Page 28 of Chains of Nightshade

"This is foolish," I mutter against her lips, but my hands betray my words, sliding down her bare back. The water ripples around us as I pull her closer.

Her fingers trace my chest, leaving trails of fire in their wake. "Then why aren't you stopping?" she whispers, her breath hot against my neck.

I growl, low and deep. My tail coils beneath the water, wrapping around her legs. She gasps, and the sound sends a jolt through my spine. "I should," I say, but capture her lips again instead.

My mind screams at me to push her away. She's human. Weak. A tool for my freedom. Nothing more. But her skin is silk beneath my fingers, and when she moans into my mouth, rational thought dissolves like mist.

"Aurel," she breathes my name like a prayer, and something inside me snaps. My hands tangle in her wet hair as I deepen thekiss, tasting her, claiming her. She responds with equal fervor, pressing herself against my chest.

The cool river water does nothing to temper the heat building between us. Every touch, every sigh, every small movement feeds a hunger I've denied for too long. My control slips with each passing second.

What am I doing? This wasn't part of the plan. But her hands explore my chest, tentative yet eager, and I find myself drowning in sensations I thought I'd forgotten how to feel.

The world narrows to just this – the way she fits against me, the soft sounds she makes when I trail kisses down her neck, the way her breath hitches when I find that sensitive spot behind her ear. Nothing else exists. Not the dark elves hunting us, not my plans for revenge, not the voice in my head screaming that she's just a means to an end.

My hands roam her back, and when she arches into my touch, I forget everything I ever knew except the feel of her in my arms.

"I… I want you," she whispers.

Her words send a jolt through my body, and I pull back slightly, studying her face in the moonlight. The vulnerability in her eyes makes my chest tighten. Centuries of isolation crash against this moment of raw desire.

"You don't know what you're asking for," I growl, my fingers tracing her collarbone. "I'm not human. I could break you."

She presses closer, her skin burning against mine. "I don't care." Her hands slide up my chest, leaving trails of fire. "I want all of you."

My tail coils tighter around her legs underwater. The predator in me wants to claim her, mark her, make her mine. But something else stirs beneath the surface – a protectiveness I haven't felt in centuries.

"Vera..." My voice comes out rough, strained. I cup her face, forcing her to meet my gaze. "There's no going back from this."

She lifts her chin, defiant despite her trembling. "I stopped wanting to go back the moment I met you."

The last threads of my control snap. I crush my mouth to hers, swallowing her gasp. Her body melts against mine, soft and yielding where I'm hard and unyielding.

"Tell me again," I demand against her lips. "Tell me what you want."

"You," she breathes. "Only you."

I break our kiss, watching as Vera's eyes flutter open. Her skin glows in the moonlight, and something primal stirs within me. Centuries of isolation crash against the raw desire coursing through my veins.

My tail tightens around her legs beneath the water. "This is madness," I growl, even as my hands slide down her back. "You're human. You're?—"

"I'm yours," she whispers, pressing closer. The warmth of her body against mine sends sparks through every nerve ending.

I cup her face, forcing her to meet my gaze. "You don't understand what that means. What I am. What I could do to you."

Her fingers trace my chest, leaving trails of fire. "Then show me."

A war rages inside me. She's fragile, breakable – everything I've despised about humans. Yet her touch awakens something I thought died centuries ago. My heart pounds against my ribs, a forgotten rhythm.

"Vera..." Her name escapes like a prayer as I lower my head to capture her lips again. This kiss is different – fierce, demanding. She responds with equal passion, her body melting against mine.

The cool river water laps at our skin as my hands explore her curves. Every small gasp, every tremor that runs through her body feeds a hunger that's been dormant for too long.

"Tell me to stop," I breathe against her neck, even as I pull her closer. "Tell me this isn't what you want."

She arches into my touch. "I want you, Aurel. All of you."

Those words shatter the last of my restraint. I claim her mouth again, drowning in the taste of her, in the way she responds to every touch. For the first time in centuries, I feel truly alive.

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