I swallowed, my body tensing as he leaned down. I couldn’t tear my eyes off the side of his face as he leaned forward, touching his lips
to the skin beneath the mark. Those steely eyes flashed to mine, a sudden predatory movement as he held my gaze in the mirror. His tongue slid out of his mouth slowly, the warmth of it pressing against my flesh.
I watched in horror as he dragged it up and over the mark, a slow glide of wet warmth that took the last of the blood from my skin. A shudder rolled through me when the hint of a fang sparkled in the dim lighting.
“How in the Hell should I know?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. “It isn’t like I have Him on speed dial.”
“Has anyone ever told you that mouth is going to get you into trouble one of these days?” Gray asked, touching a hand to the back of my shoulder. Pain rippled through the mark, as if it protested the touch of anyone who hadn’t put it there.
“It’s possible,” I whispered.
That hand slid forward, curving over the top of my shoulder and wrapping around to the front of my throat. He squeezed lightly, watching goosebumps rise on my skin in response with an arrogant smirk. He leaned in, placing his mouth just beside my ear as he trailed his hand farther and snagged my bottom lip with his thumb.
“The next time you lie to me, I’m likely to make it so that you cannot speak at all.”
“Good luck with that,” I said, huffing a laugh against his thumb as I pulled back. It pressed my ass into his thighs, the bare skin of my back
touching his chest and sending a jolt of pain through me. “Unless you intend to gag me, you’re unlikely to be able to shut me up.”
“You would definitely be gagging, Witchling,” he growled, and the bolt that shot through me was one of shock.
Oh.
Swallowing, I forced that moment to pass and slid back into the carefully controlled persona. The seducer who would be anything, do anything, if it meant finding those bones.
“Promises, promises,” I murmured, nipping at his thumb.
His responding growl rumbled in my ear, tightening things low in my stomach that I didn’t even begin to understand. It shouldn’t have been attractive to have him growl at the thought of gagging me on his cock. He pulled me tighter into his chest, pressing his hard length into the small of my back.
I swallowed, arching my back at the touch.
“If I bent you over the sink right now and fucked you, you’d welcome every minute of it, wouldn’t you?” he asked, but he made no move to do just that.
I couldn’t decide if the swoop in my belly was appreciation or disappointment when he spun me to face him, backing me toward the bare wall beside the bathtub. I didn’t answer his question, couldn’t find the words to respond.
I knew what I should say, knew what my body wanted me to say as I tipped my head back and stared up at him through my lashes. But I couldn’t force myself to acknowledge it, couldn’t give him that satisfaction, even though my duty demanded it of me.
“A girl has needs,” I said, shrugging as if the person filling them was inconsequential.
His lip peeled back to reveal his fangs as he glared down at me like the problem I was.
“Love,” he murmured, his voice a soft caress as he leaned forward.
His forearm rested on the wall above my head as he raised his free hand to cup my cheek with mock tenderness. It shifted to my throat once again, pushing back until my head smacked against the wall lightly. He kept his grip there, pinning me as I squirmed beneath the hold. Raising my hands, I clawed at the bare skin of his forearm.
“What did I tell you about lying to me?”
He restricted my breathing just enough that I wheezed when I tried to speak, reminding me that if we came to blows, I would lose. It wouldn’t just be the opportunity to seduce him that would be lost, but I also didn’t stand a chance of fighting him one-on-one without any plants around me. Whoever had decided putting witches in a building was the best way was a fucking moron, because I belonged to the woods—to the gardens and anywhere but here.
My only hope was the stone. I glanced at the tile floor out of the corner of my eye, dropping a single arm to guide it up.
My focus was gone in the next moment, when Gray seemed to realize what I intended. He moved quickly, my eyes snapping to his face as it crashed down on mine. His lips were on me immediately, bruising in intensity as he devoured my mouth.
His fangs brushed against my lips, tearing open the flesh as he pried me open for him. I obeyed, parting for him and letting his tongue surge inside. My hands abandoned his forearms, pressing against his chest. I only pushed for a moment, protesting the touch we both knew I wanted.
That I shouldn’t want but would be lying to deny.
Then they curled into his shirt, grasping it and wrinkling the fabric to pull him closer. His groan came from low in his throat, filling my ear, and his body pressed tighter until I felt his cock against my stomach.
