Page 37 of Claimed By Fangs and Darkness

His smirk grew. Underneath it, I saw evidence of his emotional burden. He’d been caring for me and Idris for the past two days without reprieve, and he was still recovering from his own grief.

And damn him, I cared.

“I can tattoo myself,” I offered. “You should rest.”

Kylo went rigid. “Like hell you will,” he growled.

“How hard could it possibly be? Place magickal needle on skin and draw symbols.” I shrugged.

Kylo’s intensity radiated from him in a thick mist of shadow. “Angel, no one else gets to mark your body butme. Not even you.”

My core turned molten, my nerves lighting up even as my face contorted with anger.

Kylo charged me, his speed catching me off guard. He pinned my wrists behind my back, snaked an arm around my torso, and gripped my throat before I could blink.

“Learning shadow control is great. But you need new tools to combat vampire speed. We’ll work on that next time.”

In his tight hold, my traitorous body relaxed.

“Maybe training with me isn’t the best option,” Kylo murmured, his breath fanning across my ear. “I don’t want anyone else fucking touching you. But I also can’t have you turning into a wet, needy mess every time I threaten your life.”

His grip on my throat tightened, and I struggled not to rub my thighs together.

I opened my mouth to deny what Kylo could obviously detect through my scent, my heart rate, my breathing—but he beat me to it.

“I’m curious, baby,” he purred. “What is it about your life in my hands that turns you on?”

He let go of my wrists, his hand moving to pinch a nipple and tug. I whined, squirming in his arms.

“The threat of pain?” he whispered.

One of my shadows yanked his hand off my throat. I wriggled free as my extra limbs moved in varied degrees of precision to deflect Kylo as I put distance between us. But once his thrumming, violent power had been switched on, my bones rattled. It became harder to focus, my blood yearning for me to submit. I panted, raising my arms defensively as I leaked a fine mist of shimmering shadow.

Kylo’s predator gaze was trained on me.

Our shadows moved at the same time, growing tangled in the space between us. I grunted in exertion, and strong winds circled.

One of his limbs broke free from the tangled mess and swiped my legs out from under me before pinning me to the earth.

Submit,a voice whispered, commanding and steady.

I lost my thread of control.

“Or,” Kylo said softly, now standing above me as more and more shadows crawled across my body to weigh it down and suppress my magick. “Is it not really about the violence at all?”

My hands twitched. My arms were rooted in place. It was like being under a weighted blanket, all of me snug and bound.

Kylo’s beautiful, ruthless face reminded me of a war deity—something I could become lost in, an anchor amid the storm.

The winds settled.

“I wonder if your pretty little pussy is merely reacting to the safety of my power. The idea that if your every breath belongs to the most powerful vampire in Ravenia, there is no greater danger that can reach you.” Kylo smiled, a shadow plunging inside my mouth, cool and smooth.

I melded with the earth, feeling her energies embrace me the same as Kylo’s. I gagged when the shadow expanded, and Kylo’s eyes lit up.

“Your needy pussy is right, angel. I am indeed the only thing in this world you have to fear.”

“Arrogant prick,” I tried to say, but the shadow gag jumbled the sounds.