Page 120 of House Ignis

Gods help me, he wasn't even trying to cover himself. Lust slithered down our connection like sin given physical shape.

I let my eyes trail down—from his broad shoulders to his carved abs, following the water down to that damned V-line—before the rest of him vanished beneath the glowing surface of the pool.

"Care to join me?" he drawled, his voice thick with heat. A slow smirk tugged at his lips. "But I do warn you... the water isn't the only thing that bites and if you get in there's no coming back."

He was playing a dangerous game, and the absolute bastard knew he was winning.

He expected me to blush. He expected me to stammer an excuse and bolt back to the safety of my dorm.

But I was done playing games. I was done being the prey.

"Sure," I said simply.

The bond snapped—a chaotic collision of shock, raw lust, and dark pleasure. I didn't break eye contact as I reached for the hem of my training shirt.

"But I warn you, Maddox," I added, my voice dropping to a low, smoky register that matched the mist rising from the water. "I don't play by the rules."

His smirk faltered for a fraction of a second, replaced by a look of predatory hunger so intense it felt like a physical touch. He stayed perfectly still, chest heaving slightly, as I stepped toward the edge of the steam.

The game had just changed. And this time, I was playing for keeps.

I hooked my thumbs under the elastic band of my sports bra and pulled it up—slowly, agonizingly so.

His eyes stayed locked on mine.

He didn't drop his gaze; he didn't dare. But I didn't need him to look down to know I had him. I felt his control slipping through the bond, a frayed rope snapping strand by strand.

As the cool night air brushed my bare skin, my nipples hardened under the sheer weight of his stare. My power hummed just beneath the surface, a low-voltage current vibrating in time with my racing heart.

Asher exhaled—a sharp, ragged sound, like I'd just punched the air right out of his lungs.

He didn't move. He didn't speak. He just watched me with a terrifying intensity, as if he might shatter into a thousand shadows if I vanished from his sight.

Then, I reached for the waistband of my running leggings. I slipped them down, inch by inch, letting the night chill kiss my thighs and my hips. It was freezing everywhere his eyes weren't burning. I never stopped staring at him. Not once. Not even when I stepped out of them entirely and stood before him, completely unmasked.

I could feel his restraint fraying—that feral, predatory need clawing just beneath the surface of his skin.

It crackled through the bond like lightning in my veins, and gods… it turned me on. The way his jaw clenched so hard the bone jumped.

The way the shadows behind him pulsed with a violent, rhythmic life of their own.

I took my time.

I padded toward the edge of the spring, my bare feet meeting the cool, smooth stone. I dipped my toes into the steaming water, and a sharp, fractured inhale cracked through the silence behind me. His eyes roamed over me then—slow, possessive, memorizing every curve, every freckle, every inch of me as if he were carving me into his soul.

And then I heard it. A growl.

It was low, rough, and entirely unforgiving.

Keeping my eyes fixed on his, I stepped in deeper. The heat of the water swallowed my ankles, then my calves, then my thighs, rising higher with every breath I drew.

He still hadn't moved from his spot in the center of the pool, but the air around him was vibrating.

His control? It wasn't just slipping anymore.

It was gone.

The water enveloped me, a silken, magically-charged heat that contrasted sharply with the cool night air biting at my shoulders. I moved with a deliberate, agonizing slowness, letting the golden-amber surface rise to my waist, then my chest, until I was submerged up to my collarbone.