She wanted more.
Not just another touch. Not just another kiss.
She wanted everything.
Lana wanted to feel his rough hands on her skin instead of through layers of clothing. Wanted the freedom to trace every hard line and hidden scar on his body. To learn him by touch, the same way she was already beginning to know him by instinct. Every cell in her body seemed to respond to him, craving to be closer until they were fully merged.
One kiss would never be enough.
Not when it left her aching for another.
Not when every glance, every touch they shared between them only deepened the hunger growing inside her. There would be no sating the desperate need that had awakened between them.
This was only the beginning of them, and there would be no end.
Mordecai felt as though he were standing on the edge of madness. The pleasure coursing through him was unlike anything he had ever experienced before, intense and all-consuming.
With the way she had been looking at him, he had been unable to resist the urge to kiss her. He’d wanted it. Hellfire, he’d wanted to kiss her more than he wanted his next breath, but he usually had better impulse control. Especially when potential threats were close by. He had known the first taste of her would be dangerously addicting. What he hadn’t expected was for it to completely shatter his world.
One kiss changed his entire fucking life.
The instant their lips met, something inside him shifted. The carefully ordered life he had built for himself was suddenly knocked violently off balance. The connection that exploded between them was undeniable. It struck him with breathtaking force, leaving him reeling.
It was both terrifying and thrilling.
Despite the chaos raging inside him, he couldn’t stop wanting more. Kissing her made it clear there was no going back to the way things were. He was irrevocably changed.
One kiss was all it took for her to own him, body, heart, and soul.
Finding his mate was something had he always dreamed of, but never thought would actually happen. He knew the mating frenzy was pushing them to complete their bond, but destiny wasn’t forcing his hand.
What he felt for her was real, raw emotions.
Despite the barrier of her gloves and the layers of fabric between them, a powerful surge of magic erupted from her palm without warning. It tore through every barrier as though they didn’t exist, shooting directly out of her and into his chest. She tried to pull away when he hissed in pain, but his hand clamped over hers, holding it in place. He refused to break the connection between them even as another tremor of pain rippled through him.
The pain wasn’t coming from her magic marking him, though. It was coming from the intense burning sensation on the back of his neck, right where the magical runes the prison had marked him with were. Designed to work in conjunction with the safeguards to suppress his abilities, the runes recognized the foreign magic flooding into his body and reacted with violent resistance.
The sound of voices was a stark reminder that now was not the time or place for completing their mating bond. Regretfully,he tore his lips away from hers and slipped a hand over her mouth to keep her quiet. She immediately removed her hand from his chest, and he was left feeling bereft from the loss of the connection. He was literally shaking with his need for her, but he had to tamp it down and ignore it for now.
Her safety came first.
Always.
The rioting prisoners were still some distance away, their shouts and the clang of chaos echoing faintly through the corridors. However, Mordecai could clearly make out the low murmurs of the people who had been coming from the opposite direction now that they had gotten closer.
He pressed himself tighter against her, as if he could keep her safe simply by shielding her body with his own. A light tap against his wrist pulled his attention back toward his mate. She was staring up at him with narrowed eyes. There was nothing subtle about the look she was giving him. Slowly, she lifted a finger and pointed directly at the hand that was still firmly covering her mouth.
The gesture was unmistakably an order.
She obviously wasn’t very pleased with his chosen method for keeping her quiet. Despite the seriousness of their situation, Mordecai found himself wanting to smile. He arched a brow but didn’t remove his hand from over her mouth.
Not yet.
He leaned closer and held her gaze, making sure he had her full attention.
“Stay silent,” he mouthed carefully.
That command earned him an immediate eye roll. Not a small one, either. She rolled her eyes with enough force to make it clear exactly how ridiculous she thought he was being. Her audacity should have riled his temper. Instead, it both amused and pleased him. There they were, hiding from danger in adamaged prison while a riot raged nearby, and another potential threat was only a few feet away. And yet, somehow her biggest concern at the moment was the insult of being shushed.
