Page 26 of The Bonds of Nyx

I lifted my chin a little higher to take in the wash of light. I wasn’t sure where we were, but the stars here seemed to be different to the ones anywhere else. Like I’d found myself in an entirely new world.

“Why are you out here alone?”

I turned quickly to find Elias stalking from the shadows wearing nothing but a pair of low-hanging jeans that hugged his thighs and—quite possibly—his ass. Without a shirt, and despite the darkness, I could make out the smoothness of his skin and the abs that begged to be licked. Feet bare, he stomped through the wet leaves and moss until he stood over me, eyes dark with his wolf.

I swallowed roughly and met his eyes. “I’m standing by the back door and looking at the stars, Elias. I’m not out wandering through the trees alone. I am simply enjoying the quiet.”

His eyes narrowed, nostrils flaring. “Inside. Now.”

It was my turn to scowl. Crossing my arms, I gritted my teeth. “No.”

His growl should have been a warning, but instead, arousal pooled in the pit of my stomach. My magic reared its head, begging for something I hadn’t expected.

Mine. Mate. Claim.

My eyes widened, and I stumbled back a step. I wasn’t sure if Elias was feeling the same thing, and before I could ask, he was leaning over, and throwing me over his bare shoulder. I yelped as he righted himself.

“Let me go!”

He snorted, patted my ass, and started for the house instead of replying.

I thumped my fists against his back. “Seriously, Elias, put me—” My hands brushed over a series of scars on his body that felt more raised and harsher than the ones I’d viewed elsewhere. They followed a pattern that immediately turned my stomach.

Elias stopped completely as I traced a series of lines. The implication was there.

Holy shit. Who did that to a person? What kind of monster—

I was back on my feet before the thought could be finished. Where I expected to find anger in his green eyes, I found nothing. No emotions. No thoughts. A void of nothing met my stare.

“Elias—”

He turned sharply and stalked towards the shadows of the trees. I didn’t think. I followed him, wincing at every sharp rock and stick that cut the underside of my feet. But the pain was nothing compared to the need to go after him. The need to prove I didn’t judge him for the pains of his past.

“Elias!” I hissed, clambering over a downed tree. My foot caught on a root. “Ah, fuck—”

Before I could fall, strong arms righted me. “Go back to the house,” he growled, pulling away as soon as I was standing on my own.

Maybe I was sick of being cooped up in the safe house. Maybe I was too afraid to sleep, because even with his temporary band-aide, I was still scared of what might appear in my dreams. Maybe I was a little sick of not being in control and wanted to finally assert some damned power over my messy emotions and this complicated situation.

But right now, I was ready to pick a fight with Elias. He could be as sour and grumpy as he wanted, but I wasnotgoing to let him go off in a foul mood because he was ashamed of his scars. After everything he’d done for me, for all the darkness he’d already been forced to see in me, he wanted to turn back now?

“No.”

His brows lifted in disbelief, like he couldn’t believe I, Ivy Wilson, would disobey his direct order.

Elias’s nostrils flared as he glared down at me. Anger was clear in his eyes, but something else also swam in his deepening stare. Something primal and dark that I wanted to play with. That my magic called for and wanted to taste. His body gravitated towards me, like we were two magnets pulled together.

I heard him whisper, “Fuck it,” before his lips claimed mine. It was everything I thought it would be and more. He tasted of whiskey and spice, and I drank it in as I submitted to his touch. One of his large, warm hands cupped my cheek softly while the other captured my hip and dragged me against his hard body. I felt each ridge of his chest, the racing of his heart, and the warmth of his skin through my thin t-shirt.

The kiss grew hungry, harder, as he tipped my head back to deepen his hold on me. I gasped and moaned as he used the moment to slip his tongue inside my mouth. I was drunk on the taste of him. It was euphoric, enlightening, like coming home and discovering something entirely new.

Elias walked me backwards into a tree without breaking the kiss. His tongue swept over mine with claiming strokes that almost made my knees buckle.

The hand holding my hip slid up my waist and beneath the hem of my t-shirt. The first brush of his fingers against my skin ignited me.

The second undid me.

I pushed against him and ripped my mouth from his to trail hungry kisses down his chest. A shiver worked its way down his body, and he growled as my tongue flicked over his nipple.

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