Page 276 of House Ignis

“Oh, darling…” His voice slid through the connection like velvet over cold steel, rough and heavy with a predatory hunger that made my knees weak. “You look… tempting. My cock is throbbing for you.”

Liquid heat pooled in my belly, a sudden, sharp ache that stole the very air from my lungs.

I swallowed hard, my tongue darting out to soothe my dry lips as my pulse spiked into a deafening roar.

“You’re in trouble,” I whispered into the stillness, my voice laced with a daring confidence.

If he wanted to play with fire, I was more than ready to let it burn.

"Don’t challenge me, princess," he murmured, his voice dropping to a gravelly, lethal octave. "You haven't seen the depths of my darkness yet."

What more could there be?

The thought should have been a warning, but instead, it sent a treacherous thrill racing through my veins.

I let out a low, involuntary moan, the sound a confession of how desperately I felt his presence.

A dark, melodic chuckle drifted back through the trees—he knew.

He knew exactly what he was doing to me, and Gods help me, I needed him to finish it.

“Why am I in trouble, princess?” he drawled.

The words were a physical weight, his desire punching through the bond and anchoring deep in my gut.

I was slick with wanting, a frantic need for release coiling tight within me.

A reckless idea ignited in my mind.

I leaned back against the rough bark of the ancient tree, my skin prickling. I could feel his gaze—heavy, predatory, and invisible—tracking every shallow rise of my chest.

The fact that I couldn't see him made it darker, sharper.

I looked straight into the void of the forest and slid my hand up my thigh, past the hem of my dress, until my fingers found the heat between my legs.

A broken moan escaped me the moment I touched myself, my pulse thrumming against my own fingertips.

“Fuck,” his voice flooded the bond, the vibration of it jagged and raw. His restraint was a frayed wire, and I wanted to be the one to snap it.

“You’re a curse, darling,” he whispered, the sound a mix of agony and adoration. “My darkest sin. But I’m not letting you find your peace without me.”

I looked into the darkness, my vision blurring, and saw them—slivers of living shadow, his twisted, beautiful magic, surging toward me like ink in water.

Before I could gasp, one shadow lashed upward, coiling around my wrist and pinning my hand above my head against the bark.

The second followed instantly, binding my other arm, leaving me arched and exposed to the dark.

One moment there was only shadow; the next, there was Asher. The forest went quiet as he stepped into my space, his silver eyes searching mine.

His hair was damp, his jaw rough with growth, and the sheer, carnal want in his expression made my blood sing.

He looked like a god of ruin, and I was his willing temple.

“You didn't answer me,” he whispered, his voice a low vibration in the small space between us.

Then the floor dropped out from under me.

Two weeks.