Page 24

AVA

M y skin feels tight and sticky, drenched in sweat and jungle humidity.

The heat pulses through me, but it’s not just the climate; it’s Kairon’s presence lingering like a storm cloud overhead.

He keeps his distance, eyes flickering over me like I’m some kind of puzzle he can’t quite solve.

I can feel him watching, assessing. The air between us thickens with tension, each breath a challenge.

Finally, I snap. “What’s your deal? You’re acting like nothing happened between us.”

He meets my gaze with an icy glare. “Because nothing did.”

I laugh bitterly, disbelief flooding my voice. “Right. You just fucked me for no reason.”

The words hang heavy in the humid air, charged and electric. He stands there, fists clenched at his sides, every muscle in his body taut with anger. My heart races—this is dangerous ground we’re treading.

“Do you really think I’d let that happen if it meant something?” His tone is low and dangerous, cutting through the space between us.

I step closer, feeling reckless and defiant. “It clearly meant something to you,” I retort, letting the anger simmer beneath my skin.

He takes a breath, frustration radiating off him in waves. “You think I wanted this? That I wanted you?”

Every word is a spark igniting the kindling of our argument; the air crackles around us with unspoken words and unresolved desires.

“I didn’t ask for this either!” I shoot back. My voice rises, fierce despite the fatigue dragging at my limbs.

He closes the distance between us in two long strides, towering over me with heat radiating off his body like an inferno. “You want honesty?” he growls, breaths heavy with frustration mingling with something else entirely. “I think about it every damn minute.”

My heart stutters in my chest as those words sink in—raw and unfiltered truth igniting a fire inside me.

“Prove it.”

I throw the challenge at him like a weapon—a last-ditch attempt to tear down whatever walls he has built around himself.

His expression freezes for just a heartbeat before he lunges forward. Kairon grips my face with rough hands and kisses me hard—fierce and demanding as if he’s furious at himself for wanting this as much as I do.

I kiss him back without hesitation; the world falls away around us—just heat and hunger entwining as everything else fades into darkness.

The moss squelches under his back as I shove him down, hands seizing his wrists hard enough to bruise. His pupils flare—that snake-like crimson darkening with arousal and irritation.

“Watch yourself, human.” The rumble in his throat vibrates against my shin where I’m straddling him.

I yank at his belt, fingers slipping on the leather. Sweat drips from my temple onto his abdomen. “Don’t worry—” click “—this isn’t a rebellion.” His cock springs free, thick and flushed against his gray-ridged stomach. My tongue darts out, tasting salt and musk. “It’s reckoning. ”

He hisses through jagged teeth when I take him deep, nails biting into my shoulder. “Untamed brat,” but the insult cracks as I hollow my cheeks. I pull back, spit glistening on my lips.

“Says the feral beast trembling under a lieutenant’s mouth.”

His growl is pure possession, fingers knotting in my sweat-soaked hair. “You want to play alpha?” He thrusts upward, forcing my throat open. “Then swallow.”

I gag, tear tracks smearing mud from my cheeks as he fucks my mouth with sharp, shallow pumps. His free hand palms my breast, thumb grinding my nipple through the threadbare tank. Lightning arcs through me—rage and pleasure twisting into something vicious.

He releases my hair, voice raw. “That’s it. Take what you’re worth.”

I rip my mouth free with a wet pop. “Worth this .” My palm cracks across his cheek.

The air stills. His hand catches my wrist mid-swing, pupils blown wide. For a heartbeat, I think he’ll break bone. Then he hurls me sideways, moss tearing under my spine as he flips us.

His claws shred my cargo pants, calloused fingers sliding through slick heat. “Pathetic.” He circles my clit slowly, mockingly. “Your cunt’s ready to die for me already.”

I buck against him, teeth bared. “Fuck y— oh ?—!”

Two fingers plunge inside, curling forward. My hips jerk as he crooks them just there , and his grin is all feral triumph. “Beg.”

I sink my teeth into his forearm. He snarls, pinning my throat with his other hand. His thumb keeps working my clit, ruthless and precise. Black spots dance in my vision as I choke out a laugh. “Scared… I’ll… win … again?”

He releases my neck to grip both my thighs, spreading me wider. “You won’t scream this time,” he lies, lining himself up.

“Try m— hhngh! ” The stretch burns as he sheaths himself in one brutal thrust.

His forehead presses to mine, breath ragged. “Still… want… control?”

I rake blood tracks down his back. “Y-you’re… sfuck … still… moving …”

His chuckle rasps against my jaw. Teeth scrape my pulse point.

His hips snap forward, burying every brutal inch. Moss tears beneath my shoulder blades as he pins my wrists above my head with one clawed hand. "You take my cock so well." The words rumble through his chest pressed against mine. "Like you were sculpted for this."

"Fuck y?—"

His free hand slips between us, thumb circling my clit with precision that steals the insult from my tongue. "Of course you do," he purrs, fangs grazing my earlobe. "Discipline's in your blood, isn't it, Lieutenant?"

I arch despite myself, the dual assault of stretch and friction turning my struggle into a sham. "I'll... hhh... court-martial your... nh! "

"Shame they don't give medals for this." His laugh vibrates through my sternum as he speeds his thrusts. "Though you'd look pretty choking on one."

Heat coils tight in my belly—treacherous, inevitable. My nails score his marble-gray biceps. "Don't you— dare ?—"

"Already am." His tongue licks a stripe up my throat. "Look at you. Clenching like you're trying to milk me dry."

The orgasm cracks through me like a whip. I bite his shoulder to muffle the scream, tasting iron and salt.

He laughs. "Are you coming Ava?"

I cry out, limbs trembling with unbridled pleasure.

"You like that, little soldier? That's right. Come for me."

"Fuck!"

His groan echoes against my teeth. "That's it. Ruin me." Fingers twist in my hair, yanking my head back. Crimson eyes blaze with feral triumph. "Your cunt's so hungry—bet it'd suck the life from a proper Ishani prince."

Dark humor bubbles through the haze. "Lucky me... you're just... a thug with?—"

He stills abruptly, gaze turning glacial. The sudden absence of movement hurts worse than the pounding. "Careful, Ava ." My name drips venom. "You wouldn't recognize a prince if he gutted you with one."

I rock upward, desperate friction be damned. "Then prove me wrong. "

Snarling, he slams home. The new angle punches a sob from my lungs. "Pathetic," he breathes against my parted lips. "Starving for a monster's touch."

"Yes." The confession breaks free as he swivels his hips—shameful, electric. "Yours."

His rhythm stutters. For a heartbeat, I see it—the fracture in his armor, the wounded thing beneath. Then he buries his face in my neck, fucking me with renewed frenzy. "Mine," he growls into damp skin. "My stubborn, defiant?—"

The world whites out as he comes, heat flooding my core. His teeth sink into the join of shoulder and neck—claiming, cruel, perfect. We collapse into the ruined moss, still joined, both pretending not to notice his trembling arms caging me close.

A sudden wave of apprehension shoots through me. That's it. This is what happened last time. Tomorrow… nothing will have changed.

My arms and legs latch around him, pulling our bodies closer together and refusing to let go. But he doesn't move. He rests gently on top of me, his cock still pulsing inside my body, and his breathing and heartbeat slowly returning to a normal rate.

I bury my face in his neck. What is wrong with me? He's a monster… the enemy… but the thought of letting go makes my stomach churn and my eyes burn with emotion. With… sadness.

I… I'm so screwed.