Page 114 of A Fate in Flames

The beat travelled up my calves, winding around my thighs and pooling low in my belly.I threw my head back, eyes fluttering closed as the melody whispered dark promises, daring me to surrender.

I shot to my feet in one fluid motion and stepped into the sea of writhing bodies.

My body moved of its own accord, hips rolling in circles that grew wider, more provocative with each beat.My arms rose above my head, fingers tangling in my own hair and lifting the heavy mass from my sweat-dampened neck.I arched my spine backward, exposing my throat and the hollows of my collarbones to the night air.The tension that had been building inside me found release in the movement—in the surrender to something older than thought.

Bodies pressed together all around me, slick skin sliding against skin.Hands roamed freely without restraint or shame—palming breasts, gripping hips, digging into flesh hard enough to leave marks.Mouths sought and found each other in hungry collisions, teeth clashing and tongues dancing.

Lost in the pulsing rhythm, I didn’t register the presence behind me until solid heat pressed against my back, strong hands encircling my waist.

My muscles locked for a suspended heartbeat before recognition dawned on me.Theo.He was as consumed as I was, lost in the spell woven by the music.

He moved against me, our bodies finding the perfect rhythm together.His grip tightened, fingers pressing deeper into my waist, pulling me closer against every hard inch of him.His thighs bracketed mine, guiding my movements as we rocked together.

Any other time, I would’ve broken his fingers.

But I didn’t.

I leaned back into his chest, head falling against his shoulder.Heat surged beneath my skin as his palm slid up my stomach in an agonisingly slow glide, fingers brushing the underside of my breast before coming to rest at the base of my throat.

His breath was hot against my neck—his lips just a whisper away.

Boom!

A sound like thunder cracked the night.

We froze mid-movement, the spell shattered.I tore away from Theo’s grasp, spinning to find the source, though I already knew what—who—I would find.

No longer lounging, no longer surrounded by women.

Dalkhan stood seething.

His eyes burned with fury as he took a powerful step forward.The flames in the fire pits nearly doubled in height, throwing monstrous shadows across his face.Another step, and the ground heaved beneath our feet.

Everyone around us dropped their heads into a bow, shoulders hunched to make themselves smaller.Less noticeable.No one dared to move.No one spoke—many seemed afraid to even draw breath.

I lowered my head, unable to meet the inferno of his gaze.My hands trembled violently at my sides, not from fear—though any sane person would be terrified—but from something darker.Something that pulsed in time with the throb between my thighs.

Theo stood rigid beside me, his chest rapidly rising and falling.

Dalkhan’s gaze locked onto him with lethal focus, his nostrils flaring.Jaw working as if he were physically preventing himself from tearing out Theo’s throat with his teeth.

Theo’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard, but he held his ground.

Dalkhan’s attention snapped back to me.He brushed fingers along my jaw in a lingering caress.The heat of his touch burned.

I opened my mouth, but my throat closed around whatever words might have formed.The tension was suffocating, stretched so tight between us that it might snap.The reckless, foolish part of me wanted him to close the distance.To crash into me.

But I knew better.Before I could surrender to the dangerous impulse, I wrenched away from him and fled, pushing past bodies that scrambled to clear a path.

I didn’t look back, but his fury—his possessiveness, pulsed in the air.

And Heavens help me, I didn’t fucking care.

I barely had time to catch my breath before slamming the door shut behind me.The thunderous pulse of music still echoed in my ears, my skin still humming from the vibrations.As I turned, reality crashed into me with devastating strength.

A force like fire itself seized me, throwing me against the wall.The stone scraped mercilessly against my shoulder blades, the impact forcing air from my lungs in a violent rush.Every muscle tensing in preparation for fight or flight.

Dalkhan’s hand closed around my neck, just shy of cutting off my air.I felt each individual finger as they spanned the column of my throat, a collar of flesh and bone that could either snap me or save me.