“Fuck, you’re impossible,” he said, pulling back just enough to mumble the words against my mouth.
I growled at him, reaching up to bury a hand in his hair. The dark, inky strands were soft in my fingers, sliding through as I gripped them harshly and dragged his mouth back to mine. Each sweep of his tongue against mine was a brand, a claim of ownership I should have fought against.
Instead, I sank deeper into his touch, pulling him where I wanted him as his body shifted. He pulled back just enough, sliding the hand at my throat down until he brushed the skin of my breast. He swallowed my startled gasp, smiling into me as he kneaded the flesh. Pressing harshly, squeezing and testing the weight of it, he chuckled as he found my nipple and ran his fingers over it.
I jolted in his grip, a strangled moan escaping me.
“Do you think any others will make you feel like this?” he asked, brushing my hardened nipple again. “Your hips are grinding on me, just begging for me to fuck you into the wall.”
I resisted the urge to protest, to push him off. Especially when his hand abandoned my breast, drifting down over my stomach. I felt him against the thin fabric of my sleep shorts, pressing the jersey into me as he kicked my legs apart.
My eyes rolled back in my head as he found my pussy with expert precision, barely a whisper of a touch over my heated skin.
“Tell me to stop,” he said, sinking his teeth into my bottom lip. His eyes remained open, holding mine as my breath came in a shuddering pant. “Tell me you don’t want this.”
My mouth parted with the need to say it, but the words wouldn’t come. They couldn’t, not when he pressed his hand tighter to my flesh. The cloth of my shorts rubbed against me, his fingers circling my clit slowly.
“I hate you,” I muttered, pulling his hair harder.
He chuckled, pressing his mouth to mine gently as I tossed my head back. “I don’t give a fuck about that. All that matters to me is how pretty you’ll look writhing on my cock.”
I gasped as he slipped his fingers under the edge of my shorts, the coolness of his skin touching me. There was nothing between us, nothing to separate us from the way he felt against me. He resumed his work on my clit, circling it as I lost the ability to breathe.
This was how I died.
I was going to come, and I didn’t even care what that said about me.
“Fuck,” I whimpered, blinding light filling the edges of my vision when he moved; his teeth grazing the side of my neck.
He stopped, his fingers stilling on my pussy.
“What are you doing?” I asked, wincing at the tiny pinch of his fangs as he bit down into my skin. He groaned at the snack, drawing my blood into his mouth as my hips moved against him.
Seeking the pressure he’d offered, searching for my pleasure.
He withdrew his teeth, his mouth redder than it had been before, and stared at me. Removing his hand from my shorts, he raised his fingers to his mouth. Those steely eyes drifted closed as he moaned, pulling them free and staring down at me.
“You can come when you tell me what I want to know.”
My mouth dropped open in shock. Surely, he couldn’t mean— “Fuck you,” I snapped.
I’d finish the job myself. The arrogant fucking prick. I let go of his hair, pushing against his shoulders to get him out of my way. I slid my hand over my stomach when he stepped back, slipping it into my shorts as his eyes narrowed. Arching my back, I let him see the moment I touched myself.
“Willow,” he said, and the sound of my name in his voice was different. It was soft, soothing, a comfort when I wanted nothing but anger. He moved forward, grasping my wrist with his hand as I stared up at him.
The moment my eyes met his, I realized my mistake.
His pupils had bled to black, darkness consuming the blue of his stare. “From this moment until I release you, the only way you will be able to orgasm will be with me. My touch. My mouth. My cock. Your own touch will not satisfy you, nor will the touch of any other person. There is only me.”
The words washed over me, cooling my skin as the compulsion sank inside of me. I reached up to touch my mother’s necklace, shaking my head to deny the way the words had penetrated. “I have my amulet—”
“You also have my blood,” he said, stepping back with a smirk. “Even your amulet cannot protect you from me entirely now.”
I swallowed, glaring up at him as he made to leave the bathroom. “Why not just compel me to tell you the truth then?!” I demanded, watching as the black faded from his gaze. I winced as I wrapped my arms around my chest and covered my breasts from the scathing blue of his eyes.
He shrugged, tucking his hands into his pants pockets as he stared at me over his shoulder. “My way is much more fun.”
