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His body throbbed. His instincts insisted he claim her.
Tugging his pants open, he shoved at her legs, kneeing his way between her thighs. Sharp nails cut his face as she clawed at him.
He growled and caught her arms, shoving them roughly into the dirt. His eyes flashed with rage. How dare she fight him?
He tore at her dress until only tattered threads clung to her skin. The more she fought him, the more his determination to take her grew. An overwhelming need to show her she belonged to him, to take away any other choice and force her surrender took hold of him.
Stronger than any instinct he’d ever suffered, he released his cock and used his weight to pin her down. He needed to get inside of her, penetrate her soul, fill her, and complete the bond.
Drawing his wrist to his mouth, he sank his teeth into the flesh at his vein and ripped open his skin. “Be still.”
Her frantic eyes widened as he held her beneath him, hand knotted in her hair, his blood seeping from his veins, ready to mix with hers.
Adam... Her mouth shaped his name again and he stilled, the slightest caress penetrating his haze.
A tear rolled from the corner of her eye. He followed the clear droplet as it passed her ear, diluting the crimson tide flowing from her pulse.
Sadness. It beat at him.
He jerked back and gasped at her shivering body. Her clothes were in tatters, her box of personal belongings scattered in the dirt. Her hands shook violently as they protectively covered her naked breasts.
“Ainsicht...” What had he done? Glancing down his front, he still held his hard flesh in his hand. He let go, throwing his arms in the air. “I didn’t. Tell me I didn’t.”
She gasped in a breath and rolled to her side, coughing as her voice suddenly returned. Pain exploded in his groin as she kneed him.
“You fucking asshole!”
He rolled to his knees, gasping through the pain, needing to see the damage he’d done and make sure she wasn’t hurt. “Anna, please...”
“Don’t touch me!”
She stood, her motions unsteady and her breathing sharp and panicked. Moonlight cut through the trees, painting her ivory skin silver. Leaves and dirt clung to her flesh.
He gripped his temples, unable to face what he’d done. “Please, Anna. I didn’t mean—”
“Just ... shut up.” She turned and walked away from him.
His voice withered to a shameful boulder that lodged in his throat. He stayed on his knees, gathering her keepsakes and returning them to the crushed box, supplicating himself for her forgiveness, knowing he didn’t deserve it.
She should run away from him. Leave him in this place. In the shadows to rot.
Shame filled him like poison, a lethal venom seeping from his pores. How could he have hurt her when he’d promised to always protect her?
He didn’t know how far he’d gone, only that he’d terrified her, used compulsion to silence her. He was a monster.
Pine needles rasped under her approaching footsteps, but he couldn’t face her. Shoulders heaving, his shut his eyes, his head lowered.
“I need your shirt.”
He jaggedly pulled off his shirt and offered it to her.
“Can this get infected?”
He frowned and glanced at her.
She used the shreds of her dress to blot the blood on her neck. His shirt draped over her, several times her size. She wasn’t crying, or even glaring. Her motions were purely mechanical.
“Did we...”
“No,” she said, with enough scorn for him to understand she would never be this calm if they had. He deserved her anger.
Lowering his weight to sit on his heels, he apologized again. “I’m sorry. I don’t deserve your forgiveness—”
“No, you don’t. But it does neither of us any good to dwell on what might have happened. Put your hands behind your back and keep them there.”
He glanced up at her. “Excuse me?”
“Hands behind your back, Adam. You need blood and I’m done listening to excuses. And I’ll be damned if I let you close to me right now. Arms back and stay still.” She pushed up the loose sleeve and held her wrist an inch from his mouth. “Well?”
He blinked up at her, undeserving of her gift. “I can’t.”
“What do you mean you can’t? You need this.”
“I hurt you. I don’t deserve your forgiveness—”
“Who said anything about forgiveness?”
A scratch coiled around her leg and there were twigs in her hair. “What’s happening to me?” His voice shook as he stared up at her, wondering if this was the beginning of the end. “I could have...”
He looked away, unable to bear the consequence of his actions. If she hadn’t broken through the haze, they wouldn’t be here. He’d be taking her through the bonding and she’d have lost all choice in the matter. How long until he lost himself again?
“We waited too long,” he whispered. “You’re not safe with me.”
