, the sun dipping lower between the buildings, students moving toward their afternoon classes. Everything looked normal. But normal meant nothing to someone like me.
Then she stiffened beside me. Her grip tightened as she followed my line of sight directly to the man I was looking for. He was walking quickly toward a waiting car. But when he pulled his jacket into place, the fabric shifted just enough for me to see the ink on the side of his neck. A simple mark. A serpent coiled around a dagger.
A mark I knew all too well.
He was one of Xue’s men. Which was when I truly recognized him, as he didn’t just work for him… he was his second in command, and his name wasRen Qiang.
My demon hissed with lethal clarity. He had been hunting our girl. He had watched her and followed her. The fury that filled me was vicious and absolute. My vision sharpened, colors brightening, the world narrowing to the beat of his retreatingfootsteps. The demon pressed hard against my skin, its voice a snarl.
‘Kill him.’
I wanted to. I wanted to tear the street apart and drag him from the car before his door even shut. I wanted to rip his throat out and make sure Xue knew exactly what happened to anyone who dared hunt what was mine. Every instinct in me surged with violence so pure it tasted metallic.
But Alora’s hand was still in mine.
“Thane.” The second she uttered my name it anchored me to what was most important and, for once, it wasn’t spilling the blood of enemies. So, I concentrated on her fear still faint on her skin, still trembling in her pulse. It too reminded me of my first and only priority. If I lunged for him in broad daylight, if anyone saw what I truly was, if she saw what I truly was, everything would spiral beyond my control. She needed safety, not a massacre.
“I will deal with him, but not now,” I told her, tugging her gently, prompting her to come with me. She looked like she was just about to ask where, when I beat her to it. “Come on, I am taking you somewhere no one can touch you,” I said, forcing my voice to be steady again, pushing my fury back enough so I didn’t frighten her.
