Page 27 of Marked

This pushed Damien over the edge. The shadows lashed out around her. Like living tendrils, they coiled around her wrist, then her waist, pulling her completely flush with him. Gasps left Blair's throat, not out of fear but surprise .

Blair's breath hitched as she felt the pounding of his heart through his skin.

"Hey," she whispered, her hands pressing against him, but she didn't push him away.

His jaw was tight, his body trembling with restraint.

"I need it back," he muttered, his voice rough, uneven as he put his forehead to hers. "Give it back."

The shadows coiled tighter around her as they moved. Their inky tendrils ghosting over her bare shoulders, curling around the nape of her neck, and tracing the dip of her spine like unseen fingers. Blair shivered, her skin warming beneath his touch.

Her lips parted, her breath shaky.

"Give what back?"

Damien exhaled sharply, his mouth moving to her forehead.

"My control." His hands, real and shadowed, moved to her waist, his thumbs grazing the soft curve of her hips.

She said nothing. Staring up at him as he towered over her.

His mouth formed a tight line, and he slowly looked down at her.

"Tell me to stop Blair."

She swallowed silently and met his intensity, slowly shaking her head no.

It was a mere second before his mouth crashed against hers.

The kiss was deep, searing into every part of her soul.

The connection was fueled by all the frustration and jealousy from the tavern.

His shadows moved with him, gliding over her like invisible hands.

They touched and teased along her arms, her sides, the curve of her throat.

They wrapped around her legs, lifting her and urging her to wrap her legs around his waist.

Blair gasped into his mouth, her fingers digging into his shirt as the dark tendrils caressed her skin. Warm and cool at the same time. They traced patterns along her back and paused to coil around sensitive parts of her body.

A small moan escaped her, and that sound shattered what little control Damien had left. His shadows riled in response, ripping the back of her shirt in one smooth motion, licking every inch of exposed skin. She pulled away from his kiss to shimmy out of it, letting it fall to the floor,

His grip tightened around her, and he looked down at her exposed chest. His shadows became wild, responding by gripping her thighs and her waist and winding through her hair. His lips met hers again in a kiss that grew deeper, more desperate, devouring every breath.

Blair trembled against him as her body surrendered to every touch. Her own hands explored his body, moving up his shoulders and tangling in his hair. She didn't stop as the intensity grew. She didn't fight. She only kissed him back, matching the possessive need to claim each other.

Everything from the past few weeks, the attack, the scars littering her body, the tavern they just left, it all ceased to exist. There was only the heat between them now. The way his hands and shadows were now working together, worshipping her body .

Damien stiffened, and Blair watched as he struggled to regain his composure, but when she whispered his name against his lips, the resignation snapped.

Blair's back hit the wall first, a soft gasp leaving her lips as Damien pressed into her.

His hands gripped her waist as his thumbs dug in enough to leave bruises.

When his mouth wasn't on hers, it was trailing down her neck, nipping at the soft skin there.

His black eyes burned into her as he pulled back, resting his forehead on hers and breathing hard.

She watched him, all her senses on high alert, as his shadows traced along her exposed skin. She focused as he opened his mouth as he murmured something.

"You took it from me," he said, his voice rough, almost desperate.

Blair barely had time to respond before his lips crashed back into hers.

The kiss was all-consuming. She melted against him, her fingers yet again threading through his hair, pulling him closer, needing him closer.

And then she felt it; her bottoms, shredded, with just a quick movement from his shadows, and she was completely exposed to him.

The shadows slowed, and Damien set her down and stepped back. Her gaze locked onto him, following his inked eyes as they roamed her skin. Her body shook, but not from fear, and as Damiens's shadows reached out for her again, she relaxed into their touch.

More tendrils curled up from the floor, silken and merciless. They wrapped around her ankles.

"What-?" she breathed, but the word barely left her lips before her legs were yanked apart, forced wide by the living dark that pulsed around her.

