Page 15

DOMINIC

M orning came soft and slow, with golden light leaking between the curtains and dust motes dancing lazily in the air like they’d never known a storm. Dominic stirred, blinking against the brightness, then groaning low as a familiar ache rolled through his shoulder.

Right. The shadow beast. The couch. The damn bond.

And her.

Lillith was curled beside him on the couch, her cheek pressed to the edge of the cushion on the arm rest, dark lashes resting against her cinnamon skin. She looked peaceful. Unarmored. The kind of softness he didn’t think she let anyone see—ever.

He knew his hand had been tangled with hers, he could still feel the warmth. Fingers curved like they’d molded to the shape of her palm in the night. But now her hand was tucked under her as if protecting herself. He didn’t move. Didn’t breathe too loudly. Just looked.

They’d shared a dream.

Not some hazy, forgettable flicker of the subconscious, but a real, tangled thread of magic that had pulled them both under and left behind the weight of something neither of them had dared name.

He didn’t want that moment to break, to end. He moved slow, brushing a knuckle down her wrist. Her skin was warm. Alive. She blinked awake, lashes fluttering as she caught him in the act.

Her eyes were wild for half a second. Then she registered him, 3

his face, his closeness, the light. And instead of flinching, she exhaled like she’d been holding that breath for a week.

“…We were in the garden,” she said softly.

“Yeah,” he murmured. “We were.”

“Dreamwalking.”

“Looks like it.”

She sat up, pulling her knees to her chest. Her hair was a mess—storm-curls frizzed and tangled—and he thought it made her look even more like herself. Like the version of Lillith he was just now getting to see.

“I don’t usually—” she started, then stopped.

“Sleep beside strange men?” he offered, dry.

She gave him a look. “Let myself… be seen. Not like that.”

He nodded slowly. “Yeah. I know.”

Silence stretched. Not uncomfortable. Just heavy.

Dominic sat up fully, letting the blanket fall from his lap. “You were right, you know.”

“About?”

“The bond. It’s changing. Deepening.” His fingers flexed around the edge of the couch. “And it scares the hell outta me.”

She blinked. That admission caught her off guard. Good. It caught him off guard too.

“You’re always so cocky,” she said.

“Doesn’t mean I don’t feel things.”

“Feel what?”

His mouth twitched into something softer than a grin. “You. Us. This.” He motioned between them. “The way you looked at me in that dream? Like you were trying to memorize me.”

“I wasn’t?—”

“You were,” he said gently.

She looked away.

And that’s when he reached into the inner pocket of his shirt and pulled out a small charm—a thin copper disc etched with old, swirling script.

“I want to show you something.”

Lillith glanced back. “What’s that?”

“Something my mother taught me. A glamour sigil. Temporary. Fades after a few days unless renewed.”

Her brows drew together. “You want to glamor me?”

“No.” He shook his head. “I want to mark you. With this. Not to hide you. To protect you.”

She stilled. “Dominic?—”

“It doesn’t bind you to me, not magically. It’s more like… a signal flare. If anything comes near you with ill intent, I’ll feel it. Even in my dreams. Especially in my dreams.”

She stared at him. “Why?”

He swallowed. “Because last night I watched you run toward me in a storm. I watched you patch me up with shaking hands and then sleep beside me like we’ve done it a hundred times. And I need—just need—to know I can reach you, even if I can’t say what this is yet.”

She didn’t speak, just watched him. So he reached for her slowly, holding the charm between two fingers. “May I?”

She nodded once.

He leaned forward, and brushed the disc gently across her collarbone. It glowed warm, briefly, before the light sank into her skin. The sigil shimmered faintly, then vanished like it had never been there.

But he could feel it.

Her heart. Her tether. Humming in time with his.

Lillith let out a shaky breath. “You’re dangerous, Dominic Kane.”

“I’ve been told.”

Her fingers lifted, brushing his jaw with the barest ghost of a touch. It was instinctive. Like reaching for fire and being surprised it didn’t burn.

He tilted forward.

So did she.

Their mouths hovered inches apart, the bond a live wire between them, thrumming like the earth had pulled taut and was waiting to snap. When their lips finally touched, it wasn’t tentative—it was inevitable.

Dominic kissed her like a man finally giving in to gravity. Deep, slow, full of heat that smoldered instead of sparked. Lillith pressed closer, her fingers slipping into the thick, tawny mess of his hair. His golden eyes flickered shut, and he groaned low when she bit his lower lip.

“Fuck,” he whispered against her mouth. “You taste like moonlight and trouble.”

She laughed, breathless, the sound melting into a gasp as he dragged his mouth down her throat, pausing where her pulse beat frantic and wild. “Dominic…”

“Say it again,” he murmured, his voice a growl now, rough around the edges.

“Dominic.”

The way she said his name went straight to his cock. Hard and aching, pressing tight against the confines of his sweats. She was magic and shadow and sunlight wrapped in one, and he wanted her—all of her.

Her hands slid beneath his shirt, nails grazing the ridges of his stomach. Scars marked his golden-brown skin, each a story she hadn’t yet heard, but she kissed every one she found as she pushed the shirt up and over his head.

“You’re beautiful,” she said, eyes glowing now.

He didn’t answer with words. He kissed her again, this time walking her backward until the back of her knees hit the chair and he gently pulled her to the floor. He lowered her gently, pulling the blanket over them for warmth, but he didn’t plan to keep either of them clothed much longer.

“Tell me if you want me to stop,” he whispered, already slipping a hand under her sleep shirt.

“Don’t you dare,” she said, eyes daring him to even think it.

His palm cupped her breast, thumb brushing over the sensitive peak. She arched up into him, hips shifting beneath him as her thighs opened instinctively. He rutted against her slowly, letting her feel the thick length of his cock straining against the fabric.

“I need you,” he groaned.

“Then take me,” she gasped.

He slipped her shirt off and stilled for a heartbeat, just looking. Cinnamon skin, freckled and glowing in the early light. Breasts soft and full, nipples already hard. He bent to take one into his mouth, licking, sucking, until she was moaning and rolling her hips beneath him.

“You smell like honey and stormlight,” he murmured, kissing lower. “I want to taste all of you.”

Lillith shivered. “Then stop talking and do it.”

He chuckled low, the sound almost a purr. The lion in him stirred as he pushed her panties down her legs, dragging his nose along her inner thigh. “Gods, your pussy…” he growled, staring at her glistening folds. “So fucking wet.”

He licked a slow, deliberate stripe through her center. Lillith cried out, fisting the blanket. He didn’t stop. He lapped at her pussy like he was starved for it, tongue swirling around her clit, then plunging deep inside her.

“Dom… Dominic…!”

“That’s it, sweet girl. Let go.”

She came hard, thighs trembling, breath ragged as she called his name. But he didn’t stop. He kissed his way back up her body, licking her climax from his lips like nectar.

He lined himself up against her, nudging her entrance with the thick head of his cock.

“Look at me,” he said.

She did.

He pushed in slowly, watching every flutter of her lashes, every gasp, every shift of her hips as her pussy stretched around him. She was so damn tight, slick and warm and pulsing around his cock like she was made for him.

“Gods,” he breathed. “You feel… unreal.”

She wrapped her legs around his hips, drawing him deeper. “Move, Dom. I want to feel you lose control.”

And he did.

He thrust into her with a groan, slow and steady at first, the thick length of his cock stretching her inch by inch.

The feel of her wrapped around him was like nothing he’d ever known—hot, velvet-soft, and impossibly tight.

She pulsed around him, her pussy greedy for every push, every retreat, like she was trying to keep him locked inside.

“Fuck,” he muttered against her throat, the word barely breath. “You feel like fire.”

Her hips rose to meet his. “Then burn with me.”

Dominic moved, his pace deep and deliberate, grinding against her with each stroke, savoring the way her breath hitched when he hit the spot that made her gasp. She clung to him, nails raking down his back, legs locked tighter as her body rocked in rhythm with his.

He wasn’t used to this—wasn’t used to needing. Sex had always been release, raw and impersonal. But this? This was everything. She was everything. The way her moans weren’t just sounds—they were answers. Echoes of a bond that hummed with every thrust.

He rolled his hips, fucking her harder now, deeper, the couch creaking beneath them. Her body arched, sweat-slicked skin glowing in the morning light, her green eyes wide and wild as her climax built again.

“You’re mine,” he growled into her neck, thrusting faster.

“Say it.”

“I’m yours,” she gasped, back bowing as she met his thrusts. “I’m yours.”

“Again.”

“I’m yours, Dominic. Gods, don’t stop.”

Their bond surged between them, a live current of magic and lust and emotion.

His cock throbbed inside her, her pussy clenching tight, milking him as she came again with a cry that punched straight through his chest. Her walls spasmed around him, drawing him deeper, coaxing his own orgasm from him with raw, unrelenting need.

He roared her name as he spilled into her, every muscle taut, his body trembling with the force of it. The sound echoed through the room, wild and broken, and then he was collapsing beside her, breath ragged.

She curled into him, limbs tangled, his cum still warm inside her. He kissed the crown of her head, heart still pounding.

“No one’s ever felt like that,” he whispered. “No one but you.”

Lillith smiled into his chest, her fingers dragging lazy circles across his ribs, but said nothing.

Her fingers calmed Dominic and he felt as if nothing needed to be said. He was at peace and happy they finally gave in. He let himself drift back to sleep.