Page 48 of His Claim

I snorted, forcing a laugh I didn’t feel. “That’s poetic. Do you practice speeches like that when no one’s looking?”

He didn’t bite. “No.”

A part of me wanted him to. I wanted him to snap, to bare his teeth, to give me a reason to lash out. Anything to match the wildness clawing inside me. Anything to bring him closer to me…

“You know,” I said, letting a smirk tug at my mouth, “for someone who claims to know everything, you sure don’t notice when your mate’s about to collapse from exhaustion. Or maybe you just don’t care.”

That made him stop short.

He turned, the lantern’s glow catching the hard lines of his face. His silver eyes burned through me while my pulse thundered in my ears.

“I do care,” he said, his voice like gravel. “More than you realize.”

I rolled my eyes, even as my chest squeezed. “Then show it. Or don’t bother to pretend.”

I turned to step past him, but his arm shot out, blocking me. My back hit the damp wall, the stone cold against my spine. His body loomed close, the heat of him cutting through the chill air.

Then he put the lantern down, painting us both in chiaroscuro.

“You want me to show it?” His voice was even rougher now, like he was dragging his claws across sandpaper.

My breath caught, my wolf prowling under my skin, thrilled at the cage of his body, but my mind refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing me surrender even just the tiniest bit.

So I tilted my chin up, still smirking. “Maybe.”

His gaze raked over me, down to the healing mark on my shoulder, back to my eyes. He was vibrating with restraint, the tension in him tight as a bowstring.

“Careful, little wolf,” he growled softly.

I leaned into the wall, daring, the sass sharp in my voice. “Or what?”

The air was molten between us, thick enough I could taste it. His body boxed me in, pale eyes cutting through the dark, every inch of him coiled like a predator on the edge.

“Orwhat?” I whispered again, daring him directly.

His jaw clenched and his breath came hot against my lips. For a second, I thought he might step back, leash himself again, but then something in him broke.

He snapped forward and kissed me.

It wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t patient. His mouth crashed into mine, hard, and I gasped against him. My hands were pinned at my sides, pressed into the stone, but the second I wriggled free, I grabbed fistfuls of his shirt and yanked him closer.

The kiss burned. It tasted of blood and smoke, of salt and iron and everything that had brought us here. His teeth grazed my lip, my tongue met his, and for a dizzying heartbeat, I didn’t know if I was kissing him back or trying to devour him.

I broke the kiss first, panting, my head thudding against the cold wall. My chest heaved, my whole body aching with the fire rolling under my skin, and I tried to draw in a breath.

Varek didn’t back off. Suddenly, his big hands were on me, one curled around the back of my neck, the other sliding under the hem of my shirt, rough fingertips skimming the bare skin of my hip right above the pants that were at least three sizes too big.

I arched into him, shameless, desperate. “Varek…”

His name on my tongue was a plea. I didn’t even know what I was begging for. More, or less, or to just let the heat inside me burn itself out until there was nothing left of me but ash and bones.

His mouth dipped to the line of my throat, teeth grazing skin. He growled against me, the sound almost inhuman, and every nerve in my body sparked to life. “You want me to show it?”

I shuddered. “Yes.”

He pulled me away from the wall, his grip on my neck sliding into my hair. His fingers twisted in the strands, gentle but firm, and he tugged my head back, forcing me to bare my throat to him.

I swallowed hard. “Please?—”