Her eyes soften.“Yes, Knox.I am sure.”
This kiss is not careful.It’s controlled, but not careful.I kiss her like a starving thing permitted to taste.My hands stay at her waist until she guides one to her back, then the other.Her body presses closer against mine.She trembles, and each tremor asks me to slow down, but she doesn’t stop.She makes choices with every breath.
Closer.
More.
When my mouth leaves hers to trail along her jaw, she gasps and clutches my shoulders.
“Still with me?”I ask against her skin.
“Yes.”The word is breathless.
My lips brush below her ear, then lower, avoiding her throat completely.I feel her notice.Feel her soften because of it.
“Shoulder,” she says.
I pull back enough to look at her.“Now?”
Her hands shake as she grips the hem of her sweater.Then she stops.For one terrible second, shame crosses her face.
I cover her hands with mine.“No rush.”
“I want this.”Her voice is tight.“I hate that wanting doesn’t make it easy.”
“Easy is not required.”Her eyes shine.
I release her hands and step back, giving her space.She takes off the sweater herself.Slowly.The shirt beneath is thin and black, slipping off one shoulder.Her skin is pale under the lamplight, marked with faint healing shadows and new strength.I don’t look anywhere she has not offered.
Her shoulder is bare, and my mark will go there.Not her throat.Not the places they made ugly, but a new place.A chosen place.
I step close again when she nods, and my mouth finds her shoulder first.Not teeth but lips.She exhales, long and shaking, and her hands grip my arms.I kiss the spot once, twice, letting my scent settle there, letting the beast recognize without taking.
“Say it,” I whisper.
Her fingers tighten.“I choose you.”
The bond snaps tight, and my teeth sink into her shoulder.Briana cries out, and I stop the second I hear pain, but her arms lock around me.
“No,” she gasps.“Don’t stop.I’m okay.I’m here.”
Her blood touches my tongue, and the bond explodes through me.But this is not fire, no, it’s roots taking hold.Like the floor splitting beneath us and something ancient rising to wrap around my bones.Her fear.Her want.Her fury.Her heartbeat.Everything floods me at once until I nearly fall.
Mine,the beast breathes.
Yours,the bond answers.
But beneath it all, clearer than anything, is Briana and her choice.
I lick the mark gently, sealing it with magic older than language.She shudders in my arms, not pulling away.I hold her through it, one hand at her back, one at her waist, grounding without trapping.
When I lift my head, her eyes are wide.Gold flickers once in the depths, there and gone.
“What was that?”she whispers.
“The bond accepting you.”
“I felt you.”
