Page 79 of Insatiable

“I love you,” I whisper against his lips, feeling the truth of it down to my bones.

“Let’s get out of this cage and you can show me just how much,” he teases.

“I don’t know,” I say, looking him up and down. He’s wearing nothing but a gold cloth. Beneath the pair of us is a gold cushion.

“I think I want you to fuck me in here.”

The moment I say it, his eyes turn gold and his face slackens. “As you wish.”

He starts pawing at my clothes with no finesse. It’s almost robotic in his movements.

It’s not sexy. He rips away my shirt, exposing my bra. “Dade! Stop!”

His eyes flash again before settling into a deep, familiar black-brown, the wild intensity gone as quickly as it appeared. I push myself up and stumble out of the cage, clutching the torn remnants of my shirt around my shoulders. I can’t stop staring at him, barely able to reconcile the person I thought I knew with this altered version of him.

“Sorry, my Valentine,” he says softly, a grimace flickering across his face. “They’ve cursed me. I’m compelled to do whatever you say. I have no control over myself when you give me directions. It’s... my punishment for coming to find you.” He pulls himself from the cage and stands before me. His aura is dark, but warm. “It is my curse to bear, not yours. I shall leave and find somewhere else to be until I can control myself around you.”

“Don’t even think about it, Dade Angelis. I’ve never been able to control myself around you. Not once, not ever. It’s about time you saw what it’s like to be so completely under another’s spell.”

Dade’s eyes flicker with lust. “I have always been under your spell, Valentine. You have always enslaved my heart.” His voice deepens into a growl. “It’s just that this…”

“Could actually be fun?” I interject, a teasing smile playing on my lips.

This time when Dade kisses me, it’s tender, his lips soft and apologetic against mine. The shift in him is immediate, and I can feel the difference in every brush of his fingers along my skin. His kiss isn’t rushed or desperate now; it’s slow, reverent, like he’s trying to pour everything he feels into it—his regret, his longing, his love.

He looks down and notices a scratch on my breast where he was too heavy handed with ripping my shirt.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispers against my lips, his forehead resting against mine. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.” He leans down and plants a soft kiss on my breast where the faint lines of his fingernails scratched me.

“I know,” I interrupt softly, pulling him up. I cup his face in my hands, forcing him to look at me. “You don’t have to apologize. None of this is your fault.”

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he murmurs, his voice raw. “But I can’t control this.”

For a moment, we just stand there, wrapped in each other. His arms come around me, protective and warm, and for the first time since stepping into this tower, I feel safe. He presses his lips to my forehead, then pulls back just enough to look at me.

“So you’re saying you have to do whatever I say?” I say with a sly grin.

“Valentine,” he warns, but there’s no anger in it.

“If I told you to lie on the bed, you’d have to do it?”

“I guess there’s only one way to find out.”

I lick my lips. This is going to be interesting.

“Dade?”

“Valentine?”

“Go and lie on the bed. And while you’re at it, take that stupid gold loin cloth off.”

His eyes flash gold and he does exactly as I say, albeit in a mechanical way. The end result is the same, though. He’s naked and in my bed. Exactly where I want him.

“I could have some fun with this,” I giggle, inspecting his erect penis. I climb on top of him, noting his black-brown eyes. “Just kiss me.”

I lean down to kiss him, but the moment my lips touch his, I feel the tension beneath his skin. It’s not the heated anticipation I’m used to—it’s something different. His hands move up to myhips, but the way they grip me feels forced, mechanical. The gold flash in his eyes from a moment ago still lingers, and it unsettles me.

I pull back slightly, hovering over him. “Dade?”

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