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T he panic screeched pure and blistering, blaring white behind Daisy’s unseeing eyes. What was this, she needed to fight, to run —

Until a second hand found her neck, and curled gently around it.

“ Róleg, sólin mín ,” came a voice, close and hot in her ear, as sharp claws prodded into her throat. “ Tetta er bara ég .”

It was Filak . Here . Touching her.

Daisy should still have screamed. She should have fought, panicked, pushed away. She should have shouted for any of the people in the room, for Kesst or Efterar , who were surely only sleeping nearby. And if those guards were still outside, they would hear it too, they would rush in, and drag Filak away, forever…

But she didn’t scream. Didn’t resist. Didn’t even try. Not even when Filak dropped his hands from her mouth and her throat. Not even when those hands then snaked down her trembling body, and caught her wrists, and raised them over her head. Pinning them firmly to the bed with his strong, uncompromising grip.

He was… trapping her here. Confining her here.

And yes, yes, that was what this was, his full weight now sinking down onto the bed over her, kicking off her fur toward the floor. So there was only him above her now, only his warm lean body settling down heavy against hers, his strong legs thrusting her knees decisively apart…

Daisy shuddered all over, but she still didn’t protest, or refuse. Just stayed there on the bed, gasping in the darkness, as Filak shifted both her wrists into one hand, freeing his other hand to reach downwards and yank up her skirts. Exposing her entire bottom half to the room’s cool air, oh gods, while his thighs settled deeper between hers, and hitched them even wider apart. He was baring her for him, opening her up for him, he was doing this, he was really, really doing this, and she was allowing it, wanting it —

And oh fuck, yes, she was — because now that was his thick prodding cock. Seeking between Daisy’s spread thighs, notching itself firm and certain against her slick, wide-open heat. While she writhed and hissed against it, opening even wider for it, needing more, more …

“ Ach ?” came Filak’s hot whisper in her ear, so soft she almost couldn’t hear it over her thudding heartbeat. “ Ach , sólin mín ?”

Daisy quaked all over, because curse him, he was again — asking . Holding himself like this and asking, damn him, because then she had to answer. And she didn’t want to answer, she didn’t want to say it, because it was so foolish, so stupid, so ridiculous. He’d kidnapped her and locked her in a dungeon , she was supposed to hate him, to forget him, to sell his beautiful ring and run away forever…

You must learn, and know, for yourself…

“ Ach ?” Filak asked again, so soft and hot in her ear. “ Sannlega , sólin mín .”

It was the same thing he’d told her that first night in the cave, and it again shuddered Daisy all over, clutched her slick hungry heat against that gentle touch of his blunt invading crown. Still just nudging there, just prodding slightly inside her, impossibly intimate, appallingly infuriating. Taunting her, inflaming her, knowing how much she needed this, please, gods, please…

Daisy squeezed her eyes shut, dragged in a deep breath — and then, somehow, she nodded. Nodded , short and brief and fervent, saying…

Yes. Curse her, yes. Yes .

But Filak still didn’t move, though his jutting cock spasmed against Daisy’s quivering heat — and oh, she could feel liquid now, trailing thick and obscene down her crease. While his warm clawed hand gently grasped at her bare hip, and then began caressing up her shivering body. Moving slow and purposeful, stroking over her breast, her heart, and then curving gentle around her gasping throat…

“ Ach, Daisy ?” he breathed. “ Segeu mér .”

Segeu mér . And even if Daisy didn’t know the words, she fully understood Filak’s meaning, as strong as if he’d shouted it in plain common-tongue. He wanted her to say yes or no, out loud. He wanted to know it for certain, and maybe he wanted her to know it, too. Wanted to make it into shameful, undeniable truth between them…

You must learn, and know, for yourself.

Daisy gasped and writhed again, perhaps even seeking to drive her body downwards onto that prodding strength, to swallow it deeper anyway — but Filak’s hand instantly tightened around her throat, even as his breath huffed a sound that might have been a laugh, indulgent and gentle.

“ Komdu, Daisy mín ,” he murmured, his head shifting upwards, and oh, that was a light, brief kiss of his lips to hers, so honeyed and tantalizing and sweet. “ Segeu mér .”

Fuck. There was no resisting it now, no more lying to herself, to him. And finally Daisy twitched another brief, shameful nod, and raised her blinking eyes toward where she knew his face to be.

“Ach, Filak ,” she whispered. “ Yes . Yes .”

His answering groan was hot and low, fraying through the darkness around them — and with a sudden sharp snap of his hips, he slammed himself hard and deep. Stabbing her full of him, shivering her all through with the strength of him, the utter shattering relief of his body finally sheathed inside her. So good, so smooth, so raw and reckless and alive, swelling and straining to fill her, to meet her, to make her his own.

Daisy mín. Sólin mín.

And suddenly Daisy just needed it, needed more of it, all of it — and Filak’s hand still holding her wrists flexed, pinning them tighter, as his other hand curved closer around her throat. Around that collar, too, that kraga he’d put on her down in that dungeon. And that awareness should have brought Daisy back, should have been enough to make her remember, make her push him away…

But it wasn’t, it was only writhing her harder beneath him, around him, clutching him, craving him. And maybe even silently begging him for more, because she so desperately needed him to take charge of this, to take away all her culpability in this, all her stupidity…

She hissed as he slowly drew out again, deliberate and agonizing — but then he plunged back in, while she gasped and squirmed beneath him. Fuck , it felt good, he felt so good, his lean body so strong and warm, his capable hands holding her so safe and certain. Pinning her here beneath him, right where he wanted her, so he could again drag himself out, and drive back in. And then again, and again, sinking into a fast, brutal rhythm, his heavy thrusts meeting her shuddering grinding hips, his hot breath gasping close into her ear.

