Page 147 of Bane of the Wild Hunt

When I asked him to kiss me, I had been expecting a gentle and chaste brush of our mouths that would be more in line with what I knew thus far of Sage. I certainly had not been expecting the eruption of his passion. I was not ready for him to pump pure need into my veins and then ignite me from head to toe. I felt like my eyes were open, like he had split open the shell of safety he’d built around me and a whole ocean of desire had come pouring in. Intoxicating me. Drowning me. My thighs were still slick from the effects of it even under the water.

I wanted to let him fuck me against that wall, but I also wanted to do things right and take our time to establish a proper relationship. Because I knew if I fell into him the way that I was tempted to do, then I might ruin everything by bringing my toxic past to his doorstep.

I leaned forward, lightly kissing his jaw and regaining his full attention.

“Tell me more about howyoufeel,” I suggested.

He was wholly sobered, his focus solely on my mouth. For a moment I was not sure he’d even heard me, but then he reached up to brush a lock of my hair back from my face with damp fingers. I closed my eyes as a drop of warm water rolled slowly down my cheek.

“What I feel is not… soft or gentle, Summer. It is hard to put it into words that will not sound violent to you.”

“I am not afraid of you. I want to know.”

He hesitated, his eyes rising up to mine as if searching them for the truth of my assertion before he nodded in agreement.Then he brushed his fingers down the side of my face so they tucked under my ear and his thumb rested tenderly on my cheek. His other hand was still resting on my waist to hold me close, but he did not crush me up against him. No one had ever touched me quite like that, at least not in a very long time.

“You have fully consumed every part of me. My mind, my heart, and my body,” Sage began tentatively as if he was nervous about my reaction to his intoxicating words. “Watching you learn to trust and break free from fears that have held you captive for so long has been the most breathtaking thing I’ve ever beheld.”

“It’s been because ofyou,” I protested, but he slid his thumb over my mouth in a gentle bid for me to listen.

“Watching your smiles grow wider and more genuine, and your laughter louder and freer, has been enrapturing,” Sage continued. He offered me a tender smile when my emotions began to rise again, making it difficult to choke back the tears that wanted to overflow. “I am in complete and utter awe of you, Summer, not just of your magic but also your strength and your unflinching determination to protect all that you care about. You are as enchantingly beautiful and fierce as a thunderstorm.”

Sage hesitated with uncertainty as if he were unsure whether or not to go on.

“Don’t stop. It hasn’t even gotten violent yet,” I teased him as a traitorous tear spilled over my lower eyelid and rolled slowly down my cheek. Sage laughed as his thumb swept lightly over my skin to wipe it away, and I wrapped my arms around his neck.

“I crave absolutely everything about you. Your slow surrendering of trust to me, your every unrestrained smile, and your every burst of laughter. I crave the feel and scent of your skin,” he continued.

I watched Sage turn his head to brush his nose along my upper arm that was draped around his neck, and my skin pebbled in arousal as he inhaled. His soft groan of appreciation made me shift in the water as I tried to press my thighs together for some relief from the aching warmth that was igniting once again between my legs. But it was not enough.

“There is nothing I want more than to possess every part of you,” Sage continued, his voice growing rougher between the kisses he trailed down my arm. “Your trust. Your heart. Your body,” he whispered, and I hung on his every single exhilarating word. “All of it must bemine,” Sage growled, his voice going so deep that it seemed to rumble in my veins like thunder, and my breath caught in my throat. “And I do not tolerate others having any part of what is mine, Summer. Everyone would need to know so that there can be no mistake about it.”

His lips parted, and he nipped my arm, gently enough to send tingles down my spine, but then his teeth pressed harder until the tips of his canines almost broke through. And the slow application of pain sent a new kind of thrill racing through me. One that was deeply unexpected but so deliciously wanton when he released the pressure and sucked on my aching skin with the same gradual increase of pressure until he’d left a bruise.

And the sight of my marked skin made him make that rumbling growl of satisfaction that made me tremble.

Sage kissed the bruise, his mouth so tender it made me melt toward him as if seeking more of that affection.

“It makes me want to display my claim all over you,” Sage informed me, sending more shivers down my spine with his gravelly voice. And I could tell this would be the part he worried I might find violent. “I want others to see and know you are mine, and I am yours. And I wantyouto see these marks, see me bruised and etched right into your skin, and know to whom you belong. I want to—”

Sage hesitated again as if unsure whether to go on.

“Do. Not. Stop,” I growled at him, my thighs pressing together harder to help with the pulse of desire, but it still was not nearly enough to alleviate the aching.

Sage raised his eyes from the hickey, and I swore that the heat in his gaze could melt metal. There was no trace of the sweet and gentle male I had come to know, and yet I was not even a little afraid. He looked at me as if he understood me, he knew exactly what I needed to hear, and his hand drifted down to grip my neck. He moved so slowly and gently at first to ensure that I was comfortable. And then he applied just enough pressure to make his hold firm and unquestionable.

“Very well, Summer, you really want to know what I wish to do to you?” he verified, and I nodded eagerly, even though I was sure that I already knew the answer. “What I want is to mark up this pretty throat and these gorgeous breasts with my hands and teeth. I want to own every inch of you, both inside and out,” Sage admitted.

I could not breathe. It felt like my lungs were on fire and my heart might burst out of my chest. And he was watching me closely enough that I was sure he could tell there was part of me that was unnerved by his declaration. But that disconcertion was only a little bit about him and much more about me. About how fuckingturned onI was by absolutely everything he was saying to me.

“Holy fuck, Sage,” I hissed once I could finally suck in enough air to speak again.

“Which do you find more shocking? My words or your reaction to them?” he asked, and there was nothing soft or sweet in his wicked smile. Hisknowingsmile.

“I just want to confirm… Do you want to hurt me?”

“No, Summer! I would never hurt you. Well… unless that was whatyouwanted,” he amended and then grinned at me whenmy brows rose in disbelief. “No, it is not the act of hurting you that I crave. I want to see the evidence of my loving on your body, to stake a claim, but it is even more than that. I want… it to be something you crave too. Something you display proudly,” he explained.

I nodded, glancing down at the hickey he had left on my arm as I tried to decide whether I wanted to run away from this level of intensity or beg him to show me more. This was not something I’d been given the opportunity to experience of my own free will before. Obviously I had known plenty of males who felt that leaving a physical blemish upon me exerted ownership. Sage clearly wanted that too, but I did not think it was what he craved most. Yes, he wanted to paint his claim all over me, and yes, he wanted everyone else to see it too, but he also wanted it to be my choice. He wanted me to take just as much pride in what he had done as he did.

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