A few moved to her arms, pulling them high above her head and securing her wrists together.

They continued to lift her until her feet were lifted off the ground.

Some shadows attached to the wall, creating a small ledge for her to sit on.

She did so and the shadows moved around her legs, lifting them up and open.

She looked down at her body, completely exposed to Damien.

Blair watched as Damien smirked with approval.

Her wrists and legs were tied in place like a marionette suspended in the air.

She strained, her chest rising and falling with adrenaline.

The shadows didn't hurt her, but they held her deliberately as if waiting for permission to do more.

The final wisps of black that had lingered around Damien moved toward her and outlined her most sensitive areas in teasing strokes. She shivered, her breath catching as they trailed along her shoulders, brushing against her skin like ghostly fingertips.

Damien never moved; he just watched as his shadowed extensions bound and teased her. They traced the curve of her back, sliding down to her hips, wrapping around her thighs. The sensation was intoxicating.

“Do you trust me?” he asked as a shadow grazed her cheekbone.

She let out another shaky breath as his gaze wandered down the length of her body. Every inch of skin was exposed and opened to him.

“Yes.” she panted.

Damien growled low in his throat as his eyes landed between her legs.

As soon as the noise hit the air, the shadows lifted her hips in the air, revealing every inch of her to him.

Two shadows moved slowly over the inside of her thighs and rested between them.

Pulling her completely open for him. His breath became erratic as he noticed how she glistened for him.

After looking over her body one more time, he stepped up to her and returned his lips to hers, consuming every quick breath she made.

His shadows then wrapped around her knees, pulling them as far open as they would go.

His lips moved to her jaw, then lower, pressing heat against the sensitive skin of her neck.

The shadows followed, caressing every inch of her as though they wanted to memorize her.

"Damien," she whispered, fighting the shadows to touch him.

His hands now gripped her thighs as they started to shake.

His touch was almost bruising, counteracting the soft grazes from the shadows.

His breathing was ragged as he continued to kiss her deeply.

She gasped into his mouth when she felt pressure between her legs.

Her eyes rolled as she realized his hands were still on her legs and the pressure had to have been coming from one of the shadows.

It teased her at her opening, sliding back and forth until she arched her back.

With that, it pushed inside of her as he tightened his hold on her thighs and bit her neck.

She moaned loudly in appreciation, urging more from him.

This only fed into the shadows, moving as if they had a will of their own now.

Her body shook as the shadow paused inside of her, letting her adjust to the size.

She stretched around it as Damien pulled back to watch.

Slowly, the tendril fed into her until she made a pained noise and then pulled back out.

It repeated the motion as Damien licked his lips.

The speed was tantalizingly slow at first but started to pick up as she attempted to rock her hips.

Damien dipped his hand inside his own waistband, gripping himself as he stroked slowly.

“You are so goddamn beautiful Blair. From here on out, I'm the only one that gets to touch you."

Blair tried to agree, but one of the shadows binding her wrists loosened and moved to her neck, cutting off her ability to answer.

She moaned again with pleasure as the shadows continued their relentless exploration as he watched.

The one inside of her moved faster as another one fondled the curves of her body.

Starting at her collarbone and moving to the curve of her waist, the tendril of shadow explored.

Damien growled and stepped toward her, his lips following the shadows.

She relished in the feeling of his tongue slowly gliding across her skin.

Like the shadows did, he moved slowly and deliberately.

He took his time, tasting every inch of her.

Blair squirmed against the shadows, needing more.

Damien looked up, noticing her movements, and released her wrists from the binds, guiding his mouth down her neck.

She moved her hands to his shoulders, pulling his shirt up over his head.

She whimpered at this, and Damien looked at her, breaking the kiss he was placing on her chest.

"Make that sound again for me." Damien choked out, his voice no longer his own but a rough imitation.

Blair moaned and rocked her hips, "Give me a reason to. "