Gods . It was like he’d broken open something inside Daisy , something wild and utterly depraved, and if he hadn’t still been pinning her hands over her head like this, she would have frantically clutched at him, and urged him on faster. Needing him so much it burned and seethed in her belly, the hunger and the frenzy catching and coiling between their driving bodies, wringing them up higher, closer, please, please…

She almost shouted as it pitched off the edge, convulsing her all around him, the ecstasy blazing out in pulse after furious pulse. But Filak’s warm safe hand had clapped over her mouth, keeping it inside, for just her, just them — and with two more sharp slams of his hips, he was gasping too, his cock plunging hard and almost painful as it spewed out deep inside. Flooding her with slick molten heat, raw and shameless and defiant, making her his, his, his .

And with the certainty and the bliss still shivering through her, Daisy scarcely even noticed Filak’s deft hand tilting her face further sideways, or his sharp teeth, settling with decisive purpose against her throat, just above her kraga . And even when the pain flashed beneath those teeth, hot and stark, she didn’t resist, didn’t even flinch. Just breathed deep and felt it, felt the certainty of his strong body over her, filling her and marking her, tending to her, caring for her. Just as he’d sworn to do.

Afterwards he kissed at his bite, stroking it with soft lips and tongue, until she again felt that now-familiar prickle of her skin healing, knitting itself back together again. And then Filak’s gentle mouth kissed up her neck, up her cheek, until he met her lips again. Tasting them softly at first, and then taking more, parting them with his tongue, drinking her firm and deep. Locking their mouths together, just as their bodies were still locked together too, his hard shaft still slightly shuddering inside her, squeezing out all he had to give.

Mín , it said, without a single word. Daisy mín. Sólin mín .

And he kept saying it, as he finally released her wrists from above her head, and then gently drew her left hand toward his face. So he could see — oh. The ring.

Daisy’s cheeks burned, and she halfheartedly attempted to tug her hand away — but Filak held it firm and safe. And then he brushed it with something warm and familiar, with… his lips. Kissing it, oh gods, whispering more silent, certain words deep into her skin. Mín .

But this, finally, was enough to wrench Daisy’s awareness back in again, shouting too loud behind her eyes. Filak had kidnapped her. Locked her in a dungeon. Stuffed her own art in her mouth. And even if, like Julian had claimed, it had all only been an unfortunate misunderstanding — Filak had still done it. She still couldn’t trust him. She needed to be finished with him…

She somehow found the will to squeeze her eyes shut, to twist her face away. To say, nei , without saying it at all — but she could feel Filak’s awareness in the sudden stillness of his body over her, the slight slackening of his cock inside her. The prickle of his eyes searching her face, seeing through all her secrets in the dark…

And then in his harsh, ragged exhale. In his body sinking sudden and heavy down on top of hers. In his face ducking into her neck, dragging in a deep bracing breath against her skin…

“I am sorry, Daisy ,” he whispered, the words flaring like a touch against her skin. “ ég mun vinna mér inn traust titt aftur og endurheimta hjarta titt sem mitt eigie .”

And this time, the words were… familiar. Words he’d spoken before, when she’d first come to the sickroom, and Kesst had translated for him. I will soon prove myself to you as your mate, and gain you as my own.

And Daisy shouldn’t believe him. She shouldn’t. She shouldn’t…

It took almost all her strength to shove at him, to push away his warm body with cold, shaky fingers. To say, Nei , Filak . Nei . Go .

She half-expected him to protest, to argue — but instead, he instantly lurched backwards and away, as his slackened cock swept out of her, too. Leaving her sprawled and debauched on the bed, with hot thick fluid bubbling from inside her, oh gods. And for a horrible, hovering instant, Daisy wanted to clutch after him, to run and hide, to weep…

But then something soft slipped between her thighs — a rag? — and something heavy settled over her. The fur. And she twitched all over at the feel of a hand, Filak’s hand, so steady and reassuring, stroking at her throat…

“ Róleg, sólin mín ,” he murmured, so soft. “ Sofeu vel .”

And with that, his hand drew away again, and she could feel his body drawing away, too. Leaving her just as silently as he’d come, vanishing into the pure inky blackness.

And as Daisy gazed into the darkness after him, she clutched at that ring again, twisting it on her finger. He wanted to prove himself to her. To gain her as his own. He wanted to show her, he wanted her to see…

You must learn, and know, for yourself.

It was all so much, so overwhelming, tangled up with fear and hunger and longing. Filak had kidnapped her, he’d locked her in a dungeon, he’d snapped this ring around her neck, he’d stuffed her own art in her mouth…

But… he’d also repeatedly apologized. He’d offered her gifts. He’d spoken to her in common-tongue. He’d sent Julian and the basket of food. He’d stayed close by. And tonight he’d come to her, and — yes, as shameful as it was to admit — he’d given Daisy exactly what she’d wanted. Exactly what she’d maybe even craved, all that endless day.

So maybe… maybe she could try something else. Maybe , instead of being finished with Filak , forgetting Filak forever… maybe she could take a little more time. Maybe she could just watch him, observe him, even for a few days. Maybe she could learn who he was, where he’d come from, what he wanted. She could see Filak , for herself.

And maybe it was still foolish, stupid, ridiculous — but Daisy finally sighed and closed her eyes, and curled up on the bed. Sinking into something that almost felt like contentment, like peace.

She would learn. She would see.