Page 122

“You,” he snarled.

“You get me in your bed. You get my power. You get unfettered access to everything I am. I don’t know what else you can possibly take from me, Theon.” Her smirk was cold and harsh, but the crack in her voice was anything but. The agony screaming down the bond was desperate and furious. “There’s nothing left to take. I have nothing else to give. How can I when I don’t know who I am? When I’m something to be used by even my own blood? I always knew I was unwanted, but to be tossed away in a forgotten realm? I wasn’t unwanted, Theon. I was trulynothing.”

“Tessa,” he breathed, not knowing what else to say as he felt the rawness in those words down their bond.

This place was where they were the most real with each other. In the middle of the hate and the tension, the arguing and the passion. This was when they both spoke without trying to get the upper hand. It was all naked truth and bleeding desires. This was when she let him take what he wanted, and he took because it was what she needed— to get lost in pleasure and away from her thoughts. But this time, there was more to it for both of them.

It was evident in the way she surged forward, her lips landing on his in a violent kiss. It was the only way they knew how to be with each other. Teeth clashing and tongues battling. It was in the moan as his hands fell to her ass, lifting her off the ground. It was in the way she wrapped her legs around his waist, as if she needed him near, but the sharp nip at his lip told him she hated it. Her arms looped around his neck, keeping him close as he dragged his lips along her jaw, down her throat, across her collarbone.

Then she was leaning back, pulling at his tie, clawing at buttons. Her hands slid beneath his dress shirt, and the sigh that came from her at the skin-to-skin contact broke any restraint he was trying to keep in this moment. Because she was trusting him with something in her own broken way, the only way she knew how to trust him, and tomorrow he had to let her go for a week. He should tell her before they did this, but he was a selfish prick. He’d admit that. She was going to be gone for a week, and he wanted her to remember who she belonged to. He wanted his scent so entwined with hers, others in Faven would know too.

He shoved her legs down, despite her protests, before reaching for the hem of her dress and dragging it over her head. Then he was gathering her back to him, legs back around his waist, and lips back on his as he walked them to the bed. He lowered her down, tongue lapping at her neck, his mouth sucking, leaving marks as he made his way to her breasts. Her head tipped back, a hand sinking into his hair as he tossed her bra aside and took a nipple into his mouth. His darkness rose up, flitting along bare flesh and pushing her back down onto the bed, and he followed, dropping open-mouthed kisses along her torso as he finished the buttons she’d neglected. He made quick work of shucking off his shirt and pants, sliding her undergarments off too.

Violet-grey eyes full of heated want watched him, and for once, there was nothing smart coming from her mouth. This time was different. He could tell she knew it too, even if she wouldn’t admit it. She’d already slid up the bed, and he climbed on, coming over her. He reached to smooth her hair back, but she turned her head to the side.

“Don’t,” she snapped.

“Why?”

“Because this isn’t that. It’s nothing different from what we’ve been doing,” she rasped.

“Is that what you need to believe, little storm?”

“Yes.”

“Fine, but I still need your eyes,” he replied, pushing himself up. He had a hand on each of her knees, and he waited until she did what he’d ordered before he pushed her legs wide, kneeling over her.

Lifting a foot, he kissed her ankle before draping her leg over his shoulder and opening her even wider. He gripped his cock, dragging the tip through her wetness, finding her more than ready for him. She hissed, her hips jolting, seeking more.

“You know what I need to hear, Tessa,” he said, his hand coming to her hip, holding her in place when he did it again.

“I won’t say it,” she gritted out, her fists clenched in the bedding. “So either fuck me, or let me do it myself.”

Theon clicked his tongue. “We both know that won’t leave you even close to satisfied. The bond requires more.Werequire more.”

“I don’t care what?—”

But her words dissolved in a cursing moan as he sank into her to the hilt without warning. Fuck, it never got old. The heat. The rightness. Her writhing beneath him, already wanting more. Her hands were at his shoulders, nails digging in as she panted through clenched teeth.

“Tell me, Tessa,” he said again, pulling out the smallest amount before sinking back in. But she shook her head, golden strands stark against the dark bedding.

“This isn’t that,” she repeated. “It will never be that.”

“We’ll see,” he said, circling his hips one way and then the other, drawing another ragged moan from her. “Fuck, the sounds you make,” he groaned. “It’s enough to make me come right now.”

“Don’t you fucking dare,” she snarled, her eyes going wide.

Theon chuckled softly. “Maybe I should,” he mused, his hand sliding to her belly when she tried to buck against him again. “Keep you on an edge until you’re so desperate you finally admit it.”

“It will be a lie. Pretty words to get what I want,” she gritted out, a whimper following when Theon pulled out a small amount and didn’t push back in.

“Your lies are the sweetest sound, little storm.”

“Theon, please!” It was a cry of frustration and need.

The begging.

It always did him in.