Page 126 of Haunted

His jaw clenches. “There’s no going back,” he finishes for me.

I nod, unable to speak past the lump in my throat.

“You’ll be mine completely,” he continues, his voice dropping to that hypnotic rumble that always makes my knees weak. “No more fighting it. No more worrying about the morality of what I do.”

I no longer have the energy to continue fighting this. Fighting him. Fighting myself. Fighting the hunger that grows stronger every time he touches me.

I’m so fucking tired of the war raging inside my head.

I crash my mouth against his, pouring all my surrender into the kiss. My teeth catch his bottom lip, biting down until he growls against my mouth.

“Fuck me,” I breathe against his lips, my voice raw with desperation. “Stop holding back and fuck me like you mean it.”

A wildness flickers in his gray eyes—recognition that I’m done fighting, done pretending I don’t want this with every fiber of my being.

“You want me to claim you?” His voice is deep and gravelly. “Right here, right now?”

“Yes.” The word is torn from my throat. “Make me yours, Xavier. Completely.”

He pulls out of me only to spin me around, pressing my palms flat against the steamy glass wall. The position leaves me completely exposed and vulnerable, and I arch my back instinctively.

“Spread your legs wider,” he commands, his hands rough on my hips.

I comply immediately, trembling with anticipation. The hot water streams down my back as he positions himself behind me, one hand tangling in my wet hair to pull my head back.

“Look at yourself,” he growls, forcing me to meet my reflection in the fogged mirror across from us. “Look at how desperate you are for me.”

The woman staring back is flushed and panting, water streaming down her skin; her eyes are dark with hunger.

“Tell me what you want,” he demands, pressing the tip of his cock against my entrance.

“I want you to fuck me until I can’t remember myown name,” I gasp. “I want you to brand every inch of me.”

He slams into me with a force that steals my breath, pinning me against the wall as he sets a brutal pace. Each thrust is deeper than the last, hitting spots inside me that make stars explode behind my eyelids.

“Mine,” he snarls against my ear, his grip on my hair tightening. “Every fucking part of you belongs to me.”

“Yes,” I sob, pushing back against him desperately. “Yours. All yours.”

The steam swirls around us as he takes me with animalistic intensity, his free hand sliding around to grip my throat possessively. The pressure makes me lightheaded, amplifying every sensation until I’m drowning in pleasure.

“Come for me,” he commands, his thumb finding my clit. “Let me feel you shatter.”

His relentless thrusts send me spiraling over the edge, my scream echoing as pleasure tears through me. All I feel is the terrifying hunger for more.

And I know, with bone-deep certainty—I have been well and truly claimed by this man. Not because of a contract that binds me to him for a year. Not because of the Hunt that brought us together.

But because the darkness in me recognizes the darkness in him. Because beneath all my pretense of morality and righteousness, this is who I've always been.

Xavier Blackwood didn't corrupt me. He simply showed me the truth I've been running from my entire life.

46

MIRA

The dress Xavier chose makes a statement—elegant black silk that flows like water down my body, appearing perfectly modest from the front with its high neckline and long sleeves. But when I turn around, the entire back is exposed, held together only by delicate chains that cross my spine in an intricate pattern.

Each chain kisses my skin with every movement, a constant reminder of how thoroughly he owns me.