Page 35 of Marked By the Bounty Hunter

“Stars damn you?—”

“Say it.”

His hands convulsed on my thighs. “Yes. Now move, or I swear?—”

I sank down in one slow thrust, the stretch burning in the best way. My head fell back as he filled me completely, the ridges along his length dragging against sensitive flesh. “Oh fuck. You feel?—”

“Look at me.” His claws dimpled my skin, forcing my gaze to his. The primal hunger in his eyes sent fresh heat coiling low in my belly. “This doesn’t mean I’ve accepted your recklessness.”

I rolled my hips experimentally, biting my lip at the delicious friction. “Could’ve fooled me.” Another slow lift and drop, his groan harmonizing with the creak of stressed bedframe. “Seems like you’re... ah... thoroughly invested.”

His hips snapped upward, driving him deeper. My nails scored his chest as pleasure sparked along my spine. “Tyrix?—”

“Don’t stop.” His hands guided my rhythm, calluses catching on my skin with every rise and fall. “Let me feel you take what you need.”

The angle shifted, his tip brushing that sweet spot with every thrust. My thighs burned, but the building pressure drowned out the ache. “Close,” I managed, riding him harder. “Don’t you dare?—”

The mattress groaned as Tyrix flipped me onto my stomach, his claws pricking warning trails down my spine. “Still think you’re in control?” His breath scorched the back of my neck while calloused hands spread me open.

“Prove me wrong,” I taunted into the pillow, back arching instinctively when his tongue found new territory. The shock of heat between my thighs made me scramble for purchase, fingers tearing through cheap synth-cotton sheets.

He chuckled darkly, the vibration rippling through me. “Human modesty suits you poorly, mate.” A sharp slap landedon my ass, the sting blooming into warmth that pooled low in my belly. “Better.”

I craned to glare over my shoulder. “Since when do you?—”

The words shattered as he thrust home, the new angle wringing a guttural cry from my throat. His hand fisted in my braids, forcing my head back as he set a brutal pace. “Since you decided to play martyr.” Each punctuation of his hips drove the point deeper. “Since you made me watch you die by inches.”

The raw pain in his voice tangled with the pleasure coiling tighter in my core. I reached back blindly, nails raking down his thigh. “Not... dead... yet...”

“Defiant to the last.” His free hand slid around my throat, not squeezing—just holding. Claiming. “Let go, Nalina. For once in your cursed life, let go.”

The orgasm ripped through me like a hull breach, vision whiting out as I choked on his name. He followed moments later with a snarl that shook the emergency lights, teeth sinking into my shoulder just shy of breaking skin.

We collapsed sideways in a tangle of limbs, both gasping like we’d run from airlock to core. His thumb traced the crescent marks my nails left on his forearm. “Still against the bite?”

I rolled to face him, tracing the worry lines around his eyes. “Ask me again when we’re not covered in...” My nose wrinkled at the mingled scents of sweat and sex. “Whatever this is.”

“Charming.” He nipped my jaw. “Up.”

“Tyrix, I need at least five?—”

The protest died as he hauled me upright, back pressed against his chest. His claws dimpled my hips as he guided me onto his lap. “You’ll take what I give you.”

The slow slide onto him stole my breath. “Bastard.”

“Yours.” His teeth found the junction of neck and shoulder as we found a rhythm that made the bulkhead rivets shiver. “Always yours.”

A tremor ran through me—not pleasure this time. My hands spasmed against his thighs, the room tilting sideways.

“Enough.” He stilled instantly, arms locking around my waist. “We’re done.”

I clawed at his forearm. “Don’t you dare stop?—”

“The hell we are.” He lifted me like I weighed nothing, depositing me on the ruined sheets. “You’re shaking.”

“So warm me up.” I reached for him, but he caught my wrists.

“Stubborn, impossible...” His lips brushed mine, softer than I deserved. “I won’t break you faster than the Consortium’s poison.